The rare Rossini opera which brought Juan Diego FlÛrez to international attention in Pesaro in 1996 was thrown together by the composer at the last minute to meet a deadline in February 1821, with a plot from one source and characters from another, and bits of the score filled in by Pacini.
Category: Reviews
Doctor Atomic and Arjuna’s Dilemma
As Tom Stoppard put it, “There is an art to the building up of suspense.”
La Damnation de Faust at the MET
The Met has not staged La Damnation de Faust in a hundred years, since 1906, when it clocked a mere five performances.
La Traviata at the MET
When La Traviata had its first performance, in Venice in 1853, it was a scandal.
Lucrezia Borgia at the Washington National Opera
After a somewhat shaky start to the season, as my recently posted review of La traviata attests, Washington National Opera has added considerable luster to its roster this November with the infusion of spectacle and star power in two new productions.
Wozzeck, Munich
Wozzeck stands ankle deep in water on the flooded stage of the Bavarian State Opera, above him hovers a huge, movable box – the dingy apartment he shares with Marie and their adolescent bastard – and he is surrounded by a freak-show worthy of a George Groszian nightmare and worse.
Great Operatic Arias with Sir Thomas Allen 2
The “2” in this disc’s title indicates that this is the second Chandos recital for Sir Thomas Allen.
Jean Baptiste Lully’s PersÈe
At a time when it is the fashion for stage direction, sets, and costumes to have little, if anything to do with the ouvre presented on stage, this production of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s PersÈe (1682) is candy for the eyes and ears, with adherence to what is known of the French Baroque operatic standards.1
A powerful, poignant Elektra at the Royal Opera House, London
“This won’t be a total Schlacht of sound” said the director, Charles Edwards, of this production. Instead, it’s a strikingly intelligent interpretation, focusing on the deeper aspects of the drama.
Opera in Germany
Following a recent visit to Germany, Wes Blomster surveys the vibrant opera scene in Berlin and Magdeburg.