Deutsche Oper Berlin 2019-20 Review: Heart Chamber

https://operawire.com/deutsche-oper-berlin-2019-20-review-heart-chamber/

This review is for the performance on Nov. 15 and 21, 2019. A common complaint of the current age is that, despite our cell phones and social media profiles, humanity is lonelier and less connected than ever before. Newspapers warn of a “loneliness epidemic,” think pieces term it a “social cancer,” and streams of articles comment on topics such as {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Director Damiano Michieletto on Searching For Truth, Wagner, Janácek, & Putting Drugs into ‘L’Elisir D’Amore’

https://operawire.com/q-a-director-damiano-michieletto-on-searching-for-truth-wagner-janacek-putting-drugs-into-lelisir-damore/

(Credit: Yasuko Kageyama) Damiano Michieletto is one of the most sought after directors today. Born in Venice, he graduated in modern literature at the Venice University and then went on to study theatre and opera production at the Paolo Grassi School of Dramatic Art in Milan. Success would follow him soon after when he debuted in 2003 at the Wexford {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Baritone Tomaš Kral on Why Baroque Music is His Greatest Passion

https://operawire.com/q-a-baritone-tomas-kral-on-why-baroque-music-is-his-greatest-passion/

(Credit: Barbara Dietl) Czech-born vocalist Tomaš Kral has a virtuosic baritone with a warm timbre which he uses to remind the modern-day audiences of the charm of early music, its purity of spirit, and the peace it brings. Audiences have had the opportunity to experience these aspects of Kral’s artistry through his performances with such as Collegium 1704, Collegium Marianum, {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

2019-20 Review: Mother Goose

https://operawire.com/2019-20-review-mother-goose/

(Credit: Orlando Mendiola) There were plenty of F’s— High F’s, Low F’s, and Middle F’s—in composer/librettist’s Felix Jarrar’s “Mother Goose: A Drag Comic Chamber Opera,” and, I’m not speaking of notes on a staff; I’m talking about the f-word. Jarrar’s latest creation and collaboration with director Bea Goodwin was crass and vulgar; in short, I loved it. “Mother Goose” was {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Rachel Kelly On Growing Up In A Musical Family, Her Favorite Composer & Dealing With The Stresses Of The Job

https://operawire.com/q-a-rachel-kelly-on-growing-up-in-a-musical-family-her-favorite-composer-dealing-with-the-stresses-of-the-job/

(Photo: Clive Barda) Anyone who was fortunate enough to attend a performance of Rossini’s one act farsa “Adina” at this year’s Wexford Festival Opera, or managed to catch the broadcast on RTE’s Lyric FM could not fail to have been enthused by mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly’s stunning interpretation in the title role. Since impressing on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Staatsoper Berlin 2019-20 Review: Il Primo Omicidio

https://operawire.com/staatsoper-berlin-2019-20-review-il-primo-omicidio/

(Credit: Monika Ritterhaus) In its second annual Baroque festival, the Staatsoper Berlin spotlighted the work of two contemporaries, Alessandro Scarlatti and Henry Purcell, and the musical cultures of the Italian and English Baroque. Over 10 days and 25 musical performances, the program covered not only opera but a wide array of other material, from a Baroque harp recital to Jacobean {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Mezzo-Soprano Bettina Ranch On European Musical Tradition, The Future of Singing

https://operawire.com/q-a-mezzo-soprano-bettina-ranch-on-european-musical-tradition-the-future-of-singing/

(Credit: Janine Guldener) The Berlin-based mezzo-soprano Bettina Ranch dreamed about a career as a singer since childhood. And while she started off her musical path as a violinist, she eventually made the switch, which has led her to a major vocal career greater than even her dreams could handle. She has been an ensemble member of the Aalto Musiktheater Essen {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk On Her Passion For Verdi & Her Vast Repertory

https://operawire.com/q-a-mezzo-ekaterina-semenchuk-on-her-passion-for-verdi-her-vast-repertory/

(Credit: Alexey Kostromin) When you think of Verdi mezzo, there are few singers that fit that bill as well as Russian artist Ekaterina Semenchuk. For years now, she has been the go-to mezzo-soprano in Verdi’s major roles, finding major triumphs at such venues as the Opéra National de Paris, the Teatro Real de Madrid, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Komische Oper Berlin 2019-20 Review: The Bassarids

https://operawire.com/komische-oper-berlin-2019-20-review-the-bassarids/

Written after Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy “The Bacchae,” “The Bassarids” is essentially a one-act opera with intermezzo. It was composed by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by Wystan Hugh Auden and Chester Kallman (who also jointly wrote the libretto for opera “The Rake’s Progress” by Igor Stravinsky). The opera had its world premiere in Salzburg on August 6, {…}

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Deutsche Oper Berlin 2019-20 Review: Heart Chamber

Q & A: Director Damiano Michieletto on Searching For Truth, Wagner, Janácek, & Putting Drugs into ‘L’Elisir D’Amore’

Q & A: Baritone Tomaš Kral on Why Baroque Music is His Greatest Passion

2019-20 Review: Mother Goose

Q & A: Rachel Kelly On Growing Up In A Musical Family, Her Favorite Composer & Dealing With The Stresses Of The Job

Staatsoper Berlin 2019-20 Review: Il Primo Omicidio

Q & A: Mezzo-Soprano Bettina Ranch On European Musical Tradition, The Future of Singing

Q & A: Mezzo Ekaterina Semenchuk On Her Passion For Verdi & Her Vast Repertory

Komische Oper Berlin 2019-20 Review: The Bassarids