Category Archive: Opera
I Go to Sleep
(Turandot, Metropolitan Opera of New York, 2016) Once again TVC turned up to the Nova Palace in Adelaide to watch another chocolate-box treat in the form of Turandot, Puccini’s last opera, filmed in January 2016 at the New York Met (not the Mets). This ‘Orientalist’ production based on an original design by Franco Zefferelli (who knew a thing or two about prettying-up a set) is choreographed beautifully, in a yin-tong, Mikado style, by Chiang Ching. A troika of sopranos have appeared in the run and the HD film (courtesy of the Neubauer Family Foundation – we must invite that family to Australia and show them a good…
Continue Reading →Impressions of Die Walküre
Josef Hoffman design for Act I, 1876
Richard Wagner Society, 3 April 2016 The Society had a lovely afternoon discussing ‘Visions of Die Walküre,‘ when Wagner enthusiasts spoke of varied productions across the map, and three distinguished speakers (plus yours truly) gave some formal shape to the issues. Neville Hannaford reviewed leading recordings, from the Chereau/Boulez centenary production at Bayreuth to the visually impressive (albeit quirky – Hunding’s hut is represented as a circle of stones) but weakly-acted Valencia offering. He selected Bayreuth as the best naturalistic version, featuring the best Siegmund (Peter Hoffman) and Hunding (a formidable Matti Salminen, who also appeared at Valencia). …
Continue Reading →The Pearl Fishers
Image from Antonio Bonamore from Zuccarelli's 1886 set design
(by Georges Bizet) (Met, March 2016) Time to fess up: I love The Pearl Fishers – unlike that other Brahmin-inspired piece, Lakmé, it does not cloy; it is not kitsch. It is a lovely piece, with pretty music, a good tight love-triangle plot and whilst there are not many polyphonic moments (apart from the famous piece, Au fond du temple saint, where the two fishermen declare their totally, okay – not totally – counterfeit affection), there are great declamatory solos and tremendous choral parts. I’ve loved it ever since I snapped up a cheap box of records of the production by Theatre National de…
Continue Reading →Our “Great Classics: Carter & Wagner” Review in ASO eNotes
It takes something special to get folks in Adelaide to stand
In their latest electronic newspaper, our friends at the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra linked to our review of a recent function held by our friends the Richard Wagner Society of SA and a concert under the auspices of the ASO’s new Principal Conductor Nicholas Carter. Scroll down!
Continue Reading →Valkyries
Painted by Emil Doepler
PREMIERE: 26 JUNE 1870 in MUNICH. It was done as a ‘stand-alone’ piece, not part of the Cycle, and reaction was mixed. But Wagner wasn’t going to allow 26 year’s worth of work down the drain and ultimately, as both part of the Ring cycle and alone, it stands atop the operatic ramparts. Discussion: February 10, 2016 at Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Performance: February 13, 2016 at Festival Theatre, Adelaide Die Walküre shows Wagner blossoming as musician and dramatist. In the words of Ernest Newman, “he abandoned himself luxuriously to the sheer joy of music-making, both enlarging the scale of his…
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