Dvd
Shakespeare: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre)
Joshua Lacey (Orsino); Anita-Joy Uwajeh (Viola); Katy Owen (Malvolio); Marc Antolin (Sir Andrew Aguecheek); John Pfumojena (Sebastian); Carly Bawden (Maria); Nandi Bhebhe (Fabian); Le Gateau Chocolat (Feste); Tony Jayawardena (Sir Toby Belch); Pieter Lawman (Antonio);
"Twelfth Night reserves its sharpest barbs for purists and puritans. The humiliation of Malvolio, with his rule-bound antipathy to everything the play celebrates – excesses of music and food and love – is its abiding image. Rarely can that theme have seemed as pointed as in Emma Rice’s life-loving production at the Globe. Rice finds in Twelfth Night a brilliant reminder that, set against love and life, melancholy can be a little overrated." (The Guardian ★★★★)
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (De Nederlandse Opera)
Eva-Maria Westbroek (Katerina Lvovna Ismailova); Christopher Ventris (Sergey); Carole Wilson (Aksinya); Vladimir Vaneev (Boris Timofeyevich Ismailov); Lani Poulson (Sonyetka); Ludovít Ludha (Zinovy Borisovich Ismailov);
"...a first-rate protagonist in Eva-Maria Westbroek, a Katerina of Jean Harlow-like allure, who had all the vocal power and stamina that the role demands " (The Financial Times)
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Glyndebourne)
Soile Isokoski (Ariadne ); Kate Lindsey (Composer ); Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta ); Sergey Skorokhodov (Bacchus ); Thomas Allen (Music Master );
"Everything fits superbly and the production captures the fragility of happiness and the undertow of melancholy better than any I can remember.The mellow glow of the LPO under Vladimir Jurowski’s sensitive baton complements the vision perfectly, while a fine cast enhances the pleasure. Soile Isokoski is superb as Ariadne ..." (The Evening Standard ★★★★)
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne)
Tara Erraught (Octavian); Kate Royal (The Marschallin ); Lars Woldt (Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau ); Teodora Gheorghiu (Sophie ); Michael Kraus (Herr von Faninal ); Miranda Keys (Marianne Leitmetzerin ); Christopher Gillett (Valzacchi ); Helene Schneiderman (Annina);
"Robin Ticciati conducts briskly, lovingly, and the London Philharmonic is on top form." (The Financial Times ★★★★)
Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Glyndebourne)
Pamela Armstrong (Rosalinde); Thomas Allen (Eisenstein); Lyubov Petrova (Adele); Malena Ernman (Orlofsky); Håkan Hagegård (Falke);
"Here is a perfect example of the quality of Glyndebourne opera. A classic yet inventive staging of a work without stars but composed of excellent singer-actors ... Thomas Allen is a perfect bourgeois cad...and the young Vladimir Jurowski confirms his talent as conductor in a brilliant rendition of Strauss' marvellous music." (Le Monde de la Musique)
Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten (Salzburg Festival)
Stephen Gould (The Emperor); Anne Schwanewilms (The Empress); Michaela Schuster (The Nurse); Wolfgang Koch (Barak, the Dyer); Evelyn Herlitzius (Barak's Wife);
"[The Empress] is central throughout, compellingly acted and luminously sung by the marvellous Anne Schwanewilms...Orchestral detail has tremendous clarity and the documentary extra includes pithy insights from cast and crew." (BBC Music Magazine)