Norway Hans Werner Henze, El Cimarrón: Gregg Baker (baritone), Per Pålsson (guitar), Kerstin Thiele (flute), Mathias Friis-Hansen (percussion). Oslo Opera, 19.1.2012. (JFL)
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
Berlioz, Damnation!
Germany Berlioz, La Damnation de Faust: Soloists, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic Chorus, Tölz Boys’ Choir, Stéphane Denève (conductor), Gasteig Philharmonic Hall, Munich, 29.2.2012 (JFL)
Opera North Serves Up Baroque, Bel Canto and Verismo in Salford
United Kingdom Puccini, Bellini, Handel: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North. The Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays. 28.2.2012 – 3.3. 2012. (RJF)
Puccini: Madama Butterfly(1904). Sung in Italian with surtitles in English.
Bellini: Norma (1831). Sung in Italian with surtitles in English.
Handel: Giulio Cesare (1724). Sung in Italian with surtitles in English.
Raising a Glass to Opera Making Inroads into Mumbai
India Pietro Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana & Ruggero Leoncavallo, Pagliacci: Soloists, Symphonic Orchestra of India, Members of the Kazakh State Philharmonic Capella, The Paranjoti Academy Chorus, Living Voices, The Stop-Gaps Choral Ensemble, Antonello Allemandi (conductor), National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, 18.2.2012 (RoW)
No Fairy Tale Lyricism in ROH’s Disturbing Rusalka
United Kingdom Dvořák, Rusalka: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Royal Opera / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor), directed by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 27.2.2012. (JPr)
Excellent Concert Version of La Clemenza in London
United Kingdom Mozart: La clemenza di Tito K 621. Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, DeutscheKammerchor, Soloists / Louis Langree (conductor), Barbican Hall, London, 22.2.2012. (GD)
The Women Outshine the Men in WNO’s Marriage of Figaro
United Kingdom Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro (Revival premiere): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, / Anthony Negus (conductor), Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 25.2.2012 (GPu)
Ernani’s Convoluted Plot Taken at a Gallop Amid Gothic Gloom
United Kingdom Verdi, Ernani: Met Live in HD staged by Peter McClintock and directed for television by Barbara Willis Sweete with Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Marco Armiliato (conductor), broadcast to the Barbican Cinema, London, 25.2.12. (JPr)