Somewhere in the depths of Act IV, Verdi throws off the shackles that have kept this long opera off the boil for the preceding hours and allows a soprano and a tenor, supported by the tenderest orchestra of lightly sprung woodwind chords and a featherbed of strings beneath, to sing plainly about the dilemmas of being human. It is the kind of moment which opera is for, and it justifies a lot of waiting (though maybe not this much).There are more such moments, but this is an evening that doesn’t gel, less because of the quality of the piece (though it is a strange one by Verdi’s standards) than its presentation by the Royal Opera. A vast amount of artistic and musical effort, led with his customary fanatical attention to detail and passion by conductor Antonio Pappano and an orc
26 October 2013, The Tablet
Les Vêpres Siciliennes
Music
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