Grandissimo Claudio Abbado

Symphony #9 by Gustav Mahler, Salle Pleyel - Paris, October 20 2010

Picture I saw right after I got off the Métro - Etoile

Going to Pleyel I was a bit tired [with all the things I've done at work during the day...] but the moment I came out of the Métro stop Etoile and saw the above scene in front of me, in spite of its automny flavor, a good part of my fatigue was gone. That's that special effect Paris can have on you...

But hey, the night was supposed to be about a huge concert with Maestro Claudio Abbado  --in one of his rare appearances-- performing The Ninth with Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

Sunday: Fidelio from Lucerne with Nina Stemme, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei... and Claudio Abbado

To cheer up your cloudy/rainy Sunday, you may wish to listen to the radio broadcast from the Lucerne Festival where the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by a living legend, Claudio Abbado, will perform Beethoven's Fidelio (I don't know which version!) tonight [Sunday, August 15th] at 21:00 (cet).

A knockout cast includes: Nina Stemme, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Falk Struckmann, Christof Fischesser, Rachel Harnisch, and Christoph Strehl.

From the Lucerne Festival web-site: photo taken last Thursday during the first "Fidelio" concert

Even if you don't have bad weather today, I think this concert is worthy 2 hours of your time tonight. The press talks about the most unforgettable performance, so...

Here is the link to the Swiss radio DRS. Enjoy!

P.S. If you miss it tonight there will be a rerun on another radio station [link here] next September 4 at 20:05.

La donna del lago: excellent singers in a godawful production

La donna del lago,  Opéra Garnier, Paris, June 11 2010
 

Roberto Abbado    Conductor
Lluís Pasqual     Director

Juan Diego Florez  Giacomo V (Uberto di Snowdon)
Simon Orfila  Duglas d’Angus
Colin Lee  Rodrigo di Dhu
Joyce DiDonato   Elena
Daniela Barcellona  Malcolm Groeme
Diana Axentii  Albina
Jason Bridges  Serano

Aspettando la Donna del lago c'è la Joyce DiDonato

La Donna del lago [or La dame du lac, as it was duly translated into French ;)] is expected to open next Monday, June 14, and so far no detail about the production leaked to the press. The show will take place at Opéra Garnier, which is a big theater but not as big as Bastille ==> the situation with tickets is absolutely insane. To score a ticket for one of the shows in June is literally impossible. The show was sold out months in advance and if/when there is a couple of tickets returned there are immediately dozens of people emerging from nowhere, assaulting the box office, ready to pay whatever the price just to get those tickets. You don't see this kind of craziness in Opera these days...

Joyce on France2 singing the final rondo from La donna del lago - June 10, 2010