A Luxurious Feast ★★★★
Otello reviews
The Arts Desk ★★★★
Angels and demons
“At Grange Park Opera, the great Simon Keenlyside threatened at several points to overwhelm David Alden’s new production: a dominance rubbed in by his silent, watchful presence at the edges of the stage, even when he had no words to sing”
“In the second half, Llewellyn glowed and even burned. With a soul-searing Willow Song and Ave Maria, she managed to thin out that usually luscious, smoky and velvet-plush sound into a clear, pure beam of innocent sorrow”
Opera
Grange Park Opera has come of age
“A searing, magnificently conceived and gloriously sung Otello.”
“Hughes Jones made light of the role’s technical challenges, and his willingness to favour character above vocal beauty made a telling contrast with Elizabeth Llewellyn’s gorgeously sung, unendurably moving Desdemona.”
The Stage ★★★★
A luxurious feast
“Keenlyside’s burnished baritone is mesmerising, especially in Iago’s hate-filled credo and when he and Otello swear a blood pact of revenge against Desdemona and her alleged lover, Cassio (solidly portrayed by Elgan Llŷr Thomas). As Otello, Hughes Jones gives a full-bodied characterisation of a descent into madness. As his naïve bride Desdemona, Llewellyn is at her vocal and dramatic best in the tender Willow Song scene just before her death.”
i ★★★★
Otello
“Simon Keenlyside’s malignancy finds balance in Llewellyn’s quietly dignified Desdemona and Gwyn Hughes Jones’ Otello.”
This is a serious cast for a serious show; you’d struggle to find better in any major house”
The Telegraph ★★★
Simon Keenlyside’s sullen, sardonic Iago steals the show
“When delivered with the sullen, sardonic pleasure that Simon Keenlyside brings to the part, it is easy to forget that his scheme is based on something as flimsy as a handkerchief”
“Elizabeth Llewellyn’s Desdemona has superb top notes of unearthly directness and purity”
Music OMH ★★★
Otello: The green-eyed monster lives in West Horsley
“Simon Keenlyside’s Iago had been promoted as the star of the show, and so he proved to be. In excellent voice, his tone replete with menace or silky persuasion as required, this Iago was a malevolent presence who easily convinced his volatile superior.”