Almighty Dog: a powerful new US opera makes its European debut

By Matthew Rye, 02 March 2016

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Reviewed at Stadttheater, Bielefeld on 1 March 2016

Little, Dog Days

Theater Bielefeld

Merijn van Driesten, Conductor

Klaus Hemmerle, Director

Tilo Steffens, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Nienke Otten, Lisa

Melanie Kreuter, Mother

Nohad Becker, Captain

Max Friedrich Schäffer, Elliot

Lianghua Gong, Pat

Yoshiaki Kimura, Father/Howard

Omar El-Saeidi, Prince

Daniel Westen, Dramaturgy

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Marco Armiliato's conducting thrills and Federica Lombardi's radiant Amelia stands out in the Wiener Staatsoper's latest revival of Simon Boccanegra.

***11

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In a world where opera productions often stray into the abstract, the Wiener Staatsoper’s Tosca offers a refreshing return to tradition – and Anna Netrebko delivers a splendid performance.

****1

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****1

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****1

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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

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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).