Stéphane Lissner to run the Paris Opera from September 2015

La gioia! 

Stéphane Lissner, who I praised here on several occasions --last time it was about his projects at La Scala for 2012-2015-- will be the new general director of the Paris Opera starting from September 2015!

That is very good news as the creative art might be coming back to Bastille and Garnier.

I did not want to blog about all the ghastly productions created at the Paris Opera over the past few years. I think it is fair to say that the quality level of new productions presented last year was the history lowest (Manon, Faust, La Forza del Destino, Cav/Pag, Hippolyte et Aricie -- hard to pick the worst). The decision of the French Ministry of Culture to say goodbye to Nicolas Joël was the only rational outcome after the "artistic" choices he imposed on the Paris Opera over the past 3-4 years.

Musica Sola also describes the last trick Joël wanted to pull out in order to make his sacking look like his personal choice...  Sorry Nick, it's a Red Card! 

Don Giovanni in Paris: Peter Mattei, Bernard Richter, Philippe Jordan... and übertalented Michael Haneke

Don Giovanni, Opéra Bastille in Paris, March 15 2012

Bernard Richer, Véronique Gens, Peter Mattei, Philippe Jordan, Patricia Petibon, David Bizic

Michael Haneke ..... director
Philippe Jordan ..... conductor


Peter Mattei ..... Don Giovanni
Paata Burchuladze ..... Il Commendatore
Patricia Petibon ..... Donna Anna
Bernard Richter ..... Don Ottavio
Véronique Gens ..... Donna Elvira
David Bizic ..... Leporello
Nahuel Di Pierro ..... Masetto
Gaëlle Arquez ..... Zerlina

Orchestre et choeur de l'Opéra national de Paris

"The merry widow" - Grahamless and joyless

Die lustige Witwe/La veuve joyeuse, Opéra Garnier in Paris, March 2 2012

Asher Fisch    ..... Conductor
Jorge Lavelli ..... Director

Harald Serafin  .....  Baron Mirko Zeta
Ana Maria Labin  ..... Valencienne
Bo Skovhus  ..... Graf Danilo

Susan Graham Noëmi Nadelmann ..... Hanna Glawari
Daniel Behle  ..... Camille de Rosillon
Edwin Crossley-Mercer  .....  Vicomte Cascada
François Piolino  ..... Raoul de Saint-Brioche
Francis Bouyer  ..... Bogdanowitsch
Claudia Galli  ..... Sylviane
Francis Dudziak  ..... Kromow
Andrea Hill  ..... Olga
Fabrice Dalis  ..... Pritschitsch
Michèle Lagrange  ..... Praskowia
Franz Mazura .....  Njegus

Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus

One more Christmas gift to traditionalists: La Forza del Destino from Paris

I said I would not blog about the sad-sad production of La Forza del Destino, recently premiered at the Paris Opera, but since the video-links of the show appeared and the run of this appalling production is over, I'll just put in my two sentences and let you enjoy or "enjoy" this thing.

Curtain calls after the show on November 17 2011 at Opéra Bastille: Vladimir Stoyanov, Philippe Jordan, Patrick Marie Aubert, Violeta Urmana, Zoran Todorovich, Kwangchul Youn, Nadia Krasteva [the best soloist, Nicola Alaimo, not in the photo]

In all honesty, I went to see this show hoping it would change my too strong opinion about this opera --one of the dumbest operas of all times-- and that I'd find a way to convince myself that, musically, this opera was indeed one of the greatest works done by Giuseppe, as the numerous Verdi aficionados often suggest.

While I knew nothing would change the incongruities of the libretto, and that this kind of staging would only emphasize them, I thought the performers would make this giant snoozer miraculously enjoyable.  Hélas, hélas!

Kwangchul Youn was obviously fantastic and Nicola Alaimo excellent, but all in all I spent 5 very long hours [2 intermissions] fighting the snooze-balloons, survived them all, only to hear "Pace, pace mio Dio!" and say -- Never Again!

Lulu in Paris: Talented Mr. Decker (2)

Lulu, Opéra Bastille in Paris, October 28 2011

Conductor ..... Michael Schønwandt

Director ..... Willy Decker

Lulu ..... Laura Aikin

Gräfin Geschwitz ..... Jennifer Larmore

Eine Theatergarderobiere, Ein Gymnasiast, Ein Groom ..... Andrea Hill

Der Maler, Der Neger ..... Marlin Miller

Dr Schön, Jack ..... Wolfgang Schöne

Alwa ..... Kurt Streit

Der Tierbändiger, Ein Athlet ..... Scott Wilde

Schigolch ..... Franz Grundheber

Der Prinz, Der Kammerdiener, Der Marquis ..... Robert Wörle

Der Theaterdirektor, Der Bankier ..... Victor Von Halem

Eine Fünfzehnjährige ..... Julie Mathevet

Ihre Mutter ..... Marie-Thérèse Keller

Die Kunstgewerblerin ..... Marianne Crebassa

Der Journalist ..... Damien Pass

Ein Diener ..... Ugo Rabec

Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus

La Clemenza di Tito in Paris: Talented Mr. Decker

La Clemenza di Tito (La clémence de Titus), Opéra Garnier in Paris, September 12 2011

Willy Decker ..... Director
Adam Fischer ..... Conductor

Klaus Florian Vogt ..... Tito
Hibla Gerzmava ..... Vitellia
Stéphanie d'Oustrac ..... Sesto
Allyson McHardy ..... Annio
Amel Brahim-Djelloul ..... Servilia
Balint Szabo ..... Publio


Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris

Carsen's Tannhäuser paints Elisabeth in Paris

Tannhäuser, Opéra Bastille in Paris, October 6th 2011

Robert Carsen, Sophie Koch, Mark Elder, Christopher Ventris, Nina Stemme

Sir Mark Elder ..... Conductor
Robert Carsen ..... Director

Nina Stemme ..... Elisabeth
Sophie Koch ..... Venus
Christopher Ventris ..... Tannhäuser
Stéphane Degout ..... Wolfram von Eschenbach
Christof Fischesser ..... Hermann Landgrave 

Stanislas De Barbeyrac ..... Walther von der Vogelweide
Tomasz Konieczny ..... Biterolf
Eric Huchet ..... Heinrich der Schreiber
Wojtek Smilek ..... Reinmar von Zweter

Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Twilight of The Paris Ring

(Die) Götterdämmerung [Le crépuscule des dieux], Opéra Bastille in Paris, June 3 2011

Director ..... Günter Krämer 

Conductor ..... Philippe Jordan

Torsten Kerl ..... Siegfried
Iain Paterson ..... Gunther
Peter Sidhom ..... Alberich
Hans-Peter König ..... Hagen
Katarina Dalayman ..... Brünnhilde
Christiane Libor ..... Gutrune, 3rd Norn
Sophie Koch ..... Waltraute
Nicole Piccolomini ..... 1st Norn, Flosshilde
Caroline Stein ..... Woglinde
Daniela Sindram ..... Wellgunde

Orchestre et Choeur de l’Opéra national de Paris

Kát'a Marthalerova

Katia Kabanova, Opéra Garnier in Paris, March 8 2011

In front of Opéra Garnier - minutes before the beginning of Kat'a Kabanova, a.k.a. Marthalerova

Christoph Marthaler ..... director

Tomas Netopil ..... conductor

Angela Denoke ..... Kát'a

Vincent Le Texier ..... Saviol Dikoy

Jane Henschel ..... Kabanicha

Donald Kaasch ..... Tichon Kabanov

Jorma Silvasti ..... Boris Grigorievitch

Ales Briscein ..... Kudriach

Andrea Hill ..... Varvara

Orchestre et Choeur de l’Opéra national de Paris

Siegfried in Paris on weed

Siegfried, Opéra Bastille in Paris, March 6 2011

Günter Krämer ..... Director

Philippe Jordan ..... Conductor

Torsten Kerl, Christian Voigt ..... Siegfried

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke ..... Mime

Juha Uusitalo, Egil Silins  ..... Der Wanderer

Peter Sidhom ..... Alberich

Stephen Milling ..... Fafner

Qiu Lin Zhang ..... Erda

Elena Tsallagova ..... Waldvogel

Brigitte Pinter, Katarina Dalayman ..... Brünnhilde

Paris Opera Orchestra

Mathis der Yawner

Mathis der Maler [Matthias the Painter, Mathis le peintre], Opéra National de Paris (Bastille), November 16 2010

Olivier Py ..... Director
Christoph Eschenbach ..... Conductor

Scott Mac Allister ..... Albrecht von Brandenburg
Matthias Goerne ..... Mathis
Thorsten Grümbel ..... Lorenz von Pommersfelden
Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke ..... Wolfgang Capito
Gregory Reinhart ..... Riedinger
Michael Weinius ..... Hans Schwalb
Antoine Garcin ..... Truchsess von Waldburg
Eric Huchet ..... Sylvester von Schaumberg
Melanie Diener ..... Ursula
Martina Welschenbach ..... Regina
Nadine Weissmann ..... Die Gräfin von Helfenstein


Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus 

Le Nozze di Figaro from Opéra Bastille on TV - "Pointless Nostalgic" (?)

I very much like Jamie Cullum, but this post is not about this kind of Pointless Nostalgic. It's about a (pointless?) nostalgic production of  Le Nozze di Figaro that will be (almost) live TV-broadcast from Opéra Bastille tonight, Wednesday - November 3rd, at 20:35 (cet) on France3.

It is a revival of the 37 years old production by Giorgio Strehler, which had been thrown out ~10 years ago, replaced by a new production mounted by Christophe Marthaler,  that in turn is now being replaced by this revamped ancient show -- even though its creator is RIP [decors recovered from its debris hidden in the dumpsters of La Scala!]  This move by the new artistic direction of the Paris Opera is now very much debated in France: praised by ones and criticized by others. 

Deshayes, Frittoli and Siurina [all photos are © Fred Toulet].

In any case the cast is good: Ludovic Tézier (Il Conte di Almaviva), Barbara Frittoli (La Contessa), Ekaterina Siurina (Susanna), Luca Pisaroni (Figaro), Karine Deshayes (Cherubino), Ann Murray (Marcellina), Robert Lloyd (Bartolo), Robin Leggate (Don Basilio), Maria Virginia Savastano (Barbarina), and the conductor is Philippe Jordan.

More production photos and "Voi che sapete"-video as an avant-gout are appended below.

Wozzeck and Le Nozze live on TV in November

1. November 3 at 20:30 (cet) on France3: revival of an ancient production of Le Nozze di Figaro live from Opéra Bastille in Paris [dir - Giorgio Strehler, cnd- Philippe Jordan, Cast: Ludovic Tézier, Barbara Frittoli, Ekaterina Syurina, Luca Pisaroni, Karine Deshayes, Ann Murray, Robert Lloyd...]
2. November 26 at 17:00 (cet) on MezzoTV: so much spoken about Wozzeck, live from Bolshoi Theater in Moscow [dir- Dmitri Tcherniakov, cnd- Theodor Curretzis, Cast: Georg Nigl, Elena Zhidkova, Roman Muravitsky, Fredrik Akselberg...]

Onegin in Paris: Incredible Mr.Petrenko!

Eugene Onegin, Opéra Bastille, September 17 2010

Vasily Petrenko ..... Conductor
Willy Decker ..... Stage director

Nadine Denize ..... Larina
Olga Guryakova ..... Tatyana
Alisa Kolosova ..... Olga
Nona Javakhidze ..... Filippyevna
Ludovic Tézier ..... Eugene Onegin
Joseph Kaiser ..... Lensky
Gleb Nikolsky ..... Prince Gremin 
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt ..... Triquet
Ugo Rabec ..... Zaretsky

Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus

The Dutchman took off at Opéra Bastille

Der fliegende Holländer/The Flying Dutchman/Le vaisseau fantôme, Opéra Bastille, September 9 2010

Angel on the top of the Bastille obelisk seen from Opéra Bastille 

Peter Schneider ..... Conductor

Willy Decker ..... Stage Director

Matti Salminen ..... Daland

Adrianne Pieczonka ..... Senta

Klaus Florian Vogt ..... Erik

Marie-Ange Todorovitch ..... Mary

Bernard Richter .....  Steuermann

James Morris ..... Holländer

Senta stuck at Bastille

Der fliegende Holländer/The Flying Dutchman/Le vaisseau fantôme, Opéra Bastille, September 6th 2010

Peter Schneider ..... Conductor

Willy Decker ..... Stage Director

Matti Salminen ..... Daland

Adrianne Pieczonka ..... Senta

Klaus Florian Vogt ..... Erik

Marie-Ange Todorovitch ..... Mary

Bernard Richter .....  Steuermann

James Morris ..... Holländer

Paris Opera to release Mireille on DVD and to live TV-broadcast 3 operas in 2010-2011

The Paris Opera magazine "En Scène!" informs that two productions presented last year are to be released on DVD this month, namely the appalling production of Mireille [Sept 23]*, and Jacquot's  Werther with Kaufmann, Koch et al. [Sept 17].

"En Scène!" also informs us that, during the current season, France Télévision will live broadcast the following three operas:

• Le Nozze di Figaro , dir Giorgio Strehler,  with Tézier, Frittoli, Syurina, Pisaroni, Deshayes [30 years old production]
• Giulio Cesare, dir Laurent Pelly, with Zazzo, Dessay, Leonard, Abrahamyan, Dumaux, Berg, Visse [new production!]
• Francesca da Rimini, dir Giancarlo Del Monaco, with Vassileva, Alagna, Smilek et al. [a year after his horrid Andrea Chénier in Paris, Del Monaco is back with this show premiered in Zurich in 2007]

Precise dates are not communicated. Will keep you posted.
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* Incidentally,  I see that ROH too rushed to release its worst 2009-2010 production on DVD: The Tsarina's Slippers. :)

The best Wagnerian conductor of our time?

You may have already realized that I'm not into old recordings and stuff remastered beyond recognition. To me the audio recordings are there like old photos -- to bring back the memories of the most memorable shows I've seen.

With Wagner's operas the story is a little different.  Not that I indulge myself into listening to hundreds of hours of old recordings, but because it is interesting to figure out the evolution of styles and approaches to conducting this music over the past 5-6 decades. Once you do that exercise you soon realize the difficulties today's conductors conducting Wagner's music encounter in preparing their performance: they should make their sound 'right' yet refreshing, deliver a distinguishable sound with peculiar timings, and display a profound understanding of the score.

Of all the active conductors, Daniel Barenboim comes on the top. He was the only one able to make that special moment to happen to me, when music almost materializes and detaches from the orchestra. It happens with his Staatskapelle and only sometimes, but when it happens it's the sound that marks you for life.  All Wagner operas conducted by Barenboim are special to me, but his Tristan is likely to remain unbeatable for a long-long time.

Second best to me is Hartmut Haenchen. This year I listened to his Flying Dutchman in Amsterdam and it was magnificent. His Parsifal in Paris --a couple of years ago-- remains an unforgettable musical shock. His Ring, that you can find on DVD, is brilliant as well.

Then comes Christian Thielemann, whose Ring is really special. His Parsifal was interesting too but  not as brilliant as Haenchen's, or even Gatti's or Honeck's. 

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