My tour of the Staatsoper - a post to follow, gave me an opportunity to photograph one of the set pieces I did like, though not in it's full, staged glory:
No, this post is not about Rigoletto . In fact, this is a review of the Met's rebroadcast of last year's Carmen . I was, all in all, blown away by the production. I will supply this caveat to that statement however: the last time I attended Carmen the production was overall abhorrent. The woman playing Carmen , Jossie Pérez, in addition to being gorgeous, did an excellent job (as she did playing Maddalena in Rigoletto , on which occasion I had the honor of meeting her). Overall however, the rest of the cast was uninspired and vocally troubled, the production didn't have a lot of pizazz, and the choice to reset the show in Cuba didn't really succeed. Thus, I'm predisposed to find this performance better. However, Elīna Garanča far surpassed even Jossie Pérez in her interpretation of the title role. Overall, this performance can best be described as having incredible presence. The character's came to life, the emotions were in your face, the sultriness of the w
This marked my first foray into live Russian opera. I performed in Smetana's Czech The Bartered Bride , though the text was sung in English. Yesterday I had the opportunity to see Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin ( Евгений Онегин/Yevgény Onégin ). Unfortunately, I found the performance to be, overall, relatively emotionally flat, saved in part by an outstanding performance by Pavol Breslik as Lensky in the second act. First, general information and synopsis followed by cast list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Onegin_(opera) EUGEN ONEGIN | Peter I. Tschaikowski Louis Langrée | Dirigent Falk Richter | Regie Katrin Hoffmann | Bühne Martin Kraemer | Kostüme Joanna Dudley | Choreographie Carsten Sander | Licht Shugo Ikoh | Regieassistenz Agnes Hasun | Bühnenbildasistenz Olga Guryakova | Tatjana, Tochter von Larina Markus Eiche | Eugen Onegin Pavol Breslik | Lensky, Dichter Ain Anger | Fürst Gremin Nadia Krasteva | Olga Monika Bohinec |
I remember reading Fred Plotkin's book Opera 101 some time ago. The book listed ten operas that would theoretically take a viewer from an easy, very accessible opera that they would (hopefully) like no matter what ( Rigoletto was his suggestion). The operas became increasingly less accessible until, at the end, were Wagner operas. Except these were not quite the end. The last of the ten was contained in a chapter called "Psychological Opera: Elektra ," or something along those lines. While Elektra is obviously a different Strauss opera than Salome , I found here the elements that might make this opera inaccesible to some, and definitely one to reserve for only the most prepared audience members. I admit this is my first time seeing Salome , but I must say that I was struck, I think particularly by this production, by how it is not just Salome , but essentially all the major characters, who are fraught with psychological problems. Synopsis & General Inform
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