Thomas Oliemans reviews
Fauré: The Complete Songs, Vol. 3
Lorna Anderson, Isobel Buchanan, Janis Kelly, Louise Kemény, Sarah Connolly, Ann Murray, Iestyn Davies, John Chest, William Dazeley, Thomas Oliemans and Malcolm Martineau (Signum Classics)
Britten: Billy Budd
Jacques Imbrailo, Toby Spence, Brindley Sherratt et al; Chorus & Orchestra of Teatro Real de Madrid/Ivor Bolton; dir. Deborah Warner (Bel Air Classiques, DVD)
Mozart: The Magic Flute [DVD]
Freshness of vision, emotional openness, genuine ensemble theatricality, a robustly physical sense of adventure humorous and serious (but never portentous) by turns, and an underlying directorial trust in Mozart’s music: these qualities stay with me most strongly after two viewings of this DVD, among the most rewarding experiences of the opera I’ve had in nearly five decades of Magic Flute encounters.