Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for Stefan Herheim’s production.
Culture Whisper: **** “Director Herheim thinks big, and scores more hits than misses with his torrent of ideas.”
The Stage: ** “Most of what intermittent dramatic tension or emotional engagement the evening has to offer comes from the pit, where conductor Antonio Pappano and the orchestra whip up the storm signally lacking on stage.”
Broadway World: * “With this extremely misguided attempt to explore the man behind the music, Stefan Herheim’s production violates the art of the composer in an anti-lyrical and oversaturated mishmash.”
Evening Standard: **** “With all the art/life parallels explored this is no ordinary Queen of Spades. Expect a wild card or two. But also an enthralling musico-dramatic experience.”
The Guardian: ** “Herheim’s approach is so all-absorbing that Tchaikovsky’s characters are turned into ciphers. It’s brilliant, but there’s a big hole at its centre.”
The Telegraph: ** “The Queen of Spades is catnip to the modern school of directors – it offers licence to go a bit crazy. Stefan Herheim’s production has taken full advantage of this, producing a staging so dotty and abstruse that the bewildered audience couldn’t even muster up the will to boo its pretensions.”
Bachtrack: *** “It seems staggeringly obvious to me that any work of art is an interaction between the creator and the created, and three hours was an awfully long time to be continually reminded of this.”
The Times: ** “If the show were consistently sung, it would be more recommendable, but while there are excellent performances there are also horrors.”
The Independent: *** “A near-definitive performance of this majestically beautiful score.”
MusicOMH: **** “Sir Antonio Pappano conducted a wonderful performance of the score, the orchestra playing for him as if their lives depended upon it, and bringing out every nuance of despair and drama in the music.”
The Queen of Spades continues to play at the Royal Opera House until the 1st February.To book tickets click here.