| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 25-Apr-2013 Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House | The Met's Ring Cycle begins with an impressive Das Rheingold |
 Quite simply, it’s the largest scale event in all of opera. With 18 hours of music in a 3,800 seat house, Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Met is a giant, lavish undertaking – all starting with that famous E flat chord: starting from the quietest of pianissimo double bass notes and building for nearly four minutes before it explodes into the melody of the Rhinemaidens.
Read full review... | |
| 8-Feb-2013 Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts | Ancient magic updated: Peter Sellars' Tristan with the Canadian Opera Company |
 Peter Sellars successfully updated the ancient magic in Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde. Wagner had already modernised the medieval tale by focusing on the middle of the story, where the passion of the doomed lovers catches fire. Wagner treats the mythic origins of the romance as back-story recollected while passions are flaring. Sellars tightens that focus by stripping away sets, scenery and costumes. He restricts action and staging to bare gestures. The actors, often uniformed in black, are illuminated by rectangles of spotlight on a stage, bare except for a black box podium.Read full review... | |
| 31-Jul-2012 Bayreuther Festspielhaus | Musically outstanding but landlocked: Der Fliegende Holländer in Bayreuth |
 For any opera lover, a first visit to Bayreuth is something of a pilgrimage to the holy land. Musically, I wasn’t disappointed, as the Dutchman’s leitmotif rose softly from the invisible orchestra, soon to be enveloped by the swirling storm brewed up by Wagner and conductor Christian Thielemann. The orchestra here is one of extraordinary virtuosity, and Thielemann is a thoughtful conductor who knows his Wagner backwards, forwards and sideways.Read full review... | |
| 4-Feb-2012 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall | London's Royal Festival Hall Consecrated by Nézet-Séguin's Magnificent Bruckner |
 Marco Borggreve-1.jpg) Before the concert began, Yannick Nézet-Séguin gave a short introductory speech that, in effect, would have the Royal Festival Hall consecrated for the evening as a place of worship. He spoke of Bruckner’s deep Catholic faith, and how the programme was constructed to reflect that, with a symphony dedicated ‘To dear God’, and observing Bruckner’s last wish for the symphony: that his Te Deum be used as the finale in the event that he failed to complete it.Read full review... | |
