Sunday, October 7, 2012

Argh...

A MAJOR bummer: I missed the train to Zurich, and so this time I will not be able to see Jenufa at the Opernhaus Zürich [theater run by our fave Andreas Homoki!].

Inside the Zurich Opera (photo I took last time I was there, in July 2011)


I will have to wait until the Zurich Opera Festival in July to actually see the show.

I have no one to blame  for coming late to La Gare de l'Est but myself. The ticket I had was a "special fare", valid only for the train I missed.  If anyone reading this post is in Zurich and wants to see Jenufa tonight (Sunday, Oct 7) let me know and I'll send you my electronic ticket.



This Jenufa  was obviously on my list of the must-see shows in 2012-2013.

Dmitri Tcherniakov is one of very few true artists among opera directors. He's a control freak [Elena Zaitseva and him do everything], but he never fails to bring a breath of fresh air to each and every opera he produces.

Every production I saw was disturbing in a subtle way because it challenged the way we used to see  these operas before, but every production was passionately built up and represents a creation on its own. From the most extraordinary Ruslan and Ludmila, to a very disturbing but extremely humanizing production of Dialogues des Carmélites, we witnessed his groundbreaking productions of Eugene Onegin and of Don Giovanni, admired his engaging Wozzeck,  were in awe before the theatrical genius of The Gambler, praised his uncommon skills to reorganize Il Trovatore as to get rid of the racist stench in that opera, and felt elated after seeing his Boris Godunov and/or his  Khovanshchina.

That's why this Jenufa was for me one of the two must-see show this fall...

As in many of his previous shows, Kristine Opolais sings a major role -- the title role in this case -- as she knows how to incarnate every nuance in the characters that Tcherniakov wants to project on the stage.

I would have also loved to see and listen to the other singers, and to feel if  Fabio Luisi can handle the Czech repertoire in as subtle manner as he does with Italian and German operas...  Eh bien, rien de tout ça!

And so, in waiting for the Zurich Opera Festival, I can only invite you to drool together with me and watch the production trailer





see several production photos that I could dig out on the Internet,









and read the enthusiastic review by our very reliable Welt der Oper

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