Sunday Brunch – Miah and Ann and John Eliot and Wolfie

Miah Persson, Ann Hallenberg, Peter Mattei, John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir...

...and Mozart. Need I say more? *

*Probably, but I wanted to make sure you had a chance to hear it. Then we can talk!

(If you don’t have a lot of time, at least take a few minutes to check out the soprano duel duet that starts at about 16 minutes in.)

Bach Marathon for Easter Monday – John Eliot Gardiner

Thanks to Intermezzo for alerting us to Sir John Eliot Gardiner's 9-hour Bach Marathon from the Royal Albert Hall on Monday April 1. You can purchase an all-day standing room ticket for £10. It sounds exhausting and wonderful. 

For those of us who can't be in London next Monday, BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting the entire programme. 

Orphée et Eurydice: The Baroque Stylings of…Robert Wilson? (or Blue Orpheus)

OK, I admit it. On first viewing, I pretty much hated this production. I got the DVD because 1.) I will listen to anything John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir do*; 2.) I really like Magdalena Kožená; and 3.) I absolutely love this opera!

It’s so blue!  And so static!  And Orphée is so strange looking – androgynous. And what’s with the hair, and that robe?  Ironically, the copy on the DVD case says, “…Wilson makes the most of the opera’s balletic possibilities…” But, the word “mesmerizing,” is also used, and I think that is the key to enjoying this performance (that, and patience.)