Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder is conceived as cosmic panorama. King Waldemar curses God and is himself cursed, doomed to ride the skies forever, inspiring awe and horror.
Month: August 2012
Berlioz’s Requiem (Grande messe des morts) — BBC Prom 39
The massed forces of the 600+ singers and players assembled for this exciting performance of Berlioz’s gargantuan Requiem (Grande messe des morts) made for an impressive visual spectacle in the vast high Victorian Royal Albert Hall.
The Makropulos Case at Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival, in partnership with Opera North, presented Jan·?ek’s The Makropulos Case at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.
Edinburgh International Festival – Delius, A Mass of Life
The Edinburgh International Festival got off to a rousing start with Frederick Delius, A Mass of Life, rarely heard because it’s scored for huge forces.
Oliver Knussen’s Symphonies from NMC
Oliver Knussen burst into British music with an unprecedented flourish. In 1967, the London Symphony Orchestra premiered Knussen’s First Symphony, with Istv·n KertÈsz scheduled to conduct.
Opera Tomorrow: Wolf Trap Today
Three quarters of the way through this discussion, a question that inhabits the mind of anyone putting any thought to the subject — but no one dare ask — was rhetoricised, “what is opera?”
Glyndebourne : Ravel Double Bill L’enfant et les sortilËges, L’heure espagnole
Surrealist fantasy with wit and style! L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilËges, the Ravel Double Bill at Glyndebourne, mixes charm, intelligence and nightmare.
Bach Mass in B minor, BBC Prom 26
Bach probably never intended the full Mass in B Minor to be performed, so it is tricky to talk about what forces he meant it to be performed by. But the Kyrie and Gloria certainly were sent by Bach to the Royal Court at Dresden (which was Roman Catholic), and these movements could be used in the Lutheran Church as well.
Another Bayreuth Stunner
Just after things were settling after the scandal of baritone Evgeny Nitikin supposed swastika tattoo at the Bayreuth Festival, another one seems likely to take its place.