The world premiere of Bernhard Lang’s Golem at Mannheim
Contemporary operas often adapt works of literature or ancient myths, with which audiences might be reasonably familiar. This can take care of the narrative dimension, allowing composers to concentrate on exploiting their musical creativity and devising a score which reflects…
Prokofiev’s Gambler at Mannheim
My only previous encounter with Prokofiev’s opera The Gambler, based on Dostoyevsky – a performance by the Dutch Opera Zuid – had disappointed. I found it difficult to engage with the fate of a group of unattractive people whose preoccupation…
Die Walküre in Sofia
A worthy second evening of the Sofia Ring. Some of the qualities described and reservations expressed in relation to Rheingold carry over. The orchestra and conductor Manfred Mayrhofer again disappointed. In contrast, I was even more impressed by Plamen Kartaloff’s…
Das Rheingold in Sofia
The Ring cycle was not performed in Bulgaria until 1943 and though that country has a fine reputation for opera, with large-voiced singers prominent on the international scene, Wagnerian music drama is not “natural” for them. Nor, it would seem…
Lortzing’s Regina in Meiningen
When did you see a 19th century opera which began with a strike in a factory? Probably never. But Albert Lortzing, better known for his comic pieces, notably Zar and Zimmerman, wrote such a piece, Regina, apparently influenced by the…
Die tote Stadt in Kassel
Erich Korngold’s Die tote Stadt creates difficulties for performers in two respects. The leading roles require voices capable of sustained lyricism above a large orchestra; and the stage director has to provide a convincing blend of fantasy and realism, while…
Zemlinksy’s Traumgörge in Hanover
After years of neglect Zemlinsky’s operas have become widely appreciated. Der Zwerg, generally in harness with Eine florentinische Tragödie, has been around since the 1970s. The rediscovery of Der Traumgörge has been more recent, understandably because, although written in 1909…
Gurlitt’s Wozzeck in Bremerhaven
What Leoncavallo faced when Puccini also composed an opera on Murger’s Vie de Bohème was also Manfred Gurlitt’s lot when he decided, at the same time as Berg, to produce an operatic version of Büchner’s Woyzeck. It is unlikely that…
Herheim’s Figaro At Hamburg
I was bowled over by Stefan Herheim’s production of Parsifal at Bayreuth: imaginative, beautiful to look at, rich in detail, if also complex. Then came the disappointment of his Serse at Düsseldorf which was simplistic, communicating little about the work….
Halévy’s La Juive in Lyon
Halévy’s La Juive has enjoyed a number of revivals in recent years along with other “grand” operas by his near contemporary Meyerbeer. The French themselves have been somewhat contemptuous of this strand in their musical history, quite unjustifiably as this…
World Premiere of Benjamin, Dernière Nuit in Lyon
The German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin committed suicide in September 1940 in a village on the French-Spanish border rather than escape and emigrate to America. The reason for his decision has fascinated scholars and historians; and one can understand why the…
Ullmann’s Emperor of Atlantis in Lyon
Viktor Ullmann’s Emperor of Atlantis is an elusive work. Fantasy or allegory on death and political power, should it be played as a comic, grotesque parable or else as a dramatic exploration of tyranny and brutality from which the only…
Rossini’s Turco in Italia in Ravenna
Il Turco in Italia is one of my favourite Rossini operas. In addition to the brilliant score, there is the Pirandellian device of having a poet commenting on the characters and interacting with them, to see if he can influence…
Duettino of Wolf-Ferrari and Hazon in Venice
A delightful “duettino” of one-act operas at Venice’s Teatro Malibran. The composer of the first of these, Roberto Hazon, was unfamiliar to me. Born in 1930, he wrote in an easy, tonal melodic style, sharpened up with occasional dissonances, glissandi…
Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno at La Scala
I can understand why it was thought a good idea to stage Handel’s early oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. An allegory of how beauty and concomitant pleasure are transient and superficial makes for good theatre. Moreover the…
Martinů’s Three Wishes in Ostrava
Sometimes when you are away from the familiar operatic circuit you strike gold. Who would have expected to find extravagant music theatre in Moravia-Silesia? But extravagant it was. A rare revival of Bohislav Martinů’s “opera-film” The Three Wishes, better known…
Die Dreigroschenoper at Theater an der Wien
It is always a pleasure to return to Die Dreigroschenoper. I love Weill’s music. I relish Brecht’s text, particularly when as here in Vienna it is given in the original because the sound of German in this work is as…
Smetana’s Devil’s Wall in Ostrava
Smetana’s opera The Devil’s Wall is rarely performed outside its homeland and it is not difficult to understand why. It tells the story of a devil who seeks to thwart a feudal lord in leading a life of love and…
My Operatic Highlights 2015
DIRECTORS Lydia Steier: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Berlin Komische Oper Fabio Ceresa: I Puritani, Turin DESIGNERS Tiziano Santi: I Puritani, Turin Friedrich Eggert/Alfred Mayerhofer: Fantasio, Karlsruhe CONDUCTORS Michael Schønwandt: Saul og David, Copenhagen Riccardo Frizza: Norma, Paris Théâtre…
Sauguet’s Caprices de Marianne in Rouen
The name Henri Sauguet is less familiar today than it was when I was first listening to French contemporary music in the late 60s and early 70s. And there are good reasons why his opera Les Caprices de Marianne, first…