Diary of a Culture Hedonist

This was a beautiful revival of David McVicar's production of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. Angela Gheorghiu starred in the title role with poise and elegance - she was particularly good in the last act (after she was poisoned). Brian Jagde's Maurizio was gallant - he made the most of his tenorial ring in a role that somehow lacked character development. Ksenia Dudnikova was a fruity mezzo as the Princess. Michonnet was sung by Gerald Finley - who excelled in this supporting role.

Having never seen the play nor read the book, I was quite overwhelmed by Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. Ben Turner's Amir was a tortured soul with complex emotions. Andrei Costin's Hassan was equally powerful. The rest of the cast was excellent in the telling of the story. The simple set did its best to convey the different geographical locations - though more could be done to portray the opulence of Amir's home at the beginning and the frightening truck journey to Pakistan. The play came at a poignant moment of this uncertain geopolitical time.