Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky make ideal musical bedfellows in Aix

By Mark Valencia, 07 July 2015

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“The fantasy of Iolanta's happiness was his own wish-fulfilment”

Reviewed at Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence on 5 July 2015

Tchaikovsky, Iolanta

Stravinsky, Perséphone

Teodor Currentzis, Conductor

Peter Sellars, Director

George Tsypin, Set Designer

Martin Pakledinaz, Costume Designer

Ekaterina Scherbachenko, Iolanta

Arnold Rutkowski, Vaudémont

Maxim Aniskin, Robert

Dmitry Ulianov, King René

Diana Montague, Martha

Vasily Efimov, Alméric

Pavel Kudinov, Bertrand

Sir Willard White, Ibn-Hakia

Paul Groves, Eumolphe

Helene Siebrits, Costume Designer

Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon

Chœurs de l'Opéra de Lyon

Dominique Blanc, Vocals

Julia Bullock in Meditations for Joséphine at Adelaide Festival

Sandra Bowdler, 3rd March

A challenging depiction of Joséphine Baker brilliantly performed by Julia Bullock under the direction of Peter Sellars at the Adelaide Festival.

****1

Peter Sellars directs Italian debut of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater

Pia Maltri, 11th October

This co-production, previously seen in San Francisco, is more of a semi-staging, convinces thanks to committed performances from a cast led by Fleur Barron.

****1

Matthew Aucoin's Music for New Bodies at Lincoln Center

Kurt Gottschalk, 10th July

Aucoin, librettist Jorie Graham and director Peter Sellars make New Bodies more a haunting mood piece than a cautionary tale for the American Modern Opera Company.

****1

Bach cantatas, American spirituals, global calamity

Kurt Gottschalk, 21st May

The Gospel according to Peter Sellars: an intermingling of Bach’s cantatas and American spirituals depicts an environmental message that the impending end won’t be personal, but global.

***11

Light and shadows in Rattle and Sellars' Médée at Staatsoper Berlin

Elena Luporini, 19th November

Reuniting two old friends and collaborators, the Staatsoper Berlin presents a new production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Médée, with mixed results.

***11

An unlikely meeting of Morton Feldman and the blues

Kurt Gottschalk, 27th September

Sorey’s instrumentation mirrors Feldman’s Rothko Chapel in a moving evening of musical high drama at Park Avenue Armory.

*****

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Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.

Undervalued works by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky make ideal musical bedfellows in Aix