Latest news with #Garsington
Telegraph
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
What Tchaikovsky's darkest opera could teach Putin's Russia
It suited his political ideals, and allowed him to escape what he considered the frivolities and trivialities of most of the operas of Mozart and his contemporaries. The idea of justice was vital to Beethoven, and by telling this story so simply he never obscures the message. The Garsington cast is so uniformly excellent that it seems invidious to single individual members out for praise: but Sally Matthews is an entirely convincing Fidelio and Robert Murray was no less outstanding as Florestan. The production runs throughout July, and if you can find tickets you will not be disappointed. Sadly, Jack Furness's production at Garsington of The Queen of Spades has just ended, but was so impressive that the company would be mad to leave it for too long before reviving it. The 10th of Tchaikovsky's 11 operas, it is, along with Eugene Onegin, the only one frequently performed today. Like Onegin, it is based on a story by Pushkin that deals with the dire consequences of obsessive love – and neither opera ends well. Furness's direction contrasts the almost mindless and idle behaviour of the Russian upper classes of the 1770s with the desperately earnest obsession of the less-privileged Herman, the anti-hero and an outsider, for Lisa, the niece of a countess, who is engaged to be married to a prince. Herman dreams of having enough money to marry Lisa himself, and when he hears that the countess knows the three-card secret of how to win at the gaming table, he determines to get the secret out of her: but she drops dead as he is pestering her to tell him. However, she appears before him as an apparition – or at least he thinks she does, given by this stage we have come to realise he is clearly mad and he has earlier hallucinated about shooting Catherine the Great – and tells him the secret of the cards. He goes to the gaming table and on the first two cards, played as the ghost has told him, he wins a small fortune, which he then stakes on the third card, which he believes is the Ace of Spades: in fact it is the Queen, and he loses to his love rival the Prince, who thus exacts revenge. Herman shoots himself, though does so clumsily and dies slowly. Tchaikovsky would die within three years, apparently by suicide. The darkness in the opera is not unrelenting, but it is overbearing. Lisa, ironically, wanted Herman for himself, not for any money he might have, so misery is compounded by irony. And moments after Herman's death the gamblers are playing cards again, as if he had never existed. There is a metaphor there for Russia today, and the opera represented a time of cultural magnificence that, in that benighted country, now seems lost forever.
The Guardian
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rodelinda review – powerplay and pig's blood in thrillingly energised Handel
Handel's operas don't stage themselves. In her new production of Rodelinda for Garsington Opera, the director Ruth Knight has to grapple, like those before her, with the need to balance the tone, taking the story and its unlikely curveballs seriously enough to make us care, and yet finding enough levity to entertain. By and large she succeeds – but even if not everything we see on stage convinces, what we hear certainly does. The cast, led by Lucy Crowe's powerhouse Rodelinda and Tim Mead's gloriously rich-toned Bertarido, is first-rate, the playing of the English Concert thrillingly energised. Conducted by Peter Whelan, they support the singers yet never give the impression of holding back. Leslie Travers' set brings the bones of the Garsington Opera pavilion on to the stage, with the same steel beams and glass panels that are all around us creating two levels of playing area. At the top there are three groves of green trees, one for each of the royal siblings whose power plays, depicted in the busy overture, have led to the opera's starting point; all have turned to ash by Act three. It mostly works well, but can feel cramped, with the tallest dancer's head missing the girders by only inches. Those dancers are the usurper Grimoaldo's staff: a dozen or so creepy ninja-like attendants who move like snakes or birds. Sometimes they fight; more often they lurk, staring – a pack of velociraptors who are not quite hungry yet, but will be soon. Crowe's Rodelinda takes several of them down in her first rage aria, whirling her sword like Uma Thurman as the Bride, but in gold silk trousers rather than a yellow boiler suit; later she'll drink blood squeezed from a pig's heart before popping out high notes like little explosions. What with those attendants and this heroine – not to mention the deliciously devilish villainy of Grimoaldo's ambitious adviser Garibaldo, smoothly sung by the bass-baritone Brandon Cedel – the feeling of menace and high stakes is taken care of. As for the counterbalance, there are surprisingly generous touches of lightness, the best of which come courtesy of Ed Lyon's Grimoaldo, a perfectly judged portrayal full of lightly worn swagger and increasing self-pity, or from the Unulfo of the impressive young countertenor Hugh Cutting, a kind of friend to all sides who slouches amiably around, ciggie in hand; at the end there's a cute but superfluous suggestion that he's a guardian angel who's just earned his wings. Why Bertarido's disguise should be quite so comically sparkly and camp is anyone's guess, though, and it rather undermines the opera's hero. Still, perhaps that is Knight's point: often this opera can feel like it should be called Bertarido, but this time it's definitely Rodelinda who is centre stage. At Garsington Opera, Buckinghamshire, until 19 July
Telegraph
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Rodelinda, Garsington: Handel's great opera is bogged down by laboured symbolism
Handel's great 1725 opera Rodelinda is as confusing as any from the Baroque era, but underneath the shifting alliances there is a gripping elemental confrontation of two worlds. Inside the palace there is the captured Queen Rodelinda, who is heartbroken at the (apparent) death of her husband, and is fighting like a tiger to protect herself and her son from the usurper Grimoaldo who wants to marry her. Outside, living on berries and spring water, is her husband King Bertarido, helped by one faithful friend, and waiting impatiently for the right moment to strike back. It's a gift, but the director of Garsington's new production spurns it. Instead Ruth Knight foists on us a very odd three-fold directorial concept. Perched above the stage in Leslie Travers' design are three interconnected metal boxes through which the characters roam. These represent the three-way split of the Lombard kingdom, in turn forming the 'back story' of the opera that one finds it difficult to care about. Knight's decision to fill the boxes with symbolically flourishing greenery, progressively reduced to grey ashes by power and ambition, does little to help. That's one annoying thing about the production. The other is the troupe of 14 dancers clad in black clothing and wielding huge golden orbs and sceptres who hover and gesture menacingly or pleadingly around the characters, as if blown about by their outsize emotions. Gold is a big thing in this production: the usurper Grimoaldo is covered with it, making him look increasingly silly. Again, the not-very-surprising message appears to be: power and money corrupt. Half-hidden under this laboured symbolism were some humanly engaging performances. Lucy Crowe as Rodelinda heroically surmounted Handel's vertiginous leaps and runs, and by sheer force of character managed to wrong-foot the powerful, scheming males around her. It's a shame she wasn't in her best voice. Neither was Tim Mead as her husband Bertarido. It's a tricky role which needs a core of quietly suffering dignity if the exiled King isn't to come across as over-emotional and self-pitying – which is, disappointingly, how he seemed here. Ed Lyon tried to make Grimoaldo's eventual softening of heart seem convincing, but given his absurd outfit of green suit and gold laurel leaf it was hard to endow him with any real character. Many of the best performances were the minor ones. Brandon Cedel was an enjoyable parody of a chin-stroking villain as Grimoalda's two-faced ally Garibaldo. The most striking person vocally was Marvic Monreal as Bertarido's over-sexed, outrageously treacherous and yet somehow sympathetic sister Eduige, while countertenor Hugh Cutting as Bertarido's louche, chain-smoking friend Unolfo was by far the most interesting person dramatically. He came over as a Handelian Puck – entertainingly amoral and mischievous. On stage, this Rodelinda made for a bit of a curate's egg. But down in the orchestral pit, the English Concert and their musical director Peter Whelan brought Handel's fabulous score to life in a performance of surpassing rhythmic energy, richly dramatic colouring and heart-breaking lyrical grace.
Sky News
13-06-2025
- Sky News
Son who 'felt betrayed' is jailed after killing father in drunken row
A man who "felt betrayed by his father" has been jailed for nearly seven years after killing him in a drunken row. Oxford Crown Court heard Daniel Gonzalez, 41, had drunk half a litre of brandy before pushing past his elderly dad on the stairs, causing him to fall on 15 December 2024. Danny Robinson KC, prosecuting, said Matias Gonzalez, 79, had a long-standing heart condition and used a pacemaker. The court was told the retired car factory worker lost his balance and fell down the staircase at their home in the Garsington area of Oxford, suffering fatal head injuries from which he died in hospital. The prosecution said the incident involved a debt that the defendant was owed by another man. "He [Daniel Gonzalez] said he felt betrayed by his father as he had been looking for the man who owed him £1,500," Mr Robinson said. Daniel Gonzalez pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The court heard the defendant phoned the emergency services and told the call handler: "I tried to get down the stairs and pushed past him and he fell. I didn't push him down the stairs." He had previously launched drunken attacks against his father, but Matias Gonzalez had not supported a prosecution against his son. Mr Justice Dexter Dias jailed Daniel Gonzalez for six years and 10 months for manslaughter and told him he would serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being eligible for parole. During sentencing, the judge said the defendant "felt betrayed by his father" but had engaged in a "dangerous and reckless act" by pushing his father on the stairs. He also said there were "three [previous] incidents of domestic abuse" and described the pair as having a "difficult and dysfunctional relationship". "The defendant clearly has great difficulty in regulating and controlling his drinking. "This was a sudden, reckless act... I accept the defendant has to live with the knowledge that he killed his father," he said. Andrew Selby KC, defending, said: "It was difficult for Mr [Daniel] Gonzalez to accept that he was responsible for the death of his own father."
BBC News
13-06-2025
- BBC News
Garsington man jailed for 6 years for manslaughter of father
A man who admitted to the manslaughter of his 79-year-old father has been jailed for 6 years and 10 Gonzalez died in hospital two days after his son pushed past him at the top of the stairs of their home shortly after 22:00 GMT on 15 December after they had both been Gonzalez, 41, from Oxford Road in Garsington, Oxfordshire, called the emergency services and was found with his father's blood on his hands from trying to help him when they judge, Mr Justice Dexter Dias, told the court the case was "difficult and complex" and said remorse was "a mitigating factor". Oxford Crown Court had heard Gonzalez had drunk half a litre of brandy and pushed past his father on the stairs, causing him to fall."He said he felt betrayed by his father as he had been looking for the man who owed him £1,500," Mr Robinson then called the emergency services, telling the call handler: "I tried to get down the stairs and pushed past him and he fell."I didn't push him down the stairs."Gonzalez, of Oxford Road, Garsington, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter.A charge of murder was not proceeded with after the prosecution offered no Selby KC, defending, said Gonzalez was remorseful for his actions."Mr Gonzalez always accepted he pushed past his father. It was difficult for Mr Gonzalez to accept that he was responsible for the death of his own father," he said."That sense of responsibility and remorse will stay with him beyond the prison sentence he serves."The remorse is genuine." Prosecuting barrister Danny Robinson KC told the court Gonzales had sounded "intoxicated and distressed" on a call to the paramedics who found his father unconscious and "in a pool of blood". Gonzalez had blood on his hands from an attempt to assist his father Dias said Mr Gonzalez had been taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital but due to his injuries, "regrettably, there was no chance of recovery" and he had been pronounced dead on the morning of 17 had declined speaking to a nurse, stating "my life is pretty much over anyway".The court heard that he had told a prison officer on 19 December: "I'm happy with what I have done, happy to be in prison, there is nothing wrong with me."Justice Dias said the relationship between father and son had been "difficult and dysfunctional". "This was in my view, a flawed household," but added that it "must be remembered" the deceased "continued to give his son a roof over his head".He said he found remorse was "a mitigating factor" and that "one of the best indicators of remorse was that [Gonzalez] took immediate steps to seek help". Mr Gonzalez's other son Matthew, who is a building manager and lives in the US, was present for the a personal statement read by the prosecution, Mr Gonzalez said his brother had taken away his "best friend" and that that he had lost "everything to do with my family in England". You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
