Three productions by Robert Carsen, all already released on DVD, all previously reviewed here, opened the 2012-13 seasons in Paris and Venice:
- An elegant theatre within the theatre production taking place during a performance of Don Giovanni, already released on DVD and reviewed in detail a couple of years ago. However with an entirely different cast of singers now presented:
- Stefano Secco, is a competent, though neither very distinctive or individual Hoffmann. The same goes for Franck Ferrari´s villains.
- Jane Archibald, the coloratura soprano who seems to be everywhere at the moment, most definitely has the notes for Olympia, but she also seems to lack a certain distinctiveness.
- Individuality is something which Sophie Koch definitely has, though coupled with an at times somewhat excessive vibrato in the best performance of the evening together with:
- Ana Maria Martinez, who has a quite exceptional voice with a very distinctive high-frequency vibrato.
- An elegant production-within-production production (!) reviewed in detail here.
- Was Deutsche Oper Berlin house diva Michaela Kaune really first-choice for this production? I somehow doubt it, as she doesn´t quite seem to have the name of carrying a big role like this in the season opening of Opera Garnier.
- Nevertheless, though not the most distinctive singer, she was highly applauded for a beautiful and moving Countess. She lacks the glamour that Renée Fleming brought to the DVD, but then she also comes without Fleming´s at times irritating vocal manners.
- Bo Skovhus now seems definitely past his prime, with an increasingly wide vibrato which comes with increasingly neurotic stage manners.
- Michaela Schuster is effective rather than glamorous, while Adrian Eröd sings with great beauty and warmth as opposed to the cooler Joseph Kaiser, underlining Madeleine´s choice, I suppose.
- Philippe Jordan, as usual, was quite excellent and possibly received the largest applause of the evening.
- Half the fun of a performance of the Teatro la Fenice opera of Venice is getting there (and away): Wandering the narrow streets besides the canals or perhaps even arriving with boat.
- Chosen for the reopening of the opera house in 2004 (being reconstructed after a major fire), the production is already available on DVD and has already been reviewed in details on this site.
- Perhaps for these historic reasons, firefighters were present in large numbers throughout the performance, especially on the upper level of the theatre.
- The production remains innovative and interesting, though more so with the DVD cast than with the cast actually in the theatre: Ji-Min Park, not the most charismatic of singers never quite seemed to warm up, though Jessica Nuccio gave a quite moving., though not overly precise performance.
- I must admit to not remembering much else about the performance.