“Ms. Zambello’s production has plenty of 3-D-friendly texture. The opening scene includes women standing next to a trough of water, dipping their hair in and flinging it back, spraying the stage with water. A real donkey, chicken and black stallion appear. Two acrobats dance and flip across the stage. Confetti flies and ribbons wave. Cast members light cigarettes and warm themselves by real fires; others rappel down the orange-hued city walls.” [Wall Street Journal]
Mlle. La Taupe continues to report from San Francisco’s Die Walküre: “I neglected to comment about the photos of the fallen heroes, posted upon the jungle gym-like structures on the Walkuerenstein. To be noted as they are photos of fallen soldiers in recent American wars. Pictures are shown by courtesy of and with permission from the families.”
Your thoughts, cher public? (Photo by Cory Weaver)
Take a Wild Ride with a Valkyrie!! Yes, that’s what all the signs say around Old Baghdad-by-the-Bay…. So, fasten your seatbelts, y’all, it’s going to be a bumpy night!
As it turned out, Die Walküre was an unexpectedly wonderful ride, marking the debut of someone who could be a very important new Brünnhilde, Nina Stemme. All were good to exceptional, but this was a night when the title character, for once, rightfully stood out. Read more »
“If [Francesca] Zambello were a composer, she would surely be Meyerbeer.” [MusicWeb International]
Congratulate yourselves, cher public, as another parterre turn of phrase has entered the general lexicon.
As La Cieca indicated previously, Francesca Zambello (center) is going to add the notch of General and Artistic Director of Glimmerglass Opera to her already bulging belt. [NYT]
“Important warning: Covent Garden is marketing this as a family show for Christmas, but please don’t think of taking the children – they’ll be bored rigid and never want to go anywhere near an opera again.” With The Tsarina’s Slippers Francesca Zambello‘s nonstop string of successes just keeps on stringing along! [Telegraph]
Cher Public