The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: July 2003
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The David Alden production of Rinaldo at the Bavarian State Opera was not particularly well-attended, and at each intermission, people left. This was more pronounced for this production than for Rodelinda. Part of the problem was the singers. None of them were particularly stunning. The lead, Ann Murray, has a voice that lacks substance and…
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The Bavarian State Opera production of La Traviata was impressive as far as the principal singers. Anna Netrebko sang Violetta, and she was simply perfect. Her voice is supple and nearly angelic. This part showed her abilities off more than in others I have heard, she was Nannetta in Falstaff at San Francisco and Natasha…
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Bayerische Staatoper’s production of Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria had almost no redeeming qualities. If they find Baroque operas so boring they shouldn’t bother putting them on. It shows very little respect to be making Monteverdi’s opera into a farce. It was so bad that even I could not sit through it twice, though I…
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Tickets to yesterday evening’s performance of Lucia di Lammermoor completely sold-out, presumably because Edita Gruberova was singing the title role. She is in her 25th year of singing Lucia, and she is quite remarkable. Her voice can be the very embodiment of icy perfection. The audience screamed and clapped after "Quando rapito in estasi" for…
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I had the dubious pleasure of seeing David Alden’s new production of Rodelinda twice within a fortnight. It was more tame than I expected, no giant robot lab rats, no walking dentures. Thankfully, there was plenty of cigarette smoking, a little drunken staggering, and naturally, things were thrown. Also, five shots were fired from a…
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