At Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, maestro Fabio Luisi gives “a superb performance” (Operawire) of Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), the forerunner of grand Wagnerian dramas. His Italian Richard Wagner debut is infused with energy and drive, under his direction the orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, together with Coro Ars Lyrica, sparkle “in what was a five star performance” (Operawire). Thomas Gazheli stars as the Dutchman, who has been condemned to endlessly wander the seas until the day of Judgement. Marjorie Owens shines as his saviour Senta.
Tutto Verdi – The Operas Vol. 1, 1839 – 1846
Parsifal
In the magnificent Teatro Massimo in Palermo, British stage director Graham Vick and Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber bring Richard Wagner’s last opera Parsifal in a suspenseful interpretation to the stage. In this Parsifal, the myth of the Holy Grail is woven into real-life events, a parable of the suffering of those who flee war and conflict zones to freedom. Omer Meir Wellber makes a highly successful debut as music director in Palermo where Richard Wagner composed this monumental opera during a long stay. The singers are excellently cast, above all a passionately singing Julian Hubbard as Parsifal and Tomas Tomasson embodies Amfortas superbly as a glorified prophet figure. “Graham Vick strips Parsifal of mysticism to deliver a powerful indictment of divisive ideologies” (Musical America); “Julian Hubbard as Parsifal is a sensation” (neue musikzeitung)
Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)
At Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, maestro Fabio Luisi gives “a superb performance” (Operawire) of Der Fliegende Holländer, the forerunner of grand Wagnerian dramas. His Italian Richard Wagner debut is infused with energy and drive, under his direction the orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, together with Coro Ars Lyrica, sparkle “in
what was a five star performance” (Operawire). Thomas Gazheli stars as the Dutchman, who has been condemned to endlessly wander the seas until the day of Judgement. Marjorie Owens shines as his saviour Senta.
La campana sommersa
Best-known for his brilliantly evocative and rightly popular trilogy of tone-poems on Rome, Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was also a noted composer of operas. His gloriously lyrical and opulently orchestrated adaptation of Gerhart Hauptmann’s fin de siècle allegory Die versunkene Glocke (The Sunken Bell), the opera La campana sommersa is Respighi’s operatic masterpiece – a magical, if ultimately tragic, tale of the love between a mortal human and an immortal fairy.