Orlando is the first work commissioned from a woman for the Vienna State Opera. Olga Neuwirth, for a long time one of the great composers of the present, succeeds with this opera in creating a captivating arc across many musical genres. An exciting, socially critical production by Polly Graham who puts a fantastically singing and playing Kate Lindsey in the center of the action. Opernwelt made it “First performance of the year” in its annual hit list. “The premiere of the season” Die Zeit
Bregenz Festival 2019: Don Quichotte
French director Mariame Clément takes a clever and exhilarating look at modern heroism in Jules Massenet’s operatic rarity Don Quichotte: “a striking interpretation” (Neue Musikzeitung). But this opera is also a musical discovery, not least because of the outstanding cast starring Gábor Bretz as Don Quichotte, David Stout as Sancho and Anna Goryachova as Dulcinée. In the pit, Daniel Cohen leads the Wiener Symphoniker to a dynamic- differentiated performance. A musically as visually absolutely rewarding evening!
Salzburg Festival 2019: Simon Boccanegra
Giuseppe Verdi’s emotional political thriller, brilliantly captured in Andreas Kriegenburg’s puristic staging, becomes a musical feast in Salzburg with a high-class ensemble including René Pape, Luca Salsi, Marina Rebeka and Charles Castronovo. Conductor Valery Gergiev gives a “musically differentiated and overall convincing interpretation of Verdi’s sonically immensely subtle score” (Die Zeit). The Wiener Philharmoniker and the choir of the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor perform superbly.
Salzburg Festival 2019: Idomeneo
After their successfull collaboration for La clemenza di Tito the drm team Peter Sellars and Teodor Currentzis again joined forces to transpose Mozart’s extraordinary opera Idomeneo into the present world. The fabulous Freiburger Barockorchester shines with elegance and precision, and MusicAeterna Choir can rightfully be called “the best choir in the world” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). Chinese lyric soprano and rising star Ying Fang gives her highly acclaimed Festival debut in the role of Ilya, Nicole Chevalier is brilliant as furious Elettra.
Salzburg Festival 2019: Alcina
At Salzburg Festival, Handel‘s Alcina is a true celebration of singing: Cecilia Bartoli shines in the title role of the sorceress Alcina as does Philippe Jaroussky in the role of Ruggiero.
At their side, Sandrine Piau as Morgana and Kristina Hammerström as Bradamante are “ravishing“ (Süddeutsche Zeitung). Director Damiano Michielietto stages his first baroque opera and creates a convincing mixture of psychological interpretation and associative imagery. Unlike the libretto, which is based on Ludovico Ariosto‘s epic “Orlando furioso”, the Venetian Michieletto moves the setting of Alcina’s magic island to a mysterious hotel with a mirror wall. The look in the mirror of an aging woman, who has an oppressive fear of no longer being desired, is the obvious core of the production. Gianluca Capuano conducts the Musiciens du Prince – Monaco prudently and with a slim orchestral sound, the Bachchor Salzburg is excellently rehearsed. Capuano “perfectly combines drama with precision and poetry“ raves Süddeutsche Zeitung. “An extraordinary show“ (The New York Times)
Halka
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).
Der Messias
Known as a creator of astonishing images, stage director and visual artist Robert Wilson delivers a magnificent production of Mozart’s adaption of Handel’s Messias. Mozart was commissioned by Gottfried van Swieten to modernise the score fifty years after Handel’s popular composition (1742), mainly by arranging the wind parts and partially re-composing them. With Marc Minkowski a conductor has been engaged who understands perfectly how to combine baroque style with the tonal possibilities of an orchestra of the classical period like the Musiciens du Louvre. The excellent soloist quartet with Elena Tsallagova, Wiebke Lehmkuhl, Richard Croft and José Coca Loza merges perfectly into
Wilson’s enormous flood of images. “A complete artwork”, praises Opernglas. “stunningly beautiful” (BR Klassik); “A magic moment for the music” (orf.at)
Nerone
The focus on rarities has been a trademark of the Bregenz Festival since the opening of the Festspielhaus in the 1980s. It is therefore not surprising that Roman emperor Nero, the colourful character in Arrigo Boito’s lavish opera, makes his appearance in the latest edition of the Festival: The spectacular self-staging of his power contrasts with pangs of remorse he feels after murdering his mother. Begun in 1862, Boito strived to complete the piece for several decades. Only after his death did Arturo Toscanini create a performable version, whose world premiere took place at La Scala in 1924. Olivier Tambosi’s interpretation of this rarely performed opera with love confusions and sectarian characters is radical and opulent. The Wiener Symphoniker perform under the baton of Dirk Kaftan and “the ensemble of singers leaves nothing to be desired and plunges boldly into the sound waves” as the Deutschlandfunk wrote.
Bregenz Festival 2018: The Hunting Gun
A world premiere at Bregenz Festival: Thomas Larcher has adapted Yasushi Inoue’s best-seller The Hunting Gun for his first opera, with a libretto by Austrian Book Prize winner Friederike Gösweiner. It tells the story of three women, who speak in three letters addressed to the same man, a hunter – his wife, his lover and his lover’s daughter. As the women react to the revelation of illicit love, the hunter’s life is laid bare. Award-winning Austrian actor and film director Karl Markovics gives his debut as stage director for an opera.
Salzburg Festival 2018: L’incoronazione di Poppea
In his first opera staging, Jan Lauwers shines new light on Monteverdi’s Incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival. His ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ captures the dizzying power games between Poppea and Nerone, superbly performed by Sonya Yoncheva and Kate Lindsey, while striking imagery is created by the SEAD Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance and the BODHI PROJECT. Conductor William Christie proves once again that he is “most delicate of all experts of early music” (Merkur). “The love duet between Poppea and Nero is one of the most tender in opera history and of infinite magic.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)