We left at the interval...

La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday October 27, 2024 An edited version of t his post will be published on Parterre.com Conductor: Kwamé Ryan. Production: Ted Huffman. Sets: Johannes Schütz. Costumes: Astrid Klein. Lighting: Bernd Purkrabek. Video: Pierre Martin. Choreography: Alan Barnes. Delia Daley: Claron McFadden. William Daley: Mark S. Doss. David Strom: Simon Bailey. Jonah: Levy Sekgapane. Joey: Peter Brathwaite. Ruth: Abigail Abraham. Lisette Soer: Lilly Jørstad. Robert Rider: Hervé Loka Sombo. La Monnaie Chamber Orchestra. Jazz Ensemble: Robin Verheyen, Lander Gyselinck, Nicolas Thys, Hendrik Lasure. Equinox Children's Choir under Zeno Popescu. Photos: Ⓒ Bernd Uhlig As I missed La Monnaie’s Siegfried because I was still sunbathing in Greece, and Paris’s Butterfly because I couldn’t be bothered, my new season starts with three new works - new to me at any rate. Later this week, at the Opéra Comique, I’ll discover George Benjamin’s Picture a day like this . Later this year, Mikael...

Back from my summer holidays, I found two issues of Opéra Magazine  waiting in the post. Their 'pick-of-the-month' recording for September is Huw Montague Rendall's recital, Contemplation , to which they award one of their 'Diamond' accolades. They say it's a ' coup de maître ' of a kind rarely encountered on disc. 'How long is it since we heard such an extraordinarily successful first recital?' It includes works by Thomas, Gounod, Korngold, Mahler, Britten, Duparc and more, and also involves soprano Elisabeth Boudreault and three boy trebles when required. The whole album is available on YT . They also give one of their 'Diamonds' to bass Luigi De Donato's Polifemo recital, with Polyphemus-related works by Händel, Aliberti, Porpora and others. Again, The whole album is available on  YT . In October, their favourite, again with a 'Diamond', is György Vashegyi's new recording of the eighty-year-old Rameau's last master...