Michael Tanner

Entranced by Janacek

<strong>The Cunning Little Vixen<br /> </strong><em>Royal College of Music</em> <strong>Candide</strong><br /> <em>English National Opera</em><br /> <br type="_moz" />

issue 12 July 2008

The Cunning Little Vixen

Royal College of Music

Candide
English National Opera


Janacek’s wonderfully unsentimental and warm-hearted opera about animals and human beings and the relations between them turned out to be an inspired choice for the students of the Royal College of Music to stage at the Britten Theatre. Any self-proclaimed opera lover who doesn’t keep a close eye on what the colleges are doing is a fool, a snob or a liar, probably all three. It is often in the intimate settings of their theatres that one has the most enjoyable experiences, partly thanks to the proximity to the performers, partly because since none of them has to strain to produce enough noise they sound as if singing is their natural mode of communication.

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