A rambunctious Platée revival in Prague

Marcel Beekman (Platée)

Pavol Kubáň (Jupiter), Marcel Beekman (Platée) and Lukáš Zeman (Momus)

National Theatre Opera Ballet

Pavol Kubáň (Jupiter), Marcel Beekman (Platée) and the National Theatre Opera Ballet

Michaela Zajmi (Juno)

By Frank Kuznik, 25 November 2024

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“Baroque opera was never so wild... nor such confounding fun”

Reviewed at State Opera (Státní opera), Prague on 23 November 2024

Rameau, Platée

Prague State Opera

Václav Luks, Conductor

SKUTR (Martin Kukučka and Lukáš Trpišovský), Director, Lighting Designer

Jakub Kopecký, Set Designer, Lighting Designer, Video

Simona Rybáková, Costume Designer

Prague State Opera Orchestra

Collegium Vocale 1704

Ondřej Hučín, Dramaturgy

Pavla Radostová, Amour, Clarine

Pavol Kubáň, Jupiter

Olga Jelínková, La Folie, Thalie

Shira Patchornik, La Folie, Thalie

Ruairi Bowen, Mercure, Thespis

Marcel Beekman, Platée

Tomas Selc, Cithéron, Satyr

Michaela Zajmi, Junon

Lukáš Zeman, Momus

Prague National Theatre Opera Ballet

Jan Kodet, Choreography

Parsifal reconsidered: A provocative improvisation in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 26th March

Timo Riihonen and Ester Pavlů stand out in a strong cast which carries Andreas Homoki's revised version of Wagner's final opera.

****1

Calixto Bieito’s Idomeneo runs out of time in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 28th September

At the Prague State Opera, Calixto Brieito relocates Mozart's opera seria to modern times, with disastrous results.

***11

Reimann's Lear makes for a dark season finale at Prague State Opera

Frank Kuznik, 7th June

Aribert Reimann's Lear takes no prisoners in a disturbing portrayal of a world gone awry, but Barbora Horáková's scattergun direction adds to the confusion.

***11

A politically charged new Manon in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 27th March

Puccini's classic takes on a harsh contemporary edge in a dark treatment by director Sláva Daubnerová at Prague's National Theatre.

****1

To the apocalypse and beyond: Le Grand Macabre in Prague

David Karlin, 14th June

Nigel Lowery’s new production at Prague State Opera is a gusher of ideas, starting as slapstick but profoundly moving by the end.

****1

Nabucco in Prague: handsome but over-ambitious

Frank Kuznik, 21st March

Andriy Yurkevych leads a rousing musical performance, but this visually impressive Nabucco tries to hard to be relevant and misses the mark.

***11

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Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.