Two pairs of young lovers, a cynical old philosopher and an irreverent maid: the set-up for Così fan tutte could hardly be simpler. But Mozart and Da Ponte’s great comedy of the human heart is open to a thousand interpretations, few more compelling than this 2002 production directed by Jürgen Flimm for Opernhaus Zürich. Flimm’s light-touch staging gives limitless scope to conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt – unrivalled in this repertoire – and a truly glorious cast, with Cecilia Bartoli as a passionate Fiordiligi and Liliana Nikiteanu as her more carefree sister Dorabella. With Agnes Baltsa as Despina and Roberto Saccà as Ferrando, the result is timeless.
Hommage à Séville
Hommage à Séville
Die Zauberflöte
Mozart meets Hitchcock in this spooky interpretation of The Magic Flute in Vienna. With the aid of projections and stage elements by Falko Herold, director Barbora Horáková dreams up a cinematic, eerie setting full of references to famous horror flicks, creating “great suspense” (Kronenzeitung). At the podium, conductor Bertrand de Billy coaxes the most wonderful Mozart sounds from his musicians: “The orchestra manages something with Mozart that actually seems contradictory: the sound is both lush and wonderfully airy, however that works (…). The transparency and compelling tonal beauty alone make the visit worthwhile” (Kurier). The ensemble of singers leaves little to be desired, with Georg Zeppenfeld “reliably great” (Salzburger Nachrichten) as Sarastro, Ludwig Mittelhammer lending Papageno his “lovely baritone voice” (Kronenzeitung), Ilia Staple “witty” and “perfectly cast” as Papagena and Serena Saénz mastering her coloraturas as the Queen of the Night “with bravura” (News). Nevertheless, Slávka Zámecníková manages to excel above all: “The evening’s crowning glory was Slávka Zámecníková, who sang with her heart as she sang her Pamina: her soprano voice is full and refined, her phrasing beautiful and her expression undisguised” (Die Presse).
Don Giovanni
The beautiful, historic Teatro Olimpico in Vincenza is the ideal backdrop for this nostalgic production of Don Giovanni, conducted and directed by Iván Fischer. The settings for the opera emerge seamlessly from the beautiful architecture of the theatre as well as the young dancers of the Iván Fischer Opera Company who transform their bodies into buildings and furnishings. Andrè Schuen plays a sensual and charming Don Giovanni with a bold voice. Luca Pisaroni is an “outstanding” (FAZ) Leporello at his side: “The master-servant dynamic between the two has rarely been interpreted so beautifully” (Oper!). The sound from the pit is “clear, mellow and rich in dramatic accents (…) Thunderous applause!” (GDV). “Now that’s opera” (FAZ)
Le nozze di Figaro
Few modern conductors knew how to get to the soul of Mozart like the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt – the Viennese period-performance specialist who was equally at ease with historic instruments and the world’s greatest orchestras. In 1996 he conducted the forces of the Zurich Opera House and an excellent ensemble cast in Jurgen Flimm’s production of Le nozze di Figaro – which moved the action between different eras and locations to try and find the eternal truths at the heart of this greatest of all comic operas. The results are just as revealing – and as beautiful – as you’d expect.
Così fan tutte
“The execution is vibrant, the individual voices outstanding, and the ensemble homogeneity even more so.” (Frankfurter Rundschau) To conclude his Da Ponte cycle at the Vienna State Opera, Barrie Kosky turns Don Alfonso into a theatre director rehearsing a stage play with the two young couples at the center of the story: “He presents the Da Ponte opera as a coherent, sophisticated game within a game: a director uses method acting to release feelings that can no longer be controlled” (News). As is typical for a Kosky-lead production, there is constant action, which the ensemble executes with exuberance. Philippe Jordan leads the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera from the pianoforte, managing to “strike a balance between classical beauty and vibrancy, without resorting to tricks and mannerisms to make things exciting” (Kleine Zeitung).
Don Giovanni
Mozart’s Don Giovanni is an opera that contains infinities: the adventures of the great seducer, his servant Leporello and the women he has wronged are as eternal (and as fascinating) as human nature itself. Jürgen Flimm’s classic production for Opernhaus Zürich leans into the shadows beneath the comic surface – and in this performance from 2001 Rodney Gilfry is a truly aristocratic Giovanni, with the sublime Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli at the pinnacle of her vocal and dramatic form as a mercurial Donna Elvira. Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts, bringing all his unrivalled feeling for 18th-century music to a score that never grows old.
Le nozze di Figaro
Barrie Kosky, one of the most innovative opera directors of our time, creates a new interpretation of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (which he believed should be renamed Susanna) at the Vienna State Opera with a very young ensemble: Andrè Schuen and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller in the roles of Count and Countess Almaviva, Peter Kellner as Figaro, Patricia Nolz as Cherubino and Ying Fang as well as Eva Nazarova as Susanna. Ying Fang is acting on stage with a perfect lip sync to Eva Nazarova singing from the orchestra pit, as she could not sing herself due to a vocal cord haemorrhage. Philippe Jordan conducts the Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper and together they “deliver an ideal mixture of elegant lyricism and concentrated expression – each and every one” (Wiener Zeitung). “Beauty and pointedness are combined in the noblest way.” (Der Standard)
Mitridate, re di Ponto
The Staatsoper Berlin invited Marc Minkowski and his brilliant orchestra Les Musiciens du Louvre, for a new production of Mozart’s early work. Mozart was only 14 years old when he was commissioned to compose a large, full-length opera seria. The story of a declining king and warlord whose two very different sons love the same woman, who is also his bride, inspired Mozart to write music that knows strong passions as well as deeply felt emotions. He drew on tradition and yet already showed himself to be at a height that more than foreshadowed what was to come. The premiere at the end of 1770 became a triumph for the youthful composer. Minkowski and his incredible cast and ensemble made it again a complete showcase of all Mozart operas. The Japanese production team led by director Satoshi Miyagi immerses Mozart’s Mitridate in an enchanting ambience that lets different worlds converge. “Marc Minkowski and his brilliant orchestra Les Musiciens du Louvre […] a real coup.” (Tagesspiegel)