<<  -- 3 --  Roderic Dunnett    DANCE OF DEATH

Susan Gorton's Countess is a marvel : her walk alone makes this a desert island performance; the gloriously quavering nostalgia aria that precedes her death is a wonderful, outrageous piece of indulgence by Tchaikovsky, verging on The Merry Widow, that works.

WNO's Russian-singing is top notch - evidence, perhaps, of the work of the outstanding Moscow repetiteur and language coach Luba Orfenova. Each of the women leads have at least one set piece, distinctively delivered - Polina's aria (Emma Selway) in Act I; the Governess (Sarah Pope); and Liza in all three acts. The duet between Liza and Polina which opens scene 2 is pure heaven, and so are the female choruses. And the men's chorus - especially the last scene mass merriment which offsets Herman's private assignation with death, is marvellously vital and on cue.

Continue >>