Internationally acclaimed Chinese film-maker Chen Kaige (Palme d’Or 1993 for Farewell My Concubine) delivers an opulent staging of the fairy-tale story of Chinese Princess Turandot, who will only marry a prince capable of solving her riddles. With sumptuous costumes and palace sets designed in China, Kaige’s production adds a compellingly authentic accent to Puccini’s exotic orchestral palette. Zubin Mehta and his brilliant Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana offer “genuine fireworks of sound” (Wiener Zeitung), Maria Guleghina triumphs as Turandot.
Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Bregenz’s Tales of Hoffmann is different from everything you saw before. The New York Times praised the “thoughtfulness and creativity” of Stefan Herheim’s new production, devised by the director as a search for one’s own self in a sparkling drag show. A “shining-toned” (NYT) Hoffmann is embodied by tenor Daniel Johansson in the title role. He is supported by a fantastic cast: “Rachel Frenkel is positively ideal as Muse and Niklausse” (Kurier), Kerstin Avemo as Olympia is “endowed with brilliant, cheekily extemporized coloraturas” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), Michael Volle sings the parts of Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr. Miracle and Dapertutto, “the work’s four villains, with warmth and intensity” (NYT) and Mandy Fredrich is a “finelyphrased Antonia” (Kurier).
Don Quixote
In this production from Teatro alla Scala, the ballet Don Quixote is shown in the legendary choreography of Rudolf Nureyev. Nureyev’s intention by fusing together the worlds of commedia dell’arte and classical ballet to create a visual feast for ist audience, has made Don Quixote one of the most-loved ballets world-wide. With ist sparkling energy and the bright colours of the staging by Raffaele Del Savio and Anna Anni, Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote transports audiences with freshness, joy and choreographic splendour to a enchanting Spain, with gypsy dances, fandangos, matadors, windmills and the airy candour of the Garden of the Dryads.