Latest news with #OperaNorth
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Simon Boccanegra review – Opera North's staging of Verdi's knotty score is a brooding triumph
'I had to read this libretto six times before I understood any of it,' fumed the great Italian opera scholar Abramo Basevi in 1859. The work that had defeated him? Verdi's opera Simon Boccanegra, based on a play by the same Spanish writer as Il trovatore, the longstanding sitting duck for potshots at contorted opera plots. Even the composer diagnosed Boccanegra as 'too depressing'. Yet he was persuaded to return to his poorly received score, overhauling it with the help of Arrigo Boito (subsequently the librettist of his final operas, Otello and Falstaff). That revised version was a roaring success in 1881 and is staged quite regularly today – although marshalling its heavyweight lineup of principal basses and baritones, with only a single tenor and soprano to leaven the texture, remains a serious challenge. No stranger to those, Opera North has taken Boccanegra as the latest candidate for 'concert staging' treatment, after its success with Wagner in recent years. This performance at Royal Festival Hall was the finale of a tour that has already stopped off at concert halls across the north and midlands. Directed by PJ Harris, the opera's dark doings in Genoa played out across the three 'rooms' of a subtly lit metal frame stretching across the front of the stage, with marble columns, plinths and benches for a touch of civic pomp and banners for rival political factions hanging overhead. In a gesture Basevi would presumably have appreciated, characters wore election-style rosettes to show which side they were on. The 25 years that elapse between the opera's lengthy prologue and its first act saw one character's parka switched for a different vintage anorak and Simon Boccanegra's sailor peacoat swapped for a political leader's shirt and tie. But we were otherwise rooted in a historical no man's land of ill-fitting suits. Some principals inevitably fared better in this bare-bones set-up than others and the opera's tell-don't-show approach demands real singing actors even in a full staging. Alongside energetic vocal performances from baritones Mandla Mndebele and Opera North stalwart Richard Mosley Evans as the tireless plotters Paolo Albiani and Pietro and Andrés Presno's hefty, heartfelt tenor contributions as political rebel turned romantic Gabriele Adorno, the scenes between Roland Wood's sensitive Boccanegra and his long-lost daughter Maria (Sara Cortolezzis, in a promising Opera North debut) stood out as compelling and poignant. They were amply supported by the other stars of this show: Opera North's excellent chorus – which poured down the aisles of the auditorium for an inspired, immersive take on the ever-powerful council chamber scene – and, above all, the orchestra. Onstage throughout with principal guest conductor Antony Hermus, the musicians served up a vivid and intensely committed performance, the strings a gripping, vital dramatic motor.
Powys County Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Charles ‘flabbergasted' by magician during visit to Bradford
The King was 'flabbergasted' by magician Steven Frayne, who turned newspaper into £20 notes, during a royal visit to celebrate Bradford's status as the UK City of Culture. Bradford-born Frayne impressed Charles at the start of his tour of the Yorkshire city where he recognised another famous son, painter David Hockney, while the Queen visited the nearby home of the Bronte sisters. Teenager Florence McGrellis surprised the King with an impromptu hug when he toured the Hockney Gallery at Cartwright Hall. Florence, 15, who has Down's Syndrome, said afterwards it was 'awesome' adding, 'I'm friendly and I'm very helpful, and I'm a hugger', and the King seemed to enjoy the gesture, smiling and patting her on the back. The magic maestro, formerly known as Dynamo, showed the King new tricks he had been working on like an 'athlete' training, when Charles met a group supported by his King's Trust at a refurbished venue which will play a key role during Bradford's cultural year. He told the King he had just finished a run of 50 shows and was making a TV programme and joked 'you should come on it, we've got to tell our story, we go way back'. The entertainer, whose big break came after he was awarded a grant by Charles' trust, added: 'I wouldn't be doing magic today without the support you gave me.' The King replied: 'But it was your determination – you studied.' He produced a handful of note-sized pieces of paper and told the King 'I've got some newspaper clippings but I've been trying to take any bad news and turn it into good news', and as he tapped the paper pile it turned into £20 notes and Charles held the money to verify it. The classic 'pick a card' trick with a twist followed and Charles' apt selection of 'King of Hearts' became the new name for a string of wifi hotspots in the Bradford Live venue when the King named his card. Charles burst into laughter and Frayne said later: 'I've been fortunate to visit him in the royal estate, but it's nice to bring him back to my hood, to my estate – from council estate to royal estate. 'He's created an opportunity for someone (who felt) I'm invisible, there was no hope. It's almost come full circle as now he's back in Bradford, 2025 we're the capital of culture and he's once again inspiring hope and he's inspiring his own type of magic in all these incredible people.' Asked about the King's reaction to the magic, the entertainer replied: 'He just said it was absolutely phenomenal and a lot of amazing words that made my magic sound incredible, he said keep going, and said he was flabbergasted.' Earlier, Charles and Camilla met representatives from a range of heritage, arts and culture organisations in the Bradford Live venue who are all benefiting from the spotlight being shone on the city. And they watched a workshop featuring schoolchildren performing alongside professional singers and dancers for a show which will be staged in June. The Opera North, Northern Ballet and Royal Ballet and Opera production called Sing Dance Leap was commissioned by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. As they left to attend separate events in the city the couple went on a brief meet and greet with the public, shaking well-wishers' hands and Camilla chatted to Jackie Heron, 87, who wore a tiara and said of the Queen: 'She liked my regalia.' Camilla later visited the Bradford branch of the National Literary Trust, which she supports as patron, toured a school bus converted into a mobile centre promoting reading and writing, met volunteer literacy champions and local poets, and saw children taking part in a poetry session.
Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Simon Boccanegra review — riveting Verdi to stir the soul
★★★★★Bradford's year as UK City of Culture will doubtless have many memorable events. But I doubt whether anything will stir the soul, shiver the spine and raise the roof like this concert staging of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. The tragedy was that the splendid St George's Hall had so many empty seats. Immaculately conducted by Antony Hermus, Opera North's magnificent chorus and superbly assured orchestra deserved a full house. And you would have to travel a long way, and pay a lot more money, to hear Verdi's dark drama of violent vendettas and long-festering feuds delivered with more intensity and character than by the cast assembled here. Happily, the show travels onwards, including to London next month. It's worth catching just to be immersed in the opera's great council chamber scene. And literally immersed is what you are in this tumultuous production. The chorus lines the aisles of the auditorium or glowers down from the balconies to hurl out (or, even more chillingly, whisper) its exclamations of anger or shock. Meanwhile, on stage, Boccanegra pleads for the warring clans of plebs and toffs to make peace (some hope!) and his newly found daughter denounces the quivering villain who abducted her. Local government politics can rarely have been so riveting. That's the evening's best 15 minutes, but the rest is excellent too. There's the wonderfully touching moment when Roland Wood's nobly sung Boccanegra, played with the haunted stare of a Shakespearean hero torn between political allegiances and paternal love, is finally reconciled with his bitter rival, Vazgen Gazaryan's superbly menacing Fiesco. And there's smouldering passion from the two lovers, Sara Cortolezzis's Amelia and Andrés Presno's Adorno — Romeo and Juliet figures on different sides of the divide. Both need to sing more delicately and sweetly in places, but what a thrilling match they are when they let rip. And Cortolezzis, in particular, has a quicksilver volatility about her acting. The semi-staging by PJ Harris is more cramped than it need be, because Anna Reid's set of civic arches and pillars divides what little space there is in front of the orchestra into three different areas. But I liked their idea of turning the tribal conflicts of 14th-century Genoa into what seems like a modern-day election campaign, with everyone wearing either a red or blue rosette, and Petrarch's despairing line — 'I' vo gridando: Pace, pace, pace' (I cry for peace) — blazed across the front of the stage. Seven centuries after he wrote those words, they still resonate.165minTouring to May 24, Follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
The Guardian
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Performing arts leaders issue copyright warning over UK government's AI plans
More than 30 performing arts leaders in the UK, including the bosses of the National Theatre, Opera North and the Royal Albert Hall, have joined the chorus of creative industry concern about the government's plans to let artificial intelligence companies use artists' work without permission. In a statement they said performing arts organisations depend on a 'fragile ecosystem' of freelancers who rely on copyright to sustain their livelihoods. They also urged the government to support the 'moral and economic rights' of the creative community in music, dance, drama and opera. The 35 signatories of the statement include the chief executives of the Sadler's Wells dance theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Leeds Playhouse. 'We join with many in the creative community in expressing our concern about the government's plans to diminish creative copyright by giving an exemption to AI companies,' said the statement. 'Our community of highly skilled creative workers depend on a fragile ecosystem of freelance creatives, many of whom rely on copyright to sustain their practice, and most of whom have spent many decades honing their craft.' The performing arts bosses added that they embraced advances in technology and were 'participants' in innovation, but stated the government's plans risked undermining their ability to participate in the development and deployment of AI. The statement asked ministers to assert a creative professional's automatic right to their work, instead of pushing ahead with a proposal to give AI companies access to creative work unless the copyright holders opt out of the process. Critics of the opt out plan have described it as unfair and impractical. The performing arts bosses also asked that the government impose transparency duties on AI companies, detailing what copyrighted material was ingested into their models and how they acquired. The government has proposed transparency requirements in its copyright consultation. 'The sheer wonderment of world-class music, drama, dance and opera is essential to the joy of being human. We urge the government to support the human creative endeavour at its heart,' said the performing arts leaders. The government proposals have met with a wave of criticism from leading figures in the UK's creative industries, including Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and Richard Osman. Generative AI models, the term for technology that underpins powerful tools like the ChatGPT chatbot, are trained on a vast amount of data in order to generate their responses. The main source for this material is on the open web, which contains a vast array of data from the contents of Wikipedia to newspaper articles and online book archives. A government spokesperson said the status quo in the relationship between AI and copyright was 'holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential — and that cannot continue'. The government has said its new approach 'protects the interests of both AI developers and rights holders and delivers a solution which allows both to thrive'.
The Guardian
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Magic Flute review – humour, colour and plenty of drama in Opera North's kooky take
A child's fantasy or a skewering of grown-up power games? James Brining's production of The Magic Flute for Opera North, first seen in 2019 and revived for the second time this season, has a foot in both camps. Initially framed as the dream of the young girl seen heading for bed during the overture – its heroes, villains, and monsters conjured up from her toy box and a fractious family life – things turn starker and darker in Sarastro's palace, where misogyny and casual corruption undermine any cultish declamations about truth and love. It's still not a wholly satisfactory staging – the final tableau in particular is so enigmatic that the audience on opening night were audibly uncertain the show had ended, and forays into feminism also feel underdeveloped – but its humour and dramatic momentum are admirable, and there's a healthy helping of kooky visual appeal courtesy of Colin Richmond's sets and Douglas O'Connell's video designs. While a number of the cast return from the autumn run, there's also a clutch of notable firsts among the principals. Tenor Trystan Llŷr Griffiths makes his Opera North debut as Tamino – a Perrault-style Prince Charming with just a touch of Lohengrin in both voice and manner – as does soprano Nazan Fikret as a gleaming, formidable Queen of the Night, her accustomed ease apparent in what has become a signature role. Soraya Mafi, meanwhile, makes an exceptional role debut as a tenacious and principled Pamina: sung with thrilling assurance and swooning lyricism, she's a princess well worth trials by fire and ice. Fresh from last month's Love Life, bass-baritone Justin Hopkins is an icily charismatic Sarastro, labouring a little over his lowest notes but singing with appealing richness of tone elsewhere, and Andri Björn Róbertsson remains a towering Speaker in every sense. There are welcome returns, too, from chorus members Charlie Drummond, Katie Sharpe and Hazel Croft as a sassy trio of bewimpled, lightsaber-toting Ladies, and tenor Colin Judson as a grubbily lecherous Monostatos. And, best of all among the returnees are Emyr Wyn Jones's wildman Papageno and Pasquale Orchard's sparky Papagena: comic timing sharpened, and accents (Welsh and New Zealand respectively) gloriously intact, they're the double-act of dreams – and Jones's mellifluous baritone in particular seems to have gained depth even since September. One further debutant is arguably the making of this revival. In his first (and surely not last) appearance with the company, conductor Patrick Lange's fleet-footed tempi and knack for colour have the Orchestra of Opera North playing at the top of their game: a Magic Flute brimming with all the light and humanity which its final chorus proclaims. At the Grand theatre, Leeds, until 22 February. Then touring until 29 March.
