Wednesday 2 July 2014

Glyndebourne La finta giardiniera

I was a bit wary of Mozart's La finta giardiniera because the recordings I've heard do little for it. At Glyndebourne, however - a Mozart house - they know how to bring out the best. Excellent staging and performances serve Glyndebourne's La finta giardiniera well.  Claire Seymour's review in Opera Today WITH VIDEO. 

This sounds like it's definitely worth going to ! Returns available. 

"Wake-Walker has judiciously applied the pruning shears to both arias and recitative, and there is some re-ordering, but — even with such a uniformly excellent cast, and especially in the long second half — there are a few redundant arias, showing that the precocious composer might have acquired musical mastery but had not yet sharpened his dramatic instincts. That said, there are many moments which look ahead to the treasures to come, most particularly the two Act final ensembles where conductor Robin Ticciati moved things along swiftly, highlighting the juxtapositions between characters. And, there was a directorial nod towards Don Giovanni with the cloaked entrance of the masked gang, searching for Sandrina, at the end of Act 2, as the characters mistook other’s identity in the darkness"

Read the full review HERE. 
photo : Tristram Kenton

1 comment:

hber2 said...

Apologies for writing to you as a comment - since this isn't directly related to the post above - but I happen to be producing a new opera by Oliver Rudland (based on William Golding's novel 'Pincher Martin') which will be performed at the RCM Britten Theatre from 24th-26th July, and was just wondering whether you might be interested in reviewing? If you want more information, just email me: helen.rochedelabaume@gmail.com - see also our production website: http://www.pinchermartinopera.com/
Yours, Helen Roche