Jaap van Zweden blazes trail for the HK Phil

By Alan Yu, 22 January 2018

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“Nearly five hours of musical drama flew by as if it was a fleeting moment”

Reviewed at Hong Kong Cultural Centre: Concert Hall, Hong Kong on 21 January 2018

Wagner, Götterdämmerung

Jaap van Zweden, Conductor

Daniel Brenna, Siegfried

Gun-Brit Barkmin, Brünnhilde

Shenyang, Gunther

Amanda Majeski, Gutrune

Eric Halfvarson, Hagen

Peter Kálmán, Alberich

Michelle DeYoung, Waltraute

Sarah Castle, First Norn

Stephanie Houtzeel, Second Norn

Jenufa Gleich, Third Norn

Aurhelia Varak, Wellgunde

Eri Nakamura, Woglinde

Hermine Haselböck, Flosshilde

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

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John Gilks, 16th June

10 Days in a Madhouse is a musically and dramatically excellent but disturbing insight into conditions in a women’s asylum brought to life in Toronto by an excellent production.

****1

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Peter Quantrill, 15th June

First class young voices and bewitchingly stylised designs shine through the murk at the Bucharest Opera Festival.

****1

L’Orfeo, the world’s first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

One element of the Orpheus myth is about creativity, so at Glyndebourne, William Kentridge sets Monteverdi’s opera in an artist's studio,

****1

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Laura Servidei, 12th June

Despite Michieletto's visual gloom, the evening is redeemed by Myung-whun Chung’s masterful conducting and a cast that brings conviction to a production that rarely trusts the opera’s own dramatic power.

**111

Monteverdi and Ulisse return happily to Garsington Opera

David Karlin, 12th June

Laurence Cummings and John Caird’s second Garsington exploration of the operas of Monteverdi brims with wonderfully playing and singing in an attractive setting.

****1

Aldeburgh Festival dives in at the deep end with Pelléas et Mélisande

Eleanor Knight, 12th June

Rory Kinnear directs a minimally semi-staged performance of Debussy's problematic opera at Snape Maltings, but Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish SO provide the detail.

****1

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Alan Yu

The first concert Alan attended was Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. For 7 years he presented classical music programmes for Radio Television Hong Kong, partly to pay his way through university. He attends concerts whenever he can and believes there is no substitute for the thrill of live performances. He writes here.

Jaap van Zweden blazes trail for the Hong Kong Philharmonic with Götterdämmerung