What opera have you been watching lately?

[Florestan]

Oops, I was thinking of Maria Stuarda when I said confrontation scene, but there are a couple confrontations in Anna Bolena, so...

What bothers me about that video though is why they make her wear a dress that simulates a mammogram device in squashing the goods.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Oops, I was thinking of Maria Stuarda when I said confrontation scene, but there are a couple confrontations in Anna Bolena, so...

Haha. I didn't realise. I have to confess I don't follow scenes with women that closely, I'm only watching it for the King.

What bothers me about that video though is why they make her wear a dress that simulates a mammogram device in squashing the goods.

I should imagine it's difficult to breathe normally and almost impossible to sing wearing something like that.

[Florestan]

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Dug this out to watch while I did the ironing. An oldie but a goodie and Ruggero's Le veau d'or gets sustained and justified applause.

[MAuer]

Il Trovatore from the Bavarian State Opera:



Conductor: Paolo Carignani
Director: Olivier Py
Cast: Manrico (Jonas Kaufmann), Anja Harteros (Leonora), Alexey Markov (Conte di Luna), Elina Manistina (Azucena), Kwangchul Youn (Ferrando), Golda Schultz (Ines), et. al.

The musical performance is great, with the Kaufmann-Harteros dream team in top form. Alexey Markov is a respectable di Luna, but won't erase memories of Milnes and Hvorostovsky. I like Elina Manistina's Azucena, even if she hardly looks old enough to be JK's (foster) mama. Olivier Py's staging drew mixed reactions from the audience during performances in 2013 -- about half of them loved it and the other half loathed it. I can't say I liked it. This opera's libretto is problematic as is, and tossing a bunch of menacing but unrelated visuals at it doesn't help matters and can even be distracting. Yes, there are references to burning people at the stake, but the Inquisition isn't involved this time. (It's Il Trovatore, M. Py, not Don Carlo.) And why is Leonora blind? Py's one really imaginative idea is having (the ghost of?) Azucena's mother lurking through much of the proceedings. She's really the driving force behind events, having set everything in motion by approaching the di Luna infant's cradle.

[Clayton]

Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Danielle de Niese (Rosina), Alessandro Corbelli (Dr Bartolo), Björn Bürger (Figaro), Taylor Stayton (Count Almaviva), Christophoros Stamboglis (Basilio) & Janis Kelly (Berta)
London Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Enrique Mazzola (conductor) & Annabel Arden (director)



This is good; the singing is good, the staging is good and in fact it's all good. The costumes, the acting, the comic touches, the sets, the blocking, the cast. In fact everything about it is good except for one aspect which I'd say is very good and that is typically for Glyndbourne productions the lighting and camera work. Maybe there is also areas across the board that touches very good at times and I think Rossini fans will enjoy this very much.

[Florestan]

Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Danielle de Niese (Rosina), Alessandro Corbelli (Dr Bartolo), Björn Bürger (Figaro), Taylor Stayton (Count Almaviva), Christophoros Stamboglis (Basilio) & Janis Kelly (Berta)
London Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Enrique Mazzola (conductor) & Annabel Arden (director)

This is good; the singing is good, the staging is good and in fact it's all good. The costumes, the acting, the comic touches, the sets, the blocking, the cast. In fact everything about it is good except for one aspect which I'd say is very good and that is typically for Glyndbourne productions the lighting and camera work. Maybe there is also areas across the board that touches very good at times and I think Rossini fans will enjoy this very much.

I watched it last month. Yes, a very good Barber of Seville production.

[Clayton]

Britten: Peter Grimes
on Aldeburgh beach. Filmed at the Aldeburgh Festival, June 2013
Alan Oke (Grimes), Giselle Allen (Ellen), David Kempster (Balstrode), Gaynor Keeble (Auntie), Robert Murray (Bob Boles), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Mrs Sedley), Charles Rice (Ned Keene); Britten–Pears Orchestra, Steuart Bedford, Tim Albery (dir.)



A hybrid of a staged production and a film that has more cameras than a hop on and hop off sightseeing bus at Tower Bridge. It has some sound balance issues between the perfect studio orchestra and the live voice recordings that in parts seem to be a little low HD but those are soon overseen (or overheard?). It is exciting and stunning in places and in others a bit North Sea-grey and woolly. Actually a whole lot of textures included in the composition: pebbly, wavey, salty, rummy, breezy, woody, oily and leathery to name a few. If it sounds like I am describing a painting or a beverage rather than an opera production; similar confusions with emotions are experienced while watching this film.
I think that more than just Britten fans will be impressed by this.

[Clayton]

Handel: Saul
The Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Ivor Bolton (conductor) & Barrie Kosky (director)
Christopher Purves (Saul), Iestyn Davies (David), Lucy Crowe (Merab), Sophie Bevan (Michal), Paul Appleby (Jonathan), Benjamin Hulett (High Priest) & John Graham-Hall (Witch of Endor)
Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, October 2015.



3 good reasons to watch: 1. It's Handel's Saul 2. It's Christopher Purves 3. It's Handel's Saul.
Act 3 scenes 2 and 3 are a bit nuts but Purves could balance a whole jar of KP (other nuts are available) on his head and still be powerful.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Britten: Peter Grimes
on Aldeburgh beach. Filmed at the Aldeburgh Festival, June 2013
Alan Oke (Grimes), Giselle Allen (Ellen), David Kempster (Balstrode), Gaynor Keeble (Auntie), Robert Murray (Bob Boles), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Mrs Sedley), Charles Rice (Ned Keene); Britten–Pears Orchestra, Steuart Bedford, Tim Albery (dir.)



A hybrid of a staged production and a film that has more cameras than a hop on and hop off sightseeing bus at Tower Bridge. It has some sound balance issues between the perfect studio orchestra and the live voice recordings that in parts seem to be a little low HD but those are soon overseen (or overheard?). It is exciting and stunning in places and in others a bit North Sea-grey and woolly. Actually a whole lot of textures included in the composition: pebbly, wavey, salty, rummy, breezy, woody, oily and leathery to name a few. If it sounds like I am describing a painting or a beverage rather than an opera production; similar confusions with emotions are experienced while watching this film.
I think that more than just Britten fans will be impressed by this.

I keep meaning to get this.

One of my biggest regrets is not seeing this live. The wife of one of the singers was in the audience and she wrote about her experience. She said everyone just sat on the shingle beach and it was cold and uncomfortable; they could hardly hear the singers over the sound of the waves and the wind but she said it was one of the most profound experiences of her life.

[Clayton]

Purcell: The Fairy Queen, Z629
The Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
William Christie (conductor) & Jonathan Kent (stage director)
Lucy Crowe (Juno/Mystery), Claire Debono (Spring/First Fairy), Anna Devin (Second Fairy), Helen-Jane Howells (Eve), Carolyn Sampson (Night), Robert Burt (Mopsa), Sean Clayton (Summer), Ed Lyon (Secrecy/Adam), Adrian Ward (Autumn), Lukas Kargl (Phœbus), Desmond Barrit (Drunken Poet), Andrew Foster-Williams (Winter/Sleep/Coridon/Hymen) Actors: Sally Dexter (Titania), Joseph Millson (Oberon), Desmond Barrit (Bottom), Susannah Wise (Hermia), Oliver Le Suer (Demetrius), Oliver Kieran Jones (Lysander), Jotham Annan (Puck)
Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, East Sussex, on 17th & 19th July 2009.



It is referred to as a semi-opera but here (Glyndebourne's interpretation) the spoken parts are about eighty minutes of two hundred and thirty so a "two-thirds" opera might be better. Further, as the music is so outstanding let's just call it an opera.
I'll struggle to pick out the strongest parts of this production; almost every aspect is between very good and brilliant and there are no weak links. It is funny, beautiful, exciting, enchanting and every minute has my attention.
Perhaps a special mention is needed for Christie's working of the score and Sampson for her performance of "The plaint" (and other parts).
This is a dvd that sits in my top list, ranked amongst the favourites.

[Nemorino]

After watching the Munich Otello, I made a little Jonas marathon:



I think this is pretty much considered the reference recording on video for this opera. The singing is very good, but the production bored me. It was my first time seeing this opera, although I’ve listened to it and enjoyed it musically. The production is a little bit minimalistic, and captures the broodiness of the title character, but maybe minimalism is not the right match for this opera. It kind of draws attention to how little is really going on.

The story is about internal battles more than external action. So maybe the best way to stage it would be “busier” to externalize visually the internal drama. There definitely should be more contrasts. For example, this production is universally glum, but maybe the stage setting should be warm and lavish and inviting, and then - through lighting effects – change into a dark moody interior when Werther starts soliloquizing. B- (production)



On the other hand, this production is almost universally loathed (it seems), but I really enjoyed it. It is, I think, a mostly successful version of the “house style” of the Bayerische Staatsoper. It features unobtrusive, mostly contemporary designs, and seeks to present more than a literal interpretration of the plot. Instead, the productions examine the text and ask the audience to think about the concepts and themes of the text rather than the story.

When in Act 1, Lohengrin and Telramund have a sword fight, but in Act 2 Telramund is shown contemplating suicide by putting a pistol in his mouth. We accept the anachronism because the stage is a stage, a metaphorical world, and we appreciate the visual short-hand which concisely illustrates the director’s concept.

Not every directorial choice works in this production. But the main concept of building a house, and focusing on Lohengrin and Elsa's marriage as a concept of trust and security was very interesting. And generally there was enough stage business to keep one interested and awake for the brilliant musical performances.

This was (somehow) only my second Lohengrin although it is a favorite of mine - and my "gateway" Wagner – so maybe that colored my opinion favorably. But I was looking for a production that dug a little deeper than a straight traditional, but also wasn’t super regie and confusing, and this production delivers that. A- (production)

[Florestan]

^ I watched that Lohengrin. I found it to be a wonderful production.

[Clayton]

...generally there was enough stage business to keep one interested and awake...

I think I want a little more than that from a production.

Though your review does have me interested. I haven't seen a JK and AH production yet.

[MAuer]

Speaking of Jonas Kaufmann, I found this complete performance of the Bavarian State Opera's 2017 production of Andrea Chénier on YouTube:



I've usually had mixed reactions (or even disliked) recent Staatsoper productions, such as the Py Il Trovatore, but really enjoyed Philipp Stölzl's staging here. He left events in period, and he and Heike Vollmer designed a multi-level set that looks as though one is viewing the interior of a building, the facade of which has been removed. At the Comtesse de Coigny's home, we literally see "upstairs" and "downstairs." Up close, the two safety wires spanning the upper floors are visible, though I suspect that wasn't the case in the theater. Stölzl does a great job of managing events occurring simultaneously in different parts of the "buildings." The cast is terrific, especially the three protagonists (Kaufmann, Harteros, and Luca Salsi as Carlo Gérard). Doris Soffel's Comtesse is a petty tyrant, unlike Rosalind Plowright in the ROH production, who is more clueless than deliberately nasty. Stölzl has given more prominence to the character of the sans-culotte Mathieu, who is made up to resemble the Joker, and appears right at the beginning of things wordlessly singing fragments of the Marseillaise. Perhaps he's intended to represent the other face of the Revolution, when despotism had taken hold. On the whole, this is a first-rate performance.