Local colour: Mathis der Maler in the Ruhr

By Matthew Rye, 29 October 2017

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“some good moments, and an arresting surprise or two”

Reviewed at Musiktheater im Revier, Gelsenkirchen on 28 October 2017

Hindemith, Mathis der Maler

Musiktheater im Revier

Rasmus Baumann, Conductor

Michael Schulz, Director

Heike Scheele, Set Designer

Renée Listerdal, Costume Designer

Bele Kumberger, Regina

Yamina Maamar, Ursula

Almuth Herbst, Gräfin Helfenstein

Martin Homrich, Albrecht von Brandenburg

Urban Malmberg, Mathis, der Maler

Joachim G. Maaß, Lorenz von Pommersfelden

Tobias Haaks, Hans Schwalb

Edward Lee, Wolfgang Capito

Luciano Batinić, Riedinger

Gabriele Wiesmüller, Dramaturgy

Patrick Fuchs, Lighting Designer

Alexander Eberle, Choirmaster / chorus director

Neue Philharmonie Westfalen

Opernchor des Musiktheaters im Revier

Bayreuth comes to the Ruhr for a new Tristan und Isolde

John Johnston, 4th March

Catherine Foster returns, in the Ruhr, to the role of Isolde with Torsten Kerl in a new production of Tristan und Isolde .

***11

Bayreuth comes to the Ruhr for a new Tristan und Isolde

John Johnston, 4th March

Catherine Foster returns, in the Ruhr, to the role of Isolde with Torsten Kerl in a new production of Tristan und Isolde .

***11

Mythic moth: Smareglia's La falena in Braunschweig

Matthew Rye, 15th April

The German premiere of a late-19th-century Italian opera that has closer musical and dramatic links to Wagner than to Verdi or Puccini.

***11

A fresh take on Mozart's Idomeneo in Dresden

Max Woods, 29th November

Mozart wrote 20 operas during his relatively short life, the first being performed in Salzburg in 1767, when the composer was just eleven years old. However, it is Idomeneo, written and premièred when Mozart was the ripe old age of 25, which is usually considered to be his first mature opera.The opera takes place on the island of Crete immediately after the Trojan War.

****1

Irish National Opera’s new Rusalka intrigues more than it convinces

Andrew Larkin, 22nd March

Netia Jones’ modern reimagining intrigues more than it convinces, but still makes a strong case for Dvořák’s dark fairy tale.

***11

Magnifying Glass: a magnificent Les Enfants terribles in Lille

Elena Luporini, 20th March

A new production of Les Enfants terribles at the Opéra de Lille drags the audience into a terribly marvelous labyrinth, courtesy of conductor Virginie Déjos and directors Matthias Piro and Lisa Moro.

*****

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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).