Post by tmesis on Sept 10, 2017 17:36:29 GMT
I suppose if I could throw away all operas but just keep one composer it would be Mozart (although I'd cry over letting go Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Eugene Onegin.)
I love Flute. It's a piece that shouldn't work, part panto, part music hall part Masonic ritual but all these elements weirdly come together to produce a sublime work.
I was at yesterday's Friends Dress Rehearsal and on the whole enjoyed it. The David McVicar production is excellent; handsome looking but able to encompass both the child-like simplicity and the sublime. It was also very well conducted by Julia Jones.
The stand out performance was Roderick Williams as Papageno. He was too old for the part but what a glorious voice and he acted the part superbly.
Elsewhere performances by a fairly inexperienced cast were mixed. Mauro Peter playing Tamino had a pleasant voice but no more. The really classy Mozart tenor of yore really doesn't seem to exist anymore. Ian Bostridge was pretty good a decade or so ago but he doesn't seem to do much opera these days. Going back a bit further Anthony Rolfe Johnson was terrific but for me, the best Mozart tenor was Stuart Burrows (yes I am aware of Fritz Wunderlich) who was always underrated, probably because he was no actor. If you want to hear Mozart tenoring at it's best, listen to him in Solti's otherwise dodgy recording.
It's the purity of line that seems to be lacking, which was also the problem with Siobhan Stagg's Pamina. I think we are better off for good Mozart sopranos but Felicity Lott, Ann Murray, Kiri Te Kanawa, Lucia Popp are all in a different league.
Mika Karen was an impressive Sarastro, although a bit lacking in heft in the lower notes. Sabine Devielhe was an accurate and effective Queen of the Night (nothing more is required of this role.)
Reading back over the above I think I've maybe been too negative - it's a really enjoyable show. Just forgive an old git's moans about a dearth of really good Mozart singers.
I love Flute. It's a piece that shouldn't work, part panto, part music hall part Masonic ritual but all these elements weirdly come together to produce a sublime work.
I was at yesterday's Friends Dress Rehearsal and on the whole enjoyed it. The David McVicar production is excellent; handsome looking but able to encompass both the child-like simplicity and the sublime. It was also very well conducted by Julia Jones.
The stand out performance was Roderick Williams as Papageno. He was too old for the part but what a glorious voice and he acted the part superbly.
Elsewhere performances by a fairly inexperienced cast were mixed. Mauro Peter playing Tamino had a pleasant voice but no more. The really classy Mozart tenor of yore really doesn't seem to exist anymore. Ian Bostridge was pretty good a decade or so ago but he doesn't seem to do much opera these days. Going back a bit further Anthony Rolfe Johnson was terrific but for me, the best Mozart tenor was Stuart Burrows (yes I am aware of Fritz Wunderlich) who was always underrated, probably because he was no actor. If you want to hear Mozart tenoring at it's best, listen to him in Solti's otherwise dodgy recording.
It's the purity of line that seems to be lacking, which was also the problem with Siobhan Stagg's Pamina. I think we are better off for good Mozart sopranos but Felicity Lott, Ann Murray, Kiri Te Kanawa, Lucia Popp are all in a different league.
Mika Karen was an impressive Sarastro, although a bit lacking in heft in the lower notes. Sabine Devielhe was an accurate and effective Queen of the Night (nothing more is required of this role.)
Reading back over the above I think I've maybe been too negative - it's a really enjoyable show. Just forgive an old git's moans about a dearth of really good Mozart singers.
