Early Music Review

Opera

By Andrew Benson-Wilson

"...Orlando is not the easiest of operas for any company to perform, so the artistic excellence of this production is the more remarkable..."

"...The staging (directed by Alessandro Talevi) also made extremely effective use of lighting, video projection, silhouettes, shadow puppets and two fetching lithe dancers.  Set-pieces like Dorinda's garden were very cleverly staged with a selection of 'plants on a stick', and Zoroastro's evocation of the heavens was stylishly accompanied by a space view of the earth..."

"...William Towers was a most impressive Orlando, combining outstanding singing with sensitive appraisal of Orlando's confusing state of mind, including, of course, the mad scene - for this I would forgive him any amount of vibrato, even substituted for trills..."

"...Christopher Ainslie (Medoro) was a gentler singer in volume and in use of vibrato, and constrasting his more sensitive role well against the knightly splendour of Orlando - very clever pairing of singers.  His moments with Angelica (Rebecca Ryan) were very convincing..."

"...Gary Cooper's direction of the small band was authoritative sensitive and musical..."

"...It was a joy and a priveledge to witness these young(ish) artists making sense of this complicated work with such accomplishment.  Although they are not dedicated to period opera, I hope they make frequent returns to early repertoire..."

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