L’elisir d’amore
★★★★★
“Luscombe and his uniformly excellent cast understand that while comedy provides the surface appeal of Donizetti’s enduring piece, not far beneath lies an essential pathos”
George Hall, The Stage, 29 May
★★★★★
“As conductor, the excellent Chloe Rooke directed with all the verve, flexibility and passion the score demands. It goes without saying that the Philharmonia Orchestra were everything that international audiences have come to expect across the decades and that Garsington audiences have been privileged to enjoy for a good few years now”
Andrew Green, Opera Now, 29 May
★★★★
“There’s a core of tender feeling at the heart of the comic froth, and the performers draw it out with some subtle acting”
Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph, 29 May
★★★★
“In the opera’s hit number, Una furtiva lagrima, [Oleksiy Palchykov] … signed off with a beautiful pianissimo phrase that had the first night audience cooing”
Mark Pullinger, The Times, 29 May
★★★★
“Richard Burkhard ran the show as the quack Dulcamara, with a spring in his step and a twinkle in his eye”
David Karlin, Bachtrack, 29 May
The Queen of Spades
★★★★
“Jack Furness’s staging is something of a collector’s item among productions of The Queen of Spades”
Neil Fisher, The Times, 2 June
★★★★
“Musically, Tchaikovsky’s powerful score benefits from the infinitely varied colours drawn from the musicians of the Philharmonia Orchestra by Garsington’s artistic director, conductor Douglas Boyd: in particular, the dynamic range he summons up, from the softest pianissimo to the most overwhelming fortissimo, focuses attention on the extraordinary sound-world emanating from the pit.”
George Hall, The Stage, 30 May
★★★★
“This picturesque but fundamentally grim world is enlivened by the dancers in the ball scenes and above all by Garsington’s lavish 32-strong chorus, breathtakingly vigorous whether they’re playing eager gamblers round the gambling-table or the Countess’s chattering servants”
Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph, 30 May
★★★★
“Tchaikovsky’s brooding, melancholy masterpiece about an obsessive gambler comes chillingly to life”
Richard Fairman, Financial Times, 30 May
★★★★
“Aaron Cawley … has the just right type of voice for the role of Herman – plangent, intense, taut – and the right vocal weight, the voice forwardly placed”
Mark Pullinger, Opera Now, 30 May
★★★★
“This is an overwhelmingly convincing staging of a genuine music drama, and it will surely come to be seen as one of Garsington’s most notable milestones”
Martin Kettle, The Guardian, 30 May
★★★★
“The Queen of Spades contrasted the deceptive splendour of 18th century St Petersburg with the torment of the outsider in the person of Herman, presenting richly imagined scenes within which the characters played out their dreams and nightmares”
Roy Westbrook, Bachtrack, 31 May