<<  -- 4 --  Roderic Dunnett    SUMMER OPERA REVIEWS

The high point of west country opera this summer was Dorset Opera's bold new production, seen in Sherborne and in one performance at London's Bloomsbury Theatre, of Salvator Rosa, by the Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes, who worked in Milan and was much admired by Verdi. With good reason, it seems, for the opera contains a clutch of superb lead roles, including Salvator himself (Fernando del Valle), the Neapolitan painter caught up in a revolt against the occupying Spanish, and Masaniello (Michael Gluecksmann), the fomenter of the revolt.

I have sung the praises of this production elsewhere (see 'Neapolitan Uprising', Music & Vision, 31 August 2000), but Dorset Opera's sheer professionalism surely deserves a high level of lottery and private funding. Special credit goes to music director Patrick Shelley for resolving many of the problems relating to the score, and - against all the heavy constraints of short rehearsal time - delivering a high quality reading; to costume coordinator Mary Mardell; and to the striking, economical sets and properties by the American designer C.David Higgins.

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