Long Tosca post (Munich, Zurich, DVD, Verbier...)

As you already know Puccini is not my cup of tea. When interestingly staged I can stomach the lacrimosa passages and tons of pathos from time to time.
I was recently offered by a dear friend a copy of DVD Tosca, directed by Robert Carsen and presented a couple of years ago in Zurich, with Kaufmann, Magee and Hampson in the main roles. I promised I would see it, which I eventually did during my trip to Munich. In short - it's a good DVD!

Betrothal at Opéra Comique

Betrothal in a Monastery/Les Fiançailles au couvent/Обручение в монастыре, Opéra Comique in Paris, February 3 2011

Larissa Diadkova, Tugan Sokhiev, and Mikhail Kolelishvili

Director ..... Martin Duncan

Conductor ..... Tugan Sokhiev

Don Jérôme ..... Brian Galliford

Ferdinand ..... Garry Magee

Louisa ..... Anastasia Kalagina

The Duenna ..... Larissa Diadkova

Antonio ..... Daniil Shtoda

Clara d’Almanza ..... Anna Kiknadze

Mendoza ..... Mikhail Kolelishvili

Don Carlos ..... Yuri Vorobiov

Father Augustin .....Eduard Tsanga

Brother Elustaf ..... Vasily Efimov

Brother Chartreuse ..... Marek Kalbus

Brother Benedictine ..... Mischa Schelomianski

Lauretta ..... Eleonora Vindau

Orchestre et Chœur du Capitole de Toulouse

Julie by Boesmans and Bondy: an opera for posterity

So what about Julie? I saw this DVD a year ago or so. Since we have another production of this opera in Paris starting on January 8, I decided to see it again, to brush up on it.

3 general informations about this opera would be: (1) it is short - only 74 minutes long; (2) it is a chamber opera somehow following a Britten-like line of creation - I bet he would've loved it; (3) it is close to the Wagnerian vein too, as it combines an extraordinary libretto with the music that weaves through the text only to accelerate your dive into the psyche of each of three characters. This should be as close as you can get to the Wagnerian concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, and I'm pretty sure Wagner would have loved it too.