Staatsoper Hamburg's new Carmen: a sumptuous theatrical experience

Ida Aldrian (Mercédès), Maria Kataeva (Carmen) and Katrina Galka (Frasquita)

Tomislav Mužek (Don José) and Maria Kataeva (Carmen)

Kostas Smoriginas (Escamillo) and Maria Kataeva (Carmen)

Elbenita Kajtazi (Micaëla) and Blake Denson (Moralès)

Maria Kataeva (Carmen) and Tomislav Mužek (Don José)

By Alexander Hall, 18 September 2022

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“a rebellious bird who had no intention of ever hanging around for long”

Reviewed at Hamburgische Staatsoper: Main Hall, Hamburg on 17 September 2022

Bizet, Carmen

Staatsoper Hamburg

Yoel Gamzou, Conductor

Herbert Fritsch, Director, Set Designer

José Luna, Costume Designer

Carsten Sander, Lighting Designer

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper

Maria Kataeva, Carmen

Tomislav Mužek, Don José

Kostas Smoriginas, Escamillo

Elbenita Kajtazi, Micaëla

Hubert Kowalczyk, Zuniga

Blake Denson, Moralès

Katrina Galka, Frasquita

Ida Aldrian, Mercédès

Nicholas Mogg, Le Dancaïre

Jürgen Sacher, Le Remendado

Frauenliebe und -sterben: Kratzer’s triple bill at Staatsoper Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 15th April

Director Tobias Kratzer engineers a haunting pasticcio of Schumann, Bartók and Zemlinsky, tracing the domestic sphere’s shift from romantic surrender to the blood-soaked secrets of a century-spanning house.

****1

Vampires, Disney and Donald Trump: Monster’s Paradise in Hamburg

Kevin W Ng, 1st February

Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek take on Donald Trump in their latest operatic collaboration.

****1

Unsuk Chin's opera Die dunkle Seite des Mondes premieres in Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 31st May

At Staatsoper Hamburg, Unsuk Chin’s new opera The Dark Side of the Moon immerses audiences in an hypnotic, introspective journey, where dreams, science and psyche collide in a rigorously crafted, thought-provoking spectacle.

****1

Franciscan virtues for a modern age: a multimedia Messiaen remix

Peter Quantrill, 2nd June

No half measures in a triple-decker Hamburg staging of Saint François d'Assise at the Elbphilharmonie.

***11

Staatsoper Hamburg's new Boris Godunov traverses Russian history

Alexander Hall, 16th September

Opening the new opera season, Kent Nagano powerfully directs Mussorgsky's great psychodrama about a famous tsar, marred only by Frank Castorf's visually confusing and symbolically overweighted production.

****1

Beauty and the beast: Sciarrino's Venere e Adone premieres in Hamburg

Alexander Hall, 28th May

What does opera in the 21st century look and sound like? Streets removed from anything Mozart, Verdi or Wagner would have recognised. But Salvatore Sciarrino is his own man.

***11

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Alexander Hall

Alexander Hall divides his time between London and Hamburg, where he had a career in academic administration and teaching. He reviews for Bachtrack and Opera Today, and has also reviewed for Classical Source. A connoisseur of the great orchestras of the world, his musical memories stretch back to Karajan/Berlin Phil, Mravinsky/Leningrad Phil, Bernstein/Vienna Phil, and he has seen most of the great conductors from the past, including Böhm, Klemperer, Kubelik, Ormandy and Szell.