Detailed and precise, but never fussy, David McVicar’s thought-provoking production of Le Nozze di Figaro is ‘busy’ from the opening rushing semi-quavers of the overture.
Category: Performances
I Gioielli della Madonna, New York
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, son of an Italian mother and a German father, was born
in Venice but acclaimed only when he took his operas to Germany, where he
became quite popular during the first decades of the twentieth century.
Bliss, Tosca and La Sonnambula at Opera Australia
Opera Australia regularly commission new work. Usually serious subjects
drawn from notable Australian literature or dealing with an event or hero from
Australian history.
La Damnation de Faust in Modern Guise at Lyric Opera of Chicago
During its recently concluded season Lyric Opera of Chicago presented two
musical pieces based on the theme of “Faust.”
First Opera in 3D — Carmen, Royal Opera House
Everyone knows the tunes from Bizet’s Carmen even if they don’t know it’s an opera. Now the Royal Opera House, London, is making the world’s best known opera into the world’s first 3D opera film.
Tosca, ENO
Seeing Tosca at the Coliseum brings back happy memories, as it was a
performance of Tosca (in a revival of the Keith Warner production in the 1990s) which occasioned my very first trip to the ENO. That also happens to have been
the first time I ever saw Tosca.
Bostridge and Pappano at Wigmore Hall
Bringing their recent recording of Schubert’s late songs to the concert stage, Ian Bostridge and Antonio Pappano swept through a sequence which ranged from bitter-sweet regret to angry self-reproach, from hesitant hope to turbulent despair, in this the second of two performances at the Wigmore Hall.
Lulu, New York
Alban Berg died in 1935, but his music was generations ahead of his time
– as one could not help but conclude during the recent revival of
Lulu at the Met whenever the vibraphone played “doorbell”
music, reminding us of the intrusion of cell phones into theaters.
Ian Bostridge at the Wigmore Hall
One very tall and gaunt,one short and stocky, one introspective, one effusive : Ian Bostridge and Antonio Pappano, Music Director of the Royal Opera house make an odd couple, but they’ve partnered each other musically for many years. It’s a good relationship, as this recital at the Wigmore Hall demonstrated.
Imbrailo stars as Billy Budd in Glyndebourne
Star born through stutter? It’s immediately obvious that Jacques Imbrailo’s
Billy Budd at Glyndebourne is an extraordinary portrayal. His stammer is more expressive than speech.