A truly kingly entertainment in Berkeley

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 29 April 2017

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“Everyone on the stage could sing with crisp French and turn a perfect trill”

Reviewed at UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley on 28 April 2017

Rameau, Le Temple de la Gloire (Modern Day Premiere, 1745 vers.)

The New York Baroque Dance Company

Nicholas McGegan, Conductor

Gabrielle Philiponet, Plautine

Aaron Sheehan, Apollo, Trajan

Artavazd Sargsyan, Bacchus

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale

Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Soprano

Camille Ortiz-Lafont, Soprano

Philippe-Nicolas Martin, Baritone

Marc Labonnette, Baritone

Philharmonia Chorale

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

At half mast: Simon Boccanegra revived in Vienna

Orsolya Gyárfás, 19th April

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

***11

Anna Netrebko shines in Vienna’s timeless Tosca

Laura Servidei, 18th April

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

Weinberg’s The Passenger at Dutch National Opera

Clare Varney, 17th April

Tobias Kratzer's 2024 Munich production makes its way to Amsterdam, proving that Weinberg's opera has the power to transfix.

****1

Frauenliebe und -sterben: Kratzer’s triple bill at Staatsoper Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 15th April

Director Tobias Kratzer engineers a haunting pasticcio of Schumann, Bartók and Zemlinsky, tracing the domestic sphere’s shift from romantic surrender to the blood-soaked secrets of a century-spanning house.

****1

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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.

A truly kingly entertainment: Baroque beauty in Berkeley