EUGENE ONEGIN. TCHAIKOVSKY. HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA.
★★★★★ HAM & HIGH
“THIS GLORIOUS PRODUCTION OF TCHAIKOVSKY’S MASTERPIECE EUGENE ONEGIN WILL DO MUCH TO BURNISH HGO’S ALREADY GLITTERING REPUTATION FOR NURTURING YOUNG TALENT.”
“DIRECTOR ELEANOR BURKE HAS, INSPIRATIONALLY, TRANSPOSED THE STORY TO THE 80S AND EARLY 90S.”
★★★★★ THE SPECTATOR
“THRILLINGLY DIRECT”
“ELEANOR BURKE’S STAGING WAS UPFRONT AND RAW, PLACING THE ACTION AMID VODKA-SWILLING NORTH LONDON TEENS AND IN DOING SO, HONOURING TCHAIKOVSKY’S OWN WISH THAT ONEGIN SHOULD BE AN OPERA FOR, AS WELL AS ABOUT, THE YOUNG.”
“IT WAS THE SORT OF NIGHT THAT MADE YOU WANT TO GO OUT AND DRAG IN AN OPERA-SCEPTIC, JUST TO WATCH THEIR PREJUDICES BEING BLASTED AWAY AT STORM FORCE.”
★★★★★ SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL
“HGO’S NEW EUGENE ONEGIN IS NOT ONLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PRODUCTIONS I HAVE SEEN YET FROM THE COMPANY; IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE OF THE WORK I HAVE SEEN FOR QUITE SOME TIME TOO.“
“THE STRONG DIRECTION GIVES THE OVERT DRAMA A NEW LEASE OF LIFE AND ONE BELIEVES IN THESE CHARACTERS AS THEMSELVES, LENSKY AND OLGA AS MUCH AS ONEGIN AND TATIANA, THE TROUBLED COMMUNITY IN WHICH THEY GROW UP TOO, DIFFERENT CHARACTERS SKETCHED INTRIGUINGLY, BECOMING A CHORUS WHEN CALLED UPON, YET CLEARLY HAVING LIVES, PROBLEMS, AND PERSONALITIES OF THEIR OWN.”
“CLEARLY A CONSEQUENCE OF DEDICATED, INTENSIVE COLLABORATION, ALL WAS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS CONSIDERABLE PARTS. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.”
★★★★ PLAYS TO SEE
”IN THIS IMAGINATIVE VERSION DIRECTED BY ELEANOR BURKE FOR THE ADMIRABLE HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA (HGO) THE SETTING IS SHIFTED TO THE PRESENT DAY AND THE CONTRAST BETWEEN COUNTRY SIMPLICITY AND CITY SOPHISTICATION IS SHOWN IN A DIFFERENT BUT EFFECTIVE WAY.“
”THE TORMENTED DUET BETWEEN TATYANA AND ONEGIN AT THE CLIMAX OF THE OPERA WAS ALL ONE COULD HAVE WANTED…ANOTHER REAL ACHIEVEMENT FOR HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA AND ITS YOUNG PERFORMERS.”
★★★★ OPERALOGUE
“NOTHING PREPARED ME FOR THE QUALITY OF…THE RECENT PRODUCTION OF TCHAIKOVSKY’S EUGENE ONEGIN.”
LARMES DE COUTEAU. MARTINŮ. ROYAL OPERA HOUSE.
THE TIMES
“I DOUBT I WILL BE THE ONLY PERSON TO COME OUT OF THIS DOUBLE BILL WITH A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE…SUCH IS THE LIGHT TOUCH, MISCHIEVOUS ENERGY AND SHEER VISUAL INVENTIVENESS”
★★★★ THE GUARDIAN
“THE MIRACLE OF THIS DOUBLE BILL FROM THE ROYAL OPERA’S JETTE PARKER ARTISTS WAS HOW INTENSELY GRIPPING IT WAS”
★★★★ THE OBSERVER
“NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE SKILL NEEDED TO FRAME THE IRREGULAR, TO MAKE ELEGANT THAT WHICH IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE WHILE KEEPING ANARCHY INTACT. THE LINBURY THEATRE’S DOUBLE BILL OF TWO DADA-ESQUE CHAMBER OPERAS HAS DONE JUST THAT”
★★★★ THE STAGE
“DELIGHTFULLY REALISED…BOTH STAGINGS LOOK A TREAT”
AT THE STATUE OF VENUS/LA VOIX HUMAINE. HEGGIE/POULENC. GREEN OPERA.
★★★★ OPERA MAGAZINE
LA VOIX HUMAINE – “BURKE’S PARED-BACK STAGING WAS EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE”
★★★★ PLAYS TO SEE
“BOTH WORKS ARE BEAUTIFULLY ASSEMBLED AND STRIKE SPARKS OFF ONE ANOTHER”
“THE SWITCHBACK OF PASSIONATE LOVE, ANGER, REGRET, SELF-HATRED AND LOSS OF SELF-RESPECT IS PRESENTED WITH GRUESOME PLAUSIBILITY”
“IT IS A FINE DIRECTORIAL TOUCH BY ELEANOR BURKE TO MAKE ‘ELLE’ PREGNANT, THUS GIVING US AND THE PERFORMER A READY MEANS TO UNDERSTAND THE EXTENT AND FIERCENESS OF HER DESPERATION, EVEN FROM THE OUTSET OF THE CALL.”
★★★★ THE STAGE
“LUCID AND ABSORBINGLY RICH”
AT THE STATUE OF VENUS “RIDES THE WAVE OF THE QUICK-CUTTING THOUGHTS: THE SELF-DOUBT, THE AWKWARDNESS AND ALSO THE FLASHES OF HUMOUR”
LA VOIX HUMAINE – “UTTERLY COMMANDING”
“IT ALL LEADS TO A CLIMAX IN WHICH THE PAIN OF LOSS IS OVERLAID WITH THAT OF CONTRACTIONS. IS THIS A LOSS AND A BIRTH, OR A DOUBLE LOSS?”
555: VERLAINE EN PRISON. ELEANOR BURKE.
OPERA TODAY
“A TENDER AND TROUBLED PORTRAIT OF POETIC PROFUNDITY”
“REAPED HUGE EMOTIONAL AND DRAMATIC REWARDS”
★★★★★ OPERA MAGAZINE
“NO PRAISE IS HIGH ENOUGH”
“GONZALES HELD THE AUDITORIUM IN THRALL THROUGHOUT AN HOUR IN WHICH HIS PHYSICAL ACTING WAS AS INTENSE AS HIS SINGING.”
“[VERLAINE’S] UGLY CHARACTER’S DETERIORATION WAS SWEATILY CONVINCING YET SO IMPROBABLY MOVING THAT ONLY AFTERWARDS DID I FEEL GUILTY FOR EMPATHIZING WITH AN ABUSER.”
“IT WAS AN AWARD-WORTHY ACHIEVEMENT TUCKED AWAY IN A DIM CORNER OF THE LONDON SEASON.”
★★★★★ PLAYS TO SEE
“LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALEZ…HAS A STILLNESS THAT DOMINATES THE STAGE OF THE ARCOLA STUDIO. HIS VOICE IS EXPRESSIVE – RANGING FROM SERENE BEAUTY TO HARSH DESPAIR”
“THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN VOICES AND PIANO IS FINELY JUDGED AND THE PERFORMANCES REACH HIGH STANDARDS OF EXPRESSIVE BEAUTY.”
“ANNA SIDERIS AND PIANIST STELLA MARIE LORENZ ARE ENTIRELY IN TUNE WITH THE MOOD AND SHAPE OF THE PIECE.”
EVERYTHING THEATRE
“IT SUCCEEDS IN CREATING A HAUNTING, POETIC ATMOSPHERE THAT CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF HIS ARTISTIC SPIRIT. FOR LOVERS OF FRENCH POETRY AND MUSIC, THIS PRODUCTION PROVIDES A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE VERLAINE’S WORDS BROUGHT TO LIFE IN A TRULY IMMERSIVE WAY.”
“THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN SIDERIS, WHO SKILFULLY PORTRAYS ALL SIDE CHARACTERS, AND GONZALEZ IS A STANDOUT ELEMENT OF THE PRODUCTION. THEIR SYNERGY IS PALPABLE, CONVEYED THROUGH BOTH SIDERIS’ NUANCED ACTING AND GONZALEZ’S EMOTIVE SINGING.”
“ALONGSIDE PIANIST STELLA MARIE LORENZ, HE [LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALEZ] DELIVERS A SERIES OF NUANCED, CAPTIVATING PERFORMANCES THAT BRING VERLAINE’S POETRY TO LIFE.”
PLANET HUGILL
“A SUBTLE DEPICTION OF A COMPLEX MAN”
“THIS WAS AN ENCHANTING EVENING IN THE THEATRE, WITH THE THREE PERFORMERS ALL BEING MESMERISING IN THEIR OWN PARTICULAR WAY.”
MARK ASPEN REVIEWS
“ELEANOR BURKE’S DIRECTION IS SUBTLE AND EFFECTIVE.”
“WE HAVE SOME GLORIOUS SINGING FROM COUNTERTENOR LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALEZ…HE ENTRANCES WITH HIS LONG BEAUTIFULLY SUSTAINED HIGH NOTES AT THE END OF THE SENSUOUS PHRASES. THIS IS JUST GORGEOUS.”
A YOUNG(ISH) PERSPECTIVE
“THE USE OF COUNTERTENOR SEEMS TO FOCUS ON [VERLAINE’S] INTOXICATING AND ETHEREAL FRAGILITY THAT GOES HAND IN HAND WITH HIS OWN POETRY.”
FRINGE REVIEW
“THE WRITERS ELEANOR BURKE AND LOGAN LOPEZ GONZALES HAVE CREATED AN INSIGHTFUL WORK ABOUT VERLAINE’S LIFE.”
“LOPEZ GONZALES RISES TO GREAT DRAMA WITH VERY INTENSE MOMENTS BRINGING ABOUT A REAL CLIMAX OF THE STORY.”
“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED”
LONDON PUB THEATRES MAGAZINE
“A FASCINATING STORY OF LOVE, PASSION, AND VIOLENCE’”
“THRILLING”
“THE STAGECRAFT OF THIS PRODUCTION WAS A HIGHLIGHT THROUGHOUT, SUCCESSFULLY CONVEYING, AND EVOKING, THE EMOTIONAL WEIGHT OF EACH SCENE.”
THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN. JANÁČEK. HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA.
★★★★ HAM & HIGH
“‘MAGICAL’ IS A WORD MUCH OVERUSED BY THE PEOPLE WHO WRITE THE BLURBS FOR OPERAS – BUT IN THE CASE OF HGO’S LATEST PRODUCTION AT NEWLY REFURBISHED JACKSON’S LANE, IT'S MERITED.”
“....RISING STAR DIRECTOR ELEANOR BURKE’S, ENCHANTING PRODUCTION”
★★★★ THE STAGE “DELIGHTFUL”
“BURKE’S PRODUCTION COMMUNICATES BOTH THE CHILDISH LIGHT-HEARTEDNESS AND THE COMPLEX MATURITY OF JANÁČEK’S OPERA WITH FLAIR AND CONVICTION.”
★★★★ PLAYS TO SEE
“THIS SPLENDID PRODUCTION BY ELEANOR BURKE FOR HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA IS CERTAINLY DELIGHTFUL AND CAPTURES THE LIVES OF THE WOODLAND CREATURES WITH VERVE AND JOY”.
BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE. BARTÓK. GREEN OPERA.
★★★★★ BRITISHTHEATRE.COM
“THIS PRODUCTION THOROUGHLY WON ME OVER TO A CHAMBER-SCALE PERFORMANCE OF THE WORK – IT ENHANCES THE DRAMA BY DRAWING YOU IN, WHILE LOSING LITTLE RESONANCE IN THE REDUCTION OF ORCHESTRAL SCALE.”
“WE LEFT WITH LOTS TO THINK ABOUT AND THE MEMORY OF A RIGOROUS, TECHNICALLY IMPRESSIVE, AND DEMANDING PERFORMANCE – IN THE BEST SENSE.”
★★★★ PLAYS TO SEE
“IN THIS FINE VERSION – PRESENTED BY GREEN OPERA FOR THE GRIMEBORN FESTIVAL – THE CLAUSTROPHOBIC STUDIO AT THE ARCOLA PROVES TO BE AN IDEAL SPACE TO INTENSIFY THE LOOMING SENSE OF DOOM THAT BUILDS THROUGH THE OPERA”.