Page 180 - FINAL_Theatre of Sound Coverage Book

Perivolaris. AC’s words on the main event could equally well apply to its vital add-on: “this
confronting, intimate staging was everything fringe opera should be.”

Amen to more of that in 2022, and to the continuation of live performance by means of vaccine
passes and full masks for the audiences, as is happening here in Italy as I write. They should
have been introduced in the UK long ago; it’s the only way forward to avoid disaster for the arts.
And should there be yet more shutdowns, may our reluctant reversion to online viewing yield
more films as brilliant as that recently released by Irish National Opera of Gerald Barry's
disorienting whizz though both Alice books, a live highight of pre-lockdown 2020 at the Royal
Opera and now captured for posterity with another top cast. Looking forward to the irish genius's
very personal take on Wilde's Salome (susbtituting "type" for "dance", i'll say no more) later in
2022.

Read theartsdesk's choice of best classical music concerts in 2021

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