Category Archives: Opera

Revisiting LILAV

After a break of a couple of years, it was a great pleasure to work with the cast of Lessons In Love And Violence again, under the baton of Sir George himself, on a piece that is very close to my heart. Having done about 40 fully-staged performances of Lessons, from Covent Garden to the Liceu in Barcelona, it was a challenge to be doing four concert performances of the piece, but a luxury to be with the wonderful Mahler Chamber Orchestra, for whom Written On Skin, George’s previous opera, was originally composed. Performances took place in Dortmund, Cologne, Essen and Brussels and were very well received!

The Indian Queen

Next week I will be travelling to Antwerp to perform Henry Purcell’s The Indian Queen, under the directorship of Guy Cassiers, with Emmanuelle Haïm conducting.

Here is a trailer from Opera Ballet Vlaanderen:

Charpentier: La descent d’Orphée en Enfers – Vache Baroque Festival

Boden negotiated the protagonist’s haute-contre utterances with seamless elegance and sensitivity … “
Opera, November 2022

Samuel Boden gave a mesmerising vocal performance in the title role … “
Opera Scene, 5 September 2022

Samuel Boden’s Orphée negotiates his aerial line … with unfailing elegance and sensitivity … “
The Stage, 5 September 2022

Samuel Boden plays Orphée… my how he can act.  His anguish at the death of Euridice is palpable; his disconsolation is abject as her body is carried off … Musically, the role of Orphée is demanding.   Charpentier calls for an haut-contre voice … Boden rises magnificently to this challenge, taking his tenor high without the slightest hint of strain yet with great strength, a timbre that has an enthralling and stirring effect.”
Mark Aspen, 4 September 2022

“Above all Samuel Boden sustains a soberly lyrical line in true haute-contre register, without any roughness, ensuring that musically the work remains squarely focused upon the title character.”
Classical source, 2 September 2022