Vicar’s delight
“It was… immediately clear that neither Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski nor French mezzo Sophie Koch were going to provide wildly enchanting interpretations of the Marschallin and Octavian…. But the most exciting element of the evening was the Sophie of the young British soprano Lucy Crowe, floating through the ecstasy of the Presentation of the Rose with silvery clarity and painting a totally plausible figure of a gauche, gold-digging minx. Here is an outstanding talent, and I only hope the Royal Opera will nurture it.” [The Telegraph]
One thing’s for sure, it’s about time that kitsch (in a bad way) Schlesinger production of Rosenkavalier was retired — and his equally overblown ROH Hoffmann. Relics of the 1980s at their worst.
Couldn’t agree more – but no-one at the ROH will be able to agree on what kind of new Rosenkavalier they want. A regie one which might make a splash for three weeks and possibly one revival, or something they can play for the next 25 years. That’s the problem the world’s Traditionshäuser have today…same at the Met, I imagine. judging by the howls of protest at the Bondy Tosca.
Why do you all seem to get so worked up about what Brit critics write about performances in London? Do you think we bother about Tommassini’s reviews of singers at the Met? If Fiend and Billingsgate set so much store by what London critics write, that’s hardly the critics’ fault, is it?
Lucy Crowe’s contributions to Minkowski’s new ODE(s) TO ST,. CECILIA set shows a clean- scrubbed voice with no seeming ability to inflect even English words with meaning. Classic Kirkbyfying.
Bring back Lililan Watson and Tessa Cahill!