Picnicking with your computer: Turn the Screw to Glyndebourne today

Today --Sunday, August 21-- at 19:00 (cet) you can watch the live broadcast of The Turn of the Screw from Glyndebourne. This is a magnificent opera and this particular production (premiered in 2006) might actually be very good.

Jonathan Kent recently offered us a brilliant production of The Fairy Queen and although his Don Giovanni presented at Glyndebourne last year was not so good, we can be optimistic and hope for a thrilling show tonight. Will be interesting how he will cope with the ambiguity of the main character: is she insane or actually possessed by the ghosts?!

The cast is promising with always superb Toby Spence and with Miah Persson opening a non-Mozartian chapter of her career.

You can watch the web-stream either on the Glyndebourne Festival website, or on The Guardian website.  See also an introduction to this opera very well organized by The Guardian staff (and a Trailer below)
Enjoy!

It is maybe a moment to remind you of the extraordinary production of this opera presented at Aix several years ago (DVD available), directed by Luc Bondy, conducted by Daniel Harding, and with equally extraordinary Mireille Delunsch in the role of the Governess.

Wo bleibt Elektra? In Brüssel

I finally got to see the much-talked-about production of Elektra at La Monnaie/De Munt, last Sunday (January 31). Elektra is my favorite Strauss' opera and one of my favorite operas in general. Every year I try to see it at least once. Last year I saw both productions in Berlin, of which the magnificent conducting by Kazushi Ono will stay with me for good many years... But this entry is about Elektra bruxelloise. Here is the pic of the Royal theater of La Monnaie:

music direction  Lothar Koenigs
direction Guy Joosten

Klytämnestra Natascha Petrinsky
Elektra Nadine Secunde
Chrysothemis Annalena Persson
Orest Gerd Grochowski
Aegisth Donald Kaasch

Salomé : Amsterdam V. Paris 1:0

I had a privilege to see two different productions of Salome in only a couple of weeks. One is an old production (Paris Opera) and the other is new (Amsterdam Opera).

Paris show was old and tired, and simply nothing seemed to be in its place: this must have been the most uninspiring "Salome" ever. On the other hand the new production in Amsterdam was controversial, properly sung, and Konwitschny spurred the tons of boos (again)! The comparison sadly reminds us once again how terribly low the Paris Opera has fallen since past September.