More Staatsoper.TV

And while we’re on the subject, here’s the schedule for the rest of the 2018 – 2019 live-stream season from the Bayerische Staatsoper:

01/06/2019

Bedřich Smetana

Die verkaufte Braut (The Bartered Bride)

18.00 hours

Conductor: Tomáš Hanus

Director: David Bösch

Selene Zanetti (Marie), Pavol Breslik (Hans), Günther Groissböck (Kezal)

02/23/2019

Ernst Krenek

Karl V.

19.00 hours

Conductor: Erik Nielsen

Director: Carlus Padrissa – La Fura dels Baus

Bo Skovhus (Karl V.), Anne Schwanewilms (Isabella), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Franz I.)

03/30/2019

Giacomo Puccini
La fanciulla del West
19.00 hours
Conductor: James Gaffigan
Director: Andreas Dresen
Anja Kampe (Minnie), Brandon Jovanovich (Dick), John Lundgren (Jack)

07/06/2019

Richard Strauss
Salome
20.00 hours
Conductor: Kirill Petrenko
Director: Krzysztof Warlikowski
Marlis Petersen (Salome), Wolfgang Koch (Jochanaan), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Herodes), Michaela Schuster (Herodias)

More Must-See Medici.TV (Mozart and Beethoven)

Tristan and Luca

Luca Pisaroni as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro. Do I really need to say more? 

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. 

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro – Dan Ettinger, Sven-Eric Bechtolf – Salzburg Festival on medici.tv.

*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.

Must See Medici TV – Stars in Concert and Staatsoper Lulu

...and speaking of Thomas Hampson, here he is in concert, along with some other singers you may have heard of...

I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my holiday weekend to-do list. 

Watch this at Medici.TV

And now for something completely different, there's this: 

Watch the opera here on medici.tv 

Thanks to MediciTV for sharing this for those of us who missed the live stream on StaatsoperTV. I watched Act 1 on Saturday, but had to give up at intermission. The storm was really messing with my internet connection. What I've seen and heard is impressive. DT's production seems to really suit the expressionist tone of the plot and music. (Lulu is my number-one top 20th century opera!) 

And the cast is doing an exceptional job so far, featuring singers well-known for their Mozart interpretations (including two former Belmontes as Alwa and the Painter!) Watch this blog for a full review sometime soon.