| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 15-Nov-2012 Staatsoper | Gluck's Alceste at the Vienna Staatsoper: Chronicle of a death foretold |
 Alceste is the short and sombre story of a wife who gives her life to save that of her husband, King Admète of Thessaly, a deed which ultimately convinces the gods to reprieve both of them. Gluck, hoping to avoid the over-decorated vocal style then in vogue, set this plot to unadorned vocal lines to give depth to the underlying emotions. When this work premièred in Vienna in 1767, the reactions were mixed, Leopold Mozart calling it a “requiem”. The opera was not a great success until a thoroughly reworked version with a libretto in French premièred in Paris in 1776.Read full review... | |
| 20-Dec-2011 Theater an der Wien | Music is the food of thought in L'Orfeo at the Theater an der Wien |
 and John Mark Ainsley (Orfeo) in LOrfeo; photo by Monika Rittershaus.jpg) The last production I saw of L’Orfeo explored the idea of music as a manipulative force, suggesting disturbing consequences to the docility it can engender. Director Claus Guth is less concerned with Orfeo the musician, and makes minimal acknowledgement of the work’s pastoral and mythic elements. He focuses instead on the consequences of Orfeo’s union with Euridice, suggesting that it is so powerful that their individuality has been subject to irreversible change.Read full review... | |
