Richard Bratby

Handel as Netflix thriller: Royal Opera’s Theodora reviewed

Plus: raw, eye- and ear-popping entertainment courtesy of Vivaldi at the Linbury Theatre

Septimius (Ed Lyon), Valens (Gyula Orendt), Didymus (Jakub Józef Orlinski) and Theodora (Julia Bullock) in Royal Opera's Theodora. Image: © Camilla Greenwell 
issue 12 February 2022

The Royal Opera has come over all baroque. In the Linbury Theatre, they’re hosting Irish National Opera’s production of Vivaldi’s 1735 carnival opera Bajazet; unsurprisingly, its first appearance at Covent Garden. Upstairs in the big room, they’re doing Handel’s Theodora: premièred at Covent Garden in March 1750 and then ignored by the Royal Opera and its forebears for the next 272 years.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY A MONTH FREE
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Try a month of Britain’s best writing, absolutely free.

Comments

Join the debate, free for a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.

Already a subscriber? Log in