Richard Bratby

Close to perfection: Opera North’s The Cunning Little Vixen reviewed

Plus: Opera North's Tosca revival contained a ‘Vissi d’arte’ that has rarely sounded less sweet – and I mean that as a compliment

Sunbeam soprano: Elin Pritchard in David Pountney’s The Cunning Little Vixen, now in its 43rd year. Credit: Tristram Kenton  
issue 11 February 2023
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  • The Cunning Little Vixen

    Grand Theatre, Leeds, in rep until 4 March, then touring until 31 March

  • Tosca

    Grand Theatre, Leeds, in rep until 4 March, then touring until 1 April

Opera North has begun 2023 with a couple of big revivals, and it’s always rewarding to call in on these things and see how they’re holding up. The long-lived, endlessly revived classic production is one of the quirks of operatic culture. It actually feels disconcerting, as a regular operagoer, to go to the conventional theatre (you know, the vanilla kind where they don’t sing) and discover that they’ve started again from scratch.

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