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Donizetti's Mary StuartOpera North, Grand Theatre, Leeds, July 2010 and then touring.Photographs by Bill Cooper, provided courtesy of Opera North.
The TeamMary Stuart - Sarah Connolly Elizabeth - Antonia Cifrone Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester - Bülent Bezduz Sir William Cecil - David Kempster George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury - Frédéric Bourreau Hannah Kennedy - Michelle Walton
Conductor - Guido Johannes Rumstadt Director - Antony McDonald Set & Costume Designer - Antony McDonald Lighting Designer - Lucy Carter
Geoffrey Mogridge, The Ilkley Gazette, June 17, 2010, wrote of "an absorbing, fluid production and well worth experiencing not only for Connolly’s magnificence in the title role, although the evening inevitably belongs to her". Anna Picard in The Independent on Sunday, June 13, 2010 was also quite positive rather unusually singling out "the lighting (by Lucy Carter) thrilling at Connolly's exit". However, although Rupert Christiansen in the Daily Telegraph, June 7, 2010 praised Connolly's Mary, singling out her "bringing the magnificent finale to a thrilling vocal and emotional climax", elsewhere he was rather less enthusiastic, finding the "staging and designs [] woefully inept". Rod McPhee, The Yorkshire Post, June 10, 2010, also found himself, by the second half, longing for some major variation in the stage set but overall he found it "an absolute corker of an opera" , whose real credit "rests with Donizetti". On the other hand, Andrew Clark in the Financial Times, June 8, 2010 wrote of an "exquisite staging" and after general praise for the singers concluded that "it’s another of Opera North’s strong company performances, stylishly conducted by Guido Johannes Rumstadt".
Elizabeth
Mary and Elizabeth
Mary
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Page initially published in 2010