Mark Lamos’ production of Chabrier’s L’Etoile is
perfectly ridiculous.
Category: Performances
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.
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.
Concert of Arias by Arizona Opera
Advertised as ‘ A night of powerful music with today’s superstars,’ Arizona Opera’s concert of opera arias definitely lived up to those words.
Katya Kabanova, London
Anguished, lacerating, irredeemably tragic, David Alden’s new production of Katya Kabanova presents a drama of unalleviated suffering and unremitting bleakness.
Philip Glass: Satyagraha, ENO, London 2010
Philip Glass’s Satyagraha at the English National Opera, at the Coliseum, London, proves that modern minimalism can be extraordinarily moving. The secret is to open your soul, as Gandhi did, when he searched the Baghavad-Gita for inspiration.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by ETO
A silvery tree stretched its gnarled branches across the moonlit stage, and from the briar and bush spiky, feathered fairies wriggled and crept, intent on mischief and malevolence.