Boulez conducts Schoenberg, Stravinsky & De Falla – Triple Bill

In the second half of his long and extraordinary career Pierre Boulez emerged as one of the most compelling exponents of 20th-century music – never more penetrating than when directing the virtuoso players of his own Ensemble Intercontemporain. In this inspired triple-bill from the Theater an der Wien, recorded shortly before the master’s 80th birthday, soprano Anja Silja performs a fully-staged version of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire – paired by Boulez with near-contemporary masterworks by Stravinsky and De Falla. Viennese modernism meets the world of the Ballets Russes, in the hands of a conductor who approached all music through the lens of his own dazzling creativity.

Capriccio

When the curtain fell at the Paris Opera premiere of Capriccio, the audiences rose to long and frenetic ovations. They unanimously applauded each singer in a cast of stars, but Renée Fleming was undoubtedly the leading light of this remarkable production. Every one of the performers in this production is outstanding and can be regarded as the best possible singer for the role – Opera fans from all over the world came to Paris to see this production.

This Capriccio also served as a role debut for American star soprano Renée Fleming who took on the role of the Gräfin. The critics celebrated her performance as “ideal” in all aspects: musically, dramatically and above all

vocally and she was cheered frenetically by the audience at the Palais Garnier of the Opéra National de Paris.

Dietrich Henschel had critics raving about his sensitively sung Graf, Anne Sofie von Otter won audiences over with her highly ironic interpretation of the singer Clairon. Rainer Trost presented himself both as a true actor and as a versatile tenor in the role of the composer Flamand, Gerald Finley gave a very convincing poet Olivier and Franz Hawlata was described by a critic as “a glowing” La Roche. Altogether a true ensemble of stars!

Teseo

From the Schlosstheater Neues Palais Potsdam 2004 Handel’s five act opera Teseo was premièred in 1713 at the Queen’s Theatre in London. After flopping with his previous work Il pastor fido Handel tied up to his big success Rinaldo and again created an opera with a heroic subject, sophisticated stagecraft and a big orchestra. In 1947 the opera was rediscovered and staged for the first time after Handel’s death at the Göttinger Händelfestpiele, followed by a production at the Goethe-Theater Bad Lauchstädt and few others. Finally, in 2004 Handel’s jewel of operatic work was performed at the beautiful setting of the Schlosstheater Potsdam under the direction of Axel Köhler. (Sung in Italian)