Sickly sweet: Ambroise Thomas’ Mignon from New Sussex Opera

One of the odd gifts of reviewing opera regularly is that you are sometimes exposed to violently clashing influences within the space of a few days. On Friday, I was enveloped in the passionate intensity of Fulham Opera’s bleak, immersive Der fliegende Holländer; on Tuesday, I found myself at New Sussex Opera’s community production of…

Add a pinch of fairy dust: Weber’s Oberon, with New Sussex Opera

Hovering somewhere between The Song of Roland and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with noble Eastern beauties and fairies galore, the plot of Weber’s Oberon hinges around the adventures of the French knight Sir Huon of Bordeaux. The plot may be nonsense, but Weber’s music more than compensates us for bearing with Planché. The New Sussex Opera Chorus…