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More Porpora operas, please (just not this one!): Mitridate at Schloss Schwetzingen

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 29 December 2017
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“firework displays that border on absurdity”
Reviewed at Schloss Schwetzingen: Jagdsaal, Schwetzingen on 28 December 2017
Programme
Porpora, Mitridate
Performers
Theater Heidelberg
Felice Venanzoni, Conductor
Jacopo Spirei, Director
Madeleine Boyd, Set Designer
Sarah Rolke, Costume Designer
David DQ Lee, Mitridate
Ray Chenez, Sifare
Shahar Lavi, Farnace
Katja Stuber, Ismene
Yasmin Özkan, Semandra
Zachary Wilson, Archelao
Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg
More Opera reviews
Der in seiner Freiheit vergnügte Alcibiades in Schwetzingen
Christoph Wurzel, 14th December
Agostino Steffanis witzige Oper über Alcibiades, der nach allerlei amourösen Verwicklungen doch lieber ungebunden bleibt, hätte in der Heidelberger Produktion von der Regie her mehr Pepp vertragen. Doch die Musik ist ein pures Vergnügen.
***11
Eine charmante Opernentdeckung: Adonis von Sigismund Kusser
Christoph Wurzel, 15th December
Johann Sigismund Kussers Adonis aus dem Frühbarock wird im erfrischend modernen Gewand zu einem rundum gelungenen Opernvergnügen.
*****
Babylons Herrscher endet als Pflegefall: Reinhard Keisers Nebucadnezar
Christoph Wurzel, 1st December
Kurzweilig und temporeich kommt die Geschichte aus grauer Vorzeit auf die Schwetzinger Bühne, wobei das junge Gesangsensemble hervorragende Figur macht und Dorothee Oberlinger mit dem Heidelberger Orchester die Musik geschmeidig zum Klingen bringt. Eine interessante Erweiterung des Repertoires.
****1
The “other” Lucia at the Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo
Laura Servidei, 18th November
Stricken by illness, the French version of Donizetti’s masterpiece is somewhat disappointing.
La donna del lago in Buxton: glorious music, confusing production
Peter Connors, 15th July
Buxton International Festival presents Rossini's exhilarating La donna del lago with fine singing, but it is undermined by Jacopo Spirei's staging. 
***11
Rossini's Ermione returns to its birthplace in Naples
Lorenzo Fiorito, 7th November
A bland staging: at the end what really emerged was Rossini’s glorious music, its intelligent construction and perfect beauty.
***11
More reviews...
Read reviews of
David DQ LeeFelice VenanzoniJacopo SpireiKatja StuberMadeleine BoydNicola PorporaPhilharmonisches Orchester HeidelbergRay ChenezSarah RolkeTheater HeidelbergZachary Wilson
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Ilana Walder-Biesanz
Ilana Walder-Biesanz
Ilana Walder-Biesanz is a product manager for Yahoo, a theatre and opera critic, and a classically trained mezzo-soprano. She explored theater and opera stagings as a Gates Scholar at Cambridge and as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany. She currently writes for Bachtrack, San Francisco Classical Voice, and Stark Insider. Twitter: @ilana_wb.