What opera have you been watching lately?

[Clayton]

Courtesy of Medici

Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, East Sussex, on 14th & 17th August 2005.
Sarah Connolly (Cesare), Danielle de Niese (Cleopatra), Angelika Kirchschlager (Sesto), Christophe Dumaux (Tolomeo), Patricia Bardon (Cornelia), Christopher Maltman (Achilla) & Rachid Ben Abdeslam (Nireno)
The Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,
William Christie (conductor)
David McVicar (stage director)



absolutely fab-u-lous

[JohnGerald]

AHA!! Another operaholic in the works, I see ...

[Floria]

This past weekend my husband and I watched 2 operas.

Giordano - Andrea Chénier
Domingo, Benackova, Cappucclli, Santini

It was fabulous.



Rusalka-

Bayerische Staatsoper, Kristine Opolais

Opolais, Krasteva, Baechle; Vogt, Groissböck; Chorus and Orchestra of Bayerische Staatsoper, conductor Hanus. Production: Kušej.


This is truly a wacky Euro production. I don't know where to start but let's go with the opening scene. The water goblin lights a cigarette and pops open a can of beer. Jezibaba is drinking wine from the bottle. I knew I was in for something off the wall.

The water goblin was a very nasty character. This character made Scarpia look like the guy next door.

This scene was just too much !
The guests at the party were all in wedding gowns with veils, including guys. Each one was holding a small deer and started eating the entrails. They had blood all over their faces and wedding gowns.

When Rusalka – Opolais got into the aquarium my husband and just looked at each other and laughed.

We both had a difficult time focusing on the music with all the blood and guts and wondering what next. From what I did hear, the vocals were very good. I have the audio in Itunes and I will have to listen to it soon.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Rusalka-

Bayerische Staatsoper, Kristine Opolais

Opolais, Krasteva, Baechle; Vogt, Groissböck; Chorus and Orchestra of Bayerische Staatsoper, conductor Hanus. Production: Kušej.


This is truly a wacky Euro production. I don't know where to start but let's go with the opening scene. The water goblin lights a cigarette and pops open a can of beer. Jezibaba is drinking wine from the bottle. I knew I was in for something off the wall.

The water goblin was a very nasty character. This character made Scarpia look like the guy next door.

This scene was just too much !
The guests at the party were all in wedding gowns with veils, including guys. Each one was holding a small deer and started eating the entrails. They had blood all over their faces and wedding gowns.

When Rusalka – Opolais got into the aquarium my husband and just looked at each other and laughed.

We both had a difficult time focusing on the music with all the blood and guts and wondering what next. From what I did hear, the vocals were very good. I have the audio in Itunes and I will have to listen to it soon.

Yep, this is a very wacky Rusalka. I talked to three Czech musicians and they were not amused; said this production defaced one of their national monuments. The voices are good, though.

[Amfortas]

I found Martin Kušej's production intriguing. There was something compelling about Rusalka, along with her sisters, imprisoned in a basement by a sexually abusive father figure, made to play a fantasy game of water sprites to mask the true horror of her situation, longing to experience daylight and the "human" world, and attempting (and ultimately failing) to escape from that captivity. Much of the imagery was unsettling, nightmarish, but in a way consistent with the dark premise.

Of course, one may prefer their Rusalka closer to the original intentions, and this version almost certainly should not be the only one you own. But as a striking, grim psychological take on the basic fairy tale elements, I think it's effective in its own right--not least because of Kristine Opolais's committed, harrowing performance.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I found Martin Kušej's production intriguing. There was something compelling about Rusalka, along with her sisters, imprisoned in a basement by a sexually abusive father figure, made to play a fantasy game of water sprites to mask the true horror of her situation, longing to experience daylight and the "human" world, and attempting (and ultimately failing) to escape from that captivity. Much of the imagery was unsettling, nightmarish, but in a way consistent with the dark premise.

Of course, one may prefer their Rusalka closer to the original intentions, and this version almost certainly should not be the only one you own. But as a striking, grim psychological take on the basic fairy tale elements, I think it's effective in its own right--not least because of Kristine Opolais's committed, harrowing performance.

Oh no, don't read me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this production as well. I was mentioning what the Czech musicians said; not my own opinion of it. It's wacky but rewarding, for the reasons you very well described. And I'll tell you, anything with Kristine Opolais in it meets my approval. I'm really sad that I was supposed to interview her and attend her performance tomorrow at the Met, but she cancelled and went to Munich instead. I'll have to wait for another opportunity, and these are rare since she performs a lot more in Europe than in the United States. She'll be back for a couple of shows in this Bohème run, but the dates don't match mine - I have three trips to NYC scheduled in 2015 - February, May, August - and I just can't squeeze in another one, given all the other things I'm supposed to do. Oh boy, I wish I could split myself in two and do twice as much... I'm permanently busy.

I just love Rusalka. I saw it live once, and I have both the traditional and the Regieoper stagings on DVD (and I've seen other versions in streaming services). Sure, one needs to also watch the traditional one to fully understand the beauty of this piece, but this Regie version with Kristine is quite impressive.

[Clayton]

...
Rusalka-

Bayerische Staatsoper, Kristine Opolais

Opolais, Krasteva, Baechle; Vogt, Groissböck; Chorus and Orchestra of Bayerische Staatsoper, conductor Hanus. Production: Kušej.


This is truly a wacky Euro production. I don't know where to start but let's go with the opening scene. The water goblin lights a cigarette and pops open a can of beer. Jezibaba is drinking wine from the bottle. I knew I was in for something off the wall.

The water goblin was a very nasty character. This character made Scarpia look like the guy next door.

This scene was just too much !
The guests at the party were all in wedding gowns with veils, including guys. Each one was holding a small deer and started eating the entrails. They had blood all over their faces and wedding gowns.
...

This opera, is not for Clayton.

[Clayton]

AHA!! Another operaholic in the works, I see ...

Not addict

Can stop anytime I want...

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Courtesy of Medici

Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, East Sussex, on 14th & 17th August 2005.
Sarah Connolly (Cesare), Danielle de Niese (Cleopatra), Angelika Kirchschlager (Sesto), Christophe Dumaux (Tolomeo), Patricia Bardon (Cornelia), Christopher Maltman (Achilla) & Rachid Ben Abdeslam (Nireno)
The Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,
William Christie (conductor)
David McVicar (stage director)



absolutely fab-u-lous

Isn't it just the bee's knees.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

This Hippolyte et Aricie is utterly gorgeous and stunningly beautiful, with a very strong cast and luscious set and costume designs in lovely pale but rich colours. I could watch it over and over again.



On the other hand I'm not sure about this Andrea Chenier. I think it might have been OK on the night, and the singing from the guys was good, but it really didn't transfer to DVD. Stick to the Domingo version Floria recommended.



A good Onegin once you get over the title character's rather Bertie Wooster appearance - he sings very well. Reviewers were rather down on Elena Prokina but I thought she was a very convincing Tatiana, particularly in the first part.

[Clayton]

Courtesy of Met opera on Demand,

Gounod: Faust
Jonas Kaufmann (Faust), René Pape (Méphistophélès), Marina Poplavskaya (Marguerite), Russell Braun (Valentin), Jonathan Beyer (Wagner), Michèle Losier (Siébel), Wendy White (Marthe)
Orchestra & Chorus of The Metropolitan Opera, Yannick Nézet-Séguin



I was attracted to this by the cast and there are some performances here that will charge your particle. However some will be split on the staging. The twentieth century staging did not add anything to the opera for me.

[JohnGerald]

Last night we enjoyed the Met's Le Comte Ory. It blows away the competition with amazingly fine musical and dramatic work by Florez, DiDonato and Damrau. Staging was off putting to some folks on Amazon, but I love it!

[JohnGerald]

Not addict

Can stop anytime I want...

Now, now ... just repeat after me, "My name is Clayton, and I'm an operaholic ..."

[Amfortas]

Now, now ... just repeat after me, "My name is Clayton, and I'm an operaholic ..."

"Hi, Clayton."

[Clayton]

some of you guys are a little wEird...

************************************************** **************************************

Courtesy of Met Opera on Demand,

Massenet: Thaïs
Thaïs (Renée Fleming); Nicias (Michael Schade); Athanaël (Thomas Hampso); Palémon (Alain Vernhes); Crobyle (Alyson Cambridge); Myrtale (Ginger Costa-Jackson); La Charmeuse (Leah Partridge); Albine (Maria Zifchak).
The Metropolitan Opera.
Jesús López-Cobos, conducting.
David Chan, concert master/violin soloist.

Production by John Cox.
Renee Fleming's costumes, Christian Lacroix; lighting, Duane Schuler; choreography, Sara Jo Slate.



Very pretty opera, beautifully presented.


How to kill an illusion
Shots of sets being moved whilst music still playing
Reverse camera angle on stage - what's López-Cobos doing in the desert with Athanaël and Thaïs?
Panto moment - look the convent is behind you!