One of Teatro San Carlo’s most cherished productions of recent years, with an excellent cast of singers and a director who steered at his ease into the libretto’s erratic changes of mood and atmosphere.
Riccardo Frizza conducts a complete version of Donizetti’s masterpiece, with the debuts of Maria Agresta in the title role, Carmela Remigio as Giovanna Seymour and René Barbera as Percy.
Deutsche Oper Berlin staged an ambitious production by Laurence Pelly with mixed results. The performance included new discoveries and young singers brought fresh energy to the evening.
La gazza ladra celebrates its 200th anniversary with a new production at La Scala, an earthbound effort from director Gabriele Salvatores, but it was Riccardo Chailly who drew the wrath of sections of the Milanese audience.
The singing is the main attraction in Dutch National Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro, but this new production is also entertaining and looks good enough to eat.
Kasper Holten's virtuosic staging is revived by the Royal Opera with a cast of three exceptionally strong women, and accomplished performances by Christopher Maltman and Alex Esposito as the Don and his servant.
“Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It’s a bum’s life,” stated the late, great Marlon Brando. Felix Breisach took this idea to heart when staging his modernized Figaro in a mental institution.
There's much to recommend this Turco, including stunning vocal fireworks by Olga Peretyatko and moments of comedic gold in the staging. But this production also reinforces some ugly racial and gender stereotypes.
David McVicar's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro returns for its sixth revival at the Royal Opera House, the refinement of the production matched, almost at all times, by the performances.
Calixto Bieito's The Tales of Hoffmann at the Norwegian National Opera contains some very effective and at times striking moments, but the production turned out something of a disappointment overall.
Shortly after Rossini's success with The Barber of Seville came La Cenerentola, a reworking of the Cinderella fairy tale, but with a little less magic, and a lot more worldly comedy. It was an instant success and further established the 25-year-old Rossini as one of the greatest Italian opera composers of his day.
It's the most spectacular entrance in opera: the giant stone statue bursts in to join Don Giovanni at the dinner table; a pair of sweeping downward octave swoops in D minor fills the audience (and the hapless Leporello) with terror at the rake's imminent descent into hell.OK, that was a spoiler, but then we all know the story: a production of Don Giovanni is all about how you tell it.
La production reprenait mise en scène, décors et costumes de la création toulousaine 2008-2009 amenée à l’époque par Michel Plasson et Nicolas Joel, et qui avait connu un succès certain, des Chorégies d’Orange à la ville rose. La part d’inconnue résidait surtout dans le plateau et l’individualité des voix.
Was haben eine betrogene Backpackerin, ein nackter Alter, ein prolliger Frauenheld und ein düsterer Containerbahnhof mit Mozarts Oper Don Giovanni gemeinsam? Nicht viel. Stefan Kimmigs Inszenierung an der Bayerischen Staatsoper ist sehr modern und hinterlässt den Zuschauer ratlos – im Gegensatz zum hervorragenden Ensemble.
