May 17, 2025 · And then, Germán Olvera’s Figaro bounding onto the stage to take charge of proceedings with an rip-roaring “Largo al factotum”. Olvera is a Mexican version of Tigger, with irrepressible energy and charisma by the bucketload; his voice had all the agility required for the high-speed buffo patter, but could call upon baritonal heft and smooth out a lyrical line when the occasion demanded.

6 days ago · The strongest of the three was Palka, who made for a jaunty, sardonic Méphistophélès. With looks and demeanour reminiscent of Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, he provided plenty of vocal heft to be the driving force of the narrative. But the performance was fairly one-dimensional, dominated by the devil’s relishing of his own powers.

Apr 25, 2025 · The pairing of two one-act operas, Puccini’s Suor Angelica (1918) and Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero (1950), is not new but is very fitting, and Calixto Bieito’s new staging at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma highlights the common themes of imprisonment and disappointed hope. Both operas can be read on two levels: a literal-historical one and a metaphorical one.

May 19, 2025 · The most conventional aspect of Jetske Mijnssen’s production is its setting at the time of the opera’s premiere in 1882. Wagner had in mind a semi-sacred “play to consecrate a stage”; he adopted Christian signs and symbols – the Grail cup used at the Last Supper, the Spear which pierced Christ’s side – in the service of a new rite of personal redemption which would also secure ...

4 days ago · From the genuine mockery of Till to the mock-heroic Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) is not such a leap. Strauss himself is the hero portrayed in this six-section continuously played work – the Hero’s Works of Peace are quotations from his own works. Like Till, Heldenleben is a drama, announced by the thrilling sound of eight horns and the cellos in heroic vein.

May 20, 2025 · London’s Barbican Centre, home to the London Symphony Orchestra, have announced the latest plans as part of their refurbishment, ahead of the centre’s 50th anniversary in 2032. Designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, the Barbican Centre opened in 1982, and was Grade-II listed in 2001. The ...

3 days ago · The Allegro orchestral tutti opening the Horn Concerto no. 3 in E flat major had richness and sonority from the strings; when Owen entered he made the same theme sound more lyrical, creating contrast.The balance between the small body of strings and the soloist was proportionate and judicious, working well with the hall’s clear acoustic.

5 days ago · It opens with his D-S-C-H monogram and quotes from works like the Second Piano Trio, the First Cello Concerto and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the opera that was banned after Stalin took a dislike to it.In the aftermath of a damning Pravda editorial, Shostakovich feared for his life, and the fourth of the quartet’s five interconnected movements opens with the sharp knock at the door that the ...

4 days ago · No Mahler symphony would be complete without a movement examining the morbid or macabre, and the Scherzo quoting his Wunderhorn lied Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredikt (Saint Anthony of Padua’s Sermon to the Fishes) served as that ponder on the futility of life.The rhythm established by the timpani, punctuated by rustling ruthe (bundle of rods tapping a bass drum’s frame), over which a ...

3 days ago · Originally created for the Ballett im Revier and premiering in 2013, Ruß, sees an initially vulnerable Stepmother and two Stepsisters (Livia and Sophia) after the loss of their husband/father, who find solace in a coal mining district and its community.Although the characters are more finely drawn than in the fairytale, the Stepmother (Simone Messmer) is the closest thing to caricature.