The Guardian

Death in Venice

The production’s greatest success, however, lies in Kevin Knight’s minimal set (four white curtains and a sea/lagoon backdrop; most of the budget has gone on the exquisite belle époque costumes) interacting with Andreas Heise’s choreography to present the opera’s central conflict in terms of movement. The curtains blur and fade, frustrating and enabling physical contact, while the dance celebrates both the pent-up energy of physical perfection as well as the fragile dynamism of bodies off-balance. All the dancers are superb, but the astounding power and confidence of Celestin Boutin’s stage debut as Tadzio effectively steals the show. His duets with Chris Agius Darmanin’s Jaschiu, when they hurl each other across the stage, are breathtaking, as is his ability to let the merest flicker of a smile escape mid-pirouette.