User Reviews

The Minotaur by Harrison Birtwistle was a completely new opera to me, and I have to say that I am so glad that I saw this production which introduced me to it because of the more contemporary operas I've heard and seen recently The Minotaur is up there among the better ones. It has an interesting story and Birtwistle's immediately distinctive music, modernist, sometimes dark and sometimes mellow, is really quite powerful. This production doesn't disappoint in any regard either. The production values are very evocatively rendered, what is done with the minotaur costume is a masterstroke, and the stage direction is both harrowing and imaginative. The production is filmed beautifully and the sound quality is clear also, doing nothing to undermine the music. That is the same as well with the orchestral playing, whose reading is sometimes spacious but always involved, advantaged further by the lively conducting of Antonio Reuter. The supporting cast are very good, notably Johann Reuter, but it is the two leads that really dominate and they are superb, making their taxing roles seem easy. Christine Rice is both voluptuous and compelling and in complete command of her vocal line. John Tomlinson as ever sings resonantly and he brings to the Minotaur the same power and authority he brought to Wotan, Golaud and Gurnemanz. Overall, operatic Greek mythology in most riveting form. 10/10 Bethany Cox