✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Classical Music

L'Ange de Nisida review ★★★★★, Royal Opera House

18 Jul 18 – 21 Jul 18, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM

Thrilling world premiere after 180 years of a tragic opera by Donizetti

By Claudia Pritchard on 16/7/2018

Vito Priante and Joyce El-Khoury with conductor Sir Mark Elder in the world premiere of L'Ange de Nisida. Photo: Russell Duncan/Opera Rara, ROH
Vito Priante and Joyce El-Khoury with conductor Sir Mark Elder in the world premiere of L'Ange de Nisida. Photo: Russell Duncan/Opera Rara, ROH
L'Ange de Nisida review , Royal Opera House 5 L'Ange de Nisida review , Royal Opera House Claudia Pritchard
It always has a glamorous ring to it, a world premiere, but when the musical composition in question has been lost to audiences and performers alike for more than 170 years, the tingle of expectation is tangible as the conductor raises his baton.


At the Royal Opera House a year of repertoire and new work closes with a brilliant coda. Donizetti's L'Ange de Nisida, painstakingly constructed from an, at times, almost indecipherable score, was set aside in 1840 when the Théâtre de la Renaissance, overstretched in the busy and competitive Paris music and drama scene, went bust.


The prolific composer ploughed on apace – a cartoon of the day shows Donizetti writing a comedy with one hand and a tragic opera with the other – and repurposed some of the material of L'Ange into his tragedy La Favorite. Already a celebrated composer in Italy, success in Paris was now his goal, and French the language of his librettos.


The music scholar Candida Mantica has spent years piecing together the inky pages of Donizetti left behind, and the result is a revelation. One of the delights of L'Ange that did not transfer to La Favorite is a comic element supplied by the oily and bumptious aide to the King of Naples. This Don Gaspar belongs to a colourful dynasty of operatic fixers who run from Mozart's Leporello through Rossini's Figaro to Gilbert and Sullivan's many self-important high-ups.


In the first of two concert performances of this great discovery, Laurent Nouari's Gaspar is alone worth the price of admission, and every bass-baritone will want to put the hilarious 'Ma puissance n'est pas mince' in their recital programme. Aficionados may recognise in it some elements of the comedy Don Pasquale.


But future singers may not have the advantage of back-up from the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, rising to the occasion in this landmark event under conductor Sir Mark Elder, already a proven champion of neglected Donizetti works. From its first rousing birthday gallop and swelling anthems to Verdian conspiratorial whispers and monastic offstage devotions, the always reliable chorus is on terrific form.


Released from the pit and seated up on stage, the orchestra gets a rare showing, and responds with exhilarating playing and distinguished solo work.


We are accustomed to visually brilliant productions at Covent Garden, but when the music along does all the work, the rewards can be as great for singer and listener alike. As the king's mistress Silvia – the charitable 'angel' of the title – the soprano Joyce El-Khoury brings glamour, passion and poignancy to a many-layered role. Like Verdi's Violetta in La Traviata, for which El-Khoury has already made her name all over the world, including at Covent Garden and Glyndebourne, Silvia is torn between the life of a courtesan and true love but, on choosing the latter, loses her hold on life. El-Khoury's scintillating command of soaring and diving passages will be there for all to enjoy when this opera comes out on CD in 2019.


The Korean tenor David Junghoon Kim grew in the role of her lover Leone, but you could hope for better communication even in the context of a concert performance. There is great singing from Vito Priante as the king and Evgeny Stavinsky as the father superior. His pious presence prompts lines in at times comical English surtitles such as 'and what's worse, I thought I saw the monk nearby...', but it's the music that counts, and over three hours it never flags.


The question running through the mind of every engrossed member of the audience must have been: how did this slip through the net? To be hearing this opera for the first time is an event indeed. Catch it before it disappears, for now, at the second and last performance on Sat 21 July. And hope that Covent Garden will slate a full-scale production. Watch this space...


'L'Ange de Nisida' is sung in French with English surtitles. There is one more performance on 21 July. The opera is released on CD by Opera Rara in 2019
by Claudia Pritchard

What L'Ange de Nisida review , Royal Opera House
Where Royal Opera House, Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD | MAP
Nearest tube Covent Garden (underground)
When 18 Jul 18 – 21 Jul 18, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Price £7 - £100
Website Click here for more information and booking



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 13 - 15 May. Photo: Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche, showing as part of Village Screen Film Fest
Things to do in London this weekend: 13 - 15 May
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2022
The best new restaurants opening in May. Photo: Cavita
Best restaurant openings: London, May 2022

Editor's Picks

Joyce El-Khoury is renowned for singing Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. Photo: Fay Fox
Joyce El-Khoury interview: 'I had the worst stage fright you can imagine'
Barrie Kosky's stylish production of Bizet's Carmen returns to Covent Garden in November. Photo: Bill Cooper
Opera at Covent Garden 2018/19: Royal Opera House must-sees
Philip Glass's Akhnaten makes a welcome return to English National Opera in February 2019. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith
English National Opera 2018/19: from Puccini to 'Porgy and Bess'
Opera Holland Park reinvigorates the classics and brings forgotten works to light
Opera Holland Park 2019: classics and a discovery
BBC Proms 2018: Best Musicals and Opera
BBC Proms 2018: Best Musicals, Opera and Oratorio
Claudia Boyle as Mary Kelly leads the cast of Jack the Ripper. Photo: Frances Marshall
English National Opera 2018/19: book now for five new shows
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Petersham Nurseries, Covent Garden

    Two new Petersham Nurseries restaurants have opened in Covent Garden, and both are to die for. The Petersham offers lunch and dinner menus grounded in a slow food approach, while La Gaccia provides a more laid-back all-day affair.

    Read more...
    Book Map
  • Sushisamba, Covent Garden

    Housed at the Opera Terrace, within the central Market Building, Sushisamba comes to Covent Garden. This is its second location in London after opening at Heron tower in Liverpool street. Expect Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian fusion sushi and a truly unique culinary experience.

    Read more...
    Book Map
  • The Barbary

    The team behind Soho's Palomar bring exquisite modern Jerusalem feasting and ample atmosphere to Covent Garden . Voted as Time Out's top London restaurant in September 2017, The Barbary is inspired by the food and flavours that span the Atlantic Coast.

    Read more...
    Book Map

Royal Opera House

Donizetti

Joyce El-Khoury

You might like

  • Jennifer France as Zerbinetta is a true vaudevillian. Photo: Ali Wright

    Strauss's Ariadne Auf Naxos review ★★★★★, Opera Holland Park

  • Emma Bell is captivating in the title role of Vanessa. Photo:Tristram Kenton

    Vanessa review ★★★★★, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

  • The Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, playing Brünnhilde at Covent Garden, is famed for her Wagner roles. Photo: Michael Pöhn

    Die Walküre, Royal Opera House

  • Renaissance Genoa is richly re-created in 'Simon Boccanegra'. Photo: Clive Barda

    Simon Boccanegra review ★★★★★, Royal Opera House

  • Gaëlle Arquez takes the title role in Carmen at the Royal Opera House. Photo: Bill Cooper

    Carmen review ★★★★★, Royal Opera House

  • Hansel (Hanna Hipp) and Gretel (Jennifer Davis) turn on the Witch (Gerhard Siegel). Photo: Clive Barda

    Hansel and Gretel review ★★★★★, Royal Opera House



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×