Munich Opera Festival 2010: The Silent Woman

Franz Hawlata, Diana Damrau and Toby Spence

Die schweigsame Frau/The Silent Woman, July 30  2010, Prinzregententheater Munich

Director Barrie Kosky

Conductor Kent Nagano

Sir Morosus..... Franz Hawlata
Haushälterin..... Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Der Barbier..... Nikolay Borchev
Henry Morosus..... Toby Spence
Aminta..... Diana Damrau
 Isotta..... Elena Tsallagova
Carlotta..... Anaïk Morel
Morbio..... Christian Rieger
Vanuzzi..... Christoph Stephinger
Farfallo..... Steven Humes
 

Munich Opera Festival 2010: The Silent Woman

And so The Silent Woman (Die Schweigsame Frau) was premiered last  night in Munich. The German reviewers all seem to be delighted by the show staged by Barrie Kosky (awesome Aussie whose staging at the Komische in Berlin made Rigoletto-opera look intelligent), which after an overall disappointing Tosca comes to rescue the Festival 2010.

Diana Damrau and Toby Spence in Die Schweigsame Frau

The press is particularly gushing over Diana Damrau and Toby Spence who made the evening memorable, and the whole cast appears to have been extremely good [of course nobody resists converting Die schweigsame Frau into Die schwangere Frau -- Diana is pregnant]. The reviews you can read are: here, here, here, and more... Excellent conducting by Kent Nagano is emphasized too.

I'm glad I'll be able to see this show. I don't know this opéra-comique at all. It's a rarely staged Strauss and, strangely enough it's not in the 2010-2011 program of the Bayrische Staatsoper. So, it's now or... or who knows when?! :)

3 more pics and videos (all from BSO) attached below

Opera Directors (and Conductors) in 2009

This was a great year, marked by some outstanding theatrical Opera productions. The stage directors made this art alive by providing a different or entirely new view on the works they directed. The theatrical brilliance, wittiness and ability to take us "beyond"... those guys deserve a huge THANKS from us, the operagoers and fans. I know that a top-5 list is petty, but hey! :)
The Top-5 opera directors who really made me love this art more or in a different way are:


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