An Elegant and Spirited Evening of Brahms and Strauss with the Staatskapelle Berlin

By Christie Franke, 07 May 2014

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Reviewed at Konzerthaus: Großer Saal, Berlin on 5 May 2014

Brahms, Piano Concerto no. 1 in D minor, Op.15

Strauss R., Don Quixote, Op.35

Daniel Barenboim, Conductor

Maurizio Pollini, Piano

Staatskapelle Berlin

Love is in the hare: a new Cunning Little Vixen opens in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 28th February

The Staatsoper's new production of Janáček's opera buzzes with life thanks to Sir Simon Rattle's conducting and an excellent cast led by Vera-Lotte Boecker and Magdalena Kožená.

****1

Pintscher’s Das kalte Herz premieres at Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Elena Luporini, 14th January

On a snowy January evening, the premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s new opera Das kalte Herz fails to warm up the Berlin public.

**111

Happy 100th birthday, Wozzeck! Thielemann leads Berlin revival

Elena Luporini, 14th December

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden celebrates the 100th birthday of Alban Berg's masterpiece with a stellar cast in Andrea Breth’s revived production.

***11

Low on laughs: Die schweigsame Frau in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 19th July

Newly General Music Director Christian Thielemann and Jan Philipp Gloger bring Richard Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau to the Staatsoper Berlin for the first time, but la commedia is hardly stupenda.

**111

A Norma cooking on medium at Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Elena Luporini, 13th April

Despite excellent performances from Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Elmina Hasan, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden's new production of Norma lacks a pinch of salt.

***11

To the Moon and back: Janáček’s Mr Brouček visits Berlin

Elena Luporini, 16th March

Robert Carsen's new production of Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Brouček for the Staatsoper Unter den Linden scores a well-deserved success thanks to a stellar – or rather, lunar – conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

*****

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Christie Franke

Christie Franke is a Berlin-based writer and opera lover. Her blog, Tiny Doom’s Opernpalais, chronicles her adventures as an opera-lover and writer, serving as discussion ground for character profiles, operatic plot holes, and the magic of music in everyday life.