2019

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Spontini - La Vestale, at the Bastille in Paris

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ONP Bastille, Paris, Monday July 8 2024. Conductor: Bertrand de Billy. Production: Lydia Steier. Sets: Etienne Pluss. Costumes: Katharina Schlipf. Lighting: Valerio Tiberi. Julia: Elza van den Heever. Licinius: Michael Spyres. La Grande Vestale: Eve-Maud Hubeaux. Cinna: Julien Behr. Le Souverain Pontife: Jean Teitgen. Le Chef des Aruspices, un consul: Floren Mbia. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. All production photos: Guergana Damianova/ONP Last year, the ever-excellent Palazzetto Bru Zane issued a new recording, under Christophe Rousset and with a strong case, of La Vestale . As it's considered a historically important work, I dutifully listened, more than once, but it didn't click at the time. Still, when it popped up in the Paris Opera's season, in a brand new production (albeit by Lydia Steier - not exactly, based on her Salome , a positive pointer), I bought tickets. I'm glad I did because, despite some misgivings I'll outline below, having...
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Puccini - Turandot, at La Monnaie in Brussels

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La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday June 30 2024 Conductor: Ouri Bronchti. Production and Costumes: Christophe Coppens. Sets: Christophe Coppens and I.S.M.Architecten. Lighting: Peter Van Praet. La Principessa Turandot: Ewa Vesin. L’Imperatore Altoum: Ning Liang. Timur: Michele Pertusi. Il Principe Ignoto (Calaf): Stefano La Colla. Liù: Venera Gimadieva. Ping/Un Mandarino: Leon Košavić. Pang/Il Principe di Persia: Alexander Marev. Pong: Valentin Thill. La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra, Chorus and Choral Academy, La Monnaie Children's and Youth Choirs. All photos except the general view of the set below: Matthias Baus/La Monnaie ' Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels in 1924, leaving the score of his last opera unfinished. A century on, director Christophe Coppens and conductor Ouri Bronchti reveal just how much more there is to the work than its trademark aria "Nessun dorma". Coppens sets his version of Turandot in modern-day Hong Kong, where a wealthy family is corrupted by power...
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Strauss - Salome, at the Bastille in Paris

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ONP Bastille, Sunday May 12 and Wednesday May 22, 2024 Conductor: Mark Wigglesworth. Production: Lydia Steier. Sets and video: Momme Hinrichs. Costumes: Andy Besuch. Lighting: Olaf Freese. Salome: Lise Davidsen. Herodes: Gerhard Siegel. Herodias: Ekaterina Gubanova. Jochanaan: Johan Reuter. Narraboth: Pavol Breslik. Page der Herodias: Katharina Magiera. Erster Jude: Matthäus Schmidlechner. Zweiter Jude: Éric Huchet. Dritter Jude: Maciej Kwaśnikowski. Vierter Jude: Tobias Westman. Fünfter Jude: Florent Mbia. Erster Nazarener: Luke Stoker. Zweiter Nazarener: Yiorgo Ioannou. Erster Soldat: Dominic Barberi. Zweiter Soldat: Bastian Thomas Kohl. Cappadocier: Alejandro Baliñas Vieites. Ein Sklave: Ilanah Lobel-Torres. Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Charles Duprat/ONP I'd already seen Lydia Steier's über -icky production of Salome in 2022 ('beyond nausea,' as one French critic wrote, see my account here ), and wouldn't normally have wanted to cringe thro...
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