Saturday Brouillon

• Are you following the list of the 2012-2013 program in the European Opera Houses that I'm constantly updating (c.f. right/top column)?! Did you see the Deutsche Oper 2012-2013 announcement by the 'star-intendant' Dietmar Schwarz (the man who propelled Theater Basel to the top of the World and who will run DOB from 2012-2017)?
  With this wind of change, Berlin is surging a way above the rest of Europe in terms of Opera and Classical Music.
  Staatsoper UdL unveiled a superb program that the Deutsche Oper matched in excellence but with the content that is complementary to UdL. To that add the new --Barrie Kosky-- turn at the Komische that will provide the alternative to what the other two Berlin opera houses offer... and you get the unbeatable overall program!
  Keep in mind that a ~2 hrs train-ride takes you from Berlin to Dresden where another passionate and very refreshing program is proposed at the Semperoper, run by mighty Ulrike Hessler...



• The new production of Nixon in China, that opened earlier this week at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris [arguably the best sung Adams' opera so far and I think the production is even more interesting than the one by Sellars] will be live broadcast on Mezzo TV next Wednesday, April 18 2012 at 20:00 (cet).
  Extra good news is that Arte Live Web is likely to do the same. Check back here for updates. I will embed the video as soon as it becomes available...



• Next Thursday La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels will premiere their new production of Orlando by Handel. The shows directed by Pierre Audi are inoffensive and often on the snoozefest edge but can be good too [Audi btw is that extraordinary guy who runs De Nederlandse Opera since 1988 and remains the very top Opera House in Europe]. René Jacobs will conduct and the cast is amazing (Bejun Mehta, Sophie Karthäuser, Kristina Hammarström, Konstantin Wolff).
  As usual, La Monnaie will record one of the shows that will be webcast on their site starting from May 12. If you cannot wait, good news is that Mezzo TV will live broadcast the show scheduled for Thursday, April 26 at 20:00 (cet)
  Ah Orlando... reminds me of the Komische Oper production I recently saw in Berlin -- one of the funniest and wittiest productions in business.



• Yesterday I blogged about the new production of La Didone that was premiered in Paris, and here is another Cavalli-rarity related news: Il Giasone has been stages two years ago at one of my fave opera houses (The Flanders Opera), and the DVD is released and will be available on Amazon next week.
  An extra value to this production is that always excellent Christophe Dumaux (a.k.a. "0%bodyfatman") sings the title role, and the clever and super-talented Mariame Clément --the only Regie director in France(?)-- directed the show. Here is a clip:

• One of the most brilliant opera directors today, David Hermann, premiered his new witty, funny, and inventive production of Rossini-buffo, Il Turco in Italia last week in Amsterdam. I really regret for not being able to go and see the show [you cannot see them all!]. The cast is great with the most wonderful Olga Peretyatko, and the Rossini specialists Lawrence Brownlee, Alex Esposito, Vito Priante... So let's drool together:

• I also had to skip the Festtage in Berlin this year: After her superb Wozzeck presented during the Festtage 2011, Andrea Breth continues exploring Berg operas and opened the Festtage 2012 by her take on Lulu -- with Barenboim conducting. Lulu staged by a woman... as über-talented as Andrea, this was the event!  The cuts in the score outraged the musical aficionados (double-blah from me!) and many were disturbed by the show [did they expect to be entertained with Wedekind's Lulu?!]
  I obviously did not see the show, but bulezian and I hear voices did.

• After Werther in Lyon last year, Rolando Villazon is preparing his second opera as a director, L'elisir d'amore in Baden Baden [la prima, May 28]. The main difference is that this time he will also sing in his show (Nemorino).
  In an interview Rolando says that, during the rehearsals for La Bohème several years ago, he was suggested by Richard Jones to try producing opera. [Was he (Jones) serious?]
  Good Luck to Rolando!



• If you cannot go tonight to the cinema and see Natalie Dessay's superhuman effort to sing through La Traviata in the HD broadcast from the The Met tonight at 7 p.m. [I bet she will be great to watch for that one night tho], then you may wish to check out the free live webcast from ORW in Liège, Wednesday Thu - April 26 at 20:00 (cet), with Annick Massis as Violetta Valéry,  on this link.



• Finally something not opera related but equally passionate: tonight [April 14] starting from 19:00 (cet), medici.tv will webcast the concert live from Barcelona with the genius Vasily Petrenko conducting OBC. Program:  Montsalvatge, Brahms and Elgar  (violin soloist - Midori). Here is your link.