 |
| Tristan and Luca |
The performances are quite good, and I really dig the Upstairs/
Downstairs theme (and set.) Having the Count, Countess, Figaro and Susanna all about the same age also makes sense. I am not sure I like seeing Luca as a bad guy. I mean he does it well, playing a textbook abusive husband, alternately loving and threatening. But, well...Luca's such a nice guy, I think he should always be the hero! The whole cast is pretty impressive*, including Zurich stalwart Martina Janková as Susanna, and Anett Fritsch (a cool Donna Elvira last season), and Adam Plachetka as Figaro. ...and the rest! Anyway, watch it while you can.
*including a furry cameo by Luca's doxy Tristan as, appropriately, the Count's Dog. I am still waiting to see Lenny get a juicy opera role.
While you're hanging out at medici.tv, be sure to watch the new Claus Guth production of Fidelio with Jonas Kaufmann and Adrianne Pieczonka. I’ve seen only a brief excerpt so far. But it looks pretty good. I mean, it's Claus Guth...and of course, there's JK and AP! (It also has dancer Paul Lorenger, and sign language artist Nadia Kichler who both appeared in Guth’s amazing staging of Handel’s Messiah.)
Fidelio: Beethoven – Claus Guth, Franz Welser-Möst – Salzburg Festival – With Jonas Kaufmann on medici.tv.
Having missed all but
Act 1 of Carmen, and barely catching
the Bayerische Staatsoper Lulu**
before it went off the web***, I am pledging to myself to re-watch Nozze and watch Fidelio from beginning to end before they disappear!!
**Marlis Peterson is amazing
as Lulu. I thought Tcherniakov’s production was illuminating—in Acts 1 and 2.
Act 3 seems to be a stumbling block for many directors. But MP is amazing—really
the whole cast is impressive. If it turns up—ahem—elsewhere, do take time to
watch it. I am looking forward to hearing MP in the new Met production.
Speaking of Lulu at the Met, there is
a really good article/appreciation of this opera in the latest issue of Opera News. Lulu (like Wozzeck, I guess, but I am not as big a
fan) provides new insights (to the music and to the characters) with multiple hearings.
***I left the browser window open for the past few days, and still was able to watch Act 3 today, even though technically it was no longer available.
I'm so glad you liked these. I'll try to remember the trick about leaving the browser window open.
ReplyDeleteI rarely turn off my desktop. so I sometimes keep (opera) browser windows open so I can get back to where I was more easily (specially if I have to stop between acts to do something boring like work) I took a chance that Lulu would still be there. And it was!
Delete