Well, so many don’t nowadays, it appears to me, judging by the critical
reception of Robert le Diable at the ROH. Rum-ti-tum? We recall
Macbeth, Rigoletto, Trov and even Trav being characterised
thus, popular fare but risible or blush- making, yet those works now command
the highest respect.
Month: December 2012
Subject: Aimez-vous Meyerbeer?
Courageous Winterreise : Florian Boesch, Wigmore Hall, London
Wintery weather in London for Florian Boesch’s Schubert Winterreise at the Wigmore Hall. But what bliss to hear an austere interpretation that challenged assumptions !
Vienna: the window to modernity
This recital, which focused on a narrowly specific time and place —
1888-1933 Vienna — paradoxically illuminated not only the musical scope and
richness of that epoch but also, as RenÈe Fleming notes in her prefatory programme article, the extraordinary extent of the diversity, transformation and flux, both historical and cultural, that characterised the era.
The Met’s Un Ballo in Maschera difficult to unmask
Director David Alden’s confusing production concepts in Verdi’s A
Masked Ball may make you wonder whether you came to the right party
The Met’s La Clemenza di Tito blends inspired singing with dazzling wind obbligatos
The live HD simulcast of Mozart’s final operatic effort, set in ancient Rome, reached friends, Romans and countrymen the world over
Meyerbeer Robert le Diable, Royal Opera House
Why was Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable an overwhelming success in its time ? The Royal Opera House production suggests why: it’s a cracking good show! Extreme singing, testing the limits of vocal endurance, and extreme drama. Robert le Diable is Faust, after all, not history, and here its spirit is captured by audacious but well-informed staging. Listen with an open mind and heart and imagine how audiences in Meyerbeer’s time might have imagined the madness and magic that is Robert le diable.
Rigoletto, Manitoba Opera
Manitoba Opera launched its celebratory, all-Verdi 40th anniversary season with the Italian master’s Rigoletto that still rattles the soul with its tale of revenge, murder, deceit and heart-wrenching pathos.
Britten’s Lachrymae at Wigmore Hall
The Nash Ensemble’s final contribution to the Wigmore Hall’s Britten centenary series, ‘Before Life and After’, presented works for soloists and strings.
Britten: The Canticles
‘Canticle’ is the term Britten used to denote an extended setting of a text of spiritual substance.