We left at the interval...

La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday May 21 2023 Conductor: Alain Altinoglu. Production: Olivier Py. Sets and Costumes: Pierre-André Weitz. Lighting: Bertrand Killy. Henry VIII: Lionel Lhote. Don Gomez de Féria: Ed Lyon. Le Cardinal Campeggio: Vincent Le Texier. Le Comte de Surrey: Enguerrand de Hys. Le Duc de Norfolk: Werner Van Mechelen. Cranmer: Jérôme Varnier. Catherine d’Aragon: Marie-Adeline Henry. Anne de Boleyn: Nora Gubisch. Lady Clarence: Claire Antoine. Garter/Un officier: Alexander Marev. Un huissier de la cour: Leander Carlier. Quatre dames d’honneur: Alessia Thais Berardi, Annelies Kerstes, Lieve Jacobs, Manon Poskin. Quatre seigneurs: Alain-Pierre Wingelinckx, Luis Aguilar, Byoungjin Lee, René Laryea. La Monnaie Orchestra and Chorus. Photos: Baus/La Monnaie La Monnaie has a track record in doing relative rarities proud, and it looks as if the success of Olivier Py's production of Les Huguenots was behind the decision to offer him Henry VIII . It turned out to be, so I thoug

ONP Garnier, Thursday May 18 2023 Conductor: Harry Bicket. Production, sets and lighting: Robert Carsen. Sets and costumes: Luis F. Carvalho. Lighting: Peter Van Praet. Choreography: Nicolas Paul. Ariodante: Emily D'Angelo. Il re di Scozia: Matthew Brook. Ginevra: Olga Kulchynska. Lurcanio: Eric Ferring. Polinesso: Christophe Dumaux. Dalinda: Tamara Banjesevic. Odoardo: Enrico Casari. The English Concert. Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Agathe Poupeney/ONP After some delay owing to strikes over pension reform (which doesn't actually affect the ONP's special régime , so I suppose they just went out in sympathy), the Paris Opera now has a good-looking new production of Ariodante by Robert Carsen, characteristically detailed and professionally directed, more entertaining than searchingly profound or moving, with a strikingly well-balanced, equally professional cast. It might be summed up as 'the Windsors at Balmoral.' The sets reproduce, full scale or m

The ' coup de coeur ', i.e. recording of the month, in the May 2023 issue of France’s Opéra Magazine is a CD entitled Teatro Sant'Angelo , with mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet and Le Consort under Théotime Langlois de Swarte. It’s a recital of arias from works by Vivaldi and less famous composers presented at the Sant’Angelo in Venice, inaugurated in 1677, a dozen of them never previously recorded.

La Monnaie, Brussels, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 April 2023 Conductor and Musical Arrangements: Francesco Lanzillotta. Concept, Script and Production: Olivier Fredj. Sets and Costumes: Urs Schönebaum. Costumes: Petra Reinhardt. Video: Sarah Derendinger. Choreography: Avshalom Pollak. Elisabetta: Myrtò Papatanasiu. Anna Bolena: Salome Jicia. Leicester: Enea Scala. Enrico: Luca Tittoto. Giovanna Seymour, Sara: Raffaella Lupinacci. Amy Robsart: Valentina Mastrangelo. Maria Stuarda: Lenneke Ruiten. Roberto Devereux: Sergey Romanovsky. Nottingham: Bruno Taddia. Smeton: David Hansen. Cecil: Gavan Ring. Elisabetta as a child: Hadley Dean Randerson. Orchestra and Chorus of La Monnaie. Photos: Bernd Uhlig, La Monnaie  From La Monnaie's website: Part 1 : The first part of Bastarda focuses on the life of young Elizabeth: from her childhood, marked by the tragic death of her mother Anne Boleyn, through her unexpected coronation to the ultimate confrontation with her cousin and rival Mary Stuart

Théâtre de l'Athénée, Paris, Wednesday April 12 2023 Conductor: Samuel Jean. Production: Émeline Bayart. Sets and costumes: Anne-Sophie Grac. Lighting: Joël Fabing. Prosper: Marc Labonnette. Antoinette: Clémence Tilquin. Marie-Anne: Sheva Tehoval. Félicie: Émeline Bayart. Claude: Victor Sicard. Jean-Paul, M. Victor: Jean-François Novelli. Hilarion Lallumette: Carl Ghazarossian. Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes. Photos: Marie Pétry Bru Zane strikes again. On Wednesday night, I went to see a time-capsule operetta (1933), Sacha Guitry and Reynaldo Hahn's Ô mon bel inconnu , at the Athénée Louis Jouvet, a belle époque time-capsule theatre (1896) around the corner from the Palais Garnier. Hahn's score is erudite and chamber-music-like, often nostalgic in feel, yet remains light and frothy. Guitry's text is far from woke, but clever and funny and full of rapid-fire puns, not just corny and/or cloying like many operetta libretti . For those who read the language, the wor

ONP Bastille, Tuesday April 4 2023 Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel. Production: Valentina Carrasco. Sets: Carles Berga, Peter Van Praet. Lighting: Peter Van Praet. Costumes: Silvia Aymonino. Richard Nixon: Thomas Hampson. Pat Nixon: Renée Fleming. Zhou Enlai: Xiaomeng Zhang. Mao Zedong: John Matthew Myers. Henry Kissinger: Joshua Bloom. Chiang Ch'ing: Kathleen Kim. Nancy Tang: Yajie Zhang. Second Secretary: Ning Liang. Third Secretary: Emanuela Pascu. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Elisa Haberer, ONP Any Adams is a rarity in Paris, but I did see a memorable Nixon eleven years ago at the Châtelet , all the more memorable for now being freely available, in full, on YouTube, and in particular for Sumi Jo's vigorous portrayal of the Chairman's wife. So I might have liked a chance to see another of his operas, but I suppose for his entry into the Paris Opera's repertory, Nixon in China it had to be. And the company certainly pulled off a remarkable