Intermezzo

Calixto Bieito inspires German tenor to drop 50kg - and his pants

Those familiar with the oeuvre of Calixto Bieito will not be surprised to learn that the hero of his new Komische Oper production of Der Freischütz is required to bare some botty.

It's the first time Munich tenor Vincent Wolfsteiner (Max) has gone naked on stage. He applies sound artistic logic to his decision: "Max is expelled from the community, he flees into the forest and becomes a beast. Animals don't wear clothes. It would be silly if I played it in underpants."

But there's another reason he's happy to bare all for Bieito.

A few years ago Wolfsteiner was 50kg heavier. As a huge - really huge - fan of Bieito, he was keen to work with the director. But he knew he'd have to flash the flesh if he did. So he dropped the excess weight, using a picture of Bieito stuck to his fridge as inspiration. "Now", he says "at the age of 45 I'm fitter than I've ever been before in my life." 

The tautly-muscled Vincent Wolfsteiner (Max) is pictured above with Carsten Sabrowski (Kaspar) and below with Ina Kringelborn (Agathe) - and some of the five litres of fake blood ordered for each show.

Swan slamdives German orchestra

The live swan featured in Frank Hilbrich's Theater Freiburg production of Lohengrin waddled out of his nest (above) on Thursday night and flapped into the orchestra pit.

Although the audience gasped, the orchestra played on without missing a note.

The tame one year old dwarf swan was easily recaptured by his trainer, who promises he'll be put in a harness for future performances "now he realises he can fly away". Director Hilbrich may be disappointed - he chose to use a live animal rather than the usual stuffed substitute as "a symbol of hope".

Deutsche Oper Berlin cancel Hitler birthday celebration

Not before time, the Deutsche Oper Berlin have cancelled their planned performance of Rienzi - Hitler's favourite opera - on 20 April - Hitler's birthday.

In a country extraordinarily sensitive to the resonance of that particular date, it's astonishing that acting Intendant Christoph Seuferle scheduled it in the first place, effectively inviting neo-Nazis to gather and celebrate in the opera house he manages.

The decision to cancel was only made after 'in-house discussions with employees'  indicated that a performance would be 'difficult or impossible for personal reasons'- which may or may not mean that opera house staff threatened to strike.

The performance will be moved to 21 April, and Jenufa will be shown in its place.

Herheim's La bohème on DVD

According to the ever-reliable Per-Erik of Wagneropera.net, Stefan Herheim's new Oslo production of La bohème is to be released on DVD in May 2012.

It may end up on YouTube a bit earlier than that though - it'll be beamed into Norwegian cinemas on 4 February and is also expected to be shown on TV some time in March.

Canadian Genius Award

Opéra de Montréal were quick to respond when an irate Canadian operagoer's letter to the Montreal Gazette revealed the feral behaviour of fellow audience members, including "the one moron behind me who tried to slowly, painfully, torturously unwrap a Kit Kat bar because watching Leonora drink poison to save her love suddenly gave him a chocolate craving".

To "reinforce our education about decorum"  they have promised that "anyone dropping off a chocolate bar to the Opéra de Montréal box office from 9 to 5 p.m., only on Friday, Jan. 27, will get a gift certificate for $25 off a ticket for Faust in May."  

An idea ENO and Covent Garden might consider if they want to shift a few slow-moving tickets and replenish the snack cupboard at the same time.

A step forward for Anna Netrebko

Anyone concerned about the outcome of the foot operation that kept Anna Netrebko out of La traviata at Covent Garden last week will be delighted to know that Anna is already back in heels and strutting her stuff as if nothing happened.

Together with Erwin Schrott, she was interviewed earlier today by the German TV host Thomas Gottschalk (here; starts at 13:30).  Warning - it's not exactly Paxmanesque - they politely rebuff Heidi/Seal comparisons and patiently explain why Erwin doesn't get jealous when Anna sings with Jonas Kaufmann. But their responses are in English, which may help.

Keith Warner, Danish Jumper - the REAL reason he left

Yesterday the Royal Danish Opera announced that its Artistic Director Keith Warner had  resigned prematurely. His contract was due to expire in 2014.

The official press release included this statement from Keith Warner:

“It is with immense sadness that I feel I must resign my post at the Royal Danish Opera. A combination of factors, made acute by the recent devastating budget cuts, has led me to feel that in the present circumstances, I am unable to realise my great dreams for the company. We part good friends. The talent of the performing company is beyond compare and the dedication of the entire staff is without reproach. I’m sure we will continue to build pathways towards each other in the future.”

But is that all? Apparently not.

The speech he gave to opera house staff (as documented in Politiken) tells a different story.  

Saying he actually handed in his resignation as early as November, he goes on to slam senior management. "Why would I not resign?" he asks. "I have to front to you and the world endless decisions over which I am given shallow choices, little real control and absolutely no respect."

Southbank Centre 2012 - 2013 season revealed

Well, part of it anyway. The Shell Classic International series, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia and OAE details are up.

Highlights are fewer than hoped, but Zurich Opera's Der fliegende Holländer, conducted by Alain Altinoglu and starring Bryn Terfel, is among them.  There's a lot of Strauss too, including the LPO's  final scene of Salome with Karita Mattila and Thomas Hampson.  Anna Caterina Antonacci joins the OAE in a programme that includes excerpts from Les Troyens and rarely-heard Gluck. 

Visiting orchestras are few, presumably for budget reasons, but there's an interesting Brahms/Schoenberg programme from Michael Tilson Thomas and the Vienna Philharmonic, and Ivan Fischer returns with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and some Bartok. Predicatably, there's almost no contemporary music; the LPO's cannily branded 'The Rest is Noise' season, like the book, concentrates on familiar favourites from the first half of the last century.

On sale dates are:
Shell Classic International - Members booking 25 January, General booking 14 Feb
LPO, OAE and Philharmonia - Members 2 February, General 14 Feb

Chamber Music and Piano details have yet to be revealed - the booking dates are Members 28 February and General 6 March.

459,000 people can't be wrong

According to the Bavarian State Opera, there were 459,000 views of yesterday's live streamed Don Carlo, starring Jonas Kaufmann, Rene Pape and Anja Harteros. That's not far short of the number of physical visitors to the opera house in a whole year.

The figure compares with 77,000 a couple of weeks ago for L'Elisir d'Amore, Munich's first venture into streaming.

Stefan Herheim's La boheme

Stefan Herheim's new production of La bohème opened in Oslo last week.

Herheim begins with Mimi's death and uses the opera to examine Rodolfo's reaction to it. The concept is explained in more detail in a Wagneropera.net interview with Alexander Meier-Dörzenbach, the production's dramaturg. 

Covent Garden Cosi less than half price

Stalls seats for the Royal Opera House's Così fan tutte are 'only' £75 (down from £195) with Travelzoo's latest offer.  It's valid for performances on 27, 30 January and 4 February.

As with the earlier Don Giovanni offer, you book online as normal, entering the code PZOO in the promo code box.

The real cost of German opera tickets

Cologne-based newspaper Express (a bit like our Express, with added t1ts) has trained its Thatcherite lens on the city's opera finances. High culture in Cologne is a huge loss maker, it rants - everyone in Cologne subsidises the entertainment of a few opera fans, many of whom don't even come from Cologne. And so on.

But there are a few interesting statistics tucked away.

An opera ticket in Cologne costs 10 to 90 € ("Aldi prices", sneer the Express, whose idea of a bargain clearly differs from most). The public subsidy from the city treasury is 165 € each (€ 50 million in total). Cologne's ticket prices are, they claim, the lowest of the major German opera houses, and the subsidy proportion is the largest.

They go on to quote a few comparisons. The Berlin Staatsoper charges 14-220 €, with a subsidy of 248 € per ticket.  At the Hamburg State Opera tickets cost 9-158 €, and the subsidy is 114 €. The Bavarian State Opera in Munich charges 5-195 € and the grant is 90 €.

To compare with the UK, the most recent publicly-available annual accounts of ENO show it earned £9 million in ticket income for £18 million in grants (all those £10 Travelzoo offers....) The corresponding figures for the ROH are £35 million box office and £28 million in grants.

Classical music can help you lose weight

Well, sorta. A love of classical music provided the incentive Jacquie Wittstock from Walsall needed to go on a diet. She decided to trim down her 24 stone frame when it began to interfere with her enjoyment of classical concerts.

"I love classical music but when I went to the Symphony Hall in Birmingham I would feel sorry for the people sitting next to me. I knew that when they saw me approaching to sit next to them their heart must have dropped to their toes and I would struggle to fit into the seats. I was constantly thinking of the people around me. I was worried that I would be encroaching on their space, I couldn’t concentrate on the show at all."

Since joining WeightWatchers in October 2010, Jacquie has lost an impressive 11 stone.

"Now I’m like a new person. It’s just a feeling of utter euphoria, I can sit in the seats at the theatre properly. In December when I went back to Symphony Hall I had so much room".

Half price Dvorak opera at the Barbican

And it's not Rusalka. Jiří Bělohlávek conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a mostly native cast in a rare semi-staged performance of Dvořák's The Jacobin at the Barbican on Saturday 4 February.

Call the Barbican Box Office on 020 7638 8891 and quote 'Evening Standard Offer' or book on the Barbican website using the promotional code 260310.  Stalls tickets as little as £10!

La traviata - Ermonela Jaho returns

La traviata - Royal Opera House, 17 January 2012

Four years ago to the day, a barely-known Albanian soprano named Ermonela Jaho made an unexpected Covent Garden debut in La traviata. Anna Netrebko had pulled out sick at short notice. With just hours to prepare, Jaho charmed, moved and placated the disappointed audience. Last night, with Netrebko sick again, Jaho was called in to repeat her coup - or more accurately, to extend her already-scheduled run.

Juan Diego Florez launches Peruvian kids' orchestra

Yesterday Juan Diego Florez performed the role of chief head-tousler at the launch of a Sistema-style symphony orchestra project in Lima. The orchestra is inviting applications from children of poor families across Peru, and will start up in March. 

In a country where it can be hard to finance cultural activities, the project has attracted private funding from Peruvian power company Edelnor, who will also provide a physical base for the orchestra's activities in their Lima offices.

Simon Rattle slams British music

At the  launch of the Berlin Philharmonic's 2013 Baden Baden Easter Festival programme,  Sir Simon Rattle was asked by a journalist whether the Festival might ever focus on British music.

"We British have every reason to be modest about our music," was the conductor's response, "Maybe in homeopathic doses".

The Badische Zeitung diplomatically write off the comment of the "maestro aus Liverpool" as "britischer Humor".  Otherwise known as Big Scouse Gob.

Barbican 2012 - 2013 season revealed

After the usual tedious technical glitches,  details of the Barbican Centre's 2012 - 2013 classical music season are finally up on their website.

It begins on a high as Sir Colin Davis celebrates his 85th birthday with the piano partnership of Radu Lupu and Mitsuko Uchida on 27 September 2012. But there are no visits from European symphony orchestras (presumably three concerts from the highly-paid LA Phil  don't come cheap) and far fewer must-sees than in previous years.

The main strengths in the recitals programme, which includes a one week residency from Juan Diego Florez  and solo recitals from Elina Garanca, Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming and Joyce DiDonato (who also joins JDF in his residency). Pianists include the familiar faces of Evgeny Kissin, Stephen Hough and Murray Perahia, and there's a welcome return to the stage from Maxim Vengerov. 

Operas (in concert) include Donizetti's Belisario (conducted by Sir Mark Elder), Handel's Radamisto and rare Imeneo (with David Daniels and Lucy Crowe), The Turn of the Screw and Lully's Phaéton. 

Booking opens online to Barbican Red Members 23 Jan,  Orange Members 26 Jan and everyone else 30 Jan.

25% off Jonas Kaufmann

The CBSO have a one week only sale.

You can get 25% off tickets for most* concerts booked from now to Sunday 22 January, including the one with Jonas Kaufmann on 7 March (a solace for anyone who missed out on the Wigmore Hall date?) The concert includes a generous number of Strauss and Mahler songs (probably as much singing as you'd get in a headlining show). Tickets start at £8 with the offer - and with train fares from London starting at £10 return, it's possible to do the whole trip for less than a single Wigmore Hall seat!

(*The offer excludes: 3 March – Tristan and Isolde; 12 April – The Dream of Gerontius; 30 May – Britten’s War Requiem; 12 & 13 June: Symphony Hall 21st Anniversary Concerts.)

Musica inglese

The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia welcomed their Musical Director back last week with a jolly good bit of Elgar.

Personally I think he should be worried how well the orchestra play without him.....