At Theater an der Wien Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Polish national opera Halka is performed by a superb cast including Corinne Winters (“devotedly”), Piotr Beczala (“vocally outstanding”) and Tomasz Konieczny (“his acting is piercing”) (Der Standard). The Polish leading team, above all director Mariusz Trelinski, puts the plot into a supercooled crime aesthetic. The ORF Radio Symphonie-Orchester Wien under the baton of Lukasz Borowicz plays with perceptible delight. “A gripping opera evening” (Wiener Zeitung).
The Fiery Angel
The young Renata hears voices. Since childhood, she has been visited by a fiery angel exuding a sublime radiance. Besotted with him, she goes looking for him when he leaves her and meets Ruprecht, a knight who, out of love for her, will try to tear her away from this carnal possession. Moving from tavern to convent, against a backdrop of spiritualism and exorcism, collective hysteria and burlesque humour, The Fiery Angel is a powerful piece that has it all, bordering the very limits of expressionism. Inspired by the symbolist novel of the same name by Valery Bryusov, this opera is Prokofiev’s most striking operatic masterpiece. Its premiere at the Festival d’Aix see it transported into the tumultuous world of director Mariusz Trelinski, while Prokofiev’s score resounds to the baton of Kazushi Ono conducting the Orchestre de Paris. “Masterful and very inspired direction by Kazushi Ono, who transmutes an Orchestre de Paris of stunning sonic beauty” (Le Monde); “The Fiery Angel at Aix-en-Provence Festival – a benchmark performance!” (Financial Times)