The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: March 2008
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* Notes * Yesterday Sir Neville Marriner conducted the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in a program of Mozart's Symphony No. 31, Paris, Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1, Mendelssohn's Sinfonia No. 10, and Haydn's Symphony No. 104, London. The Mozart was played crisply and with spirit. Yuja Wang was the soloist for the piano…
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Notes * Yesterday afternoon Paul Schofield gave a talk on his book The Redeemer Reborn: Parsifal as the Fifth Opera of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Wagner Society of Northern California. It was the second time he had talked on this subject at WSNC, so his talk was slightly incoherent for someone who had not…
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"On Saturday, after Act II of his production of La Bohème, the Met will celebrate Mr. Zeffirelli onstage, gathering singers associated with his productions and presenting him with a plaque. Plaques honoring him will also be permanently affixed on both sides of the proscenium, at eye level for anyone entering or leaving the stage." NY…
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The performance will be broadcast at 7pm EDT (5pm PDT) tonight. As you well know, the production has been fraught and included four Met debuts, but finally, Deborah Voigt and Ben Heppner are to sing together in Tristan und Isolde tonight. Press Release | Official Site
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* Notes * The lovely Elza van den Heever gave a recital of various songs for the Salons at the Rex series yesterday evening. Van den Heever began with five Brahms Lieder. She skipped a verse in "Die Mainacht," and was somewhat loud as she sang the word "Morgenrot." Her German diction was nearly perfect,…
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Murat IV, the opera by Okan Demiriş, was revived for two performances at the Ankara State Opera this week. Production Information | Article
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"Indeed, Turandot was considered so suspect that when it was first performed in Beijing in 1995 the setting was changed to an unnamed location in Central Asia." A new production of Turandot was performed from March 21-26 at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Hao Weiya wrote a new ending to Puccini's…
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"You know, the thing that's really remarkable about that book for the time period in which it was written is the improvisational, free-flowing nature of it. He goes from straight prose to something like love poetry to setting up scenes as though this were a play–and then, back again!" I particularly like that this interview…
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* Notes * The Dieter Dorn/Jürgen Rose production of Tristan und Isolde was shown as a simulcast yesterday. I tried my best not to worry too much about the set and staging, as I did not find the Dorn/Rose Le Nozze or Così at Bayerische Staatsoper particularly interesting, though their Don Carlo was not bad.…
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