Is anyone going to this?  I'm going on Thursday and I'm looking forward to it.  Apparently, the leading role will be sung by Paula Delligatti or Cynthia Lawrence, Cavaradossi will be either Joseph Wolverton or John Hudson and Scarpia either Peter Sidhom or Phillip Joll.  I have to confess that I've only heard of Peter Sidhom.

I believe that this production has been given at the Albert Hall before.  Did anyone see it?  If so, opinions would be welcome.

I remember Joll's early performances with the WNO - he took on some big Wagner (Wotan, Amfortas, Kurwenal - the latter two recorded under Goodall) at a relatively early age and it took something of a vocal toll - in particular he developed a rough, loose vibrato.  I haven't heard him for years but more recent reviews suggest a move into the Italian repertory, and considerable vocal recovery.  He always had presence and authority, so all of this augurs well for Scarpia.

I think the last run of the production must have been some years ago, as I don't recall it having been on in the eight or nine years since I have been in London.  I could be wrong, as I don't always take a lot of notice of these Gubbay things.

There have been a number of these productions: Boheme, Butterfly and Carmen have all been revived (and deserved to be); Aida and Cav & Pag have, I sincerely hope, been shelved for good.  They really do vary.  They are always amplified, sometimes well, sometimes not so well.

I am sure I saw Philip Joll at a WNO performance of Rigoletto in Bristol in about 1999, though I don't remember his performance in detail.

As for the cast alternation, I have always been quite irritated by the unwillingness of the Raymond Gubbay operation to announce which cast is which.  It's as if they think they're marketing only to people who don't go to much opera and won't care who they get as long as it's good.  They don't even tell the singers which nights are which until rehearsals are underway!  Fortunately I've got an acquaintance in Cast 2 (i.e. the latter name listed against each role on the Gubbay website) who has been able to enlighten me.  I can't see there being much difference in overall quality between Cast 1 and Cast 2.

Cast 1: 28/02, 01/03 mat, 02/03, 05/03, 07/03, 08/03 eve
Cast 2: 29/02, 01/03 eve, 04/03, 06/03, 08/03 mat, 09/03

I am aiming to get there to do a review on Friday next week (first night of second cast) but haven't actually got a ticket yet.

Oh, and one more thing - these shows are ALWAYS overpriced.  Lastminute.com was doing £10 off last time I looked, a few days ago.

That did occur to me, Ron

(Has anybody told him yet about Thomas Moser's non-appearance in the first night of Salome yesterday?)

Well, I never believed in biting my tongue on TOP - as the Moderators there had occasion to remind me   The quality of discussion there - not only Jim-m'lad but many others too - seems to have fallen-off severely,  with "lists of Top 10 Composers Of Whatever", "Music You Love To Hate", and a discussion in which Lionel Bart was seriously advanced as being "better than" Benjamin Britten