Richard Bratby

Electrifying: the Grange Festival’s Queen of Spades reviewed

Plus: an exemplary cast tries to make sense of Ariadne auf Naxos, and Jonas Kaufmann dials it down in Werther

Ilya Kutuykhin scored a rare mid-show ovation as Prince Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades – and deserved it. Photo: © Craig Fuller / The Grange Festival 
issue 01 July 2023

In opera, as in so much high-budget entertainment, expectation management is half the battle. With its massive Greek Revival mansion, approached through miles of rolling parkland, The Grange Festival has the grandest setting of any of the summer festivals; and that might have something to do with why the opera served up there has so often felt less than overwhelming.

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