Hackney Empire, London/Barbican
A gun-toting woman craves revenge in a gloriously tense European double-header in Hackney. Meanwhile Simon Rattle’s on a roll…
Secrets to hide. Secrets to discover. The two characters in Péter Eötvös’s one-act opera Senza Sangue have as many mysteries to unpack as their counterparts in its companion piece – Bartók’s venerable Bluebeard’s Castle. When put together they make an evening of dark, almost unbearable tension, easily outdoing cinema at its own game.
In a truly European collaboration, the international Armel Opera festival brought co-productions from Avignon and Metz to the Hackney Empire, along with the impressive Pannon Philharmonic from Hungary. The 70-piece orchestra was so large it filled the stalls, pushing the audience into the circles above. This gave a tremendous emphasis to the orchestral sound, sometimes at the expense of the singers, but thrillingly enhancing the drama inherent in both scores.
Source: Opera News from the UK Guardian
