Author Archives: John

Christian Gerhaher, Anna Lucia Richter, Pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz: Wolf, Italienische liederbuche. My planning for this Munich trip was done a long time ago and at one point I wasn’t going to the Sunday performance of Capriccio. Hence I ended up not planning in advance anything to do on the Friday and Saturday evenings. On theContinue reading “Wolf song recital, Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 15/07/22”

Conductor, Ulf Schirmer (with the Gewandhaus Orchestra), Director and Designer,  Roland Aeschlimann;  Costumes, Susanne Raschi;  Lighting, Lukas Kaltenbäck.   Kundry, Elena Pankratova; Amfortas, Mathias Hausmann; Titurel,  Randall Jakobsh; Gurnemanz, Rene Pape; Parsifal, Andreas Schager; Klingsor, Falk Struckmann I booked this a long time ago, during one lockdown or other, when being able to go to WagnerContinue reading “Wagner, Parsifal – Oper Leipzig, 14/07/22”

Conductor, Edward Gardner; Production, Stefan Herheim; Set Design, Silke Bauer; Costume Design, Esther Bialas; Lighting, Michael Bauer.     Peter Grimes, Stuart Skelton; Ellen Orford, Rachel Willis-Sørensen; Balstrode, Iain Paterson; Auntie, Claudia Mahnke; Swallow, Brindley Sherratt; Mrs. Sedley, Jennifer Johnston; Ned Keene, Andrew Hamilton It’s ages since I last saw Peter Grimes live on stage – IContinue reading “Britten, Peter Grimes – Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 12/07/22”

Conductor, Robert Jindra; Production; Barrie Kosky; Set Design, Michael Levine; Costume Design, Victoria Behr; Lighting, Franck Evin.    Forester, Wolfgang Koch; Forester’s Wife, Lindsay Ammann; The Schoolmaster, Jonas Hacker; The Priest, Martin Snell; Haraschta, Milan Siljanov, Pasek, Caspar Singh; The Vixen, Elena Tsallagova; Fox, Angela Brower. As I think I have mentioned before in this blog,Continue reading “Janacek: The Cunning Little Vixen – Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 11/07/22”

Conductor, Daniele Rustioni; Production , Christophe Honoré; Set Design, Katrin Lea Tag; Costume Design , Olivier Bériot; Lighting, Dominique Bruguière. Cassandre, Jennifer Holloway; Hecuba, Emily Sierra; Ascagne, Eve-Maud Hubeaux; Didon, Ekaterina Semenchuk; Anna, Lindsay Ammann; Priam , Martin Snell; Enée, Gregory Kunde; Panthée, Sam Carl The first of my five musical events in Munich, havingContinue reading “Berlioz: Les Troyens – Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 10/07/22”

DIRECTOR – Damiano Michieletto; REVIVAL DIRECTOR, Noa Naamat; SET DESIGNER, Paolo Fantin; COSTUME DESIGNER Carla Teti, LIGHTING DESIGNER, Alessandro Carletti; CONDUCTOR, Antonio Pappano Turridu – SeokJong Baek; Nedda and Santuzza – Aleksandra Kurzak ; Canio – Roberto Alagna; Alfio, Dimitri Platanias; Lola, Aigul Akhmetshina; Mamma Lucia. Elena Zilio; Tonio, Dimitri Platanias; Silvio, Mattia Olivieri; Beppe,Continue reading “Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci – ROHCG, 08/07/22”

Haydn – String Quartet in G minor Op. 20 No. 4; Brahms – Piano Quintet in F minor Op. 34 This was a great concert. The Brahms was magnificently done with energy and passion. The third and first movements had a magnificent sweep, and the second a quiet thoughtfulness. The last – complex, jumpy, moody,Continue reading “Cuarteto Casals: Haydn, and Brahms.  Wigmore Hall  03/07/22 lunchtime “

Haydn – String Quartet in G minor Op. 20 No. 3; Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 1 in C Op. 49’; Mendelssohn – String Quartet No. 3 in D Op. 44 No. 1 I had had an excellent afternoon walking for 3 hours on the South Downs near Lewes with an old friend, and thisContinue reading “Cuarteto Casals: Haydn, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich.  Wigmore Hall  02/07/22  “

DIRECTOR, Jan Philipp Gloger; SET DESIGNER, Ben Baur; COSTUME DESIGNER Karin Jud; Conductor Julia Jones; Fiordiligi, Jennifer Davis; Dorabella, Julie Boulianne; Ferrando; Bogdan Volkov; Guglielmo, Gordon Bintner; Despina, Serena Gamberoni; Don Alfonso, Lucio Gallo  It was lovely to hear Cosi Fan Tutte live again in the opera house – it must be more than 10 yearsContinue reading “Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte – ROHCG  01/07/22 “

Richard Farnes, CONDUCTOR; Sam Brown, DIRECTOR; Bengt Gomér, SET & LIGHTING DESIGNER; Stephen Rodwell COSTUME AND WIGS; Toby Spence, PARSIFAL; Katarina Karnéus, KUNDRY; Robert Hayward, AMFORTAS, Derek Welton, KLINGSOR; Brindley Sherratt, GURNEMANZ; Stephen Richardson, TITUREL. Opera North Chorus and Orchestra I was meant to be going to a performance of Die Tote Stadt at LongboroughContinue reading “Opera North: Wagner Parsifal: Royal Festival Hall, 26/06/22”