Reviews

‘...one of the few successful comic operas of recent musicalhistory...’
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, 29 June 2003

‘Where Flight succeeds, gloriously, is in its music. Dove showshimself to be a masterful composer with a highly tuned ear fororchestral colour, dramatic pacing and natural vocal line. [...] hecreates a powerful original language of his own: it is glistening,buoyant and constantly mobile.’
Graham Strahle, The Australian, 6 March 2006 on the Australianpremière at the Adelaide Festival

‘Glyndebourne’s revival of the original production, directed byRichard Jones, the opera’s orchestral brilliance, the infectiousnessof Dove’s vocal writing, and the slickness of its staging, make for anexciting night. [...] Dove’s music, like April de Angelis’s craftylibretto, encompasses lyrical love music and hectic farce.’
Tom Service, The Guardian, 15August 2005

‘For many, the first US performance of Jonathan Dove’s Flightwas theseason’s hit, and it is not hard to see why. Here is a highlyentertaining work that speaks clear English.’
John Allison, Opera, September 2003 - on the US premiere at OperaTheatre of St Louis

‘Flight is that rarest thing: a popular new comic opera. Thewarmthand enthusiasm of the audience at the Glyndebourne première wasremarkable, and this wasn’t a crowd of just luvvies and friends. Putit down to music that is instantly graspable and often beautiful, anda cast that includes some excellent young singers who get rewardingstuff to sing and then give it the works. […] Optimistic yet poignant,Flight indulges sentimentality along with laughs. What matters is thatDove’s music flies, the opera is fun, and people are going to loveit.’
Tom Sutcliffe, The Evening Standard, 28 September 1998

‘Perhaps this is the future: modern opera which is appealing andenjoyable and which provides a contemporary synthesis of popularelements and contemporary developments. The large audience, as at theGlyndebourne première, greeted Flight enthusiastically and cheered itscomposer.’
Raymond Head, Tempo, December 1998

‘I watched the entire [television] production in one mesmerisedsitting…The inspired ensemble writing...created touching moments ofgreat profundity…With a complex but melodic score...and a text thateloquently conveyed the futility of much of modern life, this was apiece that made opera look like a thriving art form and not an elegantfossil.’
Victor Lewis-Smith, The Evening Standard, 30 September 1999

‘Dove writes music that is tuneful, tonal and tangy. And it issensationally orchestrated. In short, it’s instantly beguiling. […]Flight will entertain wherever it touches down.’
Richard Morrison, The Times, 16 August 1999

‘A modern opera in which you are allowed to laugh […] Flight isaccessible. Flight is fun. […] It is possible: modern opera canbegorgeous.’
Jochen Breiholz, Die Welt, 16 April2004 - on the Leipzig German première

‘This is ensemble at its best.’
Christian Schmidt, Freie Presse, 15 April 2004 - on the Leipzig Germanpremière

‘Jonathan Dove's Flight, which the Boston Lyric Opera openedWednesday evening at the Shubert Theatre, soars to the heights ofGreek tragedy, yet lands firmly in the bottomless humor of operabuffa. In its East Coast premiere, this is a work that Bostonaudiences should not miss.’
Keith Powers, The Boston Herald, 29 April 2005 – on the Boston LyricOpera production

Flight CD Reviews
‘Recorded live at Glyndebourne in 1999, Jonathan Dove and April deAngelis’ brilliant comic opera about travellers stranded in an airportis as engaging on disc as it was in the theatre (and I write havingseen it at least five times).’
Hugh Canning, The SundayTimes,18 April 2004

‘Flight was proclaimed a miracle of the age – a new opera thatmanagedto be accessible, enjoyable, dramatic and musically adroit. […] Dove’smusic, allied to April de Angelis’ libretto, prances along with asmuch glitter and opera know-how as ever. […] You should take thisdelayed Flight immediately.’
Geoff Brown, The Times, 30 April 2004

‘Highly intelligent […] the ensembles are both eloquent and elegant[…] Anyone who cares about opera as a living art form will rejoice inChandos’s decision to issue the recording of Flight from Glyndebournewith the original cast.’
Pick of the month.Christopher Cook, BBC Music Magazine, June 2004

‘Few operas in recent decades have been instant hits with audience andcritics, but Jonathan Dove's Flight, premièred at Glyndebourneby its touring arm in the autumn of 1998, is one of them.’
Matthew Rye, The Daily Telegraph, 12 June 2004 – also chosen as bestopera recording of 2004