Leap of faith: Tosca in Aachen

By Matthew Rye, 14 September 2015

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“Irina Popova’s Tosca... was dramatically rich and telling”

Reviewed at Theater, Aachen on 13 September 2015

Puccini, Tosca

Theater Aachen

Kazem Abdullah, Conductor

Ludger Engels, Director

Christin Vahl, Set Designer

Britta Leonhardt, Costume Designer

Irina Popova, Floria Tosca

Adriano Graziani, Mario Cavaradossi

Christian Tschelebiew, Baron Scarpia

Patricio Arroyo, Spoletta

Johannes Piorek, A Jailer

Jorge Escobar, Cesare Angelotti

Pawel Lawreszuk, Sacristan

Stefan Hagendorn, Sciarrone

Sinfonieorchester Aachen

Opernchor Aachen

Aachen Children's Choir

Aachen Extrachoir

A fear of fear: Poulenc's Carmélites in Aachen

Matthew Rye, 15th April

The forces of Theater Aachen impress in a suitably harrowing and searing production of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmèlites.

****1

Whimsical Tempest takes Budapest by storm

Alexandra Ivanoff, 21st May

Hungarian State Opera mount a successful première of Thomas Adès's take on Shakespeare, with the show stolen by Laure Meloy's Ariel.

***11

Kunst, Wahn, Liebe: Tristan und Isolde am Stadttheater Bern

Alexandra Richter, 25th May

Ludger Engels inszeniert Wagners Liebesdrama und überrascht mit einer ungewöhnlichen aber eindrucksvoll kunstverständigen Interpretation.

****1

Ambition confuse de la Salomé bernoise

Elodie Olson-Coons, 28th January

Une décevante production de l'opéra de Richard Strauss au Konzertheater de Bern.

**111

Irish National Opera’s new Rusalka intrigues more than it convinces

Andrew Larkin, 22nd March

Netia Jones’ modern reimagining intrigues more than it convinces, but still makes a strong case for Dvořák’s dark fairy tale.

***11

Magnifying Glass: a magnificent Les Enfants terribles in Lille

Elena Luporini, 20th March

A new production of Les Enfants terribles at the Opéra de Lille drags the audience into a terribly marvelous labyrinth, courtesy of conductor Virginie Déjos and directors Matthias Piro and Lisa Moro.

*****

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Matthew Rye

Matthew read music at Oxford and worked in music journalism for 30 years as a writer, critic and editor. He wrote numerous programme and CD booklet notes, spent 13 years as a Daily Telegraph critic, worked at BBC Music Magazine and was reviews editor of The Strad. He also wrote for The Wagner Journal and Opera and blogged at ferneklang.blogspot.co.uk. He was general editor of 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (Cassell Illustrated, 2007) and was the author of a new series of eBooks, Masterpieces of Music (Erudition).