Remarkable Die Frau ohne Schatten marred by visual effects

By Edward Sava-Segal, 06 September 2019

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“Jurowski... created a sound tapestry that didn’t cover the voices but invited them to fly”

Reviewed at Palace Hall (Sala Palatului), Bucharest on 4 September 2019

Strauss R., Die Frau ohne Schatten

Vladimir Jurowski, Conductor

Torsten Kerl, Emperor

Anne Schwanewilms, Empress

Ildikó Komlósi, Nurse

Thomas Johannes Mayer, Barak, the Dyer

Ricarda Merbeth, Barak the Dyer's Wife

Nikolay Didenko, The Messenger of Keikobad

Andrey Nemzer, The Guardian of the Threshold

Michael Pflumm, The Apparition of a Youth

Nadezhda Gulitskaya, The Voice of a Falcon

Karolina Gumos, A Voice From Above

Tom Erik Lie, The One-Eyed Man, Barak’s Brother

Christoph Späth, The Hunchback, Barak's Brother

Jens Larsen, The One-Armed Man, Barak’s Brother

Rundfunkchor Berlin

Romanian Radio Children's Choir

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

The early flowering of opera: a fragrant L’Orfeo at Schwetzingen

Mengguang Huang, 3rd May

Markus Bothe’s Botticelli-inspired production fuses tableau vivant aesthetics with Jörg Halubek’s surgical musical precision, offering a peerless, vivid tribute to the fragrant dawn of opera.

****1

Two funerals and a bedding at the Linbury Theatre

Eleanor Knight, 1st May

Tales of love and loss as operas by Elena Langer, Charlotte Bray and Elizabeth Maconchy form a varied triple bill in this showcase for The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists.

****1

Deep into the American psyche: Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men

Hilary Stroh, 1st May

Carlisle Floyd's operatic setting of John Steinbeck’s classic novella is given a new production in the composer's centenary year at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

****1

Boston Doodle Dandy: Boston Lyric Opera presents La Fille du régiment

Kevin Wells, 1st May

Very few singers can hold an audience in the palm of their hand the way Brenda Rae as Marie does in this rollicking frolic.

****1

The triumph of virtue: Rossini’s Cenerentola in Brisbane

Sandra Bowdler, 29th April

Margarita Gritskova leads a fine ensemble performance of Rossini’s most under-appreciated opera by Opera Queensland.

****1

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.

A musically remarkable Die Frau ohne Schatten is marred by inopportune visual effects