http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/15/conductor-charles-mackerras-dies/print
Month: July 2010
Dialogues des CarmÈlites from Hamburg
Poulenc’s only full-length opera is widely admired and not infrequently performed, but its claustral nature makes it tricky to stage.
The Fairy Queen at Glyndebourne on Blu-Ray
This Glyndebourne production is, as far as I know, the first recording of any semi-opera that manages to impart a strong sense of what this peculiar, and peculiarly British, genre is like.
Parsifal on Blu-Ray
In 1881 Wagner and his wife were discussing the myth of Eros and Anteros,
and Wagner remarked, “Anteros is Parsifal.” Wagner considered
Parsifal a figure opposed to sexual love, Eros’s opposite.
Don Giovanni, Alceste, Le Rossignol at the Aix Festival
The Aix Festival was known not so very long ago for pretentious productions. Perhaps now it will become known for good productions.
Mansouri looms larger than life in autobiography
http://www.sfexaminer.com/lifestyle/Mansouri-looms-larger-than-life-in-autobiography-98207924.html
Handel’s Serse (Xerxes) at Iford Manor
Something rather extraordinary happened to opera seria in 1738. The
acknowledged master of that time, London’s George Frideric Handel,
presented two new operas at the King’s Theatre: Faramondo and
Serse.
Three Decembers at Central City
CENTRAL CITY — The story is banal: a single mother, an aging actress,
is alienated from her grown-up children.
A Magnificent Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne
Don Giovanni isn’t new and most of the cast at Glyndebourne (led by Gerald Finley) are familiar.