Götterdämmerung as Chamber Opera in Vienna

By Ako Imamura, 26 May 2015

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Reviewed at Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna on 25 May 2015

Wagner, Götterdämmerung

Vienna State Opera

Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor

Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Director

Evelyn Herlitzius, Brünnhilde

Caroline Wenborne, Gutrune

Stephen Gould, Siegfried

Boaz Daniel, Gunther

Falk Struckmann, Hagen

Ildikó Raimondi, Third Norn

Ulrike Helzel, Wellgunde

Anne Sofie von Otter, Waltraute

Richard Paul Fink, Alberich

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Ermonela Jaho returns to one of her signature roles as Cio-Cio-San, delivering a searing and deeply nuanced portrayal.

****1

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Chanda VanderHart, 12th March

The creative team behind the new Staatsoper Clemenza is unwilling to trust that Mozart’s opera is interesting enough to stand on its own.

***11

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A committed cast struggles to lend a spark of life to Kasper Holten's static staging of Mozart's first mature opera.

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Giacomo Sagripanti conducts a luxuriant reading with a cast anchored by Juan Diego Flórez and Nicole Car, in Zeffirelli’s familiar, generous, unabashedly emotional production.

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Ako Imamura

Atsuko (Ako) Imamura is a retired investment banker in New York City. Born in Japan, she trained as cultural anthropologist in the US before turning to ﬁnance. She now spends her time attending opera and classical music concerts in New York and in Europe. Wagner is her favorite opera composer.