FT Reviews L’Incoronazione di Poppeia

L’Incoronazione di Poppeia, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris By Francis Carlin [Financial Times] Published: October 15 2004 03:00 | Last updated: October 15 2004 03:00 If you liked David McVicar’s…

A Review of Pelléas et Mélisande at Berlin

Pelléas et Mélisande, Deutsche Oper, Berlin By Shirley Apthorp [Financial Times] Published: October 14 2004 03:00 | Last updated: October 14 2004 03:00 Yniold wants to know why these sheep…

Two Reviews of Rolando Villazón’s New York Recital Debut

*An Introduction in 5 Languages* By ANNE MIDGETTE [New York Times] The powers that be in the opera world are desperate to discover the next hot male phenomenon. On Monday,…

FT Reviews Elektra At Frankfurt Opera

*Elektra, Frankfurt Opera* By Shirley Apthorp Published: October 12 2004 03:00 | Last updated: October 12 2004 03:00 “Everywhere, in all the courts, there are dead bodies, all who are…

FT Reviews La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein

*La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein, Châtelet, Paris* By Francis Carlin Published: October 11 2004 03:00 | Last updated: October 11 2004 03:00 Were the Brits in the audience the only…

Cecilia Bartoli at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris

*La réhabilitation pour Salieri* Au TCE, Cecilia Bartoli se fait l’éblouissante avocate d’un musicien dont la postérité retiendra avant tout les soupçons d’empoisonnement sur la personne de Mozart : Antonio…

Le Monde Reviews Messiaen’s “Saint François d’Assise”

*La mise en apesanteur divine de “Saint François d’Assise”, SDF de la foi* LE MONDE | 08.10.04 | 15h02 A l’Opéra Bastille, les tableaux franciscains d’Olivier Messiaen par Stanislas Nordey.…

“La Voix Humaine” at Vremena Goda Festival

*Voznesenskaya – only too human* by Neil McGowan La Voix Humaine (concert performance) Vremena Goda Festival Vremena Goda Orchestra/Bulakhov 29 September 2004 Bringing down the curtain on the Vremena Goda…

Moscow Times: Entering the Ring

*George Loomis reports on Wagner opera, Russian-style.* By George Loomis Published: October 8, 2004 Last spring the Metropolitan Opera gave three complete cycles of Richard Wagner’s four-opera saga, “Der Ring…

Roger Pines on historic recorded performances of Bizet

Georges Bizet’s Carmen has a distinguished recording history in both complete performances and excerpts. From this ever-popular work, as well as the composer’s Les pêcheurs de perles, there are considerable lessons to be learned from the early decades of recording in terms of balancing dramatic urgency with the needs of the drama. Many singers have gotten by in Bizet with beauty at the expense of text, but a Solange Michel or a Charles Dalmorès demonstrates indisputably that Bizet does not come alive unless the text is commanded in depth.