We left at the interval...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Tuesday March 27 2018 Conductor: Andres Gabetta. Julia Lezhneva, soprano. Franco Fagioli, counter-tenor. Cappella Gabetta. Vivaldi: Concerto for strings and continuo RV 156 Porpora: Motet "In caelo stelle care" Ragazzi: Sonata for violin and orchestra Op.1 No.8 Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus Pergolesi: Stabat Mater P77. "Most countertenors, Italians more than others, look like vegan consumptives on a bad day and sound - if you can hear them at all - like gas escaping from a (small) pipe," I wrote in 2013. Fortunately, it doesn't apply to all of them. Franco Fagioli is a case in point. I had noted, writing about a Giulio Cesare at the Champs Elysées in 2006, that "Franco Fagioli was the right kind of 'stage animal' counter-tenor to give us a petulant, if not always accurate, Tolomeo." Ten years later, I saw him as Cavalli's Eliogabalo at Garnier: "Franco Fagioli was most impressive in his rich and...

ONP Bastille, Monday March 26 2018 Conductor: Philippe Jordan. Production: Terry Gilliam with Leah Hausman. Choreography: Leah Hausman. Sets: Terry Gilliam, Aaron Marsden. Costumes: Katrina Lindsay. Lighting: Paule Constable. Video: Finn Ross. Benvenuto Cellini: John Osborn. Giacomo Balducci: Maurizio Muraro. Fieramosca: Audun Iversen. Le Pape Clément VII: Marco Spotti. Francesco: Vincent Delhoume. Bernardino: Luc Bertin-Hugault. Pompeo: Rodolphe Briand. Cabaretier: Se-Jin Hwang. Teresa: Pretty Yende. Ascanio: Michèle Losier. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. People who go to the cinema will know better than I what Terry Gilliam's work looks like - his visual identity. I did once see Brazil on TV, or parts of it at any rate, and hated every second. From what I've read, however, it would seem this production of Benvenuto Cellini is more like his Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and certainly in some respects the visuals were reminiscent of the animate...

La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday March 18 2018 Conductor: Evelino Pidó. Production: Damiano Michieletto. Sets: Paolo Fantin. Costumes: Carla Teti. Lighting: Alessandro Carletti. CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA Santuzza: Eva-Maria Westbroek. Lola: Josè Maria Lo Monaco. Turiddu: Teodor Ilincai. Alfio: Dimitri Platanias. Lucia: Elena Zilio PAGLIACCI Nedda: Simona Mihai. Canio: Carlo Ventre. Tonio: Scott Hendricks. Peppe: Tansel Akzeybek. Silvio: Gabriele Nani. Orchestra and Chorus of La Monnaie. "Mon avis n'engage que moi," as the French say: my opinion is but my own. Come to think of it, it could be the motto of this blog. It's my view that, as well as a good production, these second-class works need vocal and orchestral glamour, southern swagger, whatever the Italian for Schmaltz is, to work. Damiano Michieletto's production is what the French call "efficace": it gets the job done and, as a bonus, comes with a sprinkling of ideas. People like it. But the mus...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Friday March 16 2018 Conductor: Emmanuelle Haïm. Production: Christof Loy. Choreography: Thomas Wilhelm. Sets: Johannes Leiacker. Costumes: Ursula Renzenbrink. Lighting: Bernd Purkrabek. Alcina: Cecilia Bartoli. Ruggiero: Philippe Jaroussky. Morgana: acted by Julie Fuchs, sung by Emöke Barath. Bradamante: Varduhi Abrahamyan. Oronte: Christoph Strehl. Melisso: Krzysztof Bączyk. Cupido: Barbara Goodman. Orchestra and Chorus of the Concert d’Astrée. A glance at the above will reveal that this Alcina 's star-studded cast involved one more star than expected: Julie Fuchs acted the part, but the excellent Emöke Barath sang it beautifully from the pit, and it was her "Tornami a vagheggiar" in particular that accounted for the loud, long applause at the end of the first act. I am actually at work all this weekend but, as I already had my ticket, was allowed out on parole to see this show. As I don't have much free time, I'm going ...

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, Saturday March 10 2018 Conductor: Mark Wigglesworth. Production: Krzysztof Warlikowski. Designer: Małgorzata Szczęśniak. Lighting: Felice Ross. Video: Denis Guéguin. Alexandr Gorjancikov: Willard W. White. Aljeja: Pascal Charbonneau. Luka Kuzmič: Štefan Margita. Skuratov: Ladislav Elgr. Šiškov/Priest: Johan Reuter. Prison Governor: Alexander Vassiliev. Big Prisoner/Nikita: Nicky Spence. Small Prisoner/Cook: Grant Doyle. Elderly Prisoner: Graham Clark. Voice: Konu Kim. Drunk Prisoner: Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts. Šapkin: Peter Hoare. Prisoner/Kedril: John Graham-Hall. Prisoner/Don Juan/Brahmin: Aleš Jenis. Young Prisoner: Florian Hoffmann. Prostitute: Allison Cook. Čerevin: Alexander Kravets. Guard: Andrew O'Connor. Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House. Just as the ghost of Maria Callas haunts some roles, making life hard for her successors, it might be said that - for the relative few who must take an interest in such things - t...