Among the recent releases on DVD of Rolf Liebermann’s productions of operas from the Hamburg Opera conceived for television in the late 1960s, Beethoven’s Fidelio is impressive for the use of the medium of film to bring out the personal aspects of this intensive opera.
Category: Reviews
Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci — English National Opera, London Coliseum
For the opening of the 2008/09 season at ENO, Richard Jones has teamed up with two separate theatrical writers, Sean O’Brien and Lee Hall, to create unique new versions of the repertoire’s most famous double bill.
VERDI: Requiem / Quattro pezzi sacri
Presented in its fine line of ìOriginals,î Deccaís reissue of Soltiís famous 1967 recording of Verdiís Requiem is actually offered with another fine recording, the same conductorís 1977/78 performance of the Quattro pezzi sacri.
MONTEVERDI: Combattimento
In recent years, Emmanuelle HaÔm has achieved prominence at the helm of several baroque operas, including Monteverdiís LíOrfeo and Handelís Rodelinda and Giulio Cesare.
The Barber of Seville — English National Opera, London Coliseum
It can be difficult to inject life into a production which has been a staple of a company’s repertoire for over twenty years.
Macbeth at Bavarian State Opera
If Munichís new Macbeth production does anything, it stirs emotions and draws heated response.
On The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Decades ago a New Yorker cartoon showed a very little girl standing on tip-toe to return a book to a matronly librarian.
Die tote Stadt at San Francisco Opera
Korngold’s third opera Die tote Stadt premiered in 1920 in Cologne, the composer a mere 23 years old. Back then, opera remained a living art form, with the likes of Strauss and Puccini keeping the public excited about new works.
Les PÍcheurs de perles at the Washington National Opera
The second offering of the current WNO season is a San Diego Opera production of Georges Bizet’s Pearl Fishers (1863).
Cool Cavalli at Covent Garden ó La Calisto
Planet Earth laid waste by forces beyond our control, hunger and drought squeezing humanity out of existence whilst those in charge look on, laughing, lusting and concerned only with their own power struggles ñ does this sound familiar?