| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 1-Aug-2012 Bayreuther Festspielhaus | Tristan und Isolde at Bayreuth |
 When audiences first heard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, they were stunned by the sustained, passionate eroticism of the score, with the musicians amongst them amazed by the variety of novel compositional devices. A century and a half later, the novelty of chromaticism and extended use of suspension has somewhat worn off, but the music’s ability to project passion remains, particularly in the hands of all-star players such as the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, hand-picked from the top orchestras in Germany.
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| 10-May-2011 Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House | Ariadne auf Naxos |
| The Strauss opera Ariadne auf Naxos was inspired by the Moliere play The
Middle-Class Gentleman. The richest man in Vienna has arranged for two
entertainments--one a serious opera composed by a young man just for the
occasion, and the other an Italian comedy group. He decides at the last minute
to combine the two into one entertainment. If he were a proper gentleman, he
would know better.
Musically it has the same feeling of being a concoction, a shifting landscape.
In Act I all the characters appear as themselves, and sing in a very natural Read full review... | |
| 7-May-2011 Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House | Wacky Ariadne Marvels But Isn't Marvelous |
 Tumblers and fire jugglers in rainbow colors. Singing nymphs soaring for stories into the air. Arias deeply dramatic and broadly comic. The Metropolitan Opera’s interpretation of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss is a magical mashup of modern and classic, seria and buffa, technique and technology that pleases but falls short of terrific for this reviewer.
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