Press Comments 2011
Composed by Hector Berlioz, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, directed by John Copley (November 2011)
Observer: “A masterful Béatrice et Bénédict. Berlioz’s simplified version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing was given a Napoleonic makeover of immense charm and finesse... The production gave a platform for new talent: Samuel Furness, alternating with another rising star, Stuart Jackson, as Bénédict, Katie Bray as Béatrice, Gareth John as Claudio. Copley has directed 85 operas. He knows how to do it. Davis is one of the world’s Berlioz experts. For these students, and for all of us who love juicier operatic fare, this was luxury indeed.”
Spectator: “Nathalie Chalkley and Sarah Shorter were... exquisite... The Béatrice of Katie Bray was stunningly brilliant... and the Bénédict of Samuel Furness, with far fewer opportunities, made just as strong an impression. Thanks to Sir Colin, this was a sold-out short run, but any opera at the Academy is well worth seeing.”
Times: “Delectably performed... irresistably rumbustious... Katie Bray’s Béatrice is sparkily acted and warmly sung... In a piece teeming with delightful ensembles there is good singing all round. Beg for a return – it’s sold out.”
Boulezian (blog): “[Sir Colin Davis] inspired his young musicians, both singers and instrumentalists, to heights such as one could hardly have dared anticipate. The playing of the Royal Academy Sinfonia was characterful, beautifully articulated, and above all responsive to the tricky twists and turns of Berlioz’s inimitable, fantastical imagination... Onstage instrumental playing impressed too, not least the evocative guitar-playing of Benjamin Bruant... Royal Academy Opera is a draw in itself... Not a single member of the cast disappointed; indeed, each in his or her own way enthralled. Nicholas Crawley offered a sharply-etched, genuinely amusing, characterisation of Somarone... as beautifully sung as it was finely acted. Frederick Long impressed again, this time in the role of Don Pedro; he is fast emerging a versatile, highly-accomplished artist. Stuart Jackson and Rachel Kelly negotiated with aplomb the strenuous demands placed upon them in the title roles, whilst the stars of Jennifer France’s Héro and Ross Ramgobin’s Claudio shone brightly indeed, their lines both ardent yet elegantly shaped in fine Gallic fashion. The 16-strong chorus was outstanding: once again, this was a performance that would put to shame many of those one would encounter in the grandest of houses.”
Composed by Kurt Weill, conducted by Dominic Wheeler, directed by John Ramster (May 2011)
Opera Now: “I’ve rarely heard this music sound so good. Dominic Wheeler managed to decipher Weill’s score [and there was] a great judging of tempos and some properly cultured, atmospheric playing by the Royal Academy of Music Sinfonia in their guise of jazz-band. And the singing was perfectly pitched, with a star turn from Katie Bray as Polly and plenty more good work from Stephen Aviss's Macheath, Runette Botha, Johnny Herford and more. Director John Ramster had fun chucking every Brecht reference and technique into the mix. They should take this to the West End — no joke.”
Musical Pointers: “A terrific event... a great evening of music theatre which demands revival ASAP.”
Bachtrack: “The cast kept up a blistering speed throughout the evening, and their acting quality shone: every cast member gave us crisp, telling renderings of their characters...”
Composed by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, conducted by Jane Glover, directed by David Pountney (March 2011)
Watch our video documentary about the opera here
The New York Times: “[The] London singers threw themselves into the fray with an energy and a dynamism that outclassed anything seen on the stage of a British conservatory in living memory.”
Opera magazine: “One of the most exhilarating opera premieres I have attended... a coherent, powerful, poignant, poetic (and never preachy) stretch of music drama... Kommilitonen! makes no compromises but challenges young performers to new vocal and dramatic achievement... Inevitably, the evening was at times emotionally painful. It was also stirring, heroic, and, if the word does not seem too odd, entertaining.”
The Spectator: “I felt Kommilitonen! should be instantly committed to DVD, partly to show how appealing a new opera can be, partly as an advertisement for the superb establishment which mounted it.”
The Guardian (5 stars): “The Royal Academy of Music students under Jane Glover are remarkable... The chorus works tirelessly... Marcus Farnsworth as Meredith, Aoife Miskelly as the student Sophie Scholl and John-Owen Miley-Read as the Gestapo’s Grand Inquisitor all demand special mention.”
The Evening Standard (5 stars): “A bold and beautiful assertion of the transformative power of truth.”
The Daily Telegraph (blog): “A triumph... The narrative was clear, the structure strong, with several budget-conscious but impressively dramatic coups. And the result outclassed anything I’ve seen on a college stage in years, inspiring wonderful performances all round.”
The Financial Times (4 stars): “Imaginative... inspired... The music works with exemplary theatrical skill... The singing was consistently good... and the Royal Academy of Music Sinfonia under conductor Jane Glover gave its best in Maxwell Davies’s imaginative orchestral writing.”
Sunday Times: “Paul Driver is astounded by Peter Maxwell Davies’ brilliant opera about protest movements.”
Sunday Telegraph (5 stars): “A gripping new opera about – for once – something important.”
The Observer (Fiona Maddocks): “This bold adventure, a co-commission between the Royal Academy of Music and the Juilliard School, New York, has paid off...”
Independent on Sunday (Anna Picard): “Orchestrally, vocally, theatrically, the performance is a triumph.”
The Stage: “A punchy piece of theatre... Visually, this is a fine realisation, purposefully conducted by Jane Glover.”
The Times (4 stars): “Pountney’s staging and Robert Innes Hopkins’s designs match the libretto in ingenuity... a potent, thrilling night.”
The Daily Telegraph (3 stars): “Admirably effective and inventive... Jane Glover conducts a enthusiastic orchestra with aplomb.”
Daily Classical Music: “Taut, vitalised, provocative and mercilessly hard-hitting, it has the looks – and sounds – of a masterpiece. To call the Royal Academy’s staging of Kommilitonen! dazzling, forceful and thrilling would be an understatement. This was, both musically and visually, an evening of taut, edge-of-seat, almost aggressively hard-hitting drama, in which both the young singers and the college orchestra seemed to put not a foot wrong. The Academy’s team of vocal soloists had astonishing depth in quality: they proved universally impressive, the quality of their voice production and their commanding delivery hugely gratifying in an ensemble so young. The choruses, punchy and forthright, and in the later scenes poignantly ironic and haunting, excelled in like fashion. Every tricky instrumental detail — brass galore, subtly expressive woodwind, reliable strings, ostentatious or sly percussion — was delivered with unflinching assurance by an orchestra wholly unfazed by the challenges posed by an exciting, uncompromising and testing score. The enterprise was led and the entire farrago managed from the pit with inspiration, clarity and enormous forward drive by the conductor and the Academy’s current Director of Opera, Jane Glover.”
