A fear of fear: Poulenc's Carmélites in Aachen

By Matthew Rye, 16 April 2018

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“Suzanne Jérosme... captured all the young novice’s vulnerabilities and fears”

Reviewed at Theater, Aachen on 15 April 2018

Poulenc, Dialogues des Carmélites

Theater Aachen

Justus Thorau, Conductor

Ute M Engelhardt, Director

Jeannine Cleemen, Set Designer

Moritz Weißkopf, Costume Designer

Andrew Finden, Marquis de la Force

Suzanne Jerosme, Blanche de la Force

Alexey Sayapin, Chevalier de la Force

Katja Starke, Madame de Croissy, the prioress

Katharina Hagopian, Madame Lidoine, the new prioress

Irina Popova, Mère Marie

Faustine de Monès, Sœur Constance

Anne Lafeber, Mère Jeanne

Margarita Dymshits, Sœur Mathilde

Hans Schaapkens, 1er commissaire

Rein Saar, 2ème commissaire, Thierry

Stefan Hagendorn, Officer, Javelinot

Pawel Lawreszuk, Gaoler

Patricio Arroyo, Le Père confesseur

Opernchor Aachen

Sinfonieorchester Aachen

Leap of faith: Tosca in Aachen

Matthew Rye, 13th September

Theater Aachen’s first new production of the season takes a daringly anti-clerical look at a classic of the operatic repertoire.

***11

Rigoletto an der Oper Graz: moralische Graustufen

Isabella Steppan, 15th November

Die Neuproduktion von Verdis Klassiker verbindet eine psychologisch stringente Deutung mit starken Bildern. Getragen wird der Abend von einem herausragenden Nikoloz Lagvilava in der Titelrolle.

****1

Das schlaue Füchslein: Zahme und wilde Momente

Stephan Eckel, 24th April

In der episodischen Oper „Das Schlaue Füchslein“ von Leoš Janáček in der Oper Frankfurt wird der Musik und dem Publikum der Raum zum Träumen gegeben.

****1

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

At half mast: Simon Boccanegra revived in Vienna

Orsolya Gyárfás, 19th April

Marco Armiliato's conducting thrills and Federica Lombardi's radiant Amelia stands out in the Wiener Staatsoper's latest revival of Simon Boccanegra.

***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).