Praise for the Bayerische Staatsoper’s new Ballo in maschera: “A formidable vocal feast” (Bayerische Staatszeitung). Ten years after stepping down as music director of the Bavarian State Opera, a “grand Zubin Mehta“ (Bayerischer Rundfunk) returned to Munich in March 2016 to celebrate his 80th birthday conducting Verdi’s masterpiece for the first time in a staged production. His cast features some of today’s finest Verdi singers: soprano Anja Harteros, singing Amelia for the first time and “filling every note with Verdian intensity”, tenor Piotr Beczala as a “visually and vocally dashing Riccardo” and George Petean as an “exemplary” Renato (Neue Musikzeitung). In director Johannes Erath’s musically super-sensitive new production, this historically-based tale of illicit love, conspiracy and betrayal unfolds in a surrealistic, shadowy setting transformed by lighting and projections. Special praise was showered by the enthusiastic critics on Maestro Mehta, who “creates concentrated musical connections, miraculously guiding his orchestra and unsurpassable voices the way a thermal lifts a paraglider … Musically the performance was a dream” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). “A total triumph” (La Razón). “This production shows what a utopia opera can be” (Abendzeitung).
Gustavo Dudamel – Tango under the Stars
Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic accent the colors, rhythms, and passion of music by leading composers from Argentina in this invigorating evening at the Hollywood Bowl: Astor Piazzolla, the master of Nuevo Tango, who´s four tangos feature on stage the dance company Tango Buenos Aires, known worldwide as the most authentic and uncompromising representative of the tango, Alberto Ginastera, one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas and Piazzolla´s first teacher, and Lalo Schifrin, who, beside his concert music, is the composer of the famous scores of Mission: Impossible and Dirty Harry. His “Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra”, a world premiere recording, is composed for Ángel Romero, an iconic master of the classical guitar.
Romeo & Juliet
From grand spectacle to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson’s bravura interpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet like you’ve never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmanship, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet’s passionate retelling of the Bard’s greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo & Juliet is one of the Company’s most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of SF Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy – and Renaissance-era Verona – vividly to life. “Tomasson lifts Shakespeare’s complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublime” (Huffington Post).