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.
Young Talent Was Plentiful, Artistic Style Was Missing
By Rebecca Schmid
JŪRMALA, Latvia – The Belvedere Singing Competition drew 147 contestants to a resort town on the Baltic. Sixteen finalists came from thirteen countries, with Sungho Kim, a tenor from South Korea, taking first prize.
Director Remodels ‘House Of The Dead’ With Heavy Hand
By Rebecca Schmid
MUNICH – Director Frank Castorf peppers Janáček’s drama at the Bavarian State Opera with excerpts from Dostoevsky's works through video and added dialogue, with results that can be either enhancing or disruptive.
Updated Staging Of Baroque Satire Is Timely Theater
By Susan Brodie
PARIS – The Beggar’s Opera is given a contemporary spin in Robert Carsen’s hard-driving, athletically choreographed new production that features Les Arts Florissants and an energetic British cast that excels in song and dance.
Frosch As Android: ‘Regietheater’ Comes To ‘Die Fledermaus’
By Rebecca Schmid
BERLIN – Time travel and the social effects of technology are themes in Rolando Villazón’s new staging of the Johann Strauss operetta for Deutsche Oper. But the performances are often so hammed up that comic moments fall flat.
‘Falstaff’ Updated, With Sir John As Berlin Gang Boss
By Rebecca Schmid
BERLIN – Now back at home on the Boulevard Unter den Linden, the Staatsoper mounted Falstaff in a new Mario Martone production starring Michael Volle as Sir John, top dog in the city's graffiti-laden underground.
Neglected Opera By Korngold Turns Out To Be A Gem
By Rebecca Schmid
BERLIN – Even more than Die tote Stadt, Korngold's best-known opera, Das Wunder der Heliane reveals the composer's dramatic power at its height. In Deutsche Oper’s staging, Sara Jakubiak abandons herself to the title role.
Beauty Of Cilea’s ‘L’Arlesiana’ Shines In Concert Revival
By Rebecca Schmid
BERLIN - The performance at the Deutsche Oper, featuring tenor Joseph Calleja and young soprano Mariangela Sicilia, pointed up the music’s vivid character portraits in a work known mainly for the tenor's "Lamento di Federico."
Music From Japan: Uncompromising Avant-Garde Vibe
By John Fleming
NEW YORK – The two-day Festival 2018 presented ten contemporary works, including three world premieres, by six Japanese composers in Victor Borge Hall. The music was by turns playful, dreamlike, intense, and exhilarating.
Schreker Revival Takes Original To Still Darker Place
By Rebecca Schmid
BERLIN – The sexually victimized women of Franz Schreker's 1918 opera Die Gezeichneten (The Stigmatized) become preyed-upon young boys in director Calixto Bieito's production created for the Komische Oper.
Handel’s ‘Jephtha’ Comes To Life In Dramatic Staging
By James L. Paulk
PARIS – With the chorus and orchestra of Les Arts Florissants under William Christie's direction and tenor Ian Bostridge in the title role, Claus Guth offered an imaginative staging of the oratorio at the Paris Opera.
