The Passion of Opera

Last month we took a look at Washington National Opera’s first-ever production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle . While such a momentous undertaking does take up a large amount of the company’s time and money, it is not the only thing on the docket for the season. Here’s a look at the other shows upcoming over the next several months. First up is Bizet’s Carmen , September 19-October 3. It is a safe bet for the company, though, with famous showstoppers such as the Habanera, “ L’amour est un oiseau rebelle , ” and the Toreador song, “ Votre toast! ,” both of which have made their way into popular culture with their instantly recognizable tunes. The next show up is Appomattox , November 14-22. As an opera by Philip Glass, this show fits into the style of minimalism popularized in the 20 th century. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Glass is known for writing music that is highly cyclical, repeating themes hundreds of times with slight modification time after time...

Seeing the entire Ring Cycle in two weeks, performed under Christian Thielemann with the Wiener Philharmoniker in the pit, was definitely a highlight of my time in Vienna. I am no Wagnerian, by which I mean that while I appreciate the music it is not an area with which I have a great deal of experience. Still, it was quite the experience. I commented then that there were ups and downs in the singing but that the conducting and orchestra were superb. The staging was non-traditional, which also had its high and low points. I had no idea  that it was being recorded while I was there, however. It's very gratifying to see the edition, read people's thoughts about it, and say, "oh yes, that substitution of one singer for another? I witnessed that!" I will not make any further comment on the comparative quality of this recording than to say it definitely has its merits even if many will find it lackluster in singing compared to earlier "golden ages," and may d...

Just wanted to say that I've been on a bit of a hiatus because 1. I've been working a new job and I want to make sure I'm making a good impression and all that and 2. I'm in a temporary apartment with a smaller tv and poor sound system, so I've been holding off on watching DVDS, etc., for a while.

Just as in the Wiener Staatsoper's recent production of  Il barbiere di Siviglia  this production of Donizetti's  L'elisir d'amore  goes back to the basic, classic style of  bel canto  performance, stripping away many of the inventions and conventions developed in the past several decades and returning to the basis of the art form. The production of  Barbiere  was certainly funny, but eschewed hilarity in favor of what felt like a very pure representation of  bel canto  melodrama. Synopsis & general information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'elisir_d'amore L'elisir d'amore | Gaetano Donizetti Dirigent | Marco Armiliato Nach der Regie von | Otto Schenk Ausstattung | Jürgen Rose Chorleitung | Martin Schebesta Adina | Aleksandra Kurzak Nemorino | Stephen Costello Belcore | Marco Caria Doktor Dulcamara | Adam Plachetka Giannetta | Jeanine De Bique Ein Trompeter | Konras Monsberger Diener de...

  This production of a relatively less well-known opera by Leoš Janáček was, unfortunately, probably the most disappointing that I've seen at the Staatsoper. Some of my colleagues have disagreed with me about the quality of the production. I admit that I might have been listening to the cast on an off night or that I may have "missed" the intention of the production or the singers. No review is flawless, but an off night, while not a representation of singer's abilities, still makes for a poor night at the opera. Missing the point of a production may be a failure to understand, but as a well versed operagoer if a reviewer misses the point or fails to understand, it is likely the production is failing to communicate to the audience as a whole. General information & synopsis:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KáťaKabanová Cast: Káťa Kabanová | Leoš Janáček Dirigent | Franz Welser-Möst Regie | André Engel Bühne | Nicky Rieti Kostüme | Chantal de La...

This post is just to address the overall arc of the Wiener Staatsoper's Fall 2011 production of Der Ring des Nibelungen . These observations didn't feel appropriate to describe in any of the reviews of the individual operas, but a review of the cycle as a whole would be incomplete without them. The set design was very mediocre. In the first three operas of the cycle it tended toward the abstract without actually going all the way down the rabbit hole. It is respectable that designers want to get away from the massive, grand sets and costumes with horns and metal bras. I imagine that there is a feeling among designers that they just can't top a "period" Ring set and that this well is dry. Nonetheless, if the decision is to go abstract, then full abstraction is probably requisite, rather than trying to make a literal interpretation feel abstract. This just leads to a sense that things were left out or skimped upon. Perhaps the greatest failing in the first three...

After having waiting 20 hours and witnessing 18 hours of opera over two weeks, I have finally finished the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Wagner's  Der Ring des Nibelungen . I will finish up my own cycle of four reviews by dedicating this post to  Götterdämmerung . It is well worth making general observations about the production of the Cycle as a whole (though some of these have slipped in already), particularly on account of the orchestra, but I will do this in a separate post. First:  Götterdämmerung . General information & synopsis:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Götterdämmerung Cast: Christian Thielemann | Dirigent Sven-Eric Bechtolf | Regie Rolf Glittenberg | Bühne Marianne Glittenberg | Kostüme Thomas Lang | Chorleitung Stephen Gould | Siegfried Markus Eiche | Gunther Eric Halfvarson/Attila Jun | Hagen Tomasz Konieczny | Alberich Linda Watson | Brünnhilde Caroline Wenborne | Gutrune Janina Baechle | Waltraute ...