(Photo: Birgit Gufler) Director Johannes Reitmeier brought the Tiroler Landestheater’s production of Britten’s “The Rape of Lucretia” to close with a question. “How was it possible?” was projected across the stage in large letters. Not only did this immediately encourage the audience to reflect on what they had witnessed and to attempt an answer, but it is also a question {…}
The Tiroler Landestheater has announced that it will begin the renovation of its Mainstage Opera House on May 31, 2021. The renovations will update the stage’s technical capabilities to modern-day requirements. The two shareholders of the Tiroler Landestheater und Orchester GmbH Innsbruck – the state of Tyrol and the city of Innsbruck – are investing around seven million euros in {…}
(Photo: Birgit Gufler) In December 1900 the HMS Hesperus weighed anchor close to a group of small rocky outcrops known as the Flannan Islands, situated in the Outer Hebrides. It was reacting to a report from a passing ship that the island’s lighthouse was not shining its light. Receiving no signal from the lighthouse, the captain of the Hesperus sent {…}
October saw the opening of Innsbruck’s Haus der Musik, containing two concert halls and a small theater for staged works. Costing €62.7m, it is a splendid modern building, with a large glass front surrounded by dark ceramic paneling. Sitting next to the Landestheater, with its ochre-colored neoclassical façade, dominated by its four Corinthian columns, and opposite to the Hofburg palace, {…}
In an inspired piece of programming the Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck paired Strauss’ “Capriccio” with Gluck’s “Orphée et Eurydice,” which were performed over two consecutive evenings. Separated by more than 160 years and in fundamentally different styles, they are nevertheless natural companion pieces. Although ‘Capriccio’ makes both musical and verbal references to Gluck, the connections between the two operas run far {…}
It may be wondered why Strauss decided to write an opera about the relative merits of the words and music in opera: “prima la musica o prima le parole?” Although it is a debate as old as opera itself, it is hardly a subject that is likely to excite potential audiences, and it is no doubt one of the reasons {…}