Roméo et Juliette - LSO/Gergiev - Barbican, 6 November 2013
Another night, another lacklustre crack at Berlioz from Valery Gergiev. The conductor's challenge in this episodic work is to respect the very different character of each individual section while knitting them together into a coherent whole. The unremitting loudness of Gergiev's account couldn't disguise its overall flabbiness, distinguished only by exceptional solo contributions from vocalists and winds.
Roméo et Juliette - Royal Opera House, 17 November 2010
Not much difference between the final performance of the Royal Opera House's Roméo et Juliette and the first, except for one big improvement - newcomer Maria Alejandres, who replaced the exciting but squally Nino Machaidze as Juliette.
Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) - Royal Opera House, 27 October 2010
Gentlemen of the chorus - if you're forced to don clinging tights, at least demand an Acosta-sized dance belt to sweeten the deal.
Nicolas Joël's 1994 production of Roméo et Juliette is medieval Verona as a French and Saunders sketch. It's been revived only once since - as a Gheorghiu/Alagna vehicle - but with no megastars to demand its resuscitation this time round, one has to wonder why the Royal Opera House dug it up. Devoid of psychological insight or dramatic impetus, it serves the opera poorly. Gounod's music does its best to sweep you up in the young lovers' disastrous passion; Joël simply has you sniggering at the number of knobbly knees and saggy y-fronts on display.
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