Goethe’s Sturm und Drang drama is echoed in Massenet’s score by emotionally wide-ranging vocal parts written on a grand scale. The world star Juan Diego Flórez, who “iscurrently the best representative of his rare field” (NZZ), sings one of the most poetic and expressive tenor roles of the French repertoire. At his side, Anna Stéphany sang her critically acclaimed role début as Charlotte. Tatjana Gürbaca, known for her great narrative imagination, directed Zurich’s new production of Massenet’s drame lyrique: the one-room staging cleverly renders the social stranglehold of oppression. “This is how musical theater should be (..).” Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Lucia di Lammermoor
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is by no means a private love tragedy, but rather an eminently political story that demonstrates how a system of power deforms and ultimately corrodes human relationships. Donizetti provided his most haunting music for the rebellion and extinction of betrayed love; the revenge is bloody, the madness deadly. In this new production of the Opernhaus Zürich, soprano Irina Lungu sings the title role of Lucia. Piotr Beczala appears as her lover and Massimo Cavalletti as her brother. Tatjana Gürbaca, renowned for her precise direction, staged the visually powerful production under the musical direction of Speranza Scappucci.
Rigoletto
The live recording of Giuseppe Verdi‘s “Rigoletto” from Opernhaus Zürich presents the thrilling and dramaturgically highly precise production by stage director Tatjana Gürbaca: The chosen “Director of the Year 2013” by Opernwelt succeeded in producing a scenically reduced as well as expressively poetic production. Acclaimed by press and public alike, the scenic approach is matched by the musical expertise of Fabio Luisi: The general music director of the Opernhaus Zürich and one of the leading interpreters of Italy’s opera repertory conducts the Philharmonia Zurich and outstanding lead soloists George Petean as Rigoletto, Aleksandra Kurzak as Gilda and Saimir Pirgu as the Duke.