(Photo: Michele Crosera) Contrary to popular rumor, it is very unlikely that Salieri and Mozart were on acrimonious terms, let alone enemies. As court composer to Emperor Joseph II, Salieri dominated Viennese musical society which he used to secure positions for Italian artists, which no doubt irritated the ambitious Mozart, but there is no evidence for any animosity between the {…}
The Teatro Real opened the 2020-21 season with Verdi’s masterpiece, “Un Ballo in Maschera.” Only the second opera performed at the theatre since the global lockdown due to the pandemic, it marks a hopeful beginning for the company’s season. As the regulations have changed, the production—complete with full sets and dancers—had to be adjusted. Dancers wore protective masks because they {…}
(Credit Javier del Real) This review is for the performance of the 3d of October 2020. Due to the cancellation of a previous soprano, the Teatro Real engaged three additional sopranos for this middle-period Verdi opera: Saioa Hernandez, Maria Pia Piscitelli, and Sondra Radvanovsky. And while all three are fantastic artists in their own right, there was no doubt that {…}
(Photo: Marek Olbrzymek) Janacek was not a man to hide his obsession for a woman under a bushel, a fact that became a constant torment to his wife, and they were obsessions, not casual or even consummated affairs. The most famous, of course, was his infatuation with Kamila Stösslová who became the muse for a number of his works, not {…}
(Photo: Marek Olbrzymek) Janacek’s unorthodox song cycle, “The Diary of One who Disappeared” is a theatrical work, to the extent that it is nowadays often presented as a staged, costumed drama, sometimes with an orchestrated score. It even allows for a variety of interpretations such as Ivo von Hove’s recent production which saw the protagonist cast as a photographer looking {…}
(Photo: Martynas Aleksa) On a cold rainy day, we attended an operatic event taking place outside the ArtVilnius fair pavilion. Though there were some performances before, people still came to the Opera Truck in dozens. The interest was high, and now, the well-proven production set on tour around Lithuania. The events were free of charge and supposed to pave the {…}
The COVID-19 crisis has led to the cancelation of major productions leaving many artists out of work and giving them openings in their usually booked calendars. As a result, the Opera de Oviedo managed to engage acclaimed bel canto tenor John Osborn after the cancelation of two other tenors. It is hard to write about “I Puritani” without talking about {…}
At a press conference that took place two days prior to the opening night, Sesto Quatrini, the art-director of LNOBT and musical director of this production, stood there all alone. One could not fault him if he had been in a cautious mood. After all, he had to contend with postponed premieres, the constant closing of the theater, and a {…}
(Photo: Michele Crosera) Another step back on the road to a post virus normality was taken at Teatro La Fenice with its performance of Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux.” Seats were returned to the stalls, the orchestra was back in the pit and the singers back on stage. Yes, there were still some restrictions in place, so that face masks were still {…}