Kosky's compelling Onegin returns to the Komische Ope

Asmik Grigorian (Tatyana) and Günter Papendell (Onegin)

Karolina Gumos (Olga), Asmik Grigorian, Christiane Oertel (Larina) Margarita Nekrasova (Filippyevna)

Asmik Grigorian, Margarita Nekrasova (Filippyevna) and Karolina Gumos (Olga)

By Hugo Shirley, 31 March 2018

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“a staging of compelling detail and concentration”

Reviewed at Komische Oper Berlin, Berlin on 29 March 2018

Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin

Komische Oper Berlin

Jordan de Souza, Conductor

Barrie Kosky, Director

Rebecca Ringst, Set Designer

Klaus Bruns, Costume Designer

Günter Papendell, Eugene Onegin

Nadja Mchantaf, Tatyana

Maria Fiselier, Olga

Aleš Briscein, Lensky

Önay Köse, Prince Gremin

Margarita Nekrasova, Filippyevna

Christiane Oertel, Madame Larina

Christoph Späth, Monsieur Triquet

Jan-Frank Süße, Captain

Samuli Taskinen, Zaretsky

Chorsolisten der Komischen Oper Berlin

Handel’s Belshazzar at Komische Oper Berlin

Zenaida des Aubris, 28th March

The Baroque confectionery of Herbert Fritsch's production of Handel's oratorio belies a serious core which is all too close to today's headlines.

****1

Barrie Kosky directs a ferocious new Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Zenaida des Aubris, 31st January

Shostakovich's opera is laid bare in Berlin, to devastating effect, with a distinguished cast led by Ambur Braid.

****1

Masks and obsessions: Evgeny Titov’s Salome at Komische Oper Berlin

Zenaida des Aubris, 22nd November

Salome is faceless and the Dance of the Seven Veils becomes a sardonic commentary on seduction in Komische Oper Berlin's austere new staging.

****1

Opulent minimalism: Kosky directs a new staging of Akhnaten

Zenaida des Aubris, 23rd March

Barrie Kosky's new production of Philip Glass' Akhnaten for Komische Oper at the Schillertheater removes any egyptological references.

****1

A blade too dull: Kosky directs Sweeney Todd at Komische Oper

Elena Luporini, 17th November

With a brand new production by Barrie Kosky, Komische Oper Berlin's first venture into the Sondheim repertoire mostly falls flat.

**111

Kirill Serebrennikov’s Marriage of Figaro challenges Edinburgh

David Smythe, 16th August

Komische Oper Berlin's The Marriage of Figaro is staged at the Edinburgh International Festival with a strong cast headed by Penny Sofroniadou and Peter Kellner.

****1

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

A study in contrasts: Barrie Kosky's compelling Onegin returns to the Komische Oper