We left at the interval...

La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday November 5 2023 Conductor: Alain Altinoglu. Production, sets, costumes and lighting: Romeo Castellucci, with Paola Villani (sets), Clara Strasser (costumes), Benedikt Zehm (lighting). Choreography: Cindy Van Acker. Wotan: Gábor Bretz. Donner: Andrew Foster-Williams. Froh: Julian Hubbard. Loge: Nicky Spence. Fricka: Marie-Nicole Lemieux. Freia: Annett Fritsch. Erda: Nora Gubisch. Alberich: Scott Hendricks. Mime: Peter Hoare. Fasolt: Ante Jerkunica. Fafner: Wilhelm Schwinghammer. Woglinde: Eleonore Marguerre. Wellgunde: Jelena Kordić. Flosshilde: Christel Loetzsch. La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra. Photos: Monika Rittershaus An artist I know well has nearly always worked on long-term projects, in some cases spanning ten years or more, with exhibitions marking various stages along the way as the projects - and the artist's life - progress. Each 'iteration' both develops and transforms what's gone before. It contains external references - for exam

Something totally new for those in London: November 29th will see the UK premiere of a staged song cycle for soprano, baritone, narrator & pianist, called Closing Time . The music is by Ross Fiddes, the soprano is Daniella Sicari, the Baritone John Ieuan Jones, the pianist Nicole Panizza, and the narrator Karin de Novellis. According to the flyer, ' During lockdown, Karin wrote a collection of poems , Closing Time at the Kings Head, reflecting on everyday situations and some of the feelings she and her husband experienced while living with dementia (...) This staged performance shows how, in spite of the challenges, a care-partnership can embrace understanding, compassion and love, making the journey easier and better for all concerned . Fiddes’ music inhabits the words in such a way that the listener cannot help but be drawn into this moving and powerful piece .' The world premiere of Closing Time was staged in September in Australia at Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastl

    The French Opéra Magazine ’s favourite new recording (‘ coup de coeur ’) in the November issue is Christophe Rousset’s studio set of Lully’s Thésée .  Having described it as ‘magnificent’ and praised its ‘remarkable eloquence’, the reviewer goes on to say that ‘the French conductor and harpsichordist carries this new opus to the heights’, with a 'faultless' cast, among them Karine Deshayes and Matthias Vidal. The recording, on Aparté, which ‘easily eclipses the only other existing version by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs,’ is awarded one of their ‘Diamond’ ratings. At the time of writing, the recording is available in full on YouTube . though on my computer the tracks are interspersed with loud advertisements  much louder than the Lully.

  The French Opéra Magazine 's favourite new recording in October 2023 was the Palazzetto Bru Zane's new recording of Massenet's Ariane , a 'major discovery' and 'one of Massenet's most captivating operas.' They hope that this complete recording will lead to staged performances, especially at the Paris Opera. 

ONP Bastille, Tuesday October 24 2023 Conductor: Alexander Soddy. Production: Kirill Serebrennikov. Sets: Olga Pavluk. Costumes: Tatiana Dolmatovskaya. Lighting: Franck Evin. Videos: Alan Mandelshtam. Choreographer: Evgeny Kulagin. Dramaturge: Daniil Orlov. Heinrich der Vogler: Kwangchul Youn. Lohengrin: Piotr Beczała. Elsa von Brabant: Johanni van Oostrum. Friedrich von Telramund: Wolfgang Koch. Ortrud: Ekaterina Gubanova. Der Heerrufer des Königs : Shen Yang. Brabantischer Edler: Bernard Arrieta, Chae-Hoon Baek, Julien Joguet, John Bernard. Edelknabe: Isabelle Escalier, Joumana El-Amiouni, Caroline Bibas, Yasuko Arita. Chorus and Orchestras of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Charles Duprat/ONP I'm going to begin this post by indulging my puzzled obsession with 'production churn' at the Paris Opera in supposedly straitened times, so please feel free to skip the part in blue if not interested. Yesterday, I Googled for 'Paris Opera Finances'; the following is a