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The most recent news from Helen Sykes Artists' Management.

English Touring Opera - Eugene Onegin - Spring 2012

Nicholas Lester as Eugene Onegin

"With an impeccably cast Onegin at its head, English Touring Opera’s production is a real tonic"

"Tchaikovsky’s story comes across truthfully, not least because the cast has at its head a Eugene Onegin so tall and imposing that he looks the part to perfection. Add to that a strong baritone voice and an ability to get to the chilly heart of Onegin’s character, and Nicholas Lester is near ideal casting. His final scene with Tatyana sets the sparks flying..."

Richard Fairman / Financial Times

“ …Nicholas Lester’s beautifully realised Onegin was rightly at the centre of attention, a figure drawn with subtlety and showing an understanding of exactly how to hold the audience’s interest….”

George Hall / Opera Now – May 2012

"…It was Nicholas Lester's tall, handsome, aloof Onegin who took the vocal honours in a role that retains a modicum of sympathy only if its singer, as here, is young. This was a performance of tremendous poise and confidence..."

Hugh Canning / Opera – May 2012

" . . .The first night of a revival of James Conway's 2007 ETO production of Eugene Onegin – still one of the best in recent years – was handsomely sung by Nicholas Lester . . ."

Anna Picard / The Independent

Some Highlights from Opera Magazine in 2011

Don Pasquale – Glyndebourne on Tour – George Hall

“…Jonathan Veira’s Pasquale was a complex, touching creation, delivered with a full complement of old buffo skills newly and convincingly minted. …”

La Bohème – Glyndebourne on Tour – Hugh Canning

“… Nicholas Lester’s Schaunard made a strong impression. …”

Rinaldo – Glyndebourne on Tour – Roger Parker

“…The principals, though, were a quartet of Handelian heroes and heroines: … Ana Maria Labin (Armida) who looked tremendous and sang with both agility and great musicianship…”

Street Scene – The Opera Group at The Young Vic – Amanda Holloway

“… Mrs Maurannt (a magnificent anguished Elena Ferrari)…”

Too Hot to Handel – Armonico Consort – The Warwick Arts Centre
Roderic Dunnett

“…Yvette Bonner, who was freed from little-girl roles to flower as a sophisticated , gorgeously full-bodied, engaging soprano. …”

BBC2, Sunday 19 June at 5.30 pm

Turn of the Screw - Arcola Theatre – Yehuda Shapiro

“… Sara Gonzalez Saavedra, a recent member of the National Opera Studio, who brought a distinctively Latin warmth and generosity to Mrs Grose. …”

Madam Butterfly – Mid Wales Opera Tour – Rian Evans

“ … Meeta Raval portrayed a Butterfly driven by her perceptions, distorted though they be: Raval took everything in her considerable vocal stride, articulating the words of Amanda Holden’s sensitive translation with the utmost clarity. By the final scene, the sense of a creature whose metamorphosis is fated and irreversible…”

Meeta Raval won a place in the Final of the BBC Cardiff singer of the World Competition

Congratulations to English Soprano MEETA RAVAL who won a place in the Final of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition 2011.