Saint François d’Assise. To all this, the stage director Romeo Castellucci has added two perhaps not totally necessary scenes to the First Act: the saint’s renunciation of worldly possessions, striping naked to demonstrate his choice of a new existence; his encounter with the terrifying Wolf of Gubbio, uniting him with Nature. We will also encounter a strutting peacock and, as a final touch after the death of Saint François, a small flock of wandering sheep.
Corinnes column. Aangezien ik sinds alweer 3 jaar als customer service agent voor de truck afdeling van Mercedes Benz werk, heb ik besloten dat mijn comeback column voor Opera Gazet over Mercedes moet gaan. Maar niet het automerk maar de rol van Mercedes, een van de vriendinnen van Carmen in de gelijknamige opera van G. Bizet.
Pagliacci bij DNO. De setting in deze regie is de kleedkamer van het operatheater. Kaptafeltjes en verlichte spiegels vullen de zwarte ruimte. In deze omgeving kunnen wij Lucia als kleedster wel plaatsen, het is echter lastig de ruimte te zien als Lucia’s huis, waar Santuzza op de drempel blijft dralen, omdat zij geweerd wordt vanwege haar zonde. We gaan dan nadenken, of zij wegens ontucht ontslagen is uit het operakoor. Nadenken over de bedoeling van een voorstelling is een veeg teken. Het is natuurlijk wel onrechtvaardig dat zij verbannen is terwijl Lola, het sletje van het koor, het letterlijk met iedereen doet, inclusief de koordirigent.
Opera vraagt echter om een driedimensionale klank, drama en ontknoping. De scenes op het voortoneel kennen weliswaar schitterende harmonieën (met name de scenes met koor), maar de monologen en dialogen doen verticaal aan, als een ladder waar men op- en afklimt.
Lucia di Lammermoor at the Berkshire Opera. About six years ago, I discovered the Berkshire Opera (just re-named the Berkshire Opera Festival), an innovative, clever, and thoroughly professional company that operates out of the restored 123-year-old Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The charming theater seats 680; there is no orchestra pit. The opera was Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, and the 30-or-so musicians were in an upper corner of the stage, barely visible, but audibly well-balanced with the singers. The production was updated to the 20th century with no outrages: Norina, by the time she had taken over Pasquale’s household, was dressed as a dominatrix – not all that far from the text.
Kolja. De regie van Jeroen Lopes Cardozo was briljant, een inventieve en sfeervolle verbeelding van het verhaal. Absoluut een van de beste regies die wij de laatste veertig jaar In Nederland mochten aanschouwen. Oneindig veel kudos voor Jeroen Lopes Cardozo.
“MARINA” (by Giordano) – ITS WORLD STAGE PREMIÈRE IN FOGGIA. The harmonic language of Marina in certain passages carries unmistakable traces of the late-Verdian chromatic idiom: the plangent inner-voice movement of the central duet, the dense harmonic fabric of the ensemble episodes, and an approach to orchestration -visible even in the piano reduction- in which solo instrumental colours are assigned an unusual prominence and purposefulness.
Rienzi. An Epochal Life of Images. The Second Act followed immediately with no break, and the huge screen flew upwards to reveal the same slow-motion clapping citizens seated upon a white bleacher-like section; frankly not one of the most attractive scenic elements, as it also will be over-used until the end of the opera, where it is out of place. Its sole purpose was to house the vast chorus center-stage, neatly arranging them unobtrusively it must be said. As to the length of Act One and Act Two joined for a total of two hours, there is little else to do if the Ballet is to included which it was here. Originally, a wise move by Wagner, opposed as he would be in being forced to insert a ballet into the Third Act of his Tannhauser 16 years later in Paris, which he spitefully did, but at the beginning of the First Act, causing a riot out of which grew his hate for Meyerbeer and his gang. Yet, to paint History rightfully, we must recall that Meyerbeer also helped Wagner produce his operas in Dresden.
Ileana Cotrubaș She believed that performers had the right, and sometimes the duty, to say no when the essence of a work was being violated. Her later book, Opernwahrheiten, provided a lasting expression of these convictions. It formed part of a broader argument for an opera theatre in which music, text, character and staging remained in dialogue with one another rather than being pitted in competition.
Faust. Piotr Beczała sang the title role with audible caution following a recent cold. At times, his voice sounded slightly congested and less free than usual. In the more dramatic passages, it lacked some of its customary brilliance. All the more impressive, therefore, was his performance of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\”Salut! demeures chaste et pure,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\” characterized by refined phrasing, stylistic elegance, and admirable restraint.
Rigoletto in Sydney – a four-star performance. Gemma Nha is a star, plain and simple. Full vocal honors from start to finish… ravishing pianissimi, glittering acuto, and tasteful, measured pacing. Her “Caro nome” was positively transcendent.