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Startlingly Effective
Purcell and Poulenc from Opera North,
reviewed by MIKE WHEELER
The last time Opera North staged Purcell's Dido and Aeneas it formed a double bill with Stravinsky's ballet of Russian wedding rituals, Les Noces. Aletta Collins was the director then, linking the two works mainly through sets and costumes. Her new take on Purcell's succinct masterpiece is paired this time (Theatre Royal, Nottingham UK, 22 March 2013) with Poulenc's La voix humaine, whose protagonist is also being abandoned by her lover.
Lesley Garrett, making her much-heralded return to opera, sang La voix humaine's only character, known simply as Elle, portraying her side of a phone conversation as she tries with increasing desperation to fend off the end of her relationship, with continual interruptions from crossed lines and being cut off...
Copyright © 29 March 2013
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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