Opera adventures

impressions and opinions

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Rushing to see “Otello” in Munich with Kaufmann, Harteros and Finley

Rushing to see “Otello” in Munich with Kaufmann, Harteros and Finley

Unquestionably, the most exciting event of the season was the premiere of “Otello” with Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros in Munich. The demand for premiere, according to rumors, exceeded seating capacity of Nationaltheater 25 times, while for the total run of 7 performances number of ticket requests exceeded 100 000. Thus, when receiving email informing of ticket for the most sought-after opera…

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Simon Boccanegra in Paris

Simon Boccanegra in Paris

Cast

Simon Boccanegra : Ludovic Tézier

Jacopo Fiesco : Mika Kares

Maria Boccanegra (Amelia Grimaldi) : Maria Agresta

Gabriele Adorno : Francesco Demuro

Paolo Albani : Nicola Alaimo

Pietro : Mikhail Timoshenko

Un capitano dei balestrieri : Cyrille Lovighi

Un’ancella di Amelia : Virginia Leva-Poncet

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Vocally impressive, visualy confusing: Les Vêpres Siciliennes in Munich.

Vocally impressive, visualy confusing: Les Vêpres Siciliennes in Munich.

It was another first time to discover a new opera in the exploration journey – it was the first time to hear Verdi’s  Les Vêpres Siciliennes live in one of my beloved opera houses – Bayerisches Staatsoper in Nationaltheater.

Previously I have seen part of the broadcast from Royal Opera House with Erwin Schrott, but as usual with broadcasts, it never provides you full enjoyment and live theatre…

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Emotional and captivating "La traviata" in Munich

Emotional and captivating “La traviata” in Munich

The performance of “La traviata” while booking tickets for Munich opera festival was not an intentional choice – my prime target was another Verdi gem – “Les Vêpres siciliennes” on Sunday, and as interim event on Saturday I put it in the booking. Somehow I did not pay too much attention on the planned cast, but when tickets arrived, the prospect of seeing Diana Damrau as Violetta was pleasant…

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Soul devastating pain by Sonya Yoncheva in "Il Pirata" at Teatro alla Scala

Looking back at mesmerising Imogene by Sonya Yoncheva: "Il pirata" at Teatro alla Scala

“Il pirata” by Bellini is another opera I have not had a chance to hear or see before, thus was eager to experience the joy of new discovery, especially with superb interpreter of the lead role of Imogene. The opera itself was a debut of Bellini at La Scala in 1827, nowadays it is not very frequently staged – according to Operabase.com, there are only two staged runs of new productions this year:…

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Soul devastating pain by Sonya Yoncheva in "Il Pirata" at Teatro alla Scala

Soul devastating pain by Sonya Yoncheva in “Il Pirata” at Teatro alla Scala

With this post and start of summer opera season, I celebrate three years of blogging my opera exploration adventures, and the performance at legendary Piermarini or LaScala is excellent opportunity to raise the glass of champagne for this as well as many other outstanding performances in the future.

The event itself has specific importance: rarely staged Bellini masterpiece, previously sung by…

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A lonely heart betrayed: "Samson et Dalila" in Vienna starring Garanča, Alagna, Álvarez.

This was one of the performances that were long anticipated, – knowing that all the singers will have their role debuts and difficulty to source a ticket, the expectations were running high. Though living through the season and many outstanding performances the expected emotional impact was less than expected. The opera, which is based on biblical myth and composed by atheist Saint-Saëns,…

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Captivating super-diva now becomes Tosca: Netrebko, Eyvazov, Volle at the MET

Captivating super-diva now becomes Tosca: Netrebko, Eyvazov, Volle at the MET

This was a night most of the people in opera fans community were looking forward to: finally Anna Netrebko will prove that she belongs to the stardom of legendary interpreters of Tosca. And, to make this debut even bigger deal for all of us, she has chosen the most prominent opera house surrounded by the most scrupulous critics. The house was sold out, and many people were looking for spare…

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Cendrillon at The Met

Cendrillon at The Met

The story   The production The music The protagonists and lead roles   Jules Massnet. Cendrillon Performance on April 20th, 2018 Opera in four acts Libretto by Henri Cain, based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault Conductor Bertrand de Billy Production Laurent Pelly Set designer Barbara de Limburg Costume designer Laurent Pelly Lighting designer Duane Schuler Choreographer Laura Scozzi Pandolfe…

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"Macbeth" in London: Netrebko, Lučić and Pappano mesmerize the audience

“Macbeth” in London: Netrebko, Lučić and Pappano mesmerize the audience

Saturday night, approaching magnificent Royal Opera House, I was wondering how lucky I have been at the opening of the spring season sale to get a ticket for the upcoming performance of “Macbeth” with stellar cast inclusive of Anna Netrebko, Željko Lučić, Ildebrando D’Archangelo and Yusif Eyvazov, conducted by incomparable Antonio Pappano. Today, while writing notes to the performance, sitting on…

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Traviata in Paris: Netrebko replaced by Rebeka

Traviata in Paris: Netrebko replaced by Rebeka

the ticket for this weekend performance in Paris has been bought together with season subscription at east a year ago, and the enticing promise to see and hear Anna Netrebko as Violetta in the cast complemented by Charles Castronovo as Alfredo and Placido Domingo as Giorgio Germont spiked up expectations. As I was not lucky enough to squeeze La Scala Traviate with Netrebko last season, this would…

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Rediscovering your values: Jephtha inside.

I have to admit that my exploration path towards a better understanding of baroque opera has been long and thorny, and I am still far away from becoming an aficionado of that era in music. Nevertheless, I am not giving up and looking to learn more, as a better understanding of the topic brings acceptance and admiration. Thus, seeing a combination of world-renowned baroque specialist William…

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Rediscovering your values: Jephtha inside.

I have to admit that my exploration path towards a better understanding of baroque opera has been long and thorny, and I am still far away from becoming an aficionado of that era in music. Nevertheless, I am not giving up and looking to learn more, as a better understanding of the topic brings acceptance and admiration. Thus, seeing a combination of world-renowned baroque specialist William…

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The masked ball in Paris hosted by Radvanovsky and Pretti.

Sometimes great performance chooses me rather than opposite and seems that Un Ballo in Opera Bastille was one of those events. The original intent on visiting Paris was unseen opera (oratorio) Jephtha by Haendel scheduled for Saturday, but when flight ticketing day came, the flight for 2 nights stay in Paris came up better priced, and there was not a problem yet to find lodging despite heavily…

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When passion kills: Cavalleria Rusticana/ Pagliacci at ROH with extraordinary cast

The production of the double bill Cavalleria Rusticana/ Pagliacci at Royal Opera House this season is a revival of recently highly praised and Olivier-Award-winning staging by Damiano Michieletto, this time with the extraordinary cast, especially Elīna Garanča as Santuzza and double role debut of Bryan Hymel as Turridu and Canio. The ticket was sourced a long time ago, and promise for a great…

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The Queen Semiramide rules at the Royal Opera: starring Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Michele Pertusi and Lawrence Brownlee.

This was my second attempt to see Rossini’s “Semiramide” live since premiere at Bayerische Staatsoper – even if I had sourced so highly demanded ticket, severe bronchitis kept me home last spring – in fact, the only time I had to give up the performance due to health issue. Despite all obstacles I have seen livestream of the performance, but emotions are not comparable either watching opera on a…

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Gregory Kunde as Le Prophete at Deutsche Oper Berlin, December 3, 2017

It is undisputably great initiative undertaken by Deutsche Oper Berlin in reviving grand operas of Giacomo Meyerbeer – the success of Les Huguenots last year put very high expectation for this year continuation in Le Prophete. Highly anticipated, previously unseen by me, – and great cast assembled to tell the story. The opera addresses challenges of power, beliefs, values and human choices in…

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