Staging ‘Messiah’ For Our Time Is Mixed Blessing
BERLIN - A concert version for the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin by director Frederic Wake-Walker emerged as an ambitious but cumbersome attempt to infuse the religious work with contemporary relevance.
Happy Marriage: Italian Style With French Accents
BERLIN – In a concert exploring Italian-influenced French music dating from the reign of Louis XV, the ensemble Les Talens Lyriques expressed the virtues of authentic-minded musicianship and a historical approach.
Modern Rendering Of Rameau Opera Fizzles In Berlin
BERLIN - The first production of Rameau’s first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie, at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, conducted by Simon Rattle and directed by choreographer Aletta Collins, was more ambitious than revealing.
Tireless Trotters, Mariinsky Shines In Stravinsky Bill
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Sometimes the results are galvanic. Other times, they can be numbingly routine: On this occasion, Valery Gergiev and the ever-touring Mariinsky Orchestra delivered the goods in two Stravinsky symphonies.
Semyon Bychkov Leads Czech Phil Into A New Era
PRAGUE – Only the fourth non-native chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic,
Semyon Bychkov wants the orchestra to be known for more than Dvořák and Smetana. A 13-city U.S. tour begins on Oct. 27.
Handel’s ‘Solomon’ At Royal Opera Is One For The Ages
LONDON – The Royal Opera House's concert version of the 1749 oratorio featured a superb cast, the orchestra of the Early Opera Company led by founder Christian Curnyn, and a dazzling showing from the Royal Opera Chorus.
Worst Mom Goes Mad, In French, At The Staatsoper
BERLIN – In her role debut, soprano Sonya Yoncheva launched herself fearlessly into the drama of Cherubini’s Médée. Andrea Breth’s new production for the Staatsoper
follows a wave of stagings in the original language.
Dun Links Ancient, Modern Worlds In New Violin Work
OSLO – Violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, who has long championed music of Tan Dun, premiered Fire Ritual, which draws from techniques of erhu and guqin, at the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, the composer conducting.
Boston Camerata’s ‘Liberty Tree’: Early Americana In Paris
PARIS – The Camerata, an early music group, performed a program of American patriotic and religious tunes from the 18th and 19th centuries during the themed weekend it shared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Philharmonie.
In City Of Love, BSO And Nelsons Receive Beaucoup
PARIS – The Philharmonie’s Boston Weekend opened with a Mahler Third so stunning that the audience refused to bid adieu to the performers – Andris Nelsons leading the Boston Symphony, Susan Graham, and Paris choruses.
Musikfest Berlin Reaches From 20th To 21st Century
BERLIN – George Benjamin, the Philharmonic’s composer-in-residence, conducted a program that juxtaposed his Palimpsests with works by Boulez, Ravel, and Ligeti, whose Clocks and Clouds proved to be a masterpiece.
Bayreuth’s ‘Ring’ Is Off This Summer. Regietheater Isn’t.
By James L. Paulk
BAYREUTH – Waiting for the Nibelungs to return in 2020, the House That Wagner Built staged an ethereal Parsifal, an uneven Die Meistersinger, an ideally cast Tristan und Isolde, and a Holländer that ended with Senta’s harakiri.
Von Einem’s 100th Turns Kafkaesque With ‘Der Prozess’
By Rebecca Schmid
SALZBURG – Gottfried Von Einem’s operatic adaptation of The Trial mixes pointillism with jazz allusions. Conductor HK Gruber shaped the concert performance with a subtle irony that made the music all the more convincing.
‘Queen Of Spades’ Gets Reshuffled As Stark, Cool Drama
By Rebecca Schmid
SALZBURG – Two maverick stage directors took their first cracks at Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades" and Monteverdi's "The Coronation of Poppea." The former looked unemotional; the latter veered from captivating to senseless.
Starry Wagnerian Quartet Highlights Restrained ‘Parsifal’
By David Shengold
MUNICH – A cast including Jonas Kaufmann, Nina Stemme, René Pape, and Christian Gerhaher brought sonic luster to Pierre Audi’s stark staging of Parsifal that featured sets by Georg Baselitz at the Bavarian State Opera.
American Director, Polish Lohengrin Bow At Bayreuth
By David Shengold
BAYREUTH - The innovative Yuval Sharon became the first American stage director employed in Wagner’s fabled precincts, and tenor Piotr Beczala scored a debut triumph in the production led by Christian Thielemann.
Music From Japan Builds Noteworthy New-Music Catalog
By Michael Huebner
FUKUSHIMA, Japan - With the help of government and private funding, co-founders Naoyuki Miura and Mari Ono have commissioned 76 works by Japanese composers and nine by American composers influenced by Japan.
‘St. Luke Passion’ Opens Salzburg Fest Under Nagano
By Arthur Kaptainis
SALZBURG – Whether heard as a landmark of modernism or its repudiation, Penderecki’s various materials made a fluid whole under Kent Nagano’s baton. He led his Montreal Symphony and choirs from Krakow and Warsaw.
A Packed Festival Of Music From Japan, In Japan
By Richard S. Ginell
TOKYO – Ten writers from the Music Critics Association of North America traveled to Japan for a week’s immersion in a distant yet surprisingly approachable culture. One critic kept a diary of concerts in Tokyo and Fukushima.
