Rayfield Allied artists, conductor David Parry and baritone Phillip Rhodes (Scarpia) continue to receive outstanding reviews during their tour of The Netherlands with Nederlandse Reisopera.
“Under the direction of David Parry, the Orkest van het Oosten gives a sultry, rhythmically fine, well-done interpretation.”
Persis Bekkering, Volkskrant
“In Puccini's Tosca, a large part of the musical drama lies in the orchestra. You hear the aggressively teasing opening chords and you know: there will be trouble. Under the direction of conductor David Parry, the Orkest van het Oosten allows the tension that goes under your skin to become fierce with sharply drawn rhythmic motifs, virulent brass, impending percussion and smoky low wood.”
Joep Christenhusz, NRC ****
“It is because of ... the musical standard of this performance that it is rated with four stars in this review: The Orkest van het Oosten plays a great Puccini under the guidance of veteran David Parry: blazing where it should be, tender where it can. Parry knows how he needs to support his singers.”
Peter van der Lint, Trouw ****
“Parry creates beautiful dramatic moments, often through quietness and delaying.”
Jordi Kooiman, Place de l’Opera
“The Orkest van het Oosten, the stars of the evening, conducted by David Parry, developed a sound that was almost too perfect, and got the most out of all aspects of Puccini’s score. The solo passages were a treat and the accompaniment of the soloists could teach the big name orchestras a thing or two.”
Olivier Keegel, Opera Gazet ****
In the role of the Scarpia, baritone Phillip Rhodes impresses critics with his sinister performance:
Phillip Rhodes, master of the wickedly raised eyebrow, lets his baritone smolder with subtly mixed nasal timbres.
Joep Christenhusz, nrc.nl,
Phillip Rhodes did a very good job of Baron Scarpia, every inch a villain. Rhodes has a beautiful, dark voice with which he painted a perfect picture of the evil swindler with the character of a rotten medlar. His ‘Va, Tosca’ was lugubriously ominous.
Olivier Keegel, Opera Gazet ****
...above all Phillip Rhodes (Scarpia) who shows ultimate abuse of power. Beautifully sung, very convincingly acted and with great attention to detail perfectly directed.
Henri Drost, Theaterkrant
Phillip Rhodes is the ideal Scarpia...
Thea Derks
Click here to view the wonderful production photographs and learn more about this production. Performances of Tosca run until 13 November.
Image by Marco Borggreve
