Royal Festival Hall, London - London | 6 December 2023 |

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Performance reviews
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La Damnation de FaustRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 1 | ![]() |
Devilishly good |
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Duke Bluebeard's CastleRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
Luminosidad entre tinieblas |
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Two very different interpretations of Bartók’s only opera enthral |
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Edward Gardner and the LPO make Bluebeard’s Castle a shattering experience |
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Singers transcend concert-performance conventions in the ultimate 'opera of the mind' |
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Bartók’s opera wields devastating power in contrasting performances |
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Darkness and light took centre stage in this concert |
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The Midsummer MarriageRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() |
What a teeming, superabundant piece Tippett's Midsummer Marriage is |
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The LPO has begun its new era on a high |
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Robert Murray gave a searching, strenuous account of the young hero, Mark, |
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Edward Gardner conducts a magnificent The Midsummer Marriage to open his first season at the LPO |
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The Midsummer Marriage joyously launches Edward Gardner’s tenure at the LPO |
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Midsummer fire: Tippett sets the new LPO season alight |
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Tippett’s divisive opera thrills in stupendous performance |
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SiegfriedRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() |
Un Siegfried triunfante en un Londres trágico |
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Vladimir Jurowski gives textured if somewhat uneven reading of Wagner’s work |
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Die Geburt der Komödie aus dem Geiste der Musik |
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A fleet-footed approach to the 'scherzo' of the Ring cycle |
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Both vocally and as a presence, Elena Pankratova is quite something |
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Vladimir Jurowski conducts a magnificent Siegfried |
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Jurowski showcases Wagner with wonder and excitement |
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Peter GrimesRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
Skelton and Gardner have grown together in this music |
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Stuart Skelton was magnificent in the title role |
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Electrifying performance of visceral power |
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A gripping semi-staging of Britten’s opera |
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Emotion trumps reason |
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SemeleRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() |
Rising stars: Christophe Rousset directs Handel's Semele with an emphasis on youth |
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A reminder of the genius of Handel in Semele |
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The soloists’ performances were highly dynamic |
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Rousset brought off an infectious, even delicate vitality |
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Soprano Louise Alder captured every bewitching nuance of Handel’s heroine |
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I can’t remember one as dramatic as this one |
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A stylish take on Handel's classic |
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OedipeRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 8 | ![]() |
The LPO delivered extremely textured and nuanced playing |
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A complex masterpiece |
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Complex Oedipus: Enescu’s ambitious only opera opens the LPO season |
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Vladimir Jurowski, the LPO and a fine cast immerse the audience in Enescu’s Oedipe |
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The singing shone and the orchestra played with fire and lustre |
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George Enescu’s opera has a bewildering impact |
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Jurowski makes case for Enescu's 'lost masterpiece' |
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Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO released the best of this ancient myth and its subtly modern interpretation |
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Der FreischützRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
Bang on target |
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The OAE’s 30th anniversary Der Freischütz hits the bullseye |
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A thoroughly well-prepared and enjoyable account of the score, rousingly delivered |
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Mark Elder brought all his considerable theatrical experience to bear on the score |
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The OAE celebrates in style with Weber’s Der Freischütz |
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Die ZauberflöteRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
Fairytale Flute |
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A joyous evening that through innovative means did much to capture the essential spirit of The Magic Flute as a fairytale |
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Fischer conducts it with infectious joy |
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Iván Fischer’s conception of Die Zauberflöte: a quixotic mishmash of ideas |
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A charming realisation of the opera |
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Leather and velvet: the Budapest Festival Orchestra's Magic Flute at the Royal Festival Hall |
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JenufaRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 9 | ![]() |
Czech Philharmonic embellishes Jenůfa with its golden Viennese sound |
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Karita Mattila marked a significant milestone in her life last week |
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Adriana Kohútková sang the title role with much finesse |
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Karita Mattila put in the evening’s strongest performance |
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Music of surpassing beauty |
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A crazily lavish, almost unbearably moving performance of Jenůfa |
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Formidable Mattila is devastating as the Kostelnička |
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Mattila debuts as the Kostelnicka in Jenufa |
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Mattila delivers powerful Kostelnička in Czech Phil's Jenůfa |
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Duke Bluebeard's CastleRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() |
Dutoit’s pacing was finely calibrated to ratchet up the tension |
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The RPO and Dutoit presented the imagistic score with precision |
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Bartók’s portrait of marital failure chillingly realised |
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Last-minute substitutes deliver the goods in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle |
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A fine performance, with Judith and Bluebeard hovering between character and archetype |
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A tremendous account of Bartok’s unique opera |
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Far more than a fairy tale |
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Pelléas et MélisandeRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 10 | ![]() |
Salonen and a brilliant solo line-up triumph with Debussy's opera |
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A more perfect combination of singers would be hard to find |
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An extraordinary performance of an extraordinary work |
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Salonen’s Pelléas et Mélisande an extraordinary performance and musical triumph |
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A stirring concert performance of Debussy’s opera |
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An unforgettable Pelléas et Mélisande at the Southbank |
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The orchestra was the opera’s true protagonist |
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This Pelléas et Mélisande reminded just how inexhaustible and satisfying a work it is |
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This Pelléas held great transparency |
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One of Salonen’s finest achievements |
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La Damnation de FaustRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
The real star of the evening was the RPO itself |
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Faust performance overshadowed by memories of Sir Colin |
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Der Fliegende HolländerRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 11 | ![]() |
An extraordinary performance |
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Zurich Opera deliver a superbly energised and paradoxically joyous rendition of Wagner's tragedy |
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Thrilling Dutchman from Terfel and Zurich Opera |
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Bryn Terfel’s Dutchman was a towering achievement that at times threatened to blow the roof off the Royal Festival Hall |
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Bryn Terfel and Anja Kampe were both in torrentially magnificent voice |
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As a vehicle for Terfel’s Dutchman, the performance more than delivered |
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A passionately refined performance by the orchestra and thrilling singing |
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A thrilling evening |
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On this occasion, we heard Terfel justify the whole performance |
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Enter the Dutchman – in the towering, implacable form of Bryn Terfel – and enter the drama |
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Bryn Terfel by no means the only treasure on board top Swiss ship |
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Il PrigionieroRoyal Festival Hall, LondonNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
Dallapiccola’s Il Prigioniero burns with a fierce, hard flame |
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All credit to those at the Philharmonia who made this memorable concert possible |
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Dallapiccola’s one-act opera is finally revealed as a masterpiece |
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