Operissima

Charlotte Valori reviews opera & theatre: in East Anglia and beyond…

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Author Archives: operissimawhispers

My mad monodramas: Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson /Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night

A pairing of two American music dramas promised plenty of angsty feminist fun for a Friday night at Grimeborn; and I admit, in less accomplished hands, the angst might have…

August 3, 2019 in Fringe, Opera.

Overpruned to wilting point: Violetta, Grimeborn

Violetta is a reduction of Verdi’s La traviata, using only three characters: the doomed courtesan Violetta, her idealistic yet immature lover Alfredo, and – surprise! Alfredo’s mother. Yes, Germont père is exchanged…

August 1, 2019 in Fringe, Opera.

Greek perfection at Grimeborn 2018: GREEK, Turnage

Like the roar of an older, bolder London, Mark-Anthony Turnage’s GREEK bounces snarling onto the Grimeborn stage, celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in the first ever revival of its world premiere production for…

August 11, 2018 in Opera.

Hurtling into blankness: Entanglement! An Entropic Tale at Tête à Tête

Opera and physics: as a combination, what could possibly go wrong? As I briefly scanned one of the many programme notes generously supplied for the brave audience of Entanglement! An…

August 10, 2018 in Fringe, New writing, Opera.

Bad boys go head to head: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Grimeborn

Lucia di Lammermoor is an opera of shocking brutality, with savage emotional aggression rivalling physical violence throughout its fast-paced plot. Fulham Opera’s reduction for Grimeborn brings Donizetti’s dark, doomed characters…

August 10, 2018 in Opera.

Stab in the dark: Edward Lambert’s The Cloak and Dagger Affair, Tête à Tête

Taking as its inspiration Lorca’s 1928 play Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, Edward Lambert’s The Cloak and Dagger Affair is a curious portrait of a very…

August 9, 2018 in Bel canto, New writing, Opera.

Breaking app with the boyfriend: Vicky and Albert, Tête à Tête

“And in a world where everyone else is in possession of at least once significant other, I couldn’t be more alone.” Elfyn Jones’ timely little one-woman opera Vicky and Albert…

August 9, 2018 in New writing, Opera.

Revolution going nowhere: The Prometheus Revolution at Grimeborn

Prometheus stole fire from the gods in order to ensure human progress, and met with a grisly eternal punishment as a reward: Zeus’ eagle devouring his liver daily. Keith Burstein’s…

August 8, 2018 in Musicals, New writing, Opera.

Empowered comic victory: Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate, Grimeborn

The celebrations of the centenary of Women’s Suffrage in Britain have reached Dalston’s cultural heartland as Spectra Ensemble present a little-known opera by Suffragette composer Ethel Smyth, The Boatswain’s Mate, at Grimeborn.…

July 31, 2018 in Opera.

Kimonos and karma: Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at Iford

Madame Butterfly enjoys extraordinary popularity today: even people who have never been to an opera in their lives could probably recognise its title. But why? Despite its surface familiarity, it’s…

July 27, 2018 in Opera.

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