Mojca Erdmann

Do you know German lyrical soprano Mojca Erdmann? If not, you will in a couple of years. Biography here.
She just signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophone (first record out in 2010/11) - at next years Salzburg Festival she takes part in Rihm´s new opera Dionysus. Last summer she was the Forest Bird in Rattles Aix-en-Provence Siegfried.

At The Metropolitan Opera she will make her debut in the new Don Giovanni production in 2011 (as Zerlina) and will furthermore sing Sophie there, a part she at the moment sings in Stefan Herheim´s new Stuttgart production.

Below, Mojca Erdmann as Zaide from Salzburg Festival 2006 (available on DVD):

Munich: New Don Giovanni with Mariusz Kwiecien

New production of Don Giovanni just opened in Munich (October 2009). Production by Stephan Kimmig. Kent Nagano conducts. Mariusz Kwiecien is Don Giovanni. Maija Kovalevska and Ellie Dehn are the two ladies:

New Stefan Herheim Rosenkavalier in Stuttgart

New production of Rosenkavalier (October 2009-January 2010) by Stefan Herheim in Stuttgart. For non-German speakers, I may add that Stefan Herheim sees the opera as a tragedy. Among the cast is Mojca Erdmann (Sophie), who just signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

1989 Boris Godunov film with Raimondi

Andrzej Zhulavski´s 1989 film of Boris Godunov is now available full-lenght on YouTube. Ruggero Raimondi both sings and plays Boris. As of the rest, Galina Vishnevskaya and Nicolai Gedda provide vocal input only. Rostropovich conducts.

The opening scene:

By victorkiev on YouTube

Salzburg Festival 2010 programme out

The programme for Salzburg 2010 is out.
Edita Gruberova appears as Norma, Anna Netrebko as Juliette and Patricia Petibon as Lulu, but please take a look at that new Elektra production, which I simply cannot imagine being better cast..

mostly opera on facebook

mostly opera is now on facebook

For my part, I imagine using the group to post smaller news-segments or other things of interest, not warranting a post here. And..hopefully participate in discussions. I am (at least for the moment) not intending to start with twitter as well, hoping a facebook-group may cover some of that ground.
As always, we shall see. The group is now 15 minutes old and has 2 members..

CD: Jonas Kaufmann excels with Die Schöne Müllerin

Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano). Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin. Released on DECCA, 2009. Further information here.

A timid, sensitive boy loves a young, beautiful woman. Initially she seems to love him too, but leaves him for a real man. The hunter beats the poetic boy to win the miller´s daughter. And, instead of just swallowing the disappointment and quite literally look for other fish in the stream, he drowns himself in it. Quite predictable, at least in the romantic universe of Schubert.

And what a major relief, that Jonas Kaufmann sings Die Schöne Müllerin without even a hint of whimpish sentimentality. A remarkable release for several reasons, but most importantly is the fresh and direct interpretation from both Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch at the piano.

The obvious comparison is with Fritz Wunderlich, who delivers a classic reading focused on the creation of vocal moods and tonal beauty. Jonas Kaufmann bases his interpretation around sculpturing the words, rather than creating vocal moods, compromising more than occasionally with vocal beauty, especially with the sometimes strained and not entirely-in-tune topnotes. Does it matter? To some, it will. To me, it doesn´t. In that context, Jonas Kaufmann is interpretatively closer to Ian Bostridge, though without the neurotic quality of the latter.

I can hardly imagine a more fresh and direct, no-nonsense interpretation of this song cycle, which may very well be the one I will return to most often in the future.

Promotional video with excerpts:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

5

Renée Flemings 14 minutes in Copenhagen

Renée Fleming and Christoph Eschenbach in Copenhagen

Renée Fleming with Orchestre de Paris conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. Copenhagen, May 11th, 2009. Program: Capriccio final scene and Bruckner´s 9th symphony. Extras: Zueinigung and Morgen (R. Strauss).

Upon reading that at her recent London concert, Renée Fleming was criticized for singing approximately 20 minutes, I was reminded that immediately before her visit in Copenhagen earlier this year, I wondered what the minimum "acceptable" amount of singing at a vocal concert was. In London, she apparently was on a sort of CD-promotion tour. In Copenhagen she sang from Richard Strauss´ Capriccio: 14 minutes + 2 extra orchestra songs = 20 minutes as well. But then, she arrived with the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach, and the Bruckner symphony was well worth a visit. For some. Though, most certainly, the ticket prices reflected on Renée Fleming´s contribution rather than Christoph Eschenbachs, as fine as it actually was.

As to Renée Flemings singing, Richard Strauss is what she does best. She thinks so herself and I don´t hesitate to agree with her. She still has that exact blooming quality in her voice I would have imagined Richard Strauss wrote this music for, combined with exquisite phrasing. And then she is a nice person as well, turning around and singing Zueiningung facing the large part of the audience with cheap tickets sitting directly behind the orchestra.

She will be back in Copenhagen in November 2010. Hopefully with more than 14 minutes. Less is hardly feasible, I suppose.

The bottom line:

4

DVD review: Cunning little Vixen

The cunning little vixen. Paris Bastille Opera 2008. Production: André Engel. Cast includes: Jukka Rasilainen (Forester), Elena Tsallagova (Vixen), Hannah Esther Minutillo (Fox). Conductor: Dennis Russell Davies. Further information here.

André Engel and his team has simply created a great, straight-forward production of Janacek´s opera The cunning little vixen. A couple of seasons ago, the same team created an elegant art deco production of Cardillac for the Paris Bastille Opera, and essentially the recipe for this Vixen is the same: Minimalistic, stylish sets and straight-forward story-telling.

This Cunning little Vixen takes place in and around a railway-station. This is where the Forester lives. The rails are a permanent feature of the sets, appearing in front of a summer-landshape of sunflowers, which turn to winter towards the end of the opera. The changing of seasons as well as the influence of human industry on nature. All the animals are dressed in colourful costumes, and a child-like fairy-tale like atmosphere pervades.

All the singers are convincing singer-actors in parts, which admittedly are not too difficult to cast: This is a conductors opera. To bring off the majestic interludes is what makes this work take off. If I had never heard The Cunning little Vixen before I would probably have thought the orchestra played transparent, but well with Dennis Russell Davies. Unfortunately, however, I have heard what this score sounds like when conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, such as in the Paris Châtelet Opera production (released on DVD in Hytner´s frankly unspectacular staging) 13 years ago: Sumptuously and densely compelling. It is hard not to wish for such a sound for this otherwise excellent production.

Excerpts here:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

The singers: 4-5 to all

André Engel´s production: 5

Dennis Russell Davies: 3

Overall impression: 4

Copenhagen: Disappointing Eugene Onegin

Natalya Kreslina and Audun Iversen

Eugene Onegin. Royal Danish Opera, September 6th 2009. Production: Peter Konwitschny. Cast: Audun Iversen (Eugene Onegin), Natalya Kreslina (Tatiana), Jenny Carlsted (Olga), Niels Jørgen Riis (Lenski), Gustav Belacek (Gremin). Conductor: Michael Schønwandt.

I sincerely do not hope, this is what the Royal Danish Opera gets (rather: Has chosen) instead of the originally promised new Peter Konwitschny production of Die Frau Ohne Schatten, which he, most unfortunately, has withdrawn from: His 1995 production of Eugene Onegin, immediately recognizable to train-afficionados as it is modeled on the Leipzig train station in the concrete sense, and the cruelty of rigid social structures in the abstract sense.

Am I unable to love Eugene Onegin outside the context of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin? I hope not. Quite as expected, Peter Konwitschny clearly rejects that universe, and, as always in his stagings, outer circumstances (such as social and political structures) is a major determinant of character outcomes, thus there are neither any entirely good nor entirely evil characters. Konwitschny clearly and intelligently explained this point of view in a local newspaper before the premiere. Based on Konwitschny´s theoretical arguments, this is a both exciting and moving production of Eugene Onegin. Based on actually seeing this production in the theater, unfortunately, it is not.

What is it about then? I am not sure. We see the Leipzig Train Station with people moving in and out (modern dress, obviously). The audience is part of the tale, as Gremin and Tatiana move to a balcony and Onegin in front of the orchestra pit at certain points. Theatre within the theatre. Society makes Onegin and Tatiana what they are, Tatiana ultimately left alone while Onegin returns to the ranks of spectators. All of this leaves me extra-ordinarily non-moved, though I would not be surprised if Audun Iversen goes on to have a major career.

At this point, I would normally say that at least Michael Schønwandt and the Royal Danish Orchestra saved the evening. Unfortunately they did not as Schønwandt chose a very transparent reading of the score cementating this as a rather boring evening.

What makes this all the more irritating is the fact the Peter Konwitschny really does know how nail it (Michael Schønwandt as well): Their almost-beyond-praise production of Elektra, without doubt the best performance I have seen in my 25 years as a regular visitor to the Royal Danish Opera, will come up this Spring. As they say: Now is the time to look to the future.

The bottom line:

Audun Iversen: 4-5
Natalya Kreslina: 4
Jenny Carlstedt: 3-4
Niels Jørgen Riis: 3-4
Gustav Belacek: 3-4

Peter Konwitschny: 1

Michael Schønwandt: 3-4

Overall impression: 2