Even stronger than first time round, Michieletto's impressive staging is complemented by an outstanding double role debut from Hymel and a heartbreaking Santuzza from Elīna Garanča.
Charles Edwards and Annabel Arden direct Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges in a contrasting pairing of two short operas in Opera North's 'Little Greats' season.
A convincing outing for Leoncavallo's rarely performed tale of adultery, populated by characters who are flesh and blood and are immediately recognisable today.
This was less a concert of two halves than one of two tenors: able to dramatise the music of Puccini and Verdi far more effectively than his earlier Mozart, Flórez came alive.
A remarkable performance for State Opera of South Australia from Rosario La Spina as Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana and Canio in Pagliacci was evidence of the brilliant tenor he has become.
Damiano Michieletto's inspired intertwining of the standard double-bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci makes for vivid storytelling, the whole supported by an excellent cast solidly directed by Andrea Licata.
Despite occasionally brilliant singing, the Norwegian National Opera fails to raise seasonal spirits with a dramatically inert Cavalleria rusticana and a shaky Pagliacci.
The Met’s revival of David McVicar’s year-old take on the perennial Verismo twins strikes out emotionally in Cavalleria rusticana but scores high in Pagliacci. Working on the same set by Rae Smith, flanked by the forbidding stone walls of the town church, Cavalleria is dark, dark, dark – the very picture of a poor, unhappy Sicilian hill town.
In spite of the not insignificant problems, Opera Rara are utterly convincing that Leoncavallo's Zazà is a work that should be seen and heard more often.
Cardiff Castle hosted an entertaining bout of medieval jousting yesterday afternoon, but in the evening all eyes and ears turned to the vocal jousting in St David’s Hall.
The Met's new production of Cav and Pag boasted strong musical performance, but its production, despite some interesting ideas, was not completely successful.
In this anti-realistic, colourful and beautifully played production of Pagliacci, the director extends the concept expressed in the Prologue: clowns are real life people, but also real life people are clowns in a larger play.
San Diego Opera's season opening Pagliacci focused squarely on the character of Tonio, in Andrew Sinclair's intriguing vision for this verismo classic. But the vocal performances were lacking. A director can only do so much.
As I left Holland Park after last night’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, I found myself wondering what they’d put in the orchestra’s cups of tea at the interval. Or, perhaps, what was it that conductor Stuart Stratford said to them.
There was more than a little drama at Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja’s sold-out concert recital in Dublin’s National Concert Hall this evening. He was joined by Irish soprano Claudia Boyle and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Proinnsías Ó Duinn.
Nothing says “Happy Easter” like a bit of alcohol-fuelled murder on the church steps, right? With their new double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, the Norwegian National Opera certainly seems to think so!The two productions were done on practically the same sets, albeit with a few differences, which did create a rather wonderful sense of continuity from
120 years after the Metropolitan Opera in New York paired Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci in a single performance, the tradition of staging these representative works of verismo opera in a double bill continued this weekend with a production under the direction of Lo Kingman, Hong Kong’s home-grown doyen of opera.
Tenor Joseph Calleja, conductor Giuliano Carella and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra presented an interesting choice of repertoire on Monday. The composers were celebrated Italian and French masters of opera, and the programme alternated between overtures for orchestra and arias starring Calleja.
In each case, you know the murder is coming. In each case the music is explosive and closes the opera: there is nothing left to say except Canio's simple words: "La commedia è finita.
On February 15th, Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington DC proudly hosted a recital of the internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato and famous pianist David Zobel. Part of this season’s Star Series, the recital presented by Washington Performing Arts Society, was given in honor of Vocal Arts 20th Anniversary.
Leider können auch die schönste Musik, ein bestens disponiertes Orchester und ein wunderbares Sängerensemble den Gesamteindruck des Abends nicht retten.
Zwei Verismo-Klassiker, die sich nach kurzfristigen Umbesetzungen auf unterschiedlichem Niveau präsentierten, wurden von Roberto Alagna in Höchstform zusammengehalten.
Dans le cadre des Nuits de l'Orangerie, Anna Netrebko avait concocté le 4 juillet un programme d'opéra italien quasi en famille, à destination de ses nombreux fans : ceux-ci n'ont pas été déçus.
