Word: hemsley
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...face the play unfolds. Occasionally Ponnelle overstyles that drama: Idomeneo (skillfully interpreted by Swiss-born Tenor Eric Tappy) and the court freeze their poses, while Ilia laments the apparent loss of Idamante. But such effects are redeemed by the cast-and by the brilliantly inventive lighting. In Gilbert Hemsley, Ponnelle has the best lighting designer in American opera. Hemsley paints on Ponnelle's single set as though it were a blank canvas, creating reality out of apparition and believability out of legend. That is, of course, what opera is all about...
...religions, and in its juxtaposition of war and idyllic love scenes, Montezuma is a powerful statement about the human condition that calls for astute judgment and courageous imagination. This Caldwell has provided, with astonishingly flexible sets (by Helen Pond and Herbert Senn) and bold lighting effects (by Gilbert Hemsley) that the Aztec sun gods might have admired. On the musical side, Boston's impresario/director/ conductor has assembled the shiniest of casts, notably Tenor Richard Lewis as Montezuma and Soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson as Malinche, the princess turned slave...
...something of a peak, too. The audience let loose repeated barrages of bravos, shouts and applause. Even Andy Warhol was seen to touch palm to palm. The Bolshoi stars were surprised and somewhat unnerved. "They didn't know who to send out first for curtain calls," said Gilbert Hemsley, a production supervisor for Hurok Concerts, which arranged the Bolshoi visit...
...current production is a visual delight throughout. Lloyd Burlingame has devised a versatile megalithic set of steps and blocks that are easily moved on rollers, and has designed a handsome wardrobe of costumes. Gilbert Hemsley has provided beautiful lighting without being fussy; and Herman Chessid's incidental music is better than he has provided for the Shakespeare plays--especially noteworthy is the harp and flute music that perfectly evokes the desert atmosphere around the big Sphinx...
Rabb and the players are fortunate to have the absolutely stunning, three-story set, complete with lanterns and garden swing, designed by William D. Roberts. And it takes Gilbert Hemsley's lighting very well, abetted in one night scene by four real flambeaux...