A very palpable hit: Hamlet in Cologne

By Matthew Rye, 25 November 2019

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“Gloria Rehm... an engagingly sympathetic Ophelia, especially in her searing mad scene”

Reviewed at Oper Köln: Staatenhaus Saal 2, Cologne on 24 November 2019

Dean, Hamlet

Oper Köln

Duncan Ward, Conductor

Matthew Jocelyn, Director

Alain Lagarde, Set Designer

Astrid Janson, Costume Designer

David Butt Philip, Hamlet

Gloria Rehm, Ophelia

Dalia Schaechter, Gertrude

Andrew Schroeder, Claudius

John Heuzenroeder, Polonius

Joshua Bloom, Ghost of Old Hamlet, Gravedigger, Player 1

Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger, Horatio

Dino Lüthy, Laertes

Patrick Terry, Rosencrantz

Cameron Shahbazi, Guildenstern

William Goforth, Player 2

Jan Rusko, Player 3

Sergey Kaydalov, Marcellus, Player 4

Christian Pinaud, Lighting Designer

Georg Kehren, Dramaturgy

Rustam Samedov, Choirmaster / chorus director

James Crabb, Accordion

Chor der Oper Köln

Gürzenich Orchestra

Rheinstimmen Ensemble

An emotionally distant Peter Grimes at Oper Köln

Cristina Burack, 28th November

Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes is a nuanced, gripping tale that should pack an emotional punch. Despite fine moments, Oper Köln's production didn't serve the work.

**111

A conceptually bold Manon at Oper Köln

Cristina Burack, 15th March

This production fell just short of brilliance but showed how relevant and thought-provoking opera as an art form can be when tapping into today's headline debates.

****1

An effectively unsettling The Emperor of Atlantis at Oper Köln

Cristina Burack, 2nd March

Though straightforward in concept, Oper Köln's production of the one-act opera written in the Theresienstadt concentration camp brought the opera's profound themes to the surface in an excellently sung performance.

***11

Oper Köln's delightful Orpheus enraptures all ages

Cristina Burack, 19th January

Oper Köln’s Orpheus in the Underworld proved age accessibility must not sacrifice humour and musical integrity. The tight ensemble piece was superbly acted and well-sung throughout.

****1

Fidelio: delightful Beethoven in Cologne

Brian Angus, 1st July

In a temporary home, Cologne Opera have mounted a remarkably joyful production of Beethoven’s single, wonderful opera.

****1

Not easily assimilated: Candide in Cologne

Matthew Rye, 7th December

The Staatenhaus venue forces one too many compromises on Bernstein's operetta, but the performance itself is saved by the accomplishment of much of the singing.

***11

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Matthew Rye

Matthew read music at Oxford and worked in music journalism for 30 years as a writer, critic and editor. He wrote numerous programme and CD booklet notes, spent 13 years as a Daily Telegraph critic, worked at BBC Music Magazine and was reviews editor of The Strad. He also wrote for The Wagner Journal and Opera and blogged at ferneklang.blogspot.co.uk. He was general editor of 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (Cassell Illustrated, 2007) and was the author of a new series of eBooks, Masterpieces of Music (Erudition).