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‘Hideous Love’ offered by Brio, opera ensemble
By Lindis Taylor, August 26, 2009
The success of the somewhat heterogeneous range of voices comprising the vocal ensemble Brio lies in their energy and histrionic flair and the plain delight they four take in what they undertake. On this occasion Roger Wilson replaced the ensemble's usual baritone Justin Pearce.
Acis and Galatea was given a semi-staged performance by New Zealand Opera a few years ago in... read more
The Yeomen of the Guard at the Opera House
By Lindis Taylor, August 14, 2009
The Yeomen of the Guard is often considered the one G & S comic opera that comes closest to being an ‘opera’; it is a case of a work in an essentially comic genre that ends sadly, with the jester losing his girl.
It becomes poignant because the jester, Jack Point, is sung with such feeling and conviction by Derek Miller; he has... read more
Handel’s Semele from NZ School of Music
By Lindis Taylor, July 23, 2009
Back in 2001 the Victoria University School of Music staged Semele. It was not this opera however, now produced by the New Zealand School of Music, but the version by John Eccles, the composer for whom Congreve actually wrote the libretto. As the programme notes record, Eccles’s setting was never performed and was not heard till April 1972, at... read more
L’Italiana in Algeri from the NBR New Zealand Opera
By Lindis Taylor, May 9, 2009
The first of the two staged productions from New Zealand Opera in 2009 made a hit of an opera that is not really in the top twenty, even in Italy.
NIMBY Opera triumph in Janáček opera
By Peter Mechen, March 27, 2009
This was my first experience of NIMBY Opera, so I didn’t really know what to expect regarding the company’s capabilities. I’d read about their previous productions – Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, and Lyell Cresswell’s Good Angel, Bad Angel, both of which had garnered some excellent reviews. Nevertheless, considering the size of the venue for Vixen it seemed as though a compromised operatic experience would be the order of... read more
Gianni Schicchi in Christchurch, starring Martin Snell and Anna Argyle
By Lindis Taylor, March 12, 2009
Gianni Schicchi is the third part of a trilogy (Il Trittico – Triptych) that Puccini wrote in 1918 and was first performed at the Met in New York in January 1919. It’s the one comedy in the group and the only real comedy that he wrote (
Trans-Atlantic: music theatre piece from Boutique Opera
By Lindis Taylor, February 28, 2009
New Zealand Opera School, Wanganui
By Lindis Taylor, January 12, 2009
Wanganui Spring Music Festival September 2008
By Lindis Taylor, September 12, 2008
This review may be belated but because a rather important initiative was largely ignored by the main media – my own paper, for instance, declined to print this review – here are my impressions of the inaugural Wanganui Spring Music Festival in September. It took place in one of New Zealand’s most charming old opera houses, a wooden building dating from 1899. Though its interior has been somewhat modified... read more
Themocracy