Tavener's Krishna fails to convince in world premiere at Grange Park Opera

Brett Polegato (Krishna)
© Marc Brenner

Mark Shanahan (Conductor)

David Pountney (Director)

Rachana Jadhav (Designer)

Shobana Jeyasingh (Choreographer)

Catarina Carvalho (Dancer Rehearsal Director)

Tim Mitchell (Lighting Designer)

Ross Ramgobin (Celestial Narrator)

Rosa Sparks (Krishna - child)

Eliran Kadussi (Krishna - adolescent)

Elgan Llŷr Thomas (Krishna - young man)

Brett Polegato (Krishna - man)

Sara Fulgoni (Yashoda, Bhumi)

Nazan Fikret (Rukmini)

Julia Sitkovetsky (Radha - woman)

Eliran Kadussi (Krishna as adolescent)
© Marc Brenner

Jennifer Statham (Radha - child)

Nao Masuda (Drummer)

Tabitha O'Sullivan, Mirabel Huang-Smith, Chia-Yu Hsu, Kynda Ng, Ella Pileggi, Yanki Yau (Dancers)

The Gascoigne Orchestra

Robert Salter (Leader)

5pm, Thursday 4 June 2026

World premiere

Grange Park Opera, Surrey

★★★

Tavener, John (1944-2013): Krishna: A Mystical Pantomime

(libretto by Tavener, John, with inspiration and some text by Prime, Ranchor (b.c.1950))

Krishna at Grange Park Opera
© Marc Brenner

'Tavener’s music is ... relatively successful in places, with a kind of meditative build in tension, although we are kept waiting for a fair while before any sense of climax'.

'Rachana Jadhav’s design of the temple staging, combines with effective lighting from Tim Mitchell do create a colourful and pleasing backdrop to the ‘action’, as do the vibrant costumes'.

'Sopranos Julia Sitkovetsky (Radha) and Nazan Fikret (Rukmini) stood out as the most impressive voices of the evening, their ‘uniting’ duet almost eclipsing the love duet between Radha and Krishna'.

'Mark Shanahan conducted the Gascoigne Orchestra with controlled precision, and moments of glistening brass and bells brought the score to life, as did the ‘aerial’ flutes up in the high balcony'.

Krishna at Grange Park Opera
© Marc Brenner

'An unpublished work of a deceased composer must always be a great temptation, but on this occasion, sadly, it might have been best left alone'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Nazan Fikret (Rukmini) & Julia Sikovetsky (Radha as woman)
© Marc Brenner