Christmas celebrations with Marc Minkowski

By Zoltán Szabó, 18 December 2017

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Reviewed at Müpa: Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest on 13 December 2017

Bach, Christmas Oratorio, BWV248 (Cantatas 1, 2, 4 and 6)

Marc Minkowski, Conductor

Ana Quintans, Soprano

Hanna Husáhr, Soprano

Valerio Contaldo, Tenor

Yorck Felix Speer, Bass-baritone

Les Musiciens du Louvre

All that glitters is not gold: Mitridate, Re di Ponto in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 4th December

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden's multi-seasonal Baroque project continues with a new production of Mozart's first opera seria, which roars and soars under the conducting of Marc Minkowski.

****1

Operetta with teeth: Offenbach’s La Périchole at the TCE

David Karlin, 13th November

Laurent Pelly’s new production combines froth and hilarity with a dark, satirical heart; Marc Minkowski and the orchestra seduce us.

****1

Baroque sorcery: Handel's Alcina returns to the Staatsoper

Katherine Syer, 20th October

Baroque purists might prefer a more surefire line-up of brilliantly executed arias, but the theatrical framework of Adrian Noble's Alcina production offers a great deal.

****1

Cross-dressing abounds: Gluck's Armide

David Karlin, 19th October

Excellent playing from Les Musiciens du Louvre and a mixed vocal performance are matched by a staging by Ivan Alexandre likely to be controversial.

**111

Platée at Opéra Garnier : Folly in charge

Jean-Marc Piriou, 9th September

One has to admit that the 2015 vintage of this operatic Grand Cru, with us since 1999, is a particularly fine one. To be consumed with immoderation!

*****

Comedy in the madhouse: A risky twist on Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro

Chanda VanderHart, 13th April

“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.

***11

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Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Christmas celebrations with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre in Budapest