(Photo: Diane Deschenaux) With Europe once again baking under unpleasantly high temperatures thanks to our lack of interest in dealing with the problems of global warming, what better place to go than high up in the Swiss Alps. Verbier at an altitude 1,500 meters would seem to be ideal. An alpine ski resort, set on a south-facing terrace with splendid {…}
A prestigious showcase of the opera world , the Rolex Ambassadors Gala, took place at La Scala earlier this month. Big names and outstanding performances. A unique opportunity to see the stars of the opera world together: Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann, Sonya Yoncheva, Yuja Wang, Plácido Domingo and Gustavo Dudamel conduct Wiener Philharmoniker. But today, I’m not going to review {…}
The Teatro Real closed its season with a lot of Verdi – 14 performances of “Il Trovatore” and three concert-version performances of “Giovanna d’Arco.” It has been largely argued whether opera is to be only performed with staging or not. I mostly agree that Opera is a theatrical composition, and therefore should always be staged, but this concert performances usually {…}
(Photo: Pat Redmond) Irish National Opera’s world premiere of “Least Like the Other, Searching for Rosemary Kennedy” took place at Galway’s International Arts Festival this July, an amazing feat in itself, given that the company has only been in existence for 18 months, yet it was the innovative quality and sheer brilliance of the work that really impressed. Five years {…}
(Credit: Philip Groshong) In Greek myth, Theseus cruelly abandons Ariadne on a desert island, but she’s ultimately rescued by Bacchus. Cincinnati Opera, by contrast, abandons Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” to a gimmicky concept from which no rescue is possible. As the rewards — such as they were — of this production proved musical in nature, this review will begin {…}
(Credit: Iko Freese) After a big red curtain opens up at the end of the overture, the audience is greeted with a massive movie screen. In the center, a door rotates to reveal Tamino behind an extension of the screen that covered the lower part of his body. Suddenly the projections came alive with the chase of the beast underway. {…}
(Credit: Steven Pisano) Bellini’s “La Straniera” is often cited as one of the composer’s unique works in his oeuvre. Composed in 1828 and based on the novel “L’Étrangère” by Charles-Victor Prévot, it was his third opera, coming just a few years before some of the more popular repertory staples that we have come to know today. Teatro Nuovo, which performed {…}
(Photo: Genevieve Girling) Over the past 30 to 40 years baroque opera has undergone an enormous revival, with many forgotten works unearthed and brought back to life. Yet, it is still rare to come across an opera by the Venetian composer Antonio Caldara (1670–1736), who is now best remembered for his setting of the “Crucifixus.” During his lifetime, however, he {…}
(Credits: Modestas Endriuška) What do you think about “your Lithuanian” tenor Edgaras Montvidas? I think he’s a good singer, but actually, I don’t think much. I’ve seen him live only once in Faust. He was okay. But from a distance, he seems something more, or at least more interesting than just okay. Don Ottavio, Lensky, Werther, Edgardo, Anatol, Faust, Conrad, {…}