| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 1-Dec-2012 Sydney Opera House: Concert Hall | The Sydney Symphony and a star cast perform The Queen of Spades |
 I have always been skeptical of concert performances of operas. Operas are written to be acted, and the staging is needed to complement the music. This is what I thought before I saw this performance of Ashkenazy conducting the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Sydney Children’s Choir in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. Tchaikovsky’s opera is so intensely lyrical and so well written that it stands the test of being heard alone without any staging.Read full review... | |
| 18-Jul-2012 Sydney Opera House: Opera Theatre | Opera Australia pushes boundaries with Korngold's Die tote Stadt |
 Korngold’s Die tote Stadt is an extraordinary opera, an often underrated masterpiece of the 20th century. On the face of it, it has a simple plot – the protagonist Paul, unable to overcome the death of his wife, falls in love with another woman, Marietta, similar to his dead wife in many ways. Overcome with feelings of guilt and betrayal, he eventual kills Marietta, only to wake up and discover it was all a dream. This is, however, a simple plot with deep contemporary resonances.
Read full review... | |
