Meanwhile, great things are happening on the European Operatic Stages...
Calixto Bieito's production of Le Grand Macabre --premiered in Freiburg last Sunday-- provoked a good splash among the German critics. What I am very-very pleased to read is that NONE of the critics is mean to him any more: even those who abhor Calixto's outrageous images admit that his work (behind those images) is extremely serious. They finally get his trick: he conveys the essence of any given drama while you're busy being shocked (ah-oh! boo!) b/c of the scenes running in front of you. The theatrical genius, I'm telling you! ;)
The best French soprano Patricia Petibon (Oh yes, of course she is!) was apparently "extraordinary" in her first take on Lulu, in the production which premiered last Thursday in Geneva. The critics are gushing over her vocal and scenic performance (and I like reading it!). They are, however, less complimentary about the director Olivier Py: between OKish and very good. It looks as if the label "+16" --put all over this production only a few weeks before la prima [unsuitable for people younger than 16]-- wasn't really a kind of PR which would seduce the critics. But that does not diminish the unanimous praise of Patricia!
Agrippina in Berlin (UDL) was a big event because of its awesome cast, with Anna Prohaska and Jennifer Rivera being the new operatic gems who we will follow. Vincent Boussard is more or less slashed by the critics (which does not mean anything - if you ask me) while Christian Lacroix is hugely praised. The singers and maestro R.Jacobs all received props for their performance.
NB: tonight [Sunday, February 7] at 7:30 pm (CET) -- live broadcast from UDL on Kulturradio.
I am not saying/reading anything about the Martin Kusej production of The Flying Dutchman, because I will go to see it live.
____________
PLUS, something you couldn't care less about... :-)
Sur le Grand Macabre : c'est toujours comme ça, dès qu'une oeuvre est récente, ils trouvent toujours les mises en scène géniales, si contemporaines qu'elles soient. Mais dès que les Marthaler, Simons, Bieito et autres s'attaquent à une oeuvre plus classique, là ils tirent à vue. Tu vas voir les critiques pour le Lohengrin de Neuenfels à Bayreuth, il va y avoir du sang!
ReplyDeleteC'est clair. Toutefois il y a une différence [ou je veux croire qu'il y en a une ;)] que ce travail n'est pas d'emblée pris pour une cible. Avant c'était presque automatique. Il suffisait de voir un nom collé et sans avoir vue une production ils lançaient des pierres.
ReplyDeleteEt puis il y a --je pense-- un autre aspect : maintenant si une œuvre du répertoire est mise en scène par un de ces braves metteurs à Bâle, à Stuttgart ou au Komische Oper, alors la critique les laissent faire sans les vitrioler. C'est deja un pas important franchi ;)