What opera have you been watching lately?

[Festat]

I was watching Ginastera's Bomarzo on The Opera Platformbecause one has to get out of Baroque occasionally and this happened during the overture:



I've been wondering what the hell was going on for hours now. I have never seen so many members of an orchestra look that SHOOK.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Also having a break from baroque with Frank Martin's Le Vin herbé on Opera Platform. Planning on Bomarzo next.

[Amfortas]

I've been wondering what the hell was going on for hours now. I have never seen so many members of an orchestra look that SHOOK.

Obviously, someone passed wind. Three guesses who.

[Sonata]

Watched this over the weekend

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

To complement my listening to the Italian version

[Soave_Fanciulla]

To complement my listening to the Italian version

Erwin in a killer frock amirite?

[Florestan]

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Erwin in a killer frock amirite?

Indeed. Revival this year and hoping to get tickets for the dress rehearsal. http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/le...stefan-herheim

[Florestan]

Obviously, someone passed wind. Three guesses who.

The guy with the big sheepish grin in the upper left of center (the one with the fingers on his left hand on the side of his face). Another giveaway is the bald looking guy to his left (just above the center) has his face forward but his eyes way over to the side like he is trying to see who the culprit is.

[Festat]

IMMA GRAB MY VIOLA AND GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I watched the Rosenkavalier from the Met with Fleming, Garanča, Morley and Groissböck. I thought it was a good production from Carsen with some interesting differences from the usual take, particularly in Act 3, and the cast was exemplary.

That said, it has confirmed what I have been suspecting for a while - I don't really like Strauss all that much (except Salome). The only bits I really enjoy 100% in this opera are the presentation of the rose and the final trio. This is the fifth Rosenkavalier I have watched so I can say I've really given it a good go, but I am done now.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I watched the Rosenkavalier from the Met with Fleming, Garanča, Morley and Groissböck. I thought it was a good production from Carsen with some interesting differences from the usual take, particularly in Act 3, and the cast was exemplary.

That said, it has confirmed what I have been suspecting for a while - I don't really like Strauss all that much (except Salome). The only bits I really enjoy 100% in this opera are the presentation of the rose and the final trio. This is the fifth Rosenkavalier I have watched so I can say I've really given it a good go, but I am done now.

Der Rosenkavalier has never been my favorite Strauss. I don't particularly like the fact that it never really finds its way in terms of either being a comedy or a serious opera. Of course the two scenes you mentioned are simply gorgeous but I find myself waiting for them and bored with almost everything else. My favorite Strauss is Die Frau Ohne Schatten, followed by Salome and Elektra.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Der Rosenkavalier has never been my favorite Strauss. I don't particularly like the fact that it never really finds its way in terms of either being a comedy or a serious opera. Of course the two scenes you mentioned are simply gorgeous but I find myself waiting for them and bored with almost everything else. My favorite Strauss is Die Frau Ohne Schatten, followed by Salome and Elektra.

Yes, I have also tried and failed to like much of Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Arabella, Capriccio, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos and Feuersnot. I'm giving up.

[Festat]

I'm not big on Strauss either, but Elektra makes me literally shiver. Last New Year all I had to listen to during the night (alone on the beach, on a hammock) was the Sinopoli-Wiener Philharmoniker Elektra and it spooked the hell out of me.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Yes, I have also tried and failed to like much of Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Arabella, Capriccio, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos and Feuersnot. I'm giving up.

Maybe one of the reasons is that you are so into Baroque (I mean no offense, I love it too), and Strauss' pre-modernist scores are a bit on the opposite side of the spectrum. Since I'm a big lover of modern and contemporary opera, I enjoy listening to the embryo of the new tendencies that one finds in especially Elektra, and also Salome.

I don't mean to be condescending either. I respect every opera lovers' preferences and I wouldn't ever presume that my own are superior in any way; they are just my taste. People like what they like and it is perfectly fine to prefer some periods over others. I'm just trying to get to the root of why you dislike Strauss. My guess maybe is wrong; if it is, please correct me (you do like Written on Skin and Salome so I'm a bit confused).