| 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... | |
| 1-Feb-2011 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Sir Colin Davis conducts a masterful Magic Flute at Covent Garden |
HOBAN.jpg) I've commented before about Die Zauberflöte that if you get the music right, the rest will follow. In the first night of the Royal Opera's latest revival of David MacVicar's 2003 production, Sir Colin Davis definitely got the music right. We were distracted at the start of the overture by Tamino entering through a doorway in the curtain and by mysterious people high in the audience holding globe-shaped lights. But these disappeared after the first few bars, leaving us to listen to the music, at which point I soon realised that we were in for a real orchestral treat.
Read full review... | |
