The Passion of Opera

Over the past two weeks I had the wonderful opportunity to return to Vienna, where I studied in 2011 and posted many of the reviews on this blog. While I was there, I attended three more operas at the Wiener Staatsoper, bringing my standing room total there to 29 operas (and one Volksoper opera - for 30 standing room operas in Vienna): Puccini's La boheme , Massenet's Werther , and Strauss' Elektra . All three were excellent, particularly the latter two. Upon my return to the United States last week, I immediately was at a performance of the revised version of Philip Glass' Appomattox . This performance was also quite interesting for me, as it is the second Glass opera I have seen and very different from his Satyagraha  in London. As a bonus: a quick review of a concert by The Tenors (formerly The Canadian Tenors) performing one man down. Reviews will be shorter than a standard review, but the performances raised a few interesting points I want to record. Vienna ...

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 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...