Reviews

The Barber of Seville, Longborough Festival Opera

"Overall, this production is uproarious fun, impeccable in its satirical logic, and refreshing a ubiquitous work with which it is all too easy to become jaded. The performance has one’s attentions wittily engaged, and expectations mischievously dashed all the way through. "

- Classical Source. Full review available here.

Acis and Galatea, Opera Holland Park

"5* - A phenomenally endearing production, Opera Holland Park’s staging of Handel’s beloved Acis and Galatea is a smashing success that finds just the right balance between musical finesse and tongue-in-cheek comedy."

- Michael Higgs, Broadway World. Full review available here.

“This is typical of director Louise Bakker’s gentle teasing of her material. The music – surely some of Handel’s loveliest – sings out as it should but the audience’s eye is delighted, too, by a beguiling staging that charms and amuses in equal measure.”

– Anna Selby, The Arbuturian. Full review available here.

Orpheus in the Underworld, RCM

“There’s often an early seasonal treat to be had from the various music colleges’ end-of-term operas. Louise Bakker’s RCM production of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld delivered multicoloured silliness with an energetic, fresh-sounding cast”

– Richard Bratby, The Spectator. Full review available here.

“ Bakker’s production is a colourful, chaotic, cultural rag-bag – but one which is fast and funny, boisterous and bawdy, and witty without too sharp an edge... Bakker and the terrific ensemble cast surely play it just as Offenbach intended”

– Claire Seymour, Opera Today. Full review available here.

Saul, Richmond Opera

"Richmond Opera took on a weighty project with this lengthy opera, and director Louise Bakker used this biblical material with great skill. Set and costume design [also by Louise Bakker] were immaculate. Saul is a production one won’t forget. "

- Heather Moulson, Mark Aspen. Full review available here.