As clearly visible on all photos, the Sydney Opera House has two “sails”, interconnected major sections. One of them houses concerts, the other operas. Opera performances, however, are not exclusively taking place in the Opera Theatre.
Sir David McVicar's production of Tristan und Isolde premiered at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2013, and was then recognized as a friendly platform for singers. Here it is freshly revived with a new cast.
Don Giovanni is an opera which has as its title character a man who is an unrepentant womaniser, who ultimately receives his just reward in one of the most famous scenes in opera where he is consumed into the fires of hell.
“Prepare to be shocked!” was the warning issued before this new Lucia di Lammermoor from Katie Mitchell at the Royal Opera House. Shocking? Yes, but in a good way.
A brilliant revival of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at The Met centres on the dramatic confrontation between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart at Fotheringhay.
Staatsoper Berlin opens its season with a strong new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg that pays homage to the past and at the same time points to the future.
An updated but otherwise traditional Flying Dutchman directed by Jan Philipp Gloger offers plenty of enjoyment at Bayreuth, although it might not linger in the memory as long as the more controversial fare at the Festival
Frank Castorf's Soviet-era farm-setting does not obtrude on the emotional core of Wagner's Die Walküre, with excellent performances from Johan Botha, Anja Kampe and Claudia Mahnke, with superlative playing from the Festival Orchestra.
What is perhaps even more remarkable than the unabashed grandeur of the new Parsifal at the Lyric Opera of Chicago is the degree to which its spectacle draws on the images and genres of 20th-century media technologies including popular music.
When most of us feel like we’re getting a little stale with a piece of work we’re doing – when the thoughts, words or ideas are drying up – we stop for a coffee, stretch our legs, or do a bit of internet browsing. When Richard Wagner realised inspiration was running low for Siegfried, he decided to have a break from it too.
It’s very difficult to write about Berlioz’s Les Troyens without mentioning its length. Tonight’s cinema screening of Fransesca Zambello’s lush production was billed at 341 minutes – that’s 5.6 hours. But beamed live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, those 5.6 hours entailed spectacular operatic entertainment.
En 2018, l’Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France prend une bonne résolution : désormais, le premier concert de l’année sera systématiquement consacré à la Neuvième Symphonie de Beethoven. Retour sur une « première » réussie.
Mise en abyme du drame qui conduira Rigoletto à vivre errant comme un défunt, cette production mise en scène par Claus Guth et portée par une distribution vocale très juste s'avère tout aussi saissisante qu'étonnantament lumineuse dans ce qu'elle révèle pourtant de plus sombre des affects humains.
La Fura ofrece en este Holandés un espectáculo mayúsculo, de una superficialidad inteligente, acompañado por un elenco solvente y un foso con escaso sentido narrativo.
Loin de toute la monumentalité qui a pu rendre indigestes les belles mélopées et accents verdiens, souvent cantonnées aux grandes pompes et à un logos lourdement orientaliste, cet opéra à l’écriture pourtant raffinée, et à la profondeur mésestimée, méritait une telle relecture.
