| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 19-May-2012 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Robert Carsen's new Falstaff at Covent Garden |
 In the end, the big man gets the last laugh. Come to think of it, he also gets the first laugh, but for different reasons: you sense that Verdi steadily grew to love Falstaff in the course of writing the opera, as he turns from a coarse buffoon into a maligned old man and, eventually, into the spirit of laughter itself. Last night at Covent Garden, Italian Baritone Ambrogio Maestri was the perfect embodiment of the role: Maestri makes you feel that he loves Falstaff every bit as much as Verdi; a big man singing a larger than life role.Read full review... | |
| 29-Jan-2012 Theater an der Wien | Iolanta and Francesca da Rimini sung strongly at the Theater an der Wien |
, Saimir Pirgu (Godefroy de Vaudémont), Ensemble & Arnold Schoenberg Chor.jpg) Iolanta and Francesca da Rimini work particularly well as a double bill because both works share the theme of lovers who find themselves at the mercy of possessive forces. Iolanta's domineering father ultimately yields in Tchaikovsky's opera, but in Rachmaninov's the deceitful Lanceotto is not so accommodating. In the Theater an der Wien’s new production the emphasis is on storytelling, which director Stephen Lawless does effectively in a straightforward staging of Iolanta and a not-unexpected updating of Francesca.Read full review... | |
