Macbetto di Monaco

Martin Kusej production of Macbeth is not one of my favorite but it is way above in quality when compared to the productions of this opera offered by The Met or the ROH -- sadly both available on DVD.
Last year I was lucky to see 2 superb production of this opera: one was staged by Ivo van Hoove and presented in Lyon, and another was the most delightful Peter Konwitschny production in Leipzig. Before that I was lucky to see the Richard Jones production in Lille (one of those Glyndebourne productions that didn't make it to DVD even though it was hugely more deserving than the awful Meistersinger or their very mediocre recent Don Giovanni, for example), and the next back in my memory is the Krzysztof Warlikowski production in Brussels that was one of my most astounding moments at the opera in general [which tells a lot since I'm not an unconditional fan of Verdi's work].

Two productions that I did not blog about and should be considered in the league with the show by  Richard Jones were the Dima Tcherniakov production presented in Paris (amazingly conducted by Teodor Currentzis!) and the Munich show staged by Martin Kusej. Tcherniakov production was very impressive, very clever, and very contemporary, but in the bulky sets the show somehow missed its target: it looks great on DVD though.  As for the Martin Kusej show, I remember I was very enthusiastic despite the critics that were fiercely trashing the show as not really adapted for the opera. Well, the opera critics are very conservative but I did not think that the modernity of the Kusej work disturbed them the most... You can judge it for yourself in less than an hour time when Macbeth will be live streamed from the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich on this link

 http://streaming.staatsoper.de/

 Cast: Zeljko Lucic, Nadja Michael, Wookyung Kim, Goran Juric, Emanuele D'Aguanno... Massimo Zanetti will conduct (hopefully well!)

It's from Macbeth despite being reminiscent scene from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Are you watching this?!

Konwitschny alert: Starting now (20:05 cet)

http://streaming.staatsoper.de/

"Every seven years the Dutchman is allowed back on land. There this tepest-tossed creature can only be redeemed by a woman, Otherwise his endless odyssey continues. Will Senta be that woman? After all, she longs to break free from the confining world of her father. All he ever thinks about is money. Isn't the wealthy Dutchman just what the doctor ordered? Wagner's gripping early work: a psycho-thriller of operatic literature. Peter Konwitschny has already provoked audiences to delight and disgust with his spectacular Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde productions. This Munich Holländer is something you just "have" to see. A sea and see journey on the waves of the orchestra."

D'Oreste, d'Ajace ho in seno i tormenti

In a few hours will begin the premiere of Idomeneo at the Frankfurt Oper, directed by our 'new' fave Jan Philipp Gloger. His production of Le Nozze di Figaro made big waves in German press despite the fact that it was staged at theater of a lesser prestige (in Augsburg and Heibronn), which proved once again that "prestigious" is most often misleading [if not even meaningless] as far as the quality of  productions is concerned.

Oper Frankfurt

Then came that divine production of Alcina in Dresden that I still hold for one of the most wonderful productions I've seen. I unfortunately did not see his Flying Dutchman that opened the Festival in Bayreuth last year [it will be streamed next August, btw].

And so today is la prima of his fourth big show this time at the Frankfurt Oper -- the house twice voted the best opera house in Europe in the past 5 years; maybe less prestigious but definitely the top tier in terms of quality of productions AND of musical performances.

Too many favorable elements converged: one of my favorite operas, produced by one of my top-directors, performed in an auditorium of fantastic acoustic quality...  and so the temptation was just too big for me to resist and I TGV-ed to this snowy and freezing city to see this new Idomeneo. Let's hope Julia Jones will be good conducting and the rest will be cool.

The production that buzzed my brain for almost a month after the show was the one at the Komische Oper in Berlin directed by Benedikt Von Peter, which must be one of the most profoundly staged opera shows ever. Benedikt is now the general director of Theater Bremen but we hope he will soon resume directing operas too...

OK, Mozart's Idomeneo -- version Gloger with elettrifying Elza van den Heever, in a few... .

Edit: Superb show - JPG is already a top-8 director; excellent cast (Elza & Roberto rocked, others were great too). More tomorrow...

Mezzo and more...

 

Lucrezia Borgia with Elena Mosuc and Charles Castronovo [the best belcanto duo in business?!]

Lucrezia Borgia, Cirque Royal in Brussels, March 3rd 2013

Director ..... Guy Joosten

Conductor ..... Julian Reynolds

Don Alfonso ..... Paul Gay

Donna Lucrezia Borgia ..... Elena Mosuc

Gennaro ..... Charles Castronovo

Maffio Orsini ..... Silvia Tro Santafé

Jeppo Liverotto ..... Roberto Covatta

Don Apostolo Gazella ..... Tijl Faveyts

Ascanio Petrucci ..... Jean-Luc Ballestra

Gubetta ..... Jean Teitgen

Rustighello ..... Alexander Kravets

Astolfo ..... Justin Hopkins

Oloferno Vitellozzo ..... Stefan Cifolelli

Usciere ..... Alain-Pierre Wingelinckx

Un coppiere ..... Gerard Lavalle

Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie

ROH 2013-2014

I did not mention the 2013-2014 season in GTL Barcelona simply because there was nothing really new or interesting to mention, except that the Dima Tcherniakov production of The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya --premiered last year in Amsterdam-- will be remounted in Barcelona, with our beloved Svetlana Ignatovich singing [plan a trip to La Rambla in April 2014! ]
  

As expected, Kasper Holten continues reanimating the Royal Opera House, and with his team they propose a very promising 2013-2014 season.
You cannot get rid of all the bad productions in just two years and so he kept the old disposable Carmen,  Traviata,  Tosca...  on the program. Importantly, however, the pitiful Don Giovanni will be replaced by the new production staged by Holten himself. Amen to that!

One of the underrated Verdi operas --that I really like-- Les Vêpres siciliennes will be on the program in 2013,  directed by Stefan Herheim (no less!) The last show in the run will be live broadcast to the cinemas around the world.

New Parsifal directed by Stephen Langridge could be interesting too [curiosity factor = 80/100], and the Claus Guth production of Die Frau ohne Schatten is not to be missed: it comes from Milan where it was recently premiered and enthusiastically acclaimed by pretty much everyone.

Finally, Maria Stuarda will be intelligently staged (just hope Leiser & Caurier do not decide to make it too dark) and definitely worth a trip [Elena Mosuc will be missed in the cast though].

All casts look very good on the paper [happy to see that the phenomenal Alfred Kim will make his house-debut]. The only snag is that John Daszak (one of the very best opera singers today) is only proposed a tiny role (Aegistus in Elektra): that (English)man is a living treasure for any relevant 21st century opera stage -- he sings AND acts like no one out there.

 N.B. that Eurostar often proposes good deals to frequent travelers

Eugene Onegin: Praise Kasper Holten

Could it be that Kasper Holten [the author of arguably the best Ring production to date] is bringing a wind of change to the tired Royal Opera House that after so many tepid shows --Don Carlo, Carmen, Roméo et Juliette, Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, Tamerlano, La Traviata, and even Les Troyens... -- finally comes up with something more challenging, creative, smart and passionate?!
I most definitely hope so, and my hope was growing bigger after I read a few ultra-conservative media discussing what they recently saw in London [e.g. this].

Old remorseful Onegin standing next to a young desperate Lensky who will romantically die the next day

The recently premiered Kasper Holten production of Eugene Onegin, after its run at the ROH, will travel to Turin where it will be presented in May this year and then it will move to Australia.

I would have missed this amazing show --which was a major European operatic event of the first trimester in 2013-- if it was not broadcast to the selected cinemas across Europe. To be honest, the super-expensive seats for a rather unimpressive production of Ring des Nibelungen in London last fall significantly reduced my interest in live shows at the ROH. This Eugene Onegin had precisely the opposite effect on me  [eagerly waiting the list of the new ROH productions in 2013-2014].

So thanks to whoever decided the ROH would broadcast this show [last year's Tosca was truly dreadful].

Jenufa from Munich

If you saw more than one production of this excellent opera, then this Barbara Frey production will most probably not be your favorite one, but since Karita Matila is singing the title role and this opera is musically really magnificent... I would like to invite you all to watch the today's show that will be live streamed from Munich on this link starting from 19:00 (cet).

Our faves Stefan Margita and Ales Briscein will sing the roles of Laca and Steva respectively. Tomasz Hanus (conductor) can be great or wobbly, so let's hope for the best and enjoy the show!


Trailer  attached below

Does anyone listen?

"Trying to reproduce pure historical reality is an illusion. We don't know exactly how opera was at the end of the 18th century. We only have images from the last 70 or 80 years. We have a duty to transpose the work to the present,"

Michael Haneke 

prior to the premiere of his second --which will also be his last-- opera production

Cosi fan tutte at Teatro Real in Madrid

An extraordinary performance

D'amour l'ardente flamme is a notoriously difficult aria from La damnation de Faust by Hector Berlioz. In a slow pace, Tugan Sokhiev remarkably conducted his orchestra and the phenomenal Olga Borodina who delivered one of the reference renditions of this aria.

Красивая Ольга!

One could nitpick about her pronunciation, but this is vocally huge.
Concert version of the opera was given in Paris and in Vienna.
Video attached below is from the concert given at Musikverein Wien.

Enjoy!

The Met 2013-2014

No, it is not that the recently presented Met productions are worse than those presented before. It is just that the standards remained the same as they were in the 80s, 90's, 00s. Somewhat surprisingly The Met refused to embrace the change in opera by preferring to label as Eurotrash anything that would be a slight theatrical attempt to elevate opera to the new artistic heights. And so while the others moved on, The Met continued with the same old static, no-brainer, uninteresting shows created only to entertain the most conservative part of the opera aficionados [recent such examples that I could see were Il Trovatore, Don Giovanni, (Faust), Carmen, Capriccio, Boris Godunov, Maria Stuarda, ...].

There were attempts to cross the line and bring a bit of life to the creative process, and even though some of the new shows were really bad [e.g. Sonnambula, Ring, Armida] they revealed something important & positive -- that the house's artistic management wanted to take risks but was just too afraid to really go for it [instead of N snoozefests directed by Bartlett Sher,  they could have given a chance to a bundle of talent -- Thaddeus Strassberger (also American), for example]. In any case, even these failed attempts to create something new are to be preferred to the old mothball events such as La Bohème by Zeff...

Happily, however, there are some rare but true gems  -- c.f. the new & currently running Parsifal (tomorrow in the movies!)

The Met's 2013-2014 program  indicates a big improvement as it announces the arrival of two great directors: (a) Deborah Warner who will present her take on Eugene Onegin [with Anna Netrebko singing, the event should be a winner], and (b) the über-talented Dima Tcherniakov who will most probably be viciously booed for his staging of Prince Igor, but like all of his productions this will provide a breath of fresh air to the house. Yours Truly is tempted to go to NYC for  the premiere despite the fact that one show in the run will be live broadcast in the cinemas worldwide.

You could nitpick about a few names missing in the casts but overall it is the top notch, as you would expect it to be from The Met's artistic management.

De Nederlandse opera 2013-2014

While mentioning the best opera houses in the world I forgot to mention the Zurich Opernhaus which now --under Andreas Homoki-- should be making strides of improvement. But this post is about those big opera houses that are steadily great, and superbly run by Pierre Audi -- De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam -- the house that I relatively frequently visit and love dearly.

For 2013-2014 they are proposing a top-notch cast for the revival of their Ring des Nibelungen, but more importantly they propose five new productions, including Armide/Glück [one of my fave operas] directed by Barrie Kosky, and The Gambler staged by Andrea Breth, with Marc Albrecht conducting and the phenomenal John Daszak in the cast. Their new Faust might be very interesting too: a superb cast lead by the most exciting singer right now, Sonya Yoncheva; good guy from La Fura (Àlex Ollé) will  direct and always brilliant Marc Minkowski will conduct.

The DNO production of Lucia di Lammermoor is one of a few that are worth seeing. Good news is that their show will be back on stage in 2014. Soooo....

Teatro Real in Madrid 2013-2014

Together with La Monnaie/De Munt and a few German opera houses, and thanks to a remarkable work by Gerard Mortier, Teatro Real in Madrid is nowadays among the best --if not the very best-- opera house in Europe.


For its interior it was the most beautiful opera house since quite some time, but now it is also artistically the most amazing opera theater we have around. Even though their 2013-2014 will begin with a mediocre production of Il Barbiere, everything that comes after that is brilliant.

See below

Paris Opera 2013-2014

After a couple of really bad years at the Paris Opera, a glimpse over the 2013-2014 makes you think: OK, it's less bad than before. Revivals are more often than not well done in Paris, so I won't say much except encourage everyone to go and see a wonderful production of La Clemenza di Tito with a wonderful Stéphanie d'Oustrac, and the superb Warlikowski production -- The Makropulos Affair.

I like Robert Carsen, but seriously... Out of 8 new production at the OdP, two of them [Elektra & Zauberflöte] are staged by Carsen, whose Capuleti and Alcina will be revived too!
Olivier Py too is supposed to come up with two new production [Alceste & Aida].

No younger directors, no contemporary opera, revivals of the embarrassingly bad Cosi and Italiana...

New Traviata by Benoît Jacquot will most probably be a tepid sellout  show [smt like the awful  ROH production by Eyre]... If we cannot be entirely enthused by the list of conductors, overall  --and modulo a few exceptions-- the lineup is good. I like the casts for the most part [YAY for Sonya Yoncheva and Jochen Schmeckenbecher!]. 

To stay positive, on the paper, it looks as if the operatic program at the ONP is improving.

see below...

Thank You Denmark

For Borgen, for The Hunt, for A Royal Affair, for Adam's Apples, for Kapringen, for the insuperable actor Mads Mikkelsen, or the phenomenal Pilou Asbaek and Sidse Babett Knudsen, for the immeasurably talented Thomas Vinterberg, for Lars von Trier (who sees the deepest corners of the human soul)...

Tak Danmark for saving film from the aggressive commercial mediocrity and socially/culturally damaging propaganda.  You're the island of hope!

On the same note --but independently from Denmark-- thank you Michael Haneke for Amour.

I'm halfway through Borgen S02 and it is enriching in more than one way. Excellent filming, acting, amazing intellectual content, decent depth of arguments, openness to the 21st century, and despite the main theme the fact that they resisted at every stage to dive into nationalism or cheap self-celebration is praise-worthy...  -- great great stuff: one of the best TV shows of this genre ever.  

Les Contes d'Hoffmann on La Rambla

The (re)new production of Les contes d'Hoffmann, directed by Laurent Pelly, is finishing its run tonight [Saturday, Febr 23rd 2013] at the Grand Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and the brilliant Mezzo TV will be live broadcasting this last show to us.

Pelly proved to be particularly doué for staging the works by Offenbach so this may well be a treat for all opera aficionados. Merci Mezzo!

In addition to always excellent conductor, Stéphane Denève, the top-notch cast includes Michael Spyres, Laurent Naouri, Michèle Losier, Natalie Dessay, Kathleen Kim, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Susana Cordón, Salomé Haller...

Calixto Bieito is a genius!

I'm watching the Munich production of Boris Godunov directed by Calixto Bieito --that I DVRed while I was at the theater attending the Martin Kusej show-- and it looks to me as a 'scary sequel' of his [Calixto's] take on Der Fliegende Holländer.
I'll probably throw in a few paragraphs about this gem when I finish watching it but as of now I just wanted to unleash one more time "Calixto Bieito is a freaking genius!"

He is a good man, humanist to the core, a man with a huge heart, with a big pair... , and with a subtle ear for every human state or emotion.




I am also glad the Bayerische Staatsoper (BSO) finally scores a big show.
The advantage of the BSO over the other big opera houses is that they're constantly trying to explore various theatrical styles, which means taking risks all the time. Unfortunately, several of their recent new productions fell flat, but this one grandly compensates for all those unhappy outcomes.  [I love the cast too!] I believe this is the first great BSO show since Mitridate [if I don't count The Ring]. So, congrats to BSO from their old fan!

Good Shows Alert

1. Mezzo TV will live broadcast the new production of Boris Godunov from Munich, tonight (Wed, Feb 20, 2013) starting from 19:00. The show is produced by Calixto Bieito (with Rebecca Ringst!) which should be a guarantee that the show will be a bright spot in the sea of mediocrity of what is currently produced in operahouses worldwide. The cast is good as ever (always high Bayerische Staatsoper standards), and his greatness Kent Nagano will be conducting. 




2.  The Perfect American, opera by Ph. Glass, was recently created at Teatro Real in Madrid [one of the top 3-4 Opera Houses in Europe today]. Christopher Purves --who we can never admire enough-- sings the role of Walt Disney and the rest of the cast is very good. Directed by Phelim Mc Dermott (to discover!), this opera to see was conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. Here are the links to Arte-LiveWeb and Medici-tv.




3. La Monnaie/De Munt --a.k.a. the best opera house in Europe  [although Berlin, Madrid, Dresden, Lyon, Zurich... boast terrific opera houses too]-- completed the run of their new production of Manon Lescaut which is now available for free viewing on this link [until March 3rd].  Opportunity to see a show produced by Mariusz Trelinski (one more Polish talent!)
   OK, Puccini is cheesy with too much pathos to take, but that mixture is diluted by a high quality of direction and the superb singing by Eva Maria Westbroek and Brandon Jovanovich. So do give it a go! 




4. Usually I would not encourage anyone with IQ>80 to go to cinema,  pay for one of very pricey seats just to see a broadcast --live from The Met-- of one of The Met's catastrophic recent productions (better go to a restaurant or donate to charity). A few exceptions happen, however, and those are usually the shows co-produced with Opéra de Lyon: The Nose, From the House of the Dead, and now Parsifal.  Although the cast is unlikely to match the brilliance of the show presented in Lyon, it should be brilliant too in its own way [btw, why do they push Kaufmann to sing Wagner?] and the François Girard production is truly great -- perhaps not the Castellucci kind of great, or the Herheim kind great, but great for totally different reasons. Daniele Gatti conducts! So, do try and go to your local theater and see this gem: live broadcast is scheduled for Sat, March 2nd at 18:00 (cet).

From the Calixto Bieito production of Boris Godunov presented at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich

Pour les parisiens: En ce moment --et pendant seulement quatre jours-- vous pouvez voir  Der Weibsteufel [Le diable fait femme] à l'Odéon Théâtre de l'Europe. C'est un spectacle mis en scène par Martin Kusej et la production vient du Residenztheater à Munich... A ne surtout pas louper!

Rigoletto aus Bayern

In a little more than an hour time (at 18:00 cet), the Bavarian State Opera will live stream their new production of Rigoletto, produced by Árpád Schilling (excellent theater director who makes his operatic debut with this production), always reliable Marco Armiliato and a superb cast including Franco Vassallo, Dmitry Ivashchenko, Joseph Calleja, Patricia Petibon and Nadia Krasteva.

Here is your link and the trailer plus a short film about the production is attached below.

La Traviata Bruxelloise

The World's best TV --Arte of course!-- will be live broadcasting the new production of La Traviata from the World's best opera house -- La Monnaie/DeMunt -- in a little more than an hour time [20:00 CET].

Andrea Breth, one of the most talented and most accomplished theater directors today, produced the show [I saw her recent Wozzeck and Lulu at the Staatsoper in Berlin (UdL) and loved them both immensely; I also saw (with some delay) her Kat'a Kabanova also staged in Brussels, that matched in quality the famous Christoph Marthaler production -- which should be by now in textbooks], Adam Fischer conducts the LaMonnaie orchestra, which will be a curiosity on its own [Fischer is huge in Mozart operas, and I can only guess the level of subtleties in conducting La Traviata],  and the cast looks exactly what you would expect from the incomparable Peter de Caluwe: the role of Violetta will be sung by a lesser known Simona Saturova, Alfredo by always passionate Sébastien Guèze, Giorgio by our top-fave Scott Hendricks, and the cast for smaller roles is quite delicately composed too.

So, after two horrid live streamed production from the Munich Opera and tragic productions from The Met [live broadcast in the cinemas all over the world, unfortunately], here is the second super-promising show from Brussels that gives us hope that opera is not dead art [unforgettable production of Lulu in October was also produced at LaMonnaie/DeMunt].

Arte Live Web video is embedded below. Enjoy ;)

Chinatown on Ice

Today, November 25 2012, at 19:00, the Munich BSO will live stream their recent production of Turandot, directed by La Fura dels Baus. The story was recounted intelligently giving this opera a breath of life, traditionalists hated it -- which means that it is probably worth watching.

Masters for the positively spectacular shows -- from Turandot by La Fura dels Baus

Even if synonymous for a mix of pompous and pathos, Turandot is nevertheless one of the least annoying operas by Puccini. Unfortunately it is far too often reduced to a parade of kitsch culminated by the Turandot's scream-fest [In questa reggia] to appreciate its musical qualities, despite a few well-known arias [Nessun dorma by Kalaf and Signore, ascolta!/Tu che di gel sei cinta by Liu].

A much-much better Turandot opera --in my opinion-- is the one by Ferruccio Busoni that we were privileged to see last year in Dijon, in a terrific production by Cisco Aznar and with terrific Sabine Hogrefe (Turandot) and Thomas Piffka (Kalaf). 

So for La Fura it might be good fun after all. Ah yes, if you did not listen to Yonghoon Lee singing before then you should definitely tune in tonight at 19:00 (CET) and watch the show on this link!

Dir- Carlus Padrisa (La Fura dels Baus), cnd- Marco Armiliato, Cast: Iréne Theorin, Yonghoon Lee, Serena Farnocchia, Alastair Miles, Markus Eiche...

Enjoy!

Trailer and an interview with Carlus Padrisa (who explains the main lines of his production) are attached below.

Parsifal anyone?!

New production of Parsifal was premiered a few days ago. Directed by Philip Stölzl the premiere was also a convenient way to celebrate 100 years of Deutsche Oper Berlin (DOB). This is the first premiere since the phenomenal Dietmar Schwarz became the general manager of DOB.

Today's Berliner Morgenpost dedicated a whole section to DOB, the premiere of Parsifal and the postpremiere party.

I'm off to see the second show. Too bad our fave T.H. Mayer won't be singing but the brilliant A. Marco-Buhrmester  will sing the role of Amfortas instead... Well AMB was Klingsor in Lyon last spring and now he steps in as Amfortas.
 Klaus Florian Vogt, Evelyn Herlitzius, Thomas Jesatko, Matti Salminen... it should be great. Plus it will be good to see if Runnicles will be as extraordinary as in Tristan or a little less great like in Die Walküre.


 

Night with Siegfried

Tonight, Tuesday October 23, starting from 19:00 (cet) Mezzo TV will live broadcast the Milan premiere of Siegfried, the third opera of the Guy Cassiers production of Der Ring des Nibelungen [this must be one of the finest Ring productions so far].

On case you cannot receive Mezzo TV, check out your local cinemas -- many will be broadcasting the premiere too.  Details about the cast can be found here [I'll just note that three top fave singers will be performing -- Anna Larsson, Nina Stemme and Johannes Martin Kränzle; plus Lance Ryan is always superb as Siegfried].

Photo from Guy Cassiers production of Siegfried [©Monika Rittershaus]

Unlike the previous two operas --that yours truly saw in Berlin and immensely enjoye-- this opera [Siegfried] was already premiered in Berlin before Milan [attached below is a clip from the Berlin premiere].

Superb Macbeth directed by van Hove; one more winner for Opéra de Lyon

Macbeth, Opéra National de Lyon, October 21 2012

Director ..... Ivo van Hove
Conductor ..... Kazushi Ono

Macbeth ..... Evez Abdulla
Banco ..... Riccardo Zanellato
Lady Macbeth ..... Iano Tamar
Suivante de Lady Macbeth ..... Kathleen Wilkinson
Macduff ..... Dmytro Popov
Malcolm ..... Viktor Antipenko

Orchestre et Chœurs de l'Opéra de Lyon

Ninanana Ninanana - Nina Stemme

Tristan und Isolde (in concert), Salle Pleyel in Paris, October 13 2012

Conductor ..... Mikko Franck

Tristan ..... Christian Franz

Isolde ..... Nina Stemme

King Marke ..... Peter Rose

Kurwenal ..... Detlef Roth

Brangäne ..... Sarah Connolly

Melot ..... Richard Berkeley-Steele

A young sailor ..... Pascal Bourgeois

A shepherd ..... Christophe Poncet

A steersman ...... Renaud Derrien

Choeur de Radio France (Brigitte Clair & Matthias Brauer)

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (OPRF)

Lulu opened in Brussels: Warlikowski is a genius

Yes, I was at the premiere of Lulu in Brussels today-- one of the most outstanding productions created so far anywhere and by any theatrical standard.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to film this show properly because many things happen simultaneously on the stage and  details really matter...
The emotion that was created at the theater today was truly extraordinary and the show reminded us once again that "Theater is Life" -- that vortex of emotion was so remarkable and we all --who were actually there-- shared something truly unique today. Thank you to everyone who made this possible! 

If you can possibly make it and see this show in Brussels, at La Monnaie/De Munt, don't think twice! Just go! Barbara Hannigan delivers the performance of her life -- helped by a fantastic cast, and guided by a super-inspired Warlikowski --who channeled the 'Edgar Degas' side of him-- and his extraordinary team. Claude Bardouil made the finale of Act1 extra-fascinating. Paul Daniel and all the artists were just magnificent.   

Pavlo Hunka, Charles Workman, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Dietrich Henschel, Barbara Hannigan, Christian Longchamps, Malgorzata Szczesniak, Paul Daniel, Frances Bourne and the brilliant kids from the Koninklijke Ballet School in Antwerp

This is a whole different level of theatrical creativity that resonates so wonderfully with opera. I'll try and write a few paragraphs tomorrow (or Tuesday) although I feel that by trying to describe it I could ruin it [if that makes sense to you].

There are many reasons why La Monnaie/De Munt is the best opera house in the world today, and this new Lulu is about to become one of them [reasons].

Warlikowski event No.2 in 2012: Bruxelles, le centre du monde lyrique

After Boris Godunov in Madrid and Jenufa in Zurich, the third event in Europe this fall --that is not be missed-- is also expected to be among the top 3 in 2012 [although I don't believe that Poppea e Nerone could be beaten by anyone or anything - including Warlikowski himself] -- it is a new production of Lulu in Brussels.

The Warli team [Krzysztof Warlikowski, Malgorzata Szczesniak, Felice Ross, Denis Guéguin] is busy preparing the premiere and the cast looks excellent on the paper. Is it possible to resist one of the finest singers today (born to sing the 20th century repertoire!) -- Barbara Hannigan?! Her take on Lulu should be a blast!
Lothar Koenigs was supposed to conduct but due to an accident he had to pull out. Paul Daniel, whose Macbeth [also in Brussels] will remain one of my most memorable moments at the opera, will conduct instead.

As usual, all Warlikowski events should be seen in auditorium, rather than in video (it is a totally different experience), but if you cannot make it to Brussels mark November 8 in your calendar when you could see the video-stream of the show on La Monnaie/De Munt website. Video will be free and available for three weeks.

But if you can make it to Brussels, please do so! You will definitely feel richer for a special theatrical - operatic experience.

I would also like to encourage you to read the interview with Warlikowski prepared a few weeks ago by Christian Longchamps.

Boris Godunov in Madrid

Boris Godunov, Teatro Real in Madrid, October 3 2012

Director ..... Johan Simons

Conductor ..... Hartmut Haenchen

Boris Godunov ..... Günther Groissböck

Fyodor ..... Alexandra Kadurina

Yenia ..... Alina Yarovaya

Yenia's nurse ..... Margarita Nekrasova

Prince Shuisky ..... Stefan Margita

Chelkalov ..... Yuri Nechaev

Pimen ..... Dmitry Ulyanov

Grigory ..... Michael König

Marina Mnishek ..... Julia Gertseva

Rangoni ..... Evgeny Nikitin

Varlaam ..... Anatoli Kotscherga

Misail ..... John Easterlin

Innkeeper ..... Pilar Vázquez

Simpleton ..... Andrey Popov

Nikitich ..... Károly Szemerédy

Mitiushka ..... Fernando Radó

Court Boyar ..... Antonio Lozano

Boyar Khrushchyov ..... Tomeu Bibiloni

Levitski ..... Ángel Rodríguez

Chernikovski ..... Rodrigo Álvarez

Coro y Orquesta Titulares del Teatro Real

Children Chorus - JORCAM

Stéphane Lissner to run the Paris Opera from September 2015

La gioia! 

Stéphane Lissner, who I praised here on several occasions --last time it was about his projects at La Scala for 2012-2015-- will be the new general director of the Paris Opera starting from September 2015!

That is very good news as the creative art might be coming back to Bastille and Garnier.

I did not want to blog about all the ghastly productions created at the Paris Opera over the past few years. I think it is fair to say that the quality level of new productions presented last year was the history lowest (Manon, Faust, La Forza del Destino, Cav/Pag, Hippolyte et Aricie -- hard to pick the worst). The decision of the French Ministry of Culture to say goodbye to Nicolas Joël was the only rational outcome after the "artistic" choices he imposed on the Paris Opera over the past 3-4 years.

Musica Sola also describes the last trick Joël wanted to pull out in order to make his sacking look like his personal choice...  Sorry Nick, it's a Red Card! 

Argh...

A MAJOR bummer: I missed the train to Zurich, and so this time I will not be able to see Jenufa at the Opernhaus Zürich [theater run by our fave Andreas Homoki!].

Inside the Zurich Opera (photo I took last time I was there, in July 2011)

I will have to wait until the Zurich Opera Festival in July to actually see the show.

I have no one to blame  for coming late to La Gare de l'Est but myself. The ticket I had was a "special fare", valid only for the train I missed.  If anyone reading this post is in Zurich and wants to see Jenufa tonight (Sunday, Oct 7) let me know and I'll send you my electronic ticket.

Don Carlo in Amsterdam: Talented Mr. Decker and Amazing Mr. Maltman

Don Carlo, De Nederlandse Opera (DNO) in Amsterdam, May 13 2012

Director ..... Willy Decker

Conductor ..... Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Filippo II ..... Mikhail Petrenko

Don Carlo ..... Massimo Giordano

Rodrigo ..... Christopher Maltman

Il grande inquisitore ..... Sir John Tomlinson

Elisabetta di Valois ..... Camilla Nylund

La principessa d'Eboli ..... Ekaterina Gubanova

Un frate ..... Andrea Mastroni

Tebaldo, paggio d’Elisabetta ..... Eugénie Warnier

La contessa d'Aremberg ..... Mariëtte Oelderik

Il conte di Lerma/Un araldo reale ..... Rudi de Vries

Una voce dal cielo ..... Lisette Bolle

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

Koor van De Nederlandse Opera

News You Can Use

I skipped the whole summer of opera streaming, so I'm now trying to catch up when I can.
I am halfway watching the absolutely dreadful production of Ariadne auf Naxos presented at the Salzburg Festival 2012 and I hope I'll have enough courage to finish it. I should see Die Zauberflöte where my absolute fave singer (Georg Zeppenfeld) was apparently great. Die Soldaten could be interesting too.  Le Nozze di Figaro from Aix en Provence 2012, produced by Richard Brunel, should be a treat to see too, but I most regret the new Jan Philipp Gloger production of The Flying Dutchman in Bayreuth. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to see it next year... OK, this last was not streamed or broadcast.

What good to expect to see in one of these live broadcasts in 2012-2013?

Cosí fan tutte in Nancy

Cosí fan tutte, Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy, September 30, 2012

Lionel Lhote, Gaëlle Arquez, Gyula Orendt, Tito Muñoz, Marie Adeline Henry, Julien Behr and Clémence Barrabé

Director ..... Jim Lucassen

Conductor ..... Tito Muñoz

Fiordiligi ..... Marie Adeline Henry 

Dorabella ..... Gaëlle Arquez 

Despina ..... Clémence Barrabé 

Ferrando ..... Julien Behr 

Guglielmo ..... Gyula Orendt 

Don Alfonso ..... Lionel Lhote 

Schreker Opera in Amsterdam: Der Schatzgräber

Der Schatzgräber, De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, September 23 2012

Director ..... Ivo van Hove

Conductor ..... Marc Albrecht

Els ..... Manuela Uhl
Elis ..... Raymond Very
 Der Narr ..... Graham Clark
 Albi ..... Gordon Gietz
Der Junker ..... Mattijs van de Woerd
Der Wirt ..... Andrew Greenan
Der König ..... Tijl Faveyts
Die Königin ..... Basja Chanowski
Der Kanzler/Der Schreiber ..... Alasdair Elliott
Herold / Der Graf ..... André Morsch
Der Magister/Der Schultheiss ..... Kurt Gysen
er Vogt ...... Kay Stiefermann
Ein Landsknecht ..... Peter Arink
Erster Bürger ..... Cato Fordham
Zweiter Bürger ..... Richard Meijer
Mezzo Sopran Solo ..... Marieke Reuten
Alt Solo ..... Inez Hafkamp   
Alt Solo ..... Hiroko Mogaki
   
   
   
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Koor van De Nederlandse Opera [Alan Woodbridge]

Schatzgrabbing

And so I succeeded to come to Amsterdam and get to see the last show of this gem-opera, in a production that is supposed to be one of the most significant operatic events this fall in Europe. Good!

About the show, hopefully tonight.

Important detail: I just checked and the "Musiektheater" wifi connection is free AND fast. Love De Nederlandse Opera! Cheers