Category: Performances

Producer Robert Carsen, together with his set designer Tobias Hoheisel, is taking a big risk with their new production of Gl¸ckís 1762 version for alto of ìOrfeo ed Euridiceî at Chicago Lyric Opera.

For most of its 40 plus years the Adelaide Festival of Arts has had as its central attraction the Australian premieres of a landmark European opera like Wozzeck, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, The Fiery Angel or landmark contemporary works like Death in Venice, Nixon in China or El Nino presented within a few years of their world premieres.

On Sunday, 28 February 2006, Carnegie Hall presented Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie, Music Director and Conductor, with Magdalena Koûen·, Mezzo-Soprano, featuring works by Rameau and Gluck. Here are two reviews.

On 26 February, Constantine Orbelian led the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, marking its 50th anniversary this season, in works by Haydn, Prokofiev, Rossini, Shostakovich, and Mussorgsky, with the renowned contralto Ewa PodlÈs. Here are two reviews.

METROPOLITAN OPERA: “Commissioned for St Petersburg (the premiere was in 1862), La Forza del Destino was based on a play by the Duke of Rivas, and was at first only a moderate success. Although Verdi revised it for Milan in 1869, it took a long time for audiences to come to appreciate the sprawling drama; several years take place between the first and last scenes, and the number of coincidences in the plot stretches credulity to the limit. But the overture, the arias for Leonora (including ìPace!î), and the duets for tenor and baritone have ensured that the opera remains popular whenever it is revived.” Here are four reviews.

WELSH NATIONAL OPERA: “Welsh National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman promises to be a focused, powerful and intense experience. This early Wagnerian masterpiece signalled the composer’s fascination with combining epic myths and dramatic music.” Here are three reviews.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music is presenting Handel’s Hercules with Les Arts Florissants, conducted by William Christie and directed by Luc Bondy. Here are two reviews:

Monteverdiís great work, ìLíIncoronazione di Poppeaî in a ìsemi-stagedî format, has been chosen to showcase the talents of some exciting young singers and musicians in London recently as the first part of an ambitious project aimed at a more holistic approach to singing opera.

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE: “To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Royal Opera mounts a new production of his setting of the second of Beaumarchais’ domestic but politically charged ‘Figaro’ comedies, as adapted by librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. ”

On 30 January, the Collegiate Chorale presented Puccini: A Composer’s Journey. Here are two reviews.