Another week, another attempt to solve the Purcell problem. There’s a problem? Well, yes, if you consider that a composer universally agreed (on the strength of Dido and Aeneas) to be a great musical dramatist left only one stageable opera (that’d be Dido and Aeneas), but hour upon hour of theatre music that’s effectively unperformable
Soprano Anna Dennis is a compelling presence at the heart of David Pountney’s exuberant production – a collage of some 40 pieces of Purcell’s music. But it risks losing its serious message in the glories of the music
★★★☆☆Since it has a glorious array of songs and choruses by Henry Purcell, England’s greatest Restoration composer, you may wonder why you haven’t heard of Masq
Finally recovered from a string of illness, tenor Jonas Kaufmann rose from one of 62 neatly ordered hospital beds at the Park Avenue Armory to perform a collection of Schubert songs in “Doppleganger.” For 80 solid minutes, the spotlight shone on Kaufmann, whose voice was in fine form as he portrayed a wounded World War…