| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 28-Jul-2012 National Theatre | Der Rosenkavalier at the Munich OpernFestspiele |
 Otto Schenk's production of Der Rosenkavalier is now four decades old but it still looks quite fresh, its opulence unfaded. If "traditional" is your thing, it may be the best around, and though the sets are ultra busy and detailed to the point where it can distract from the human intimacy that is key to this drama, it somehow manages to avoid the chocolate box kitschery of many other long-standing "traditional" productions.Read full review... | |
| 27-Jul-2012 National Theatre | La Traviata at the Munich OpernFestspiele |
 La Traviata is such a warhorse that we often forget how many issues it raises for presenting a staging that can convince us of what is in the first analysis a quite ludicrous story, despite Verdi's veristic intentions. That Violetta is so sympathetic, idealistic, noble and moral can strike one as hopelessly naïve and even patronising given her profession and background, but its very high status amongst Verdi's output speaks of its masterful dramatic thrust and powerful emotional arc, and, by no means least, its superb music.
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| 21-Jul-2012 National Theatre | An excellent Tosca in Munich with Terfel, Naglestad and Giordano |
 In Tosca there's a real sense of Puccini being at home. Written shortly after La Bohème, when he was right at the height of his powers, Tosca is a story of love, jealousy and political turmoil, taking place in Rome, the same city in which it was premiered. These are events and characters which Puccini could identify with, and the locale was one he knew, not the alien distance of Paris, the Orient or the US, where some of his other best-known operas are set.Read full review... | |
| 20-Jul-2012 Prinzregententheater | Mozart's Mitridate in Munich through a child's eyes |
 Mozart wrote the opera seria Mitridate at the age of fifteen. The Bayerische Staatsoper’s clever and strangely beautiful production positions it as the work of a child, full of rebellious teenagers and projected scenery seemingly drawn from a primary school art class. But unfortunately even excellent singing and much directorial invention cannot disguise that this is a rather bland opera, and its four hours pass slowly.
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