Cecilia Bartoli is joined by frequent collaborators Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier in a fun-filled Rossini farce full of Italian sunshine. Big grins all round.
Ermonela Jaho sure likes to put herself (and us) through the emotional wringer on Covent Garden's stage. This time, London finally got to see her as another tragic Puccini heroine: Madama Butterfly.
For the latest revival of Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier's candy-striped production, the Royal Opera serves up the operatic equivalent of stodgy semolina.
Verdi's take on the Joan of Arc story may be thin on drama, but outstanding playing from Riccardo Chailly and the La Scala orchestra and top notch singing from Netrebko, Meli and Álvarez make this a wonderful Verdian evening.
Justina Gringyte is a fabulous Carmen in Scottish Opera's dark take on this most tuneful of operas. Large choruses, including children with cigarettes, and a strong supporting cast make this an enjoyable show.
A recent production of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma starred Cecilia Bartoli, the great mezzo who lives close by, and whom the Zürcher like to claim as one of their own.
Aleksandra Kurzak delivers a top drawer performance as Fiorilla, leading a star-studded cast as Evelino Pidò gives us a lesson in how to conduct Rossini in the latest revival of Il turco in Italia.
Kristine Opolais offers a nuanced, moving Cio-Cio-San in a solid revival of Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s sepia and cream production of Madama Butterfly at the Royal Opera.
The Welsh National Opera took to the Hippodrome stage for the Bristol leg of their UK tour ofCarmen. This was a revival of Welsh National Opera’s production in the late 1990s, co-produced with Scottish Opera.
Verdi’s Otello opens with a fierce storm raging over Cyprus. In Rossini’s version, composed 71 years earlier in 1816, the composer eschewed the Cypriot setting entirely and the storm doesn’t take place until Act III, although last night a mighty crack of thunder resounded over the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées as the audience filed into the opera house.
Dancing teddy bears, a larger-than-life Sarastro, live birds and numerous airborn characters all make the brand new production of Mozart’s beloved Singspiel at the Staatsoper a very family-friendly event.
When Jean-Christophe Spinosi stepped onto the podium to conduct Le Comte Ory that night, he didn’t wait for his applause to cease, but instantly cued a hearty forte from the Ensemble Matheus, and consequently a few incredulous looks from the audience.
Giulio Cesare, an opera populated with manipulative characters that only interact with each other when shared interests are at stake, is a receptive vessel for a scornful indictment of imperialism and the dubious alliances it forges.
What makes this otherwise routine revival of Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser’s eight year old production an absolute must-see is the sensational Royal Opera House debut of Kristine Opolais in the title role. She is a statuesque Latvian blonde, barely transformed by her dark wig and geisha makeup.
Rossini's The Barber of Seville has been his most enduringly well-loved opera. It's in the top ten of operas performed worldwide today, and it has stayed at the top of the most-played lists even when many of his other works were little played.
This reviewer fully expected not to enjoy today’s matinee, having read the recent Guardian review and heard mixed reports from friends who saw it when it first came out.
Madama Butterfly se presenta en Gran Teatre del Liceu en la producción de Leiser y Caurier en una velada con cambios en el reparto que Jorge de León y María Teresa Leva resolvieron por todo lo alto.
Moshe Leiser und Patrice Cauriers Inszenierung ist repertoiretauglicher als die Polizei erlaubt, die in dieser Inszenierung mit Tutu statt mit Tatütata auftritt.
Mit René Jacobs und dem Regieduo Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier haben sich nun gleich drei Prinzen gefunden, die Händels Oper erfolgreich aus dem Dornröschenschlaf holen.
Cecilia Bartoli, I Barocchisti et les enfants terribles de mise en scène : Patrice Caurier et Moshe Leiser donnent à voir et à entendre une production d'anthologie de Norma à l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
Wild, grob und grausam - bei der diesjährigen Eröffnung der Pfingstfestspiele wird Glucks Iphigénie en Tauride in eine kalte Gegenwart versetzt und ein ungeschönter Blick auf menschliche Abgründe geworfen. Umso strahlender tritt dabei einmal wieder die musikalische Qualität der Festspiele und allen voran Cecilia Bartoli in den Vordergrund.
