Countless criteria can be considered to judge whether an operatic performance has been successful (or not). One of the most important – and most rarely achieved – is the ability…
DER ROSENKAVALIER | Oper Frankfurt
Strauss/Hofmanntsthal’s best opera? Some will say so outright. Others will be more cautious, and think of the masterpieces Die Frau ohne Schatten and Elektra. We have no ambition to decide;…
KATA KABANOVA | Bayerische Staatsoper
Zázrak! Vskutku tĹ™eba Ĺ™Ăci, Ĺľe zázrak! (Wonderful! You’ve got to admit, it’s wonderful!) That’s how Kudrjáš (James Ley) begins Leoš Janáček’s 6th (of 9) opera, thrilled by the majesty of…
THE GAMBLER | Staatsoper Stuttgart
In an extra-planetary Roulettenbourg, resembling the Sierra Nevada, a semi-circle with illuminated contours emerges, sinking into the uneven ground and revealing a crater from where the characters – extravagant, bare-legged,…
SALOME | Deutsche Oper Berlin
At first sight, the parallel between Salome and the fashion world might seem fairly intuitive, but someone had to try and translate it in a credible work. Claus Guth had…
ARABELLA | Deutsche Oper Berlin
Much more than a Fiakerball on Faschingsdienstag, the Arabella currently being produced at the Deutsche Oper Berlin is an exposĂ© of transformations – whether caused/facilitated or undergone. The theme is…
PELLEAS ET MELISANDE | Opéra National de Paris
Above all, I respected the character and life of my characters; I wanted them to express themselves outside of me, outside of themselves. I let them sing in me. It…
GUERCĹ’UR | Oper Frankfurt
Some operas play a pivotal role, both in the careers of those involved in their production and in the public’s experience of them. Pieces that, through the power of their…
THE ENCHANTRESS | Oper Frankfurt
The piece in question is rare enough to start this review with: “how can this story, one of Tchaikovsky’s masterpieces, be summed up?” It couldn’t be simpler: a widowed woman,…