Conlon bows out of Ravinia with a soaring Dutchman

By Sam Jacobson, 18 August 2015

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“The octave tremolos in the strings... paint a barren, primeval landscape”

Reviewed at Ravinia Festival Pavilion, Chicago on 15 August 2015

Wagner, Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)

James Conlon, Conductor

Greer Grimsley, Dutchman

Amber Wagner, Senta

Kristinn Sigmundsson, Daland

Simon O'Neill, Erik

Ronnita Miller, Mary

Matthew Plenk, The Steersman

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Chicago Symphony Chorus

Duain Wolfe, Choirmaster / chorus director

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Laura Servidei, 12th April

Visually enchanting and meticulously staged, this centenary revival confirms Livermore's production as a modern classic.

****1

Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Dominic Lowe, 10th April

Divorced from Cavalleria rusticana, English Touring Opera’s contemporary take on Leoncavallo’s masterpiece ticks all the boxes.

****1

Regents Opera’s Salome lands a knockout punch at York Hall

Mark Pullinger, 10th April

Mark Ravenhill directs a brutal, bloody Salome for Regents Opera at the spiritual home of British boxing, York Hall.

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Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

Parsifal without the hocus-pocus in Lower Bavaria

Peter Quantrill, 4th April

A colourful, revue-style production dispels the clouds of mystique surrounding Wagner's last opera.

****1

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Sam Jacobson

Sam Jacobson has been writing for Bachtrack since 2015 and is currently in Pittsburgh, having previously lived throughout the Midwest. A keen traveler, he endeavors to see all the great orchestras and opera houses across the US and abroad. Outside of music, he works as a software engineer. He also maintains a blog which can be read here.