A visually brilliant but serious Zauberflöte at the Salzburg Festival

By Nahoko Gotoh, 10 August 2012

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Reviewed at Felsenreitschule, Salzburg on 4 August 2012

Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor

Jens-Daniel Herzog, Director

Georg Zeppenfeld, Sarastro

Bernard Richter, Tamino

Mandy Fredrich, Queen of the Night

Julia Kleiter, Pamina

Markus Werba, Papageno

Elisabeth Schwarz, Papagena

Rudolf Schasching, Monostatos

Concentus Musicus Wien

All at sea: Herzog's nautical Pearl Fishers at Opernhaus Zürich

Laura Servidei, 29th June

The Opernhaus Zürich revives a 2011 production of Bizet’s second most famous opera, with Javier Camarena as Nadir.

***11

Georges Bizet’s “Les pêcheurs de perles” in Zurich

Sarah Batschelet, 16th December

In Georges Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles, two men’s vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman. Only one man lives to tell the tale.

****1

History today: War and Peace at Staatstheater Nürnberg

Matthew Rye, 30th September

Nuremberg's opera house launches a new directorial era with an impressive staging of Prokofiev's adaptation of Tolstoy's great novel that incapsulates 200 years of Russian history.

****1

Stars and the score shine in The Count of Luxembourg

Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 25th December

Baritone Kay Stiefermann steals hearts at the eponymous Count of Luxembourg, in an operetta so charming that neither musical missteps nor a mixed-up staging can sink it.

***11

Operetta on a count: Lehár in Düsseldorf

Matthew Rye, 8th December

A musically classy, rip-roaring staging of Der Graf von Luxemburg - a seasonal treat at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

*****

Jens-Daniel Herzog’s Orlando in Zurich

Sarah Batschelet, 13th May

Jens-Daniel Herzog sets his new Orlando in a sanatorium where, pulled between his love for a woman and his passion for war, the protagonist is trying to recover his sanity.

****1

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Nahoko Gotoh

Nahoko is a UK-based Japanese music journalist with a background in musicology. She writes regularly for various Japanese media including Ongaku no tomo and Mostly Classic magazines.