Five countertenors and a tenor rock the house: Artaserse at the Theater an der Wien

By Snapdragon, 23 November 2012

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Reviewed at Theater an der Wien, Vienna on 20 November 2012

Vinci, Artaserse (in concert)

MusikTheater an der Wien

Concerto Köln

Diego Fasolis, Conductor

Philippe Jaroussky, Artaserse

Max Emanuel Cenčić, Mandane

Daniel Behle, Artabano

Franco Fagioli, Arbace

Valer Sabadus, Semira

Yuriy Mynenko, Megabise

Stefan Herheim’s bold Fledermaus at MusikTheater an der Wien

Chanda VanderHart, 13th October

Herheim’s Fledermaus is a risky experiment that, miraculously, works – at least in a city that knows it so intimately.

****1

Miroslav Srnka’s Voice Killer premieres at MusikTheater an der Wien

Chanda VanderHart, 16th June

At MusikTheater an der Wien, Miroslav Srnka’s new opera provess a deeply compelling, meticulously crafted work. It may not uplift, but it sears itself into the memory.

****1

Fish, frocks and farce: a Prokofiev romp in Vienna

Chanda VanderHart, 28th March

Damiano Michieletto directs a slick and frequently hilarious staging of Prokofiev's comic opera Betrothal in a Monastery.

***11

Grigorian and Akhmetshina dazzle in a secular Norma

Chanda VanderHart, 19th February

In a week where Vienna welcomes two new productions of Bellini's Norma, MusikTheater an der Wien sets a high bar with Vasily Barkhatov's staging.

****1

Freitag, der Dreizehnte celebrates Schoenberg at the Reaktor

Chanda VanderHart, 28th April

What do you get for the composer who made – and also kind of broke – everything? Arnold Schoenberg’s well-documented phobia of the number 13 aside, he could not have asked for a superior tribute in his 150th anniversary year.

****1

Not quite a premiere, not quite a success: Salieri’s Kublai Khan

Chanda VanderHart, 7th April

Martin G Berger exhaustively reworks the story and the libretto of Salieri's Cublai, gran kan de' Tartari and throws the kitchen sink at this new production, but not everything lands well.

***11

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Snapdragon

Snapdragon is an experienced concert- and opera-goer in Vienna and other music metropoles. Musical emphases include opera (especially Baroque opera) and piano music. As an Austrian native, Snapdragon can’t resist an operetta every now and then.