Angels in America, Peter Eˆtvˆs’s opera based on the Tony Kushner plays, received its London premiere. This was very high profile. David Robertson conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a performance that will be broadcast internationally, online on www.bbc.co.uk/radio3.
Category: Reviews
Harrison Birtwistle: The Minotaur
Premiered on 15 April 2008, The Minotaur is Harrison Birtwistle’s latest opera, and it stands well with the composer’s other stage work.
Eva Marton in Puccini and Strauss
At one point in her career, Eva Marton appeared poised to be the true inheritor of Birgit Nilsson’s legacy roles: Wagner and Strauss’s most dramatic heroines, as well as key Italian roles (Puccini in particular).
Genoveva — Schumann at UCL Opera, London
Genoveva and Lohengrin both premiered in the summer of 1850. Wagner disparaged Schumann, as he disparaged Mendelssohn (Schumann’s hero). Wagner’s opinions were influential. Genoveva has been eclipsed, saddled with a reputation for being hard to stage.
Regieoper with a twist in Dresden Ring
Yes, the complete Ring des Nibelungen currently on stage at Dresden’s Semper Opera qualifies as Regieoper, but it’s Regieoper with a twist.
Changing conductors bring color to Dresden Ring
It was a bit of intrigue that recalled the Wagners at home back in Bayreuth’s Haus Wahnfried.
The Saint of Bleecker Street, Marseilles
It takes some courage these days for an opera company to program a Gian Carlo Menotti opera. Nonetheless last month the OpÈra de Marseille defied current sensibilities to give us a new production of The Saint of Bleecker Street.
Les Troyens at Carnegie Hall
Les Troyens is the noblest grand opera ever composed by a Frenchman, one of those desert-island works of which it is impossible to tire because its depths can never be completely sounded.