Alexandra Oomens News
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2024-04-25
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2022-12-17 18:58:00
Gloriana, English National Opera, 8 December 2022
ColiseumQueen Elizabeth I – Christine Rice Robert Devereuz, Earl of Essex – Robert Murray Frances, Countess of Essex – Paula Murrihy Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy – Duncan RockPenelope, Lady Rich – Eleanor Dennis Sir Robert Cecil – Charles Rice Sir Walter Raleigh – David Soar Henry Cuffe – Alex Otterburn A Lady-in-Waiting – Alexandra Oomens The Recorder of Norwich, A Ballad Singer – Willard White A Housewife – Claire Barnett-Jones The Spirit of the Masque – Innocent MasukuRuth Knight (director)Sarah Bowern (costumes)Corinne Young (wigs, hair, make-up)Ian Jackson-French (lighting)Barbora Šenoltová (video)English National Opera Chorus (chorus director: Mark Biggins)Orchestra of the English National OperaMartyn Brabbins (conductor)Images (c) Nirah SanghaniFrances, Countess of Essex (Paula Murrihy), Queen Elizabeth I (Christine Rice)Britten’s Gloriana is a strange work, both in itself and considered as a ‘coronation opera’. It is no Clemenza di Tito, idealising, instructing, and even gently warning a king, at least in Mozart’s version, that […]
2022-04-01 07:11:11
Bringing the House Down: bass Brindley Sherratt on the gala at Glyndebourne for The Meath
Brindley Sherratt with his daughter Amy (Photo Colin Hart) In March 2020, I interviewed bass Brindley Sherratt in advance of a gala concert at Glyndebourne, Bringing the House Down, in aid of The Meath, a residential care home for people with complex epilepsy where Brindley's daughter, Amy lives. The pandemic caused the cancellation of the concert, but it is finally taking place. On 10 April 2022 Brindley Sherratt will be joined by Fleur Barron, Jennifer France, Elizabeth Llewellyn, Sally Mathews, Huw Montague Rendall, Rachel Nicholls, Alexandra Oomens, Mark Padmore CBE, Brindley Sherratt, Nicky Spence and Freddie De Tommaso. The singers will be accompanied by pianists Matthew Fletcher and Caroline Jaya Ratnam, Chris Addison will compère and the pledge-master will be Adrian Biddell. The singers will perform popular arias and ensembles from opera and musicals and there will be a short screening of a film of The Meath […]
2022-02-25 19:38:00
Coliseum Images: Clive Barda Forester – Lester Lynch Vixen – Sally Matthews Forester’s Wife, Owl – Madeleine Shaw Schoolmaster, Mosquito – Alan Oke Priest, Badger – Clive Bayley Poacher – Ossian Huskinson Innkeeper, Cock – John Findon Fox – Pumeza Matshikiza Innkeeper’s Wife, Chief Hen – Gweneth Ann Rand Dog – Claire Barnett Jones Pepík, Woodpecker – Alexandra Oomens Frantík, Jay – Ffion Edwards Harašta – Ossian Huskinson Dragonfly – Joy Constantinides Frog – Robert Berry-Roe Cricket – Ethan James Grasshopper – Kavya Kutsa Jamie Manton (director) Tom Scutt (designs) Lucy Carter (lighting) Jenny Ogilvie (movement) Children’s Chorus (chorus director: Patrick Barett) Chorus of the English National Opera (chorus director: Mark Biggins) Orchestra of the English National Opera Martyn Brabbins (conductor) Failure to love the operas—more generally, the music—of Janáček would be a strange, soulless thing indeed. It seems more to be opera companies, strange, incomprehensible entities, than […]
2022-02-23 09:51:49
The cycle of life: Jamie Manton's new production of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen at English National Opera
[…] Oke as the Mosquito, Bayley as the Badger, Findon as the Cock and Rand as the Chief Hen, were glorious characters, fully coloured and animated as if the animal world were more alive than the human one. A fact emphasised by the human characters' costumes being drably coloured. And Rand in particular seemed to be having great fun as the hen! Claire Barnett-Jones was a delight as the abstract dog, whilst Ffion Edwards and Alexandra Oomens contributed a pair of nasty children, plus a stylish Woodpecker and Jay. Madeleine Shaw was the dour Forester's wife and similarly stylish Owl. Janacek: The Cunning Little Vixen - John Findon and the Hens - ENO (Photo Clive Barda) In the pit, Martyn Brabbins drew lush sounds from the ENO Orchestra, bringing out rich tapestries of sound. Brabbins' speeds were perhaps on the moderate side, as he drew out the […]
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