The Marriage of Figaro – Paris Opera, 2006 (Part 2: Eyeglasses and Wine Glasses)

Marthaler and Maestro Sylvain Camberling decided that a harpsichord or fortepiano wouldn’t seem quite right in this setting. So they brought in a performance artist as a “Recitativist.” He’s on stage and participates in the drama—accompanying the recitatives on an electronic keyboard and a batch of odd instruments, including a melodeon, a glass harmonica (pictured), and a pair of beer bottles.  This guy interacts with the other folks on stage, at one point providing the Countess with a couple of shots of whiskey.  

The Marriage of Figaro – Paris Opera, 2006 (Part 1: The Chair, the Stair, and the Lectern)

This Nozze di Figaro received such mixed (mostly bad) reviews I knew I just had to see it! I usually find Christoph Marthaler's viewpoint fascinating—but not always convincing. He often creates a lot of subsidiary action as a commentary to the main action. It’s something I enjoyed in his production of Věc Makropulos.

And Speaking of Marthaler – Helene Schneiderman is Marcellina

HS (left) as Flora, lookin' butch.

Mezzo-soprano Helene Schneiderman is a Jersey girl who trained in the U.S. then started her professional career in Germany. A member of the Staatstheater Stuttgart since 1984, she sings mezzo repertoire around the world. Probably her most widely viewed performance is her appearance in the thankless role of Flora in the DVD of Willy Decker's Traviata (the one with the red dress)–particularly thankless here, as it's very hard to find her in the sea of dark men's suits!

Thursday Extra – More Reviews of Sale

MH is feeling low

Thanks to the blog Definitely the Opera, we have links to a few more reviews (one actually in English – YAY!) plus some bigger photos. I direct you there for more detail. 

O gods of opera videos, please grant us a glimpse this odd but interesting-looking production. 


Sale - The First Post
Sale Part 2 - A review

Sale – Handel, Marthaler, Zurich Opera – Part 2

We found one review, of Marthaler's "new" Handel opera via the blog Welt der Oper neu.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the review is in German. Since it's late on election night, I'm not going to try to make a sensible (logical and in standard English) translation just now. 


With a strong reading comprehension of German, you'll get more detail than I did. However, with Google translate's literal translation, we can get some idea of how the evening went. 

Sale – A Handel Project by Christoph Marthaler, Zurich Opera

ASvO left; MH right, at top of escalator.

It appears that Sale – A Handel project by Christoph Marthaler is going to be another Baroque pastiche along the lines of the Met's Enchanted Island. Of course, since Christoph Marthaler has conceived the plot and production, I am sure it will be much weirder.

The Otterphile – Sogno Barocco Promo Video (and other stuff)

This post had a point when I started. Now it is a potpourri of information all vaguely linked by our favorite Mezzo, Ms. Anne Sofie von Otter (ASvO). Fasten your seat belts!

Anne Sofie von Otter has always had an interest in early music,and she seems to be exploring it more and more now. Here is a sampler from her latest album:

Věc Makropulos – Salzburg 2011 (Part 3: Give Me Alchemy or Give Me Death)

In the course of Věc Makropulos, we learn that Emilia is in fact rather bored with living so long, constantly reinventing herself, and finding a new life and lover. She sings in her final aria that the relative brevity of life is what gives human existence its joys and meaning. Never-ending life seems to blur and ultimately render meaningless the differences between good and evil, happiness and sadness, and even life and death.

Věc Makropulos – Salzburg 2011 (Part 2: Everything Old is New Again)

This Salzburg production, staged by Christoph Marthaler, definitely falls into the Regieoper category. There is a lot of sub-textual action on the sidelines, especially in acts 2 & 3.  The action doesn’t literally mirror the plot, but abstractly represents Emilia’s long life.