Rattle's penultimate instalment of the Ring cycle in Hamburg

Simon O'Neill and Michael Volle

Peter Hoare

Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

By Alexander Hall, 09 February 2023

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“the real heroes of the evening, however, were Rattle himself and his Bavarian players”

Reviewed at Elbphilharmonie: Grand Hall, Hamburg on 8 February 2023

Wagner, Siegfried (Concert performance)

Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Anja Kampe, Brünnhilde

Peter Hoare, Mime

Simon O'Neill, Siegfried

Michael Volle, Der Wanderer

Gerhild Romberger, Erda

Georg Nigl, Alberich

Franz-Josef Selig, Fafner

Danae Kontora, Waldvogel (the woodbird)

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Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Viennese splendour in Garsington’s Rosenkavalier revival

Roy Westbrook, 28th May

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast.

****1

Bang! Mozart’s volcano erupts in Opera Holland Park’s Così fan tutte

Peter Quantrill, 28th May

Mount Vesuvius looms over Cecilia Stinton’s compelling new production of Così fan tutte.

****1

A witty hotel Don Giovanni opens Blackwater Valley Festival

Andrew Larkin, 27th May

Tom Creed’s witty production at Lismore Castle delivers strong singing, sharp comedy and lively orchestral playing, even if the opera’s darker supernatural edges are somewhat diminished.

****1

Garsington’s new La traviata ticks every musical and dramatic box

David Karlin, 27th May

Music Director Douglas Boyd conducts a performance of exceptional musical quality, and Louisa Muller's uncontroversial but passionate direction makes this Traviata one for the ages.

*****

Werther revived at San Carlo: an anatomy of emotional isolation

Lorenzo Fiorito, 26th May

Willy Decker’s psychologically intense Werther returns to the Teatro di San Carlo with a deeply human interpretation by Francesco Demuro and refined conducting by Lorenzo Passerini.

*****

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Alexander Hall

Alexander Hall divides his time between London and Hamburg, where he had a career in academic administration and teaching. He reviews for Bachtrack and Opera Today, and has also reviewed for Classical Source. A connoisseur of the great orchestras of the world, his musical memories stretch back to Karajan/Berlin Phil, Mravinsky/Leningrad Phil, Bernstein/Vienna Phil, and he has seen most of the great conductors from the past, including Böhm, Klemperer, Kubelik, Ormandy and Szell.

Siegfried and Siegfried: Rattle's penultimate instalment of the Ring cycle