Rameau - 250 years

Posted

Born September 25 1683, died September 12 1764.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spontini - La Vestale, at the Bastille in Paris

Posted
Image
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...
Read more

Puccini - Turandot, at La Monnaie in Brussels

Posted
Image
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...
Read more

Händel - Giulio Cesare

Posted
Image
Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Wednesday May 11 2022. Conductor: Philippe Jaroussky. Production: Damiano Michieletto. Choreography: Thomas Wilhelm. Sets: Paolo Fantin. Costumes: Agostino Cavalca. Lighting: Alessandro Carletti. Giulio Cesare: Gaëlle Arquez. Cleopatra: Sabine Devieilhe. Sesto: Franco Fagioli. Cornelia: Lucile Richardot. Tolomeo: Carlo Vistoli. Achilla: Francesco Salvadori. Nireno: Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian. Curio: Adrien Fournaison. Ensemble Artaserse. Photos: Vincent Pontet I no longer have a subscription at the TCE, having decided, after several years there, it hadn't been good value for money. But an opera expert I know said he thought the cast of this Giulio Cesare was 'intriguing' and a friend who's a Händel fan wanted to see it, so along I went with him. I guess what was 'intriguing' about it was the mix of vocal stars with others already  marked out as promising, and Jaroussky conducting a staged opera for the first time from the pit. T...
Read more