Sorochyntsi Fair was last performed at Berlin's Komische Oper in 1948 by the legendary stage director Walter Felsenstein. Now Barrie Kosky, stage director and intendant, has tried his hand.
Laurent Pelly exploits the satirical side of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel at La Monnaie in a darkly humorous but colourfully performed production.
Opéra de Montréal's belated première of Strauss' take on the Greek tragedy is worth the wait, as soprano Lise Lindstrom and wunderkind conductor Yannick Nézét-Séguin lead an exciting, music-driven production.
If “all the world’s a jest”, as Sir John Falstaff claims at the end of Verdi’s final operatic masterpiece, then we need players – and directors – with a sense of frivolity. Robert Carsen truly delivers.
Kasper Holten’s production does an impressive job of exploring the concepts of Szymanowski's Król Roger – perhaps more psychologically than philosophically. It’s a production well worth exploring.
At the end of the season, and before closing for the summer break, the Komische Oper Berlin reprise some of their most successful recent productions for one night only in the Komische Oper Festival, including the popular “cartoon” Magic Flute. Included in this busy week was a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa, a rarely performed epic opera of battle-torn love and murder.
Most of Dvořák's ten operas are rarely performed, but Rusalka, his tragic fairy tale of the water nymph who takes human form, has become popular in recent years and is a regular visitor to British opera houses. Last night's production, by directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito, started life at the 2008 Salzburg festival and has now arrived in Covent Garden.
Tschaikowskis Oper ist lange in den Archiven verschwunden, doch das Ausgraben lohnt: Nicht nur für Freunde der russischen Opernliteratur oder Tschaikowski ein Genuss, und auf jeden Fall eine Erweiterung des musikalischen Horizontes.
