One of the great German arias, seldom heard on foreign stages.
Robert Braunmüller in the Munich Abendzeitung acclaims the new Tristan und Isolde musically as the most impressive since Leonard Bernstein’s long-ago concert performance.
But he has reservations about Jonas Kaufmann in the male title role:
Jonas Kaufmann is not an ideal Tristan. The baritone colouring of his tenor suits the role. But after the duet in the second act, he became overly cautious… in the third act the singer didn’t risk anything… Kaufmann’s Tristan remains a test of courage: He passed it, but not with flying colors. In the interests of the rest of his repertoire, Kaufmann would be well advised to only sing the role as an exception…
Read on here.
UPDATE: Süddeutsche Zeitung’s review is slightly wierd:
What a wonderful costume! Anja Harteros sings as Isolde in the Bavarian National Theater and wears wide black trousers with a yellow blouse. Later, the adored Tristan helps her – Jonas Kaufmann is always adorable that evening – in a black floor-length coat with gold brochures on a white background and a lining in magenta. What a color orgy!
In the second and third act of Richard Wagner’s brilliant love search opera “Tristan und Isolde”, Harteros then only wears red. That mixes wonderfully with her first outfit, which she still pretends to be an elegant lady of the world from which she soon escapes with her life-like Tristan.
The Metropolitan Opera has issued a notice to all employees to ensure they get vaccinated against Covid before a projected return to work on August 1.
‘Employees who are not in compliance with this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.’
Always with the soft touch, that nice Mr Gelb.
Tim Seelig is retiring next year after a decade as Artistic Director and Conductor of San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.
‘The milestones are humbling,’ said Seelig. ‘The chorus has been able to honor its commitment to music and mission. The music, new and old, has been glorious. The mission continues to stand as a beacon guiding this chorus through what is now 43 years. For me, the successes of these 10 seasons with SFGMC are not counted in numbers of singers or dollars, but in the lives and hearts moved by the music we have made together.’
From our friends at New York Classical Review:
The Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park is one of the primary outdoor places to enjoy classical music in New York right now. Recently restored this fine venue is currently one of the few classical with a regular, in-person concert schedule.
Tuesday night, that schedule brought the mixed and combined forces of the Emerson and Ulysses String Quartets. The musicians, playing Strauss, Bruckner, Shostakovich, and the Mendelssohn Octet battled the elements with some verve, and succeeded in the end, though it was close call….
Bruckner’s Quintet has more oomph, but isolating the third Adagio movement from the rest gave the performance a hazy presence. Bruckner is a large-scale thinker, and as deep as his slow movements are, they are best when prepared by previous sections. The players—Brookes joined violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer and the rest of the Emersons—circled the edges of the piece for awhile, then became clearly more involved in the middle section, bringing in the audience. But the closing pages were marred by the slow pass of a helicopter, seeming deliberate about ruining the experience. After the final note, Setzer gestured to the sky with his bow, in frustration…
Read on here.
Amazingly, agents in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with 150+ opera houses and concert halls, have never formed a coordinating body.
They have now – mostly due to Covid and Brexit related issues.
The mission:
– Clarification and standardisation of the status of guest artists under labour and social security law.
– Improvement of model contracts and industry-wide acceptance of regulations that acknowledges the artists’ preparation in advance for projects and entitles them to compensation payments in the event of cancellations through no fault of their own.
– Recognition of artists’ media and personal rights in connection with streaming and digital distribution of opera performances and concerts.
The indefatigable Pierre Labric is 100 today.
Longstanding deputy organist at Notre Dame de Paris, standing in for his 1948 Conservatoire classmate Pierre Cochereau, Labric made most of his celebrated recordings on the Cavaillé-Coll organ in Rouen.
Houston Grand Opera has gone outside the magic circle of opera chiefs to name Khori Dastoor as general director.
Dastoor, 40, has risen at Opera San Jose from resident soprano to artistic advisor to general director. From next January, she will have a big stage on which to put her revivalism into practice.
“The problem I want to solve is how my children come to opera,” she said. “What they learn about it, what they think it is, how they consume it. The digital revolution has changed how they will interact with arts and culture. My interest is being on the front of how arts and culture institutions prepare for that. You can have your opinion about it, you can bemoan it, you can embrace it. I don’t judge it — I just see that it’s happening.”
The East Neuk Festival, on the Scottish coast, tells it as it is.
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There was heavy booing in Munich last night for Krzysztof Warlikowski’s contemporary-styled new production of Tristan und Isolde, as was only to be expected.
Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros received ovations for their role debuts, as did the conductor Kirill Petrenko.
No reviews yet.
German critics don’t do overnights.
Storms in southwest Germany last night ripped off parts of the roof of the Stuttgart Opera House.
Aside from scattering tiles and leaving water dripping onto a side-stage, one statue was toppled and other damage has yet to be assessed.
During the storm, 250 people sat attentively through a song recital.
Safer than watching football.