Rousseau and a boxing ring: Ariodante in Stuttgart

By Jonathan Sutherland, 19 December 2017

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“there was much to enjoy in this highly original production”

Reviewed at Staatsoper Stuttgart, Stuttgart on 17 December 2017

Handel, Ariodante

Staatsoper Stuttgart

Giuliano Carella, Conductor

Jossi Wieler, Director

Nina von Mechow, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Diana Haller, Ariodante

Ana Durlovski, Ginevra

Gerald Thompson, Polinesso

Josefin Feiler, Dalinda

Kai Kluge, Lurcanio

Matthew Brook, King of Scotland

Philipp Nicklaus, Odoardo

Sergio Morabito, Director

Staatsorchester Stuttgart

Bang to rights: a rare outing for an opera from the former GDR

Matthew Rye, 13th November

Die Verurteilung des Lukullus, Paul Dessau and Bertolt Brecht's political satire about a Roman general judged for his deeds after death, has lost none of its relevance in Staatsoper Stuttgart's new production.

****1

In Konwitschny's modern Medea, monsters are made by men

Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 27th December

Director Peter Konwitschny's staging of Cherubini's Medea critiques rejection and mistreatment of refugees. A strong new German translation and a talented cast make this a must-see.

****1

Sex and violence in the ghetto: Pique Dame

Ako Imamura, 6th July

Oper Stuttgart’s new production of The Queen of Spades (Pique-Dame) pushes a directorial tendency to update opera to a modern setting to an extreme.

***11

Devil in the detail: Gounod's Faust in Stuttgart

Matthew Rye, 3rd November

A thrilling new staging of Gounod's opera from the team that brought Bayreuth its current Ring, with musical rewards to match.

*****

Modern terror: Salome in Stuttgart

Ako Imamura, 1st December

Director Kirill Serebrennikov gives us a frightening new reality of the modern world beset by war and terrorism in his reimagining of Strauss's Salome

****1

Im Sog der Radikalisierung: Die Meistersinger in Stuttgart

Alexandra Richter, 1st March

Die neue Produktion von Wagners komischer Oper beeindruckt mit einer stimmlichen Top-Besetzung auch aus dem eigenen Ensemble; die Regie dagegen versucht konzeptionell zu viel und bleibt dabei auf der Strecke.

***11

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Jonathan Sutherland

Jonathan Sutherland is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg. He is also an internationally renowned concert pianist specializing in the music of the 1930s. Jonathan’s first operatic experience was hearing Maria Callas sing Tosca in Covent Garden and he has since heard performances in all continents of the world including over 60 different productions at the Wiener Staatsoper. He has written for The Australian, Opera Today and The Opera Critic as well as Bachtrack. Jonathan speaks English, French, German and Italian fluently and is based in the south of France near Nice.