The world-famous singer, conductor and the holder of 14 Grammy Awards Plácido Domingo came up, as conductor and artistic director, with a unique Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre Prague, where the opera had it´s premiere 230 years ago. The production boasts an original classic scene, traditional costumes, designed by Theodor Pištek, the Oscar winner „Best costume design“ for the Amadeus movie and authentic stage direction matching the performance features from 1787. The cast features extraordinary Operalia competition winners with top Czech singers chosen bei Plácido Domingo.
Don Pasquale
After four decades, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale returns to the renowned Vienna State Opera in a cheeky, highly entertaining new staging by Irina Brook. As if to make up for the neglect from which the work has been suffering, Brook’s “operacartoon” (Die Presse) with its opulent, colourful setting features a splendid cast, led by star-tenor Juan Diego Flórez. Flórez, “without a doubt the leading Bel Canto tenor of today, places his legendary, sheer impeccable high notes in all their splendour” (Die Presse)
Rigoletto
France’s most tradition-steeped theatre festival, the Chorégies d’Orange, presents Verdi’s Rigoletto on the open air stage of the city’s ancient Roman theatre – Europe’s best preserved amphitheatre – in a staging by Charles Roubaud. Sung by Leo Nucci, the title role of the tragic hero Rigoletto, hunchbacked court jester of the Duke of Mantua, appears “more touching than ever”. He and Nadine Sierra as his daughter Gilda form a “perfect symbiosis which inevitably leaves you speechless – an exceptional evening full of adrenaline” (ForumOpéra).
Don Giovanni
The opening of the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 24 September 1961 is always seen in the context of partition of Germany, cemented six weeks earlier, and the construction of the Berlin Wall. Although already in the early stages of a terminal illness, Ferenc Fricsay conducted the inaugural performance. Fricsay died in 1963. Staged by Carl Ebert, the performance featured a cast of singers unparalleled to this day, including Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau in the title role, Elisabeth Grümmer and Pilar Lorengar as Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, Donald Grobe, who stepped in at short notice and built an international career on his performance, Walter Berry as Leporello and Erika Köth as Zerlina. The recording of the dress rehearsal on 23 September 1961 was broadcast on German national television simultaneously with the premiere on 24 September.
Falstaff
The stout Sir John Falstaff has financial problems. To refill his empty pockets he strives for amorous affairs with Alice and Meg, the wives of the rich citizens Ford and Page. The two ladies might even have consented, had they not received identical love letters. So they decide to play a trick on him. At the same time Alice exposes her husband’s chronic jealousy. In the end, Nannetta, the Fords’ daughter, is allowed to marry for love against her father’s plans.
Finally, a nightly masquerade in Windsor park brings out the moral of the story: „Tutto nel mondo è burla – All the world’s a burlesque“.
Towards the end of his operatic work, Giuseppe Verdi succeeds in a brilliant comedy of characters with philosophical wisdom and sparkling musical wit. The libretto of Arrigo Boito is based upon William Shakespeare’s comedy „The Merry Wives of Windsor“ and scenes from „Henry IV“.
Bernd Weikl’s witty production shows the simultaneity of tragedy and comedy. The opera’s motto „All the world’s a burlesque“ is also reflected in the stage design of Thomas Doerfler and in the costumes of Julia Holewik. Both set and clothes are inspired by Shakespeare’s theatre, the Italian tradition of „Commedia dell’ arte“ and the world of circus.”
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Mozart composed his Singspiel “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” in 1781, encouraged by no one less than the Austrian emperor Joseph II in order to emphasise the importance of this “national” form of music theatre as opposed to the Italian opera. It was a great success during Mozart’s lifetime and has until today lost none of its magic. In 1976 the Deutsche Oper Berlin presented a new stage direction, after Gustav Rudolf Sellner’s had been played there for many years, by the renowned Günther Rennert. Besides widely known soloists like Horst Laubenthal and Zdzislawa Donat, or the actor Hans Peter Hallwachs as Selim, the star of the evening was undoubtedly the Finnish multi-talented bass Martti Talvela. The premiere in December 1976 was recorded live and broadcast on ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen).
Don Carlos
In 1964 Deutsche Oper Berlin still had no General Music Director. But Artistic Director Gustav Rudolf Sellner made a virtue out a necessity and – in addition to the permanent conductor Heinrich Hollreiser and the regular guest conductor Karl Böhm – brought in further conductors from home and abroad for individual productions. For “Don Carlos” he invited Wolfgang Sawallisch, who since 1957 had been making a name for himself at the Bayreuth Festival, above all with “Tannhäuser” and the “Flying Dutchman” and since 1960 had been acting General Music Director in Hamburg. He had at his disposal an ensemble of outstanding soloists. In addition to Josef Greindl and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, they included James King in the title role, Pilar Lorengar, Martti Talvela, Patricia Johnson and Lisa Otto as the Voice from Heaven. Sung in German.
Madama Butterfly
In 2012, the Hamburg State Opera presented a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece Madama Butterfly. The internationally renowned director Vincent Boussard stages the opera, collaborating with star fashion designer Christian Lacroix and set designer Vincent Lemaire. Together they succeed in bringing to life the moving tragedy of the young Japanese geisha Cio-Cio San in a stylish and sophisticated production that focuses on the title role, impressively portrayed by Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou. Subtly conducted by Alexander Joel, the dynamic cast includes Romanian Tenor Teodor Ilincai as Cio-Cio San’s love interest, B.F. Pinkerton and Estonian baritone Lauri Vasar as Consul Sharpless. Madama Butterfly contains an enormous wealth of psychological poetry. Through his music, Giacomo Puccini lends his characters extremely rich and complex profiles and created an extraordinary explosive force.
Otello
When Renata Tebaldi sang “Desdemona” in Verdi’s Otello at London’s Covent Garden in 1950, it was her first operatic performance outside Italy. It was also the role in which she made her last appearance on the opera stage, at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 1973. Between these two performances she made close to a hundred stage appearances as Desdemona, not to mention two studio recordings with Alberto Erede and Herbert von Karajan. It was Arturo Toscanini who coined for her the moniker “voce d’angelo” (voice of an angel). She made her highly acclaimed debut as “Desdemona” at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955 and from that moment on made New York the focus of her life. From there she made regular and extended concert tours all over the world, but opera appearances in Europe – particularly northern Europe – were extremely rare. Tebaldi visited Berlin on just two occasions. She gave a rapturously received concert in the Deutschlandhalle in May 1961. On that occasion she promised her fans she would return, and the Berliner Morgenpost even heard it “rumoured” she would appear in her classic role as Desdemona at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, which was about to reopen. This Otello production was planned as a media event from the outset, with cameras in attendance even at the preliminary rehearsal stage. Whereas the first performance took place before an invited audience on 30 August 1962 and was given over entirely to a TV recording by Sender Freies Berlin (SFB), the second performance was open to the opera-going public and was broadcast by SFB-Hörfunkprogramm.