Die ersten Menschen | Oper Frankfurt | Opera Canada
Leonard Turnevicius
Opernfestspiele HeidenheimAttila“Simultaneously confused and amused”
Opernfestspiele Heidenheim | Attila | Opera Canada
Wallis Giunta “Exemplary” in Opera North’s The Seven Deadly Sins
“Few love to hear the sins they love to act.” Truer words have never been spoken. But then again, Shakespeare’s Pericles never heard Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins. Though this ballet chanté lags behind the popularity of the duo’s two previous...
RigolettoLatest Liceu staging of Rigoletto at least musically effective
There’s no denying the popularity of Verdi’s Rigoletto. Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu has staged it 375 times, the second most frequently performed work in the theatre’s 175-year history. Fifteen further performances took place last Nov. 28-Dec. 19 in a revival of...
Marie-Nicole Lemieux debuts Charlotte in Montpellier Opera’s Werther
With its sumptuous melodies coupled to a tale of unrequited love culminating in a dramatic suicide on Christmas Eve, Massenet’s Werther has long been a precious jewel in the operatic repertoire. How à propos that OperaVision.eu began a six-month livestream of...
La Monnaie’s “topical” The Time of Our Singing
Topical, trendy, thought-provoking. In a nutshell, that’s Belgian avant-garde jazz pianist and composer Kris Defoort’s opera, The Time of Our Singing, which was given its world premiere with eight performances before live, masked audiences at La Monnaie this September...
Review: Die Fledermaus makes grand return to Rennes, France
After an absence of over 20 years, Johann Strauss Jr.’s La Chauve-Souris (Die Fledermaus) made a grand return to Rennes, France this May in a delightful co-production between Opéra de Rennes, Angers Nantes Opéra, Opéra de Toulon, and Opéra Grand Avignon. A performance...
Boris Godunov hybridized at Staatsoper Stuttgart
People just can’t keep their hands off Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. The parade of revisers starts with the composer himself who left us two distinct versions, the 1869 original and an 1872 revision. A vocal score with further changes was published in 1874. Next in line...