Fred Billington News
British opera singer and actor
Commemorations 2024 (Birth: Fred Billington)
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- opera singer
Last update
2024-03-28
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2023-08-19 09:06:55
Royal Albert Hall, LondonFor its UK premiere, György Kurtág’s opera faced a challenge summoning the play’s claustrophobia in this venue, but performances and players were superbMichael Billington,
2022-01-22 09:29:54
[…] to the present day. This brought a new idea for the opera, creating an intense piece with three characters (so no compromises required), with a simple set, a single act and a single staging. The updated story combined interesting character development with practicality, and the advantage that the original is out of copyright! Laurie Slade has worked on other updated versions of Strindberg plays, most recently doing a new version of The Father [see Michael Billington's review in The Guardian], so Strindberg was fresh in his mind. Miss Julie has formed the source for previous operas including ones by William Alwyn (1905-1985) and Ned Rorem (born 1923). Though Joseph was aware of these earlier operas, he never heard them until after he had written Juliana. But there again, so many subjects have been done before, and Joseph feels that the updating of the story provides a new angle. Laurie Slade […]
2021-11-06 12:30:32
Coliseum; Kings Place, LondonThe ENO delights with a lavish staging of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera, while the conductor-less string group tackle Max Richter’s mesmerising take on Vivaldi Class assumptions, silly plots and merciless typecasting of women aside, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta never fails to deliver some pleasure. What never? Well hardly – no need to finish. You know the rest. WS Gilbert’s brilliant verbal ingenuity has weeviled its way into the language even if the origin is forgotten. Likewise, Sullivan’s tunes, once heard, are liable to tickle the brain for ever. The duo’s early HMS Pinafore (1878) offers a non-sagging two hours of catchy songs and choruses. English National Opera has chosen it as the first new production of the 2021/22 season. Bumping into the Guardian’s illustrious theatre critic emeritus Michael Billington in the interval, I was taken with his suggestion that there’s a life cycle to G&S […]
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