Sun and Sex in Sicily: Lighter touch needed in the hedonistic ‘Das Liebesverbot’ suggests Barry Millington

Review of Das Liebesverbot (concert perf.), conducted Negus, Cadogan Hall, London, 2015.

March 2016, Volume 10, Number 1, 62–3.

Wagner himself may or may not have approved, but the fact is that the bicentenary of 2013 has resulted in more opportunities than ever to experience the three early operas: Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot and Rienzi. All three were performed in that year notably by Leipzig Opera in conjunction with the Bayreuth Festival. They will reappear in Leipzig in May this year; meanwhile odd performances of all three have cropped up in various locations, including this concert performance of Das Liebesverbot by Chelsea Opera Group.