The Dutch National Opera is set to open its 2025-26 season with Puccini’s “Tosca.” The production by Barrie Kosky is inspired by Film Noir and will showcase Nathalie Stutzmann, who makes her house debut as conductor. When Kosky’s production first opened in 2022, critics raved and said, “It is in these psychologically highly-charged interactions where Kosky’s film noir approach is most {…}
“Manon Lescaut,” the third opera composed by Giacomo Puccini, marked his first true success, particularly with audiences, though critics raised some mild objections. It is widely regarded as the Maestro’s first mature work, showcasing a distinctive personal style that would continue to evolve in his later compositions. A Troublesome Libretto Based on the 1731 French novel by Abbé Prévost, the {…}
(Photo credit: Monika Rittershaus) Who’s afraid of a double bill? Part two. If Gluck’s Iphigénies required stamina from Aix operagoers, the double bill of Peter Maxwell Davies’s “Eight Songs for a Mad King” and György Kurtág’s “Kafka-Fragments” beseech us to be attentive. It was just an hour and a half of music, and the performances were vivid. But the musical {…}
Photo credit: Jörg Brüggemann The Adelaide Festival has announced its lineup for the 2024 festival. First up is “Guuranda,” commissioned by the Adelaide Festival. The work was created by a collective of First Nations artists, Narungga Elders and non-Indigenous artists. “Guuranda” is written and directed by Jacob Boehme with artwork by Narungga visual artist Kylie O’Loughlin and sung by Narungga {…}
(Credits: Jan Windszusc) In anticipation of his upcoming new production of “The Ring Cycle,” Barrie Kosky is speaking out about HD and live streaming. In a recent interview with the Times U.K., the director said, “Live stream and television HD of opera has been one of the biggest disasters. Now that I’m not an intendant [opera house manager] I can say {…}
(Photo: Richard Hubert Smith) Whether you like Barrie Kosky’s stagings or not, they always have an enormous presence. Think of the Marlene Dietrich-inspired gorilla suit in his “Carmen” for the Royal Opera House, the inflatable Beckmesser caricature in the Nuremberg trial “Meistersinger”, or the eerie sea of ash and candles in his “Saul” for Glyndebourne. The latter, highly acclaimed, meant {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present “Turandot.” The work, which is part of a Puccini cycle, will be conducted by chief-conductor Lorenzo Viotti and staged by director Barrie Kosky. For his new production, Barrie Kosky has decided to steer clear of the orientalism of the early 20th century. He neither zooms in on the psychological aspects of the {…}
(Credit: Iko Freese) In celebration of its 50th Anniversary Season Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) will present Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” on March 5 and 6, 2022 at the Des Moines Civic Center. Singing their DMMO debut roles are soprano Raven McMillon as Pamina and tenor Aaron Blake as Tamino. Soprano Audrey Luna returns to the DMMO stage to sing {…}
(Credits: Klaus Frahm / dpa / Gunnar Geller) Berlin Senator for Culture and Europe Dr. Klaus Lederer has announced that Berlin’s opera houses will stay shut at least until Easter 2021. In view of the serious infection situation in Berlin, Dr. Lederer had a meeting with representatives of the state’s theaters, as well as the independent theaters on January 13, {…}
(Credit: Monika Rittershaus) OperaVision has announced streams for the first month of 2021. The first opera to be streamed starting on Jan. 3, 2021 will be Barrie Kosky’s production of Handel’s operatic masterpiece “Semele” from the Komische Oper Berlin. The opera features Eric Jurenas as Athamas, Prince of Bœotia; Allan Clayton in the role of Jupiter, King of the Gods; {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) The Teatro Real de Madrid kicked off 2020 with a revival of the successful production of “Die Zauberflöte” by Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrade-Paul Barrit, which was last seen in 2016. The staging is meant as an homage to silent movies and there are no sets, just a big white screen very close to the edge {…}