An overwhelming story of passion, violence and betrayal, this production of Fedora is a true cinematographic thriller. Director Mario Martone draws on paintings by Magritte for the staging and atmosphere, supported by the noir-inspired stage design by Margherita Palli. Marco Armiliato, giving his Scala debut, “perfectly captures the decadent nature of the opera, drawing on a rich and nuanced colour palette” (Teatro). Soprano superstar Sonya Yoncheva “tackles the title role with all the charisma of the prima donna, with a magnetic
Faust
“Radical and ingenious, unsettling and beguiling” (Kurier), this production of Gounod’s Faust at the Vienna State Opera ticks all the boxes. Legendary director Frank Castorf moves the action to a tumultuous 1960s Paris and draws the audience in with an abundance of elements that seamlessly blend into one: “Everything has its place. There is not a single superfluous video, no detail without meaning, and each of the characters can tell their own story” (News). The action on stage is expertly supported in the pit as Bertrand de Billy “makes the score shine and resonate magnificently” (Tiroler Tageszeitung). The cast is star-studded, lead by Juan Diego Flórez giving his debut as Faust. He sings the role with “impeccable French diction, allowing his warm tenor to shimmer” (Kronenzeitung). Nicole Car’s Marguerite was “beautiful, silvery-toned” (Seen And Heard) and the young bass Adam Palka is convincing as Mephisto, “alternating between devilish, camp, erotic and sadistic” (APA).
Jan Lisiecki plays Chopin
As part of his mini tour of Italy in March 2023, Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki presents an innovative programme from Naples’s intimate Teatro Sannazaro. This is a Chopin recital with a difference, in which Lisiecki interweaves the Etudes Op. 10 with a selection of Nocturnes, contrasting the virtuosic demands of the former with the lyricism of the latter to show the many different facets of the Polish composer.
Macbeth
Verdi revelled in the power and fantasy of Shakespeare, and when he recreated Macbeth as an Italian opera he practically redefined the genre – demanding a Lady Macbeth who was a sublime actor as well as an outstanding singer. He’d have been thrilled with this production from Zurich Opera House, with its boldly imaginative staging by David Pountney and urgent, nuanced conducting from Franz Welser-Möst. But above all, he’d have been gripped by the young Sardinian soprano Paoletta Marrocu as Lady Macbeth, and an interpretation that Gramophone magazine compared to Maria Callas: “from first to last, a truly stunning performance”.
Alceste
Gluck’s Alceste was the opera that launched a revolution. Urgent, direct and pulsing with emotion, it stripped away baroque conventions to create a new kind of opera, and more than two centuries later, this tragedy of a woman prepared to give her life for love still strikes straight to the heart. Anne Sofie von Otter is formidable in the title role of this powerful production, created by director Robert Wilson in 2000 for the Theatre du Châtelet in Paris. Paul Groves and Ludovic Tézier also star, with John Eliot Gardiner conducting the period instrument forcers of the English Baroque Soloists.
Orphée et Eurydice
The power of music, the pain of loss, and the price we pay for love: the characters in Orphée et Eurydice might be ancient, but the themes of the drama are eternal – and in his most celebrated opera, Gluck express them with a directness and an inspiration that feels as fresh today as it did in the composer’s own era. In Paris, in 2000, director Robert Wilson and conductor John Eliot Gardiner revived Berlioz’s adaptation of this groundbreaking score, coupling a pared-back minimalist setting with all the colours of the period-instrument Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Magdalena Kožená brings all her youthful brilliance to the role of Orpheus.
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.
La forza del destino
A raging torrent of love, vengeance and redemption set against the backdrop of a world in flames, Verdi’s La forza del destino is one of the landmarks of 19th-century opera. In the right hands, it can be one of opera’s most cathartic experiences, and in 1998 few conductors in the world generated more electricity than Valery Gergiev at the helm of his rejuvenated Mariinsky forces, conducing the fascinating 1862 version of the score, as premiered in St Petersburg. With Galina Gorchakova as Leonora and supercharged emotional commitment from the whole cast, Elijah Moshinsky’s classic staging has rarely felt more vital – or more thrilling.
Lulu
Alban Berg’s final opera Lulu is like nothing else in 20th-century theatre. A psychodrama of a woman and her sexuality in a corrupt (and corrupting) world, it’s set to music of shattering power and iridescent sensuality; an opera to disturb and seduce in equal measure. This 2001 staging from Zurich Opera made a powerful impression on critics at the time, with soprano Laura Aikin compelling as the morally ambivalent heroine, and Franz Welser-Möst drawing lustrous playing from the orchestra. Director Sven-Erich Bechtolf, meanwhile, calls on pop culture and Weimar cabaret to explore the dark underbelly of an opera that never gets any less compelling.
Turandot
Director David Livermore presents a stunning new production of Turandot at Teatro alla Scala, blending modern Asian influences with spiritual and fantastical elements. Soprano Anna Netrebko delivers an “imperial” performance, skillfully handling the demanding role. Yusif Eyvazov as Calaf shows “flawless technique,” while Raul Gimene’s Altoum and Vitalij Kowaljow’s Timur receive praise. Rosa Feola’s portrayal of Liù is emotional, culminating in a poignant death scene illuminated by candles. The opera pauses for a moment of silence for Puccini before resuming with the triumphant finale.