We left at the interval...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Monday November 22 2021 Conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev. Theodora: Lisette Oropesa. Irene: Joyce DiDonato. Septimius: Michael Spyres. Valens: John Chest. Didymus: Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian. Messenger: Massimo Lombardi. Orchestra and chorus: Il Pomo d'Oro.   Only the other day I was telling someone how much I still enjoy Johannes Somary's recordings of Händel, with what now seem 'old-school' Händelians like Sheila Armstrong, Felicity Palmer, Helen Watts and Robert Tear, and the harpsichord banging away like a Bösendorfer. But since then, over the years the 'HIP' movement has largely got us used (or should I say 'inured'?), in France at any rate, to a different kind of voice in pre-1760 opera, so to find Lisette Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato and Michael Spyres cast in Theodora now comes as a surprise, especially with a 'HIP' band like Il Pomo d'Oro. It seemed too good to be true, but true it was, so I bought tickets a...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Saturday October 10 2015 Conductor: William Christie. Production: Stephen Langridge. Choregraphy: Philippe Giraudeau. Sets and costumes: Alison Chitty. Lighting: Fabrice Kebour. Theodora: Katherine Watson. Irene: Stéphanie d’Oustrac. Didymus: Philippe Jaroussky. Septimius: Kresimir Spicer. Valens: Callum Thorpe. Les Arts Florissants. Händel An old friend of mine was too ill to go to the TCE for Theodora last night (hacking cough, like many in Paris at the moment - but people know Christie too well to dare hack their lungs out with him in the pit) and therefore asked for a report immediately after. As these e-mails or texts shot-off in the heat of the night while still abuzz from a show sum up one's main conclusions, I'll reproduce mine here: Have you heard this Katherine Watson? If not you must try to get back to the TCE. I see she was a choral scholar at Trinity (1) . That kind of background probably explains her degree of accompl...