Ariane à Naxos

Some wonderful singing here--Sabine Devieilhe does a bang-up job with 'Grossmachtige Prinzessin', and Eric Cutler and Lise Davidsen add quality to the parts of Bacchus and Ariadne, but this is a visual disaster. The set looks like it cost all of 100 euros to build, the costumes are hopeless (what's with the electrified dress on Zerbinetta?) and the staging is beyond stupid: extras rushing about getting in each other's way, no attempt made to realize Ariadne's cave, and the latter delivering a baby halfway through the second act!?!

It's a real shame, because 2018 was the year Lise Davidsen won the Gramophone Young Artist of the year award, and this would have been a wonderful opportunity to see and hear this fine soprano in a challenging part. Sadly we'll have to wait a bit longer.