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Reviews
17/09/2011
Two magnificent stories for the price of one
This production is a triumph for all concerned. Not to be missed....
Read full review29/08/2011
Cav & Pag double bill has much to delight eye and ear
For most people, including regular opera fans, the Cav & Pag double bill is more talked about than experienced....
Read full review24/03/2011
An Irresistible First
The NBR New Zealand Opera acted boldly in creating an eye-catching, bona fide musical production with a globally recognized costumier, two superb countertenors, the acclaimed baroque orchestra and bed...
Read full review23/03/2011
Superb Handel Opera
What an absolute privilege it was last week to hear in New Zealand this superbly performed Handel opera....
Read full review21/03/2011
HANDEL WITH CARE: a concert for Christchurch - Generous and rewarding
...the sound, built around the lutes, will linger long in the memory....
Read full review17/03/2011
Handel opera a rare treat for baroque fans
Lovers of baroque music should not miss this rare opportunity to see this too-often overlooked masterpiece....
Read full review17/03/2011
Sheer skill and enjoyment here
the production as a whole succeeds brilliantly, marvelously underpinned by the playing of the German early instrumental ensemble Lautten Compagney...
Read full review17/03/2011
Sublime blend of voices and orchestra
This staging delivers on many different levels, and is a sexy, humorous romp delivered at a cracking pace, and a joy to behold from start to finish. Don’t miss it – who knows when we’ll see another fu...
Read full review16/03/2011
Handel's Xerxes in Brilliant Period Orchestral Setting
This was a thoroughly enjoyable production. Handel’s marvellous long lines in the arias were outstandingly performed by singers and orchestra......
Read full review16/03/2011
Xerxes the perfect tonic
If you’re going to The NBR NZ Opera’s latest production of Handel’s Xerxes, you’re in for a treat. As I discovered at the opening night at the St James Theatre, Xerxes achieves that perfect mix of bea...
Read full review07/03/2011
Handel's Xerxes is a witty divertissement
Full marks to The NBR New Zealand Opera for lavishing care on the musical side of this Xerxes...
Read full review06/03/2011
Arts on Sunday Xerxes Review
Xerxes is reviewed by Heath Lees with Lynn Freeman on Radio NZ National's Arts on Sunday programme...
Read full review04/03/2011
Trelise Handels it
The premiere of George Friderich Handel’s 1738 opera, Xerxes, was one of those evenings when the stars in the ceiling of the Civic aligned and a perfect night out took place...
Read full review04/03/2011
Funny and Fabulous Production of the Highest Musical Integrity
I found this production to be a distinguished performance of the highest musical integrity, and it’s totally entertaining, and such a joy....
Read full review04/03/2011
Xerxes ‘Handel-ed’ at its best
Definitely a must see, especially if you’ve been teetering on wanting to experience opera and have never had the courage....
Read full review04/03/2011
Love wins through
Complications, misunderstood messages and finally resolution built up to a spectacular crescendo, leaving lovers of Handel in renewed awe of his musical genius....
Read full review03/03/2011
Arts Festival Review: Xerxes
Brave, stylish and historic... Xerxes deserves your support ...
Read full review03/03/2011
Auckland Tourism blog - Xerxes review
From the moment it started I was hooked....
Read full review12/10/2010
Great Theatre: A must-see
Like superb singing? Go see Macbeth. Enjoy intelligent directing? Go see Macbeth. Love dramatic music? Go see Macbeth. Appreciate atmospheric theatre design? Go... you’ve got the idea. ...
Read full review11/10/2010
Verdi's opera seen as superb theatre
It is indeed a triumph in performance, a spellbinding retelling of Shakespeare's much-loved tale...
Read full review11/10/2010
Message sung with stinging passion
served with singing of stinging passion and great precision...
Read full review09/10/2010
Macbeth triumphant in Wellington
This is one of the most arresting and brilliantly performed opera productions...
Read full review30/09/2010
Macbeth - a bloody tale of political mayhem
The opera sweeps along with fast paced action and vigorous music which provides an emotional framework for the grueling tale of murder and mayhem...
Read full review23/09/2010
Michele Kalmandi brings true Verdi style to Macbeth
Michele Kalmandi is outstanding as Macbeth. He has a true Verdi baritone with a warm burnished tone that is consistently beautiful and even throughout the range...
Read full review21/09/2010
Bloodshed in classic
The uninitiated may ask where the tartan and bagpipes are. But a new production of Macbeth is a dazzling surprise...
Read full review20/09/2010
Macbeth - an engrossing night at the theatre
Macbeth is the perfect opportunity for a new generation to get hooked on opera...
Read full review20/09/2010
Upbeat Review: Radio NZ Concert (podcast)
Eva Radich and Dean Sky Lucas review the opening night's performance of Verdi's Macbeth....
Read full review20/09/2010
Drama within the music gives a satisfying depth to the storytelling
The NBR New Zealand Opera is to be congratulated on bringing this lesser known work of Verdi to the NZ stage...
Read full review19/09/2010
Arts on Sunday interview + review: Radio NZ National (podcast)
Lynn Freeman meets one of the stars of The NBR New Zealand Opera production of Macbeth - soprano Morag Atchison, and the opera itself is reviewed by Kate Ward Smythe....
Read full review05/06/2010
Engrossing night of theatre makes the Marriage of Figaro unmissable
NBR New Zealand Opera's The Marriage of Figaro is as engrossing a night of theatre as one could wish for...
Read full review03/06/2010
The Marriage of Figaro
A fresh new production: genuinely funny, originally staged, and brilliantly acted...
Read full review01/06/2010
Sovereign Quality: Aidan Lang's The Marriage of Figaro
All in all a gorgeous, irrepressible production...
Read full review29/05/2010
Go Figaro
A triumphant production of one of the greatest of all operas. ...
Read full review21/05/2010
An opera Europeans would adore
Like last year's production of Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers, this is an exceptional production that sets new standards....
Read full review17/05/2010
The Marriage of Figaro
This thought-provoking, and stunningly realised production directed by New Zealand Opera's general director, Aidan Lang, is a benchmark for Mozart opera in New Zealand....
Read full review17/05/2010
Aidan Lang, take a bow! This is what opera is meant to be
As the smiling, buzzing audience poured out of the St James theatre on Saturday night, the question uppermost in this reviewer's mind was this: 'Why has Aidan Lang not directed an opera for his compan...
Read full review17/05/2010
Upbeat review, Radio NZ Concert (podcast)
Rachel Hyde reviews the opening night's performance of Mozart's, The Marriage of Figaro....
Read full review16/05/2010
Arts on Sunday review, Radio NZ National (podcast)
Dave Armstrong reviews New Zealand Opera's latest version of Mozart's, The Marriage of Figaro....
Read full review15/05/2010
Mozart, da Ponte and Figaro ride again
NBR New Zealand Opera's most recent production of the perennial favourite, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro looked and sounded splendid...
Read full review15/05/2010
A spirited yet somewhat muted performance
Mozart's perennial favourite, Le nozze di Figaro, returns to The NBR New Zealand Opera repertoire after an absence of eight years in an inventive new production...
Read full review21/10/2009
A standout production
The crowning accolade must surely go to Australian production designer, Genevieve Blanchett....
Read full review14/10/2009
Anna Leese Shines
This production cleverly and sensitively delivers exquisite intimacy within a whirl of social action....
Read full review12/10/2009
Eugene Onegin delivers on promise of excellence
Simply put, this is, surely, the most polished, most evenly cast production that New Zealand Opera has yet given us....
Read full review30/09/2009
Eugene Onegin review for Prima la musica
Alexander Polianichko, who worked wonders with Manon Lescaut here a couple of months ago and brought a similar brand of magic to Onegin....
Read full review22/09/2009
Anna Leese shines in Eugene Onegin
Singing the role of Tatyana was Anna Leese who brought a freshness and elegance to the role and a voice that was captivating and poignant....
Read full review22/09/2009
Masterpiece from a masterpiece
Patrick Nolan's new production for NBR New Zealand Opera is itself a masterpiece....
Read full review21/09/2009
Absorbing, Thrilling, Intimate, Vast
William Dazeley gives a well-rounded portrayal of Onegin, a social dandy whose self-awareness and humanity evolve too late to save him from being undone by love....
Read full review19/09/2009
An Onegin not to be missed
Yet the Australian director could catch our breath with the simplest touch such as a surge of dawn after Tatyana's Letter Scene, boosted by a magnificent Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra....
Read full review17/09/2009
Eugene Onegin, with simplicity and sincerity
Director, Patrick Nolan takes a traditional approach to the work that allows Pushkin's story to be told with exactly the right amount of simplicity and sincerity...
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