An Inconvenient Parsifal: From Opera de Lyon 2012 to The Metropolitan Opera in New York 2013

Parsifal, Opéra National de Lyon, March 25 2012

François Girard ..... Director
Kazushi Ono ..... Conductor

Nikolai Schukoff ..... Parsifal
Elena Zhidkova ..... Kundry
Gerd Grochowski ..... Amfortas
Georg Zeppenfeld ..... Gurnemanz
Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester ..... Klingsor
Kurt Gysen ..... Titurel
Tehmine Yeghiazaryan ..... Flowermaiden 1
Ivi Karnezi ..... Flowermaiden 2
Katharina von Bülow ..... Esquire 2 / Flowermaiden 3
Heather Newhouse ..... Esquires 1 / Flowermaiden 4
Sonja Volten ..... Flowermaiden 5
Ulrike Helzel ..... Une voix / Flowermaiden 6
Daniel Kluge ..... Grail Knight 1
Lukas Schmid ..... Grail Knight 2
Olesiy Palchykov ..... Esquires 4
Pascal Pittie ..... Esquires 3


Orchestre, Chœurs et Maîtrise de l'Opéra de Lyon

ONF - Mahler 8

Symphony no.8 by Mahler, Théâtre du Châtelet, June 10 2011

Daniele Gatti

Daniele Gatti ..... conductor

Erin Wall ..... soprano
Melanie Diener ..... soprano
Kerstin Avemo ..... soprano
Christine Knorren ..... mezzo
Marie-Nicole Lemieux ..... alto
Nikolai Schukoff ..... tenor
Detlef Roth ..... baritone
James Morris ..... bass

Orchestre National de France (ONF)
Chorus of the Sächische Staatsoper Dresden (Pablo Assante)
Chorus of the Radio France (Matthias Brauer)
Maîtrise de Radio France (Sofi Jenin)

5 great opera-concerts at TCE: (2) Parsifal

Parsifal in concert, Théâtre des Champs Elysées,April 14 2011

Michael Volle, Kent Nagano and Kwangchul Youn

Kent Nagano ..... Conductor

Nikolai Schukoff ..... Parsifal
Angela Denoke ..... Kundry
Kwangchul Youn ..... Gurnemanz
John Wegner ..... Klingsor
Michael Volle ..... Amfortas
Steven Humes ..... Titurel

Orchestra and Chorus of the Staatsoper Munich
Tölzer Knabenchor

To lose in Mahagonny or Mahagonny in Toulouse: Good show!

Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny [Grandeur et décadence de la ville de Mahagonny], Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, November 21 2010

Laurent Pelly ..... director
Ilan Volkov ..... conductor

Marjana Lipovsek ..... Leokadja Begbick
Chris Merritt ..... Fatty, der "Prokurist"
Gregg Baker ..... Dreieinigkeitsmoses
Valentina Farcas ..... Jenny Hill
Nikolai Schukoff ..... Jim Mahoney
Roger Padullés ..... Jack O’Brien
Harry Peeters ..... Joe, genannt Alaskawolfjoe
Tommi Hakala ..... Bill, genannt Sparbüchsenbill

Orchestre national du Capitole

Mussbach gives an intelligent new look to Norma at the Théâtre du Châtelet

The second viewing of Mussbach's production of  Norma in Châtelet is far more revelatory than the first one. The effect of surprise is now mostly gone and you start tackling deeper the director's ideas. Since being analytic is my job, it's normal that this side of me eventually defines my interaction with this production.

Mira Norma, Paulina Pfeiffer steals the show

We're being really spoiled this January in Paris. Tonight (errr... last night - January 18), we had one more premiere: this time it was a brand new production of Norma in Théâtre du Châtelet.

The director, Peter Mussbach, threw in a clever concept to make this mediocre libretto acceptable to the 21st century audience. He, of course, got booed at the end by the crowd of belcanto aficionados. Like I always say,  good theater shakes up habits and it must be booed by some :)

Apart from the clever staging, a big winner of the evening was Paulina Pfeiffer, yet another superbly singing Swede who we discovered tonight in a wonderful Adalgisa. Next big dramatic mezzosoprano to follow! Lina Tetriani also stands out with her well sung and convincing Norma.