Il barbiere di Siviglia

For his first opera production, Dario Fo, the theatre director known for his brilliant wit, chose to stage Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for the Netherlands Opera. First mounted in 1987, it was a huge success and a live recording of ist revival in May 1992, the 200th anniversary of Rossini’s birth, has been made.

Fo has said that ‘Rossini is the musician of eating and love. He composes music rich in herbs and aromas, in which you find olives, tomatoes, fish, grapes, roses and rosemary, sheets and tablecloths, dry wine and the laughter of girls.’ His ‘Barbiere’ is a joyful carnival. During the overture he fills the stage with carnival revellers and immediately the commedia dell’arte origins of opera buffa are restored. Visual theatrics abound, never at the expense of the music, but highlighting it, engaging the eye as well as the ear. Fo addresses the heart more than the intellect and Rossini’s comedy comes up dazzling and vital.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

From the Drottningholm Court Theatre 1990: Set in the exotic seraglio of the Pasha Selim, the story revolves around the rescue of the lovely Constanze by her lover Belmonte – a tale of love, bravery and forgiveness. In this work, Mozart breaks new ground in introducing dramatically rounded characters with recognisably human feelings and weaknesses. The work influenced and changed the nature of opera throughout Europe.

This charming production from Drottningholm does full justice to Mozart’s score. Arnold Östman’s deliberate conducting combined with Carl Friedrich Oberle’s design demonstrates that this really is “an eternal masterpiece of music drama by a youthful, exuberant composer who suddenly found his individual voice and style in the field of opera with this particular work” (Opera now). Sung in German.

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 stellar moment for the music” (orf.at); “Timelessly beautiful” Süddeutsche Zeitung

Messiah

To mark the 250th anniversary of Handel´s death, Vienna´s Theater an der Wien realized a truly extraordinary project: the staging of Messiah, the composer´s most popular oratorio.Collaborating with an exquisite cast of singers, Claus Guth, one of today´s highly renowned stage directors, delivered “an emotionally and psychologically charged sequence of images … “The audience was thrilled” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

La finta giardiniera

From the Drottningholm Court Theatre 1988: “The new production of La finta giardiniera at Drottningholm fully justified producer Goran Järvefelt’s and conductor Östman’s faith in the opera. It proved not only an evening of rare enchantment, but an instructive argument for period performance of Mozart” (The Independent). Britt-Marie Aruhn sings the role of the Countess, who disguises herself as a gardener in order to find and forgive her lover, who has fled, thinking he has killed her in a quarrel. (Sung in Italian)

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)

Handel, Messiah

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Handel’s death, Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, famous for innovative and unconventional opera productions, realized a unique and truly extraordinary project: the staging of one of Handel’s most popular oratorios. For this production, the theater signed up one of the most renowned stage directors of our time, Claus Guth. The result: ‘An emotionally and psychologically charged sequence of images’, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote about Guth’s portrayal of a family dynasty, complete with guilt, betrayal, suicide and reconciliation.

Mitridate, Re di Ponto (Mozart 22)

Widely acclaimed as one of the absolute top productions of the Mozart 22 cycle in Salzburg, “Mitridate” has everything going for it. It is a wild story of erotic desire, jealousy, intrigue and betrayal; a dramatically focused staging that does full justice to the conflicted relations; a cast of singers who are all of the highest caliber; and a sensational musical ensemble led by a singularly powerful and charismatic conductor. Indeed, the real star of this production is conductor Marc Minkowski, who is famed for his recordings of Baroque music with his ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre – Grenoble, who also play on this recording. It is nothing less than phenomenal how Minkowski storms into the score and unleashes raw emotions encompassing everything from happiness and tenderness to madness and murderous jealousy. As he plumbs the depths of this music, he carries his singers on his orchestra’s richly nuanced fabric, whips them along impetuously, and envelops them in opulent sounds. In stage director Günter Krämer and his set designer Jürgen Bäckmann, Minkowski found partners on a par with his vibrant talent. Through cleverly placed mirrors, Krämer reveals what’s going on “behind the scenes” at the same time that we see what is occurring before our eyes – a breathtaking layering of the events that illuminates the characters’ psychology in a subtle manner. “Mitridate” is the first major opera seria of the 14-year-old Mozart, and its plot typical of this genre, which had its heyday in the mid to late 18th century. King Mitridate, blinded by his lust for power, believes his sons Farnace and Sifare, as well as his betrothed Aspasia, are betraying him. He wants to put them to the test by staging his own death. The two sons, who want to go their own ways, are thus forced to oppose their father, even as they long for his love. Mitridate is ready to sacrifice all three – but in the end, he is the only one who dies.