Roman Arndt News
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2024-04-23
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2022-02-05 15:34:05
Femi Elufowoju jr’s imaginative reinvention of Verdi's Rigoletto features some strong, compelling performances
Verdi: Rigoletto - Sir Willard White, Callum Thorpe, Eric Greene, Roman Arndt, Themba Mvula - Opera North (Photo Clive Barda) Verdi Rigoletto; Eric Greene, Jasmine Habersham, Roman Arndt, dir: Femi Elofowoju jr, cond: Garry Walker; Opera North at the Grand Theatre Leeds Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 4 Feburary 2022 Star rating: 4.5 (★★★★½) Compelling performance bring Femi Elofowoju jr's remarkable contemporary re-invention of Rigoletto to lifeOstensibly, Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’amusesatirised the licentious court of King Francis I of France, but at the play’s 1832 premiere in Paris the authorities thought the subject close enough to home to ban it after one performance. Verdi’s opera Rigoletto uses the play as its source material, and he and librettist Francesco Maria Piave had similar problems when Rigoletto was premiered in Milan in 1851. Rigolettoshould disturb and should hold a mirror up to society. But how to do […]
2021-04-27 08:09:19
Opera North launches its 2021/22 season and looks forward to the completion of the new Howard Opera Centre
[…] Hansel and Gretel in 2017 [see my review]. American mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams sings Carmen with Canadian tenor Antoine Bélanger as Don José. The second new production is Verdi's Rigoletto directed by British Nigerian actor/director Femi Elufowoju Jr. in his operatic debut. Garry Walker conducts a cast including Eric Greene in the title role, [Greene sang Porgy in ENO's 2018 production of Gerswhin's Porgy and Bess, see our review] Sir Willard White as Monterone, Roman Arndt as the Duke of Mantua and Jasmine Habersham as Gilda. To complete the trio, there is a new production of Handel's Alcina, conducted by Laurence Cummings and directed by Tim Albery [whose production of Handel's Giulio Cesare was revived at Opera North in 2019, see my review], with Máire Flavin as Alcina, Fflur Wyn [last seen as Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio at Opera North, see my review] as Morgana and Patrick Terry [who we […]
2020-01-31 14:12:35
Wigmore Hall 2020/21
[…] clarinettist Martin Fröst, and baritone Florian Boesch, whilst pianist Graham Johnson will be giving a three concert A to Z of SongThere are Sunday afternoon recitals by the five finalists in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize: Chinese tenor Mingjie Lei, who took the Song Prize; Ukrainian baritone Andrei Kymach (who became 2019 Cardiff Singer of the World); South Korean soprano Sooyeon Lee; Welsh mezzo-soprano Angharad Lyddon; and Russian tenor Roman Arndt. There will be a special song project will be built around the theme of mental health and male suicide prevention.Partnership with Classic FM means that 25,000 £5 tickets are available to those under 35, whilst courtesy of the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust those under 25 enjoy free entry to selected events. The hall has so far produced 50 live streams, and these will continue during the season. In fact, John Gilhooly's announcement of the […]
2019-03-04 14:12:37
[…] Centre’, says David Jackson, artistic director of the competition. BBC Cardiff Singer of the World runs from 15-22 June 2019, and will be streamed live online, and broadcast on BBC TV and radio. List of singers: Guadalupe Barrientos (mezzo-soprano), Argentina Lauren Fagan (soprano), Australia Camila Titinger (soprano), Brazil Mingjie Lei (tenor), China Katie Bray (mezzo-soprano), England Adriana Gonzalez (soprano), Guatemala Jorge Espino (baritone), Mexico Badral Chuluunbaatar (baritone), Mongolia Luis Gomes (tenor), Portugal Roman Arndt (tenor), Russia Karina Kherunts (mezzo-soprano), Russia Yulia Mennibaeva (mezzo-soprano), Russia Owen Metsileng (tenor), South Africa Leonardo Lee (baritone), South Korea Sooyeon Lee (soprano), South Korea Lena Belkina (mezzo-soprano), Ukraine Andrei Kymach (baritone), Ukraine Patrick Guetti (bass), US Richard Ollarsaba (bass-baritone), US Angharad Lyddon (mezzo-soprano), Wales
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