Latest news with #AntonioPappano
The Guardian
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Salome review – a frankly astonishing concert performance
Antonio Pappano never conducted Salome while he was music director at Covent Garden, but he has now turned to Strauss's opera for the final concerts of his opening season with the London Symphony Orchestra, assembling, in the process, one of the finest casts you could ever hope to hear in the work, and presenting us with an interpretation at once decadent, beautiful, engulfing, and frankly little short of astonishing. Gabriel Fauré once dubbed the score a 'symphonic poem with voices added', which is not an entirely accurate description, given the power and psychological insight of Strauss's vocal writing, but does emphasise the centrality of the orchestra's role in carrying the dramatic and emotional intensity. With the LSO on tremendous form, Pappano lets the music unfurl in a single unbroken arc of gathering tension from the slithery, lubricious clarinet solo with which it opens to the savagery of the ending, and every flicker of detail and colour in Strauss's orchestration hits home. Strings sound palpably sensual, woodwind by turns exquisite and edgy, the brass associated with Jochanaan infinitely noble as it intrudes on the prevailing mood of feverish eroticism. The overall effect is of great beauty slowly turning monstrous, obscene, and rotten with decay. It's sung with remarkable and consistent lyricism, avoiding the expressionistic-sprechstimme approach we sometimes find, and all the more powerful for it. The concerts finally allow us to hear Asmik Grigorian in the title role, a career-making assumption when she first sang it in Salzburg in 2018, but which she has not performed in the UK until now. The mixture of metal and silk in her tone allows her to soar comfortably and rapturously above Strauss's orchestra both in her declarations of love to Michael Volle's Jochanaan and in voicing the torrential emotions of the final scene. Elsewhere, the darkness in her lower registers conveys nerve-ridden ennui, steely determination and imperious selfishness. She is utterly compelling throughout. Volle, meanwhile, superbly captures the fanaticism that lurks behind Jochanaan's principled dignity, is magnificent in his evocation of Christ preaching to his disciples on Lake Galilee, and ferocious as he heaps curses on Salome. Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke makes a suitably neurotic Herod: vapid, weak-willed, lethally dangerous, barely maintaining the veneer of elegance he tries to preserve before his dinner guests. His Herodias is Violeta Urmana, fierce in her scorn and well nigh brutal in her irony. John Findon sounds ardent, even heroic as Narraboth, his voice bigger than many we usually hear in the role, while Niamh O'Sullivan is eloquent and deeply touching as the Page. An outstanding, overpowering achievement, every second of it, and one of the greatest performances of Salome I've ever heard. At the Barbican, London, on 13 July
Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Salome, LSO: This take on Wilde is truly sensational
Great operas in concert have now become a regular feature of the LSO's seasons at the Barbican, but none can have made quite as much noise as this searing performance of Richard Strauss's Salome under conductor Antonio Pappano. The overwhelming sonorities of Strauss's score, so outrageous when they were first performed in 1905 – and still terrifying today – pulverised us into submission. At times it seemed that all the voices could do was surf along on the top of this torrential instrumental sound, only sometimes coming up for air. But at the crucial moments they cut through, thanks to a world-class cast. The grisly story derives from Oscar Wilde's one-act play, which Strauss saw in 1902: Salome, the stepdaughter of Herod, forms a sensual obsession with Jochanaan (John the Baptist) and asks Herod, who is in thrall to her, to receive his head on a silver platter. The holy Jochanaan has rejected her in life; now she only wants to kiss his lips in death. There's something compelling about not having any staging – no Dance of the Seven Veils for Salome; no black cistern in which Jochanaan lurks (unless you count the Barbican's backstage, from which he sang); no head of Jochanaan for Salome to embrace. It enabled our imaginations to roam freely. Pappano conducted Strauss's Elektra as his final, new production at Covent Garden, and so Salome was perhaps a natural choice for an opera at the end of his first season with the LSO. He also had support from the Royal Opera's director of casting, Peter Katona, who ensured an experienced, A-list lineup: some used scores, others had no need in shorter roles they knew well. As Salome, Asmik Grigorian was phenomenal, capturing perfectly the role's dissonance between girlish charm and brutal eroticism; her voice mixed purity with power in a way that demolished any idea that wayward vibrato is necessary to express passion, and her E-major arpeggio as she asked for Jokanaan's head chilled the blood. Matching her in defiance, but with a stentorian command that overrode the orchestra, Michael Volle's Jochanaan tremendously portrayed religious fanaticism. Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke struggled to make the fussy, manic writing for Herod register, but Violetta Urmana as his wife Herodias soared in support of her daughter. John Findon as Narraboth and Niamh O'Sullivan as the Page were both sharp-edged and clear, while the two fluent Nazarenes and ensemble of five Jews crowded onto the already teemingly full stage, struggling to make their presence felt. Pappano had one basic decision to make in this performance: whether to suppress the orchestra as if they were buried in a theatre pit, or to unleash them with their full sonic potential on the open stage. He chose the latter, accepting all the issues of balance that created, but delved deep into the score, in control of every detail; and the result was both astonishingly accurate and emotionally draining.
Times
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
BMW Classics review — the LSO and Pappano's operatic alfresco party
'Earth has not any thing to show more fair,' Wordsworth once wrote of the view from Westminster Bridge in 1802, but he hadn't yet seen Trafalgar Square — at least not with its grand neoclassical glow-up: the National Gallery's proud portico, the curvaceous fountains, Nelson on his column with the lions in wait at its base. A couple of those lions were majestically incorporated into the temporary stage for BMW Classics, a free open-air concert the London Symphony Orchestra has performed (its players sporting sunglasses when the weather's fine) to thousands of people gathered in the city and more via broadcast abroad since 2012. In one of his addresses to the crowd, on a blue-sky day, the LSO's principal conductor, Antonio Pappano, called the square the 'greatest concert venue on earth'. Clearly he was in a Romantic mood for hyperbole. But then again, when is he not? He was the music director of the Royal Opera House for 22 years before moving to his role with the LSO. Looking at this year's concert programme, you might suspect he was missing his old job. We were offered the capricious overture to Rossini's Semiramide; the less capricious yet more luscious Capriccio sinfonico by Puccini, a graduation piece whose material he returned to for his operas; Opera for Orchestra, a new commission from Isabella Gellis from the LSO's composers' scheme and the Triumphal March and Dance from Verdi's Aida. For the last two, the orchestra were joined by young east London musicians supported by the LSO and others supported by the Guildhall School. Pappano regretted they weren't also able to provide the chorus and elephants and camels for the Verdi. We had instead motorcycles, ambulances and double-deckers, the adverts plastered on their sides giving BMW a run for its money. Their interjections would be one reason to shrink Pappano's big claim about the square. Despite the sound technicians' admirable efforts, you couldn't always make out the finer detail — which perhaps makes this an unfair arena in which to assess Gellis's somewhat hallucinatory composition, less operatic and more filmic in its atmospherics. But still, you could enjoy the grander gestures that this programme, and Pappano, had in spades. After the young musicians departed the LSO launched into Juventus — not the football club but the Latin for youth, Pappano was keen to point out — written by the Italian opera conductor Victor de Sabata. As a composer, he has a reputation as an Italian Strauss though this flashy but also melancholic tone poem had shades of Holst and Walton. Fitting, under all the Italian exuberance, to find pomp and circumstance. ★★★★☆ On demand Follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
Western Telegraph
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
Torch Theatre: Royal Opera House screening in Pembrokeshire
The Pembrokeshire theatre is embarking on its 'cinema season,' which will kick off with a live screening of 'Die Walküre' (The Valkyrie) by The Royal Ballet and Opera. This opera-ballet extravaganza will be directed by Barrie Kosky and conducted by Antonio Pappano. The screening brings Wagner's tale of gods and mortals battling it out further, following the saga that began with 'Das Rheingold' in 2023. The storyline follows a love entwined with fate that could potentially be powerful enough to end the world. Meanwhile, an epic confrontation ensues between Wotan, played by Christopher Maltman, the king of gods, and his rebellious daughter Brünnhilde, enacted by Elisabet Strid. Viewers will be treated to a visually compelling stage setup by designer Rufus Didwiszus, with costumes by Victoria Behr and lighting by Alessandro Carletti. Critically acclaimed by the Guardian's Erica Jeal who gave the show four stars, the production will be sung in German with translated captions for English speakers. The show starts at 2pm on Sunday, May 18. Tickets are priced at £20 per person, with a concessional rate of £18. Those under the age of 26 can enter at £9 per head. Further information can be found on the Torch Theatre website or via telephone on 01646 695267. The Royal Opera House is renowned for its ballet and opera productions. For those in need of further assistance, contact the Box Office.
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
TULLY WALKER reviews: Die Walkure at the Royal Opera House: The costumes are a mess and there's a giant log in the middle of the set... but the singing and playing are glorious
Die Walkure (Royal Opera House) Verdict: Well cast, well sung, well played The new ROH Ring reaches its second evening with the best all-round cast I can recall in Die Walkure: the uniformly sonorous sounds emanating from the stage are matched by the glorious row coming from the pit. As the scenery, costumes and production are execrable — Wotan, supposedly king of the gods, is a dead ringer for J.D. Vance ('Make Valhalla Great Again') in his suit and tie — perhaps I may more profitably dwell on the musical side for a while. The incestuous lovers of Act 1, Siegmund and Sieglinde, are given life by the fresh tones of French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac and Welsh-Ukrainian soprano Natalya Romaniw. American bass Soloman Howard's dark voice helps to make Sieglinde's husband Hunding a nasty piece of work. As Brunnhilde, the Valkyrie of the title, Swedish soprano Elisabet Strid is vertically challenged — she needs some of the stature of Russian mezzo Marina Prudenskaya's fine Fricka (familiar from Rheingold in 2023), who has inches to spare — but she sings with power and intensity. J.D. ... er ...Wotan is lent vocal heft and grandeur of phrasing by Christopher Maltman, who seems destined to impersonate politicians — he was Iain Duncan Smith to the life in Rheingold. I approve of his wearing a wig. I suppose the Orange One is being held in reserve for Gotterdammerung. Sir Antonio Pappano and the orchestra generate tremendous power in such big numbers as the Ride of the Valkyries — a pity Barrie Kosky's production renders the scene pathetic to the eye. Again the action is haunted by a SENOL (Symbolic Emaciated Naked Old Lady), meant to be the goddess Erda. I felt glad on her behalf that it was a warm night. We get another massive log — I cannot tell you if it is the same one as in Rheingold: one log looks much like another to me. The Magic Fire in Act 3 flickers in a dead tree. Designer Rufus Didwiszus makes Hunding's hut an unimpressive wall, from a crack in which Siegmund draws the sword Nothung. I gained precisely nothung from this transaction. Smoke drifts about the stage at times and the Valkyries unearth desiccated human skeletons from somewhere. You want to know about the costumes. Sieglinde looks like a Melbourne housewife. Siegmund removes a large hoodie to reveal ... a smaller hoodie. Hunding seems to work as a security man. Fricka arrives in a Rolls-Royce. Anyone would think she was Dame Edna, only she sings better.
