A timely, and timeless, Norma in Prague

By Frank Kuznik, 05 October 2015

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“those references and the music take on a cruel irony”

Reviewed at State Opera (Státní opera), Prague on 2 October 2015

Bellini, Norma

Prague State Opera

Enrico Dovico, Conductor

Tomo Sugao, Director

Boris Kudlička, Set Designer

Alexandra Grusková, Costume Designer

Marie Fajtová, Norma

Jana Horáková Levicová, Adalgisa

Aleš Briscein, Pollione

Sylva Čmugrová, Clotilde

Václav Cikánek, Flavio

Jiří Sulženko, Oroveso

Alfred Melichar, Choirmaster / chorus director

Wolfgang Goebbel, Lighting Designer

Stanislaw Zaleski, Video

Petr Jirsa, Choreography

Prague State Opera Chorus

Prague State Opera Orchestra

Parsifal reconsidered: A provocative improvisation in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 26th March

Timo Riihonen and Ester Pavlů stand out in a strong cast which carries Andreas Homoki's revised version of Wagner's final opera.

****1

Calixto Bieito’s Idomeneo runs out of time in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 28th September

At the Prague State Opera, Calixto Brieito relocates Mozart's opera seria to modern times, with disastrous results.

***11

Reimann's Lear makes for a dark season finale at Prague State Opera

Frank Kuznik, 7th June

Aribert Reimann's Lear takes no prisoners in a disturbing portrayal of a world gone awry, but Barbora Horáková's scattergun direction adds to the confusion.

***11

A politically charged new Manon in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 27th March

Puccini's classic takes on a harsh contemporary edge in a dark treatment by director Sláva Daubnerová at Prague's National Theatre.

****1

A rambunctious Platée revival in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 23rd November

SKUTR's daring direction and Václav Luks's early music expertise combine to bring new vitality to a Baroque classic.

*****

To the apocalypse and beyond: Le Grand Macabre in Prague

David Karlin, 14th June

Nigel Lowery’s new production at Prague State Opera is a gusher of ideas, starting as slapstick but profoundly moving by the end.

****1

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Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.