Showing yourself out
In eclectic productions of Carmen, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Così fan tutte in Salzburg, A.J. Goldmann finds vindication for Markus Hinterhaüser at the end of the intendant’s final Festival.
Christof Loy
45 pieces since 2007 — at 17 companies, most often at Salzburg Festival.
45
pieces
17
companies
20
years
By company
Salzburg Festival 3
Deutsche Oper Berlin 2
Royal Swedish Opera 2
Grand Théâtre de Genève 2
Metropolitan Opera 1
Theater an der Wien 1
Teatro Real 1
Royal Opera House 1
Opéra Bastille 1
Oper Frankfurt 1
MusikTheater an der Wien 1
Aix-en-Provence Festival 1
La Scala 1
Gran Teatre del Liceu 1
Deutsche Oper 1
Bayerischen Staatsoper 1
Bavarian State Opera 1
Some filth or dementia from Remko Jas
To make a success of the Empress in Frau ohne Schatten, it is not enough to be a fine singer and a great actress.
By Remko Jas
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Turkish delight on a moonlit night
While it may not be top-tier Rossini, Teatro Nuovo’s mounting of Il turco in Italia is still good summer fun.
Gender? I hardly know her!
Christof Loy’s production of Pablo Luna’s gender-bending Orientalist farce Benamor proves to be irresistible.
Uncovered gems
Despite some complications, the Deutsche Oper exhumes buried treasure in Franz Schreker’s Der Schatzgräber.
Tabled for now
Ahead of the return of Louise to the Opéra National de Lyon, Parterre Box features Elsa Dreisig in a much more famous French opera.
Hear, O Israel
As Messiah season begins, Christopher Corwin reports on two of Handel’s forays into the Old Testament.
By Christopher Corwin
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La fiamma è bella!
A new recording of La fiamma from Deutsche Oper Berlin sets Respighi’s score ablaze.
Sing out, Louise
Christof Loy‘s Louise in Aix-en-Provence scratches at the urban– and operatic– unconscious
The Aix factor
This summer’s festival, taking place amid record high temperatures and in the wake of its artistic director, Pierre Audi, featured a disquietingly zeigeisty focus on sexual violence.
I’m never gonna dance again
A starry cast is hampered by Christof Loy‘s dour production of Rusalka in Barcelona
Three ages of woman
Asmik Grigorian’s scorching turn in Il trittico in Paris has Nigel Wilkinson wondering, ‘what is it that makes Americans so weepy?’
Tree and tree again
While everyone tries to figure out what on earth Strauss and Hofmannsthal are up to in Die Frau ohne Schatten, now playing at the Met, Chris’s Cache offers a later, simpler, shorter Strauss with three live broadcasts of his “bucolic tragedy” Daphne.
Star of the shoji screen
My vision may have been slightly blurry at the end.
Christmas in July
Not too long ago, Benjamin Bernheim gave an interview to Opéra Magazine in which he stated “Je ne suis pas un top model.”
Women on the verge of a nervous breakup
Not in my wildest dreams could I have come up with anything more homosexual than the sight of Almodóvar muse Rossy de Palma in a stage-length wedding gown onstage Madrid’s Teatro Real.
Sacred raptures cheer my breast
The English Concert’s annual Handel tour brings Solomon conducted by Harry Bicket to the US beginning Sunday March 5. In anticipation, Chris’s Cache offers Solomon plus four other oratorios by the master: Belshazzar, Hercules, Saul and Jephtha, all via broadcasts for which I feel a personal connection.
(Yet more) Thoughts on ‘Don Carlos’: Coronations and finales
In any case, we are now in the Queen’s garden of the Palace in Madrid. It is the day before the coronation of King Philip. Coronation? What coronation?
What women want
While isolated opera-lovers intently navigate the deluge of streaming videos being made available, I’ve been listening rather than viewing.
Words get in the way
Although stripped down, this comedy of manners was far from boring due to well-choreographed movements and actions of the characters.
Can’t get you out of my head
Today the good guy finally gets his chance with San Giovanni Battista by Alessandro Stradella featuring Christophe Dumaux as John the Baptist.
Down for the Comte
We close 2018 with Le Comte Ory with an enviable nearly all-Italian cast of prime-time Rossini specialists: Mariella Devia, Cecila Bartoli, Ewa Podles, William Matteuzzi, Claudio Desderi and Pietro Spagnoli.
Coming out
Beautiful singing, thoughtful staging, lovely melodies… a perfect escape from daily life.
Golden ‘Girls’ season finale
The conclusion of our Fanciulla del West video overview in three parts looks at a trio of performances from the 2010s.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).