Camilla Nylund’s rich, ample voice bloomed in the glorious setting of the sonnet, cosseted by burnished horn playing, in Strauss' unsurpassed operatic farewell to the soprano voice.
The lack of shock value in Calixto Bieito’s interpretation of Wagner's Tannhäuser premiering at the Vlaamse Opera in Ghent could almost be seen as a disappointment. All the more surprising then was the romantic intimacy created in this superlatively sung production.
The first installment of Frank Castorf's controversial Ring is applauded on its 2015 revival at Bayreuth, but arguably the incessant visual action detracts from the appreciation of the music.
Every operatic ingredient was thrown into the pot for H.K. Gruber's Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (Tales from the Vienna Woods), but do too many cooks spoil this operatic broth?
The Giacomo Variations takes its time really getting down to business – the business Giacomo Casanova was in – the business of love.It begins with a lot of theatre business. The set, designed by Renate Martin and Andreas Donhauser, consists of three gigantic Marie-Antoinette skirts. Lift one and there’s a bed for romping.
Keine Folklore, kein Kitsch, dafür political correctness: Torsten Fischers Inszenierung bürstet die Klischees der Zauberflöte gegen den Strich und landet trotzdem einen Überraschungserfolg.
Frankfurt übernimmt die Uraufführungsproduktion von Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzinis Der Sandmann in der Regie von Christof Loy. Eine morbid-klamaukige Gruseloper, die unterhält wie ein solider Samstags-Krimi im gehobenen Fernsehprogramm.
