| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 2-Oct-2012 Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts | Charles Roubaud's Il Trovatore from Canadian Opera Company |
 What do you get when you have a woman being burnt on the stake and her daughter tosses a baby – the wrong baby – on the pyre? The correct answer is Giuseppe Verdi’s incredible melodrama Il Trovatore.
The Canadian Opera Company’s production (borrowed from Opéra de Marseille) eschews melodramatic displays but does provide some thrills. There are also a few gaffes but overall the production does credit to Verdi.
Read full review... | |
| 27-Jul-2012 National Theatre | La Traviata at the Munich OpernFestspiele |
 La Traviata is such a warhorse that we often forget how many issues it raises for presenting a staging that can convince us of what is in the first analysis a quite ludicrous story, despite Verdi's veristic intentions. That Violetta is so sympathetic, idealistic, noble and moral can strike one as hopelessly naïve and even patronising given her profession and background, but its very high status amongst Verdi's output speaks of its masterful dramatic thrust and powerful emotional arc, and, by no means least, its superb music.
Read full review... | |
