It is hazardous to predict, at midnight after the premiere, that an opera suppressed for almost half a century is about to command the stage for many years to come.

But I left English National Opera tonight convinced that Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s 1968 work The Passenger is something very close to a masterpiece. Written to a memoir by a Polish Auschwitz survivor, Zofia Posmysz, by a composer who lost all of his family in the Holocaust, the opera was banned by the Soviet authorities (perhaps for its resemblance to Gulag conditions) and not heard until 2006, when a concert version was performed in Moscow.

The world stage premiere was in Bregenz in the summer of 2010, driven by the conviction of its director David Pountney. It was this version, co-produced with Madrid and Warsaw and with a different cast, that appeared on the London stage before a breathstruck full house.

Switching from Auschwitz to an ocean liner 15 years later, the opera centres on the obsession of an Auschwitz guard for one of her female Polish prisoners. From their first encounter, the authenticity of the relationship is unmistakable – rendering such synthetic confections as William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice and Bernard Schlink’s The Reader morally redundant.

What’s more, Michelle Breedt as the guard and Giselle Allen as Marta reduce to cinders the screen performances by Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet. The cast was flawless: the singing immaculate and the acting of Stratford subtlety. Richard Armstrong conducted.

There are passing naiveties in Alexander Medvedev’s libretto, along with some concessions to the official Soviet line, but Weinberg’s music is compelling and intensely his own. There are moments in the second act when he strays close to Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by his close friend Dmitri Shostakovich,  but the score has Weinberg’s thumbprint as a watermark  through and through. Harrowing as any Holocaust opera must be – and this is the ultimate Auschwitz opera – there is a plethora of rich and tender moments, along with plenty of human conundra.

The vastness of Auschwitz and its multinational population is pointedly brought home, and its counterpoint in the ocean liner leads to endless reflections on how human beings choose – or are chosen – to go from one place to another.

The Passenger is an opera that demands to be seen – more than once, if possible. The author, Zofia Posmysz, in her late eighties, was there to witness the triumph.

The job has just been tweeted.

It’s £51,000 for a 35-hour week.

Admittedly, the job is described as Director, Research & Knowledge, but from what I can tell it’s no more than a glorified researcher, calling in papers and pushing them around for the satisfaction of a complacent bureaucracy.

You may rest assured that no such sinecure was devised by Maynard Keynes for the Arts Council, nor did it exist before the bloated Blair years –  since when the council’s primary aim has been to protect its own jobs.

The very job title is redundant. It is the duty of every Arts Council official to familiarise him or herself with conditions in their art form and report the conclusions back to base so that subsidy can be fairly and efficiently assessed.

A director of research and knowledge, working seven hours a day (and you can bet they will clock-watch) is exactly what the arts do not need in these cost-cutting times – the more so when most people I know in the arts are working 12-14 hour days, minimum, and for less pay.

It’s everything that’s wrong with ACE in a tweet.

The name’s Bond.

Just Bond.

A few years back they were the hottest crossover act in classical music, four conservatory graduates playing electric violins in skin suits.

Then what happened? The bottom fell out.

Of the crossover market.

And the girls started having babies. And it all went quiet for a bit.

But they’re back, making records. And working with Nigel Kennedy. Right now. Like today.

Here’s a link to more pictures of the Nigel shoot.

And here’s them getting down to business.

Bond. Rosa Klebb wouldn’t last ten crotchets with these girls.

Slipped disc has received the following tribute to the late Kurt Sanderling from his erstwhile East German colleague, Kurt Masur:

 (c) T. Martinot/Lebrecht Music&Arts

In the opening sentence of Why Mahler? I wrote that my search for the composer began ‘in 1974 in a London edifice where a Beatle got married and paparazzi hung out each morning in hope of another payday’.

Well, it looks like they’ve got lucky.

Sir Paul McCartney has posted banns at Marylebone Town Hall for his forthcoming wedding to Nancy Shevell. He may be unaware of the Mahler link but if he gives me 24 hours’ notice I’ll have a small chorus on the steps singing ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’ as the happy pair emerge.

And a signed copy of Why Mahler?, of course.

It’s turning into quite a year for the Middle East peacemaker. First he was knighted by the Queen of England, then nominated for a Nobel Prize. Now the German opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) have announced him as the first winner of their Willy Brandt Award.

It’s only 25 grand but the symbolism is huge. Brandt was Berlin’s Mayor when the Wall went up and Germany’s Chancellor in the Cold War 1970s. He lived until 1992, just long enough to see peace break out and the country unified. Let’s hope Barenboim achieves the same. photo: DB receiving knighthood in June from the UK ambassador in Berlin

Ever since he was eased out of Washington National Opera, the great man has had time on his hands. So first he thought about cleaing up world soccer, then about helping the impoverished drivers of Formula 1.

But just wait long enough and the right job is sure to come around. Hot off my emails this morning comes news that Placido Domingo has been named Artistic Director of…. (drum roll)… the opening production at The Royal Opera House of Muscat and Oman.

He will also appear there as a guest conductor with the orchestra of the WNO.

Good to know that Placido has found a niche in these tough times.

‘TURANDOT’ PREMIERS IN OMAN DIRECTED BY
FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, PLACIDO DOMINGO

The opera ‘Turandot’ will be performed at the Royal Opera House
of Muscat, the capital of the Omani Sultanate, on the dates of 12, 14,
15 October 2011.
This presentation, under the sponsorship of Sultan Qabu Ben Said,
who having admired operas of the past season at the Arena of Verona-
with stage design , lighting and directed by Franco Zeffirelli – has
decided to open the Royal Opera House programme to lyric opera.
Sultan Qabu Ben Said was educated in England and has always nurtured
his passion for western culture, particularly theater and classical
music. As an aficionado of classical music, he directed construction
of the theater, whereupon completion also established an orchestra
comprising 120 musicians. The orchestra members, initially taught by
British professors of music, are highly respected throughout the Near
East.
This being the first time that the theater opens its doors to lyric
opera, the Sultan, himself a connoisseur of style and the poetic arts,
chose Mr. Zeffirelli to prooduce and direct one of opera’s more
popular spectacles because of the inherent expertise he has
consistently exhibited throughout his career.
He was the first Italian national to receive an honorary knighthood
fron the British Government when he was created a Knight Commander of
the Order of the British Empire.
The Director,together with Placido Domingo stated expressly that
‘Turandot’, knowing it would be particularly well received by the
Sultan, has the immediacy to both introduce to and fascinate an
audience while presenting an operatic production that is extraordinary
and unlike that of the traditional classical repetoire of Near East
culture.
Mr. Zeffirelli’s desire is completely aligned with the Sultan’s
in that under their auspices there is a penetration of eastern culture
by an art form of the western world.
For we Italians, this opportunity presents the possibility to export
to a new destination another aspect of ‘our artistic expression’
which has contributed to the acclamation and appreciation of the
Italian spirit and character throughout many parts of the world.
It is by virtue of this, that the Foundation Arena of Verona is
represented in an exemplary manner that includes orchestra, chorus,
ballet as well as characters.
The 350 costumes designed by Maurizio Millenotti (twice nomimated
for an Oscar and a ‘David di Donatello’ award recipient) were
produced by three Italian sartorial studios one of which was the
Tirelli firm. And, at the theater Director’s Franco Zeffirelli
behest, in rigorous insistence that all aspects of this production be
of the Made in Italy stamp, select Italian companies designed and
produced all of the costume fabric specifically for this rendering of
‘Turandot’. Even the stage, set, and

art work, designed by Mr. Zeffirelli himself, were created by Italian
masters in stage modeling.
The Artistic Director for ‘Turandot’ is opera’s preeminent
Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, known for his versatile and strong
voice. He has also taken on conducting opera and concert
performances,as well as serving the General Director of the Washington
National Opera of the Washington D.C. and the Los Angeles Opera in
California.
The cast of operatic singers appearing in ‘Turandot’ are: Irina
Longu as ‘Liu’, Marco Scotti as ‘Timur’, and Martina Serafin
as ‘Turandot’.
In the coming days the substitute for Mr. Salvatore Licitra in the
role of ‘Calaf’ will be announced.
Mr. Licitra, as has been noted in the world press, recently passed
away. A serious loss for his family and to the world of Opera.
In additional,on October 13, Placido Domingo will conduct the
Orchestra of Washington National Opera in the Royal Opera House of
Muscat