Agnes Baltsa / Achilleas Wastor - Prinzregententheater Munich, 24 July 2010
Agnes Baltsa sustains an operatic career well into her seventh decade largely due to intelligent and realistic repertoire choices. Like this evening of Greek songs. I wasn't familiar with the material itself or even the composers (Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Xarhakos, Manos Hadzidakis, Vassilis Tsitsanis and Spiros Peristeris). From the listener's perspective it's all melodic, accessible, late 20th century stuff, with a heavy nod to folk and popular influences. From the singer's side, the technical demands in terms of lung power and range are limited; but the dramatic skills required to sustain interest in the limited musical line are immense. Ideal fuel for Baltsa (as are her current stage roles, Klytemnestra and Kostelnicka).
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