Category Opera

REVIEW: Prom 70: Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto

Reading Time: 2 minutesBBC's penultimate Prom at the Royal Albert Hall saw the pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii take on Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra led by Domingo Hindoyan. The programme was ambitious and greatly impressive; the concerto was exciting and filled the space of the hall - aurally but also its layered and varied sound took up the auditorium tonally and emotionally. Nobuyuki Tsujii, born blind, gained international recognition when he won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. His talent and technique is undoubtedly captivating to watch and to listen to.

REVIEW: La Cenerentola

Reading Time: 3 minutesDrawing inspiration from the classic fairy tale Cendrillon (or as most of us know it, Cinderella), La Cenerentola tells the tale of a young woman compelled to serve her cruel stepfather and unappreciative stepsisters as a lowly servant. Meanwhile, Prince Ramiro embarks on a quest to discover the most beautiful woman in the kingdom to be his future wife.

REVIEW: Noah’s Flood

Reading Time: 2 minutesNoah's Flood was similar to the biblical myth: through it, Benjamin Britten, the composer returned to a purer form of art, similar to the Chester Miracle plays from the 14th century when ordinary, untrained performers put together a show for their besotted ones. But the production, similar to the catastrophic event, suffered from a watery chaos of uninspired choices.