Intermezzo

Andris is on his way to Boston

The Boston Symphony Orchestra have just announced that Andris Nelsons is to become their next Music Director, beginning as Music Director Designate in the 2013-14 season.  He takes on the full role in the following season on a five-year contract that commits him to up to 12 weeks of performances each year. The full press release is below.

The CBSO have confirmed Andris will stay with them until "at least 2014/15 on a rolling contract"; they will make an announcement about future seasons later this year.

While it's possible for one conductor to handle two orchestras, this makes it less likely that Nelsons will be available for the Berlin Philharmonic opening in 2018. 

BSO press release:

How to get a head in opera

Salome - Royal Opera House, 31 May 2012

I wish I could be more positive about this revival, but in all honesty it was looking shabby even on the first night. Angela Denoke's otherwise convincing Salome sounded tired and off-pitch, not a patch on her 2010 run. Egils Silins (Jokanaan) lacked power and presence, and the Herod and Herodias of Stig Andersen and Rosalind Plowright were under-characterised. In a Rupert the horse-style coup, the terrifying (and silent) Executioner (Duncan Meadows, above) pretty much stole the show.  

Even Andris Nelsons, a generally reliable conductor of Strauss, fell short of his usual standards. The playing didn't lack energy, but it was short on detail and too often the orchestra seemed under-rehearsed. At least that's one area that might improve over the run. 

Jonas Kaufmann goes to Brum

CBSO / Andris Nelsons / Jonas Kaufmann - Symphony Hall Birmingham, 7 March 2012

What’s in the middle of Birmingham but surrounded by sea?

Jonas Kaufmann!

The CBSO’s very, very special guest was placed at the centre of Wednesday evening’s programme, and rightfully so. Before him came Britten’s Sea Interludes; after, Debussy’s La Mer.

But let’s not pretend this was a mere guest soloist spot. With ten songs on the programme (eleven if you count the encore) we received a more bountiful helping of Herr Kaufmann than many an orchestrally-grouted recital programme provides.

Tristan und Isolde und the CBSO

Tristan und Isolde - CBSO / Nelsons - Symphony Hall Birmingham, 3 March 2012

Forget staged, semi-staged or even notionally visual. The singers were lined up behind their music stands. The conductor was confined to a chair. This was a static Tristan und Isolde, even by concert version standards. But four enthralling hours proved that sometimes the music really is all that matters.

Madama Butterfly flaps again

Madama Butterfly Royal Opera House, 25 June 2011

Some of the critiques of Christopher Alden's A Midsummer Night's Dream might kid you momentarily into thinking there's something new about a manipulative paedo on the opera stage.

And then you remember Madama Butterfly.

Andris, Jonas and Tristan

I won't bother with an full overview of the CBSO's 2011-12 season as the Birmingham Post has done an excellent job already. As always there's plenty there to justify a trip, and it's worth pointing out a few concerts are likely to sell out soon after booking opens on 6 June.

First up is a concert version of Tristan und Isolde on Saturday 3 March 2012 at 4.00pm. Andris Nelsons conducts, with Torsten Kerl as Tristan, Lioba Braun as Isolde, Christianne Stotijn as Brangäne, Brett Polegato as Kurwenal and Matthew Best as King Marke.

Lucky Birmingham also get a visit from Jonas Kaufmann. After last year's Bayreuth Lohengrin, he again teams up with Andris Nelsons on Wednesday 7 March 2012, this time to sing Strauss and Mahler.

On Wednesday 30 May 2012 there's a special concert in Coventry Cathedral which marks the 50th anniversary of Britten's War Requiem. Busy Andris Nelsons conducts Kristine Opolais, Mark Padmore and Thomas Quasthoff.  

Andris Nelsons debuts with LSO

LSO / Andris Nelsons / Viktoria Mullova - Barbican, 30 September 2010

Is there anything Andris Nelsons can't do? The programme wasn't entirely inspiring, there were fallibilities in communication, but even so, his LSO debut wasn't far short of fabulous.

Mahler 8 in Birmingham

CBSO / Nelsons - Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 16 September 2010

Was it worth travelling all the way to Birmingham and back for just 90 minutes of music? You bet.

The CBSO kicked off their season and their Mahler cycle with the 8th Symphony. A cast of 600 filled the stage and the choir stalls and stretched around the side galleries.

Lohengrin - Andris Nelsons scores victory for Birmingham

Lohengrin - CBSO / Andris Nelsons - Symphony Hall Birmingham, 12 June 2010

Competing in the World Cup is tough enough; competing with it is even harder. But the CBSO managed to fill Symphony Hall for a one-off concert performance of Lohengrin despite the first round challenge from England v.USA.  Scheduling a 90 minute interval to coincide with kick off was one of the evening's most skilful moves. Opera and football touch the same part of the soul; together they make an irresistible team.

CBSO 2010-11 season goes on sale

Every orchestra in the country seems to be doing a Mahler cycle this year, and the CBSO are no exception, with what might turn out to be the best of the lot.

Their 2010-11 season begins with a bang on 16 September when Andris Nelsons conducts the supersized Symphony No.8 (repeated on 18 September). I haven't heard Nelsons' Mahler yet, but how's this for a review, from Hilary Finch in the Times: 

"Birmingham has scarcely been without memorable Mahler experiences in the past couple of decades. Yet this Second Symphony was in a class of its own, surpassing almost every performance of the work in my own living memory".

Later in the year Nelsons conducts No's 5 and 9, and the remainder of the symphonies are shared by Sakari Oramo, Vassily Sinaisky and Jac van Steen. Sir Charles Mackerras conducts Kindertotenlieder, and the Mahler cycle rounds off on 12 June 2011 with a visit from Simon Rattle for Das Lied von der Erde, with Magdalena Kožená and Michael Schade.

There's more to life than Mahler of course, and I'm going to be checking out some of Nelsons' other concerts if I can find the time to whizz up to Birmingham. Unlike some of today's younger conductors, Nelsons is emphatically not coasting on charm or enthusiasm, nor is he being overhyped by an industry in search of the next cash cow. He's the real thing, and Birmingham is lucky to have him.

Be warned that the Mahler 8 and the Simon Rattle concert are selling well, so don't leave booking these too late.

There are also a few tickets left for this Saturday's concert performance of Lohengrin, conducted by Nelsons (and featuring Kostas Smoriginas as Schaunard if you believe the website), in case you need to escape the football.

an afternoon with Andris Nelsons

Philharmonia / Nelsons / Lugansky - Royal Festival Hall, 28 February 2010

What's the secret to selling out the Royal Festival Hall? Timing. A 3pm start on a Sunday guarantees seats will be snapped up by grannies who don't like going out after dark, kids who aren't allowed to stay up late, and coachloads from outside the M25 who want to get home before midnight. And there's the added bonus of no competing classical attractions. The hall was packed, yet a similar (arguably better) programme from the same artists on Thursday night has so far attracted only half the numbers. 

A Sunday matinee regular told me it's the same story every concert. And when I visited Birmingham last year on a weekday afternoon, I found a healthy audience there too. So why aren't there more afternoon concerts? Are events scheduled for the convenience of the artists and the venues alone? Why can't organisations subsidised by taxpayers' money make more of an effort to give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend?

A swift and punchy La forza del destino Overture made an anomalous start to the Rachmaninov-heavy programme - and it took longer to rearrange the stage afterwards than it did to perform it - but at least it whetted the appetite for some full length Verdi from Andris Nelsons (none scheduled as far as I know).

The muscularity and accuracy of Nikolai Lugansky's playing didn't quite compensate for its lack of poetry and passion in Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, but at least Nelsons whipped up the Philharmonia into something approaching excitement.

His exuberance doesn't rub off on the Londoners quite as readily as it does on his own CBSO, but they succumbed in Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, quite the most vivid and thrilling playing I've heard from them in ages. Leaping around the podium like a monkey who's spotted a banana on the other side of the bars, Nelsons cuts a lanky, ungainly figure, and I sometimes wondered how the band could follow his beat. Yet somehow the three movements were beautifully paced to culminate in the mad, spiralling dance of death. He coaxed clear and incisive playing, always beautifully balanced, and avoided vulgar overstatement despite the temptations inherent in the vivid, expressive writing.

And all over in time for tea.

 

Andris Nelsons and the CBSO in Oxford

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Andris Nelsons / Baiba Skride - Sheldonian Theatre Oxford, 5 February 2010

Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre is mainly employed for university lectures and ceremonies but it has hosted plenty of concerts too over its 300+ year history. Handel's oratorio Athalia premiered here in 1733 in front of, reportedly, 3,700 people. There can't have been even a quarter of that number at the CBSO's Friday concert, yet it was still nose-to-tail on the narrow galleried benches, with the orchestra spreading over most of the floor area. Handel's audiences must have been smaller, slimmer and a great deal more tolerant.

The subtleties of Rimsky's orchestration of Musorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain were smudged in the loud, boomy Sheldonian acoustic. But the CBSO responded to Andris Nelsons's energetic encouragement  - more dancing than conducting, really - with a conviction that made the old warhorse at least tolerable.

Baiba Skride's white-hot solos raised the roof in Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto. A scorching, inspired third movement cadenza capped a technically immaculate and exquisitely judged performance. Andris Nelsons' pacing was intelligent. Physically he gives the impression of unbridled energy, but musically he knows when to hold back and when to let go. This isn't even a work I particularly like or admire, but it was impossible not to be utterly gripped from start to finish.

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony couldn't reach the same level of intensity, but all the same it was a delightfully fresh account of an over-familiar work. Despite the clotting acoustics, phrases emerged neatly sculpted and transparently coloured. There were no half-planned ideas and no half-baked playing. The second movement's horn solo was beautifully taken, but the woodwinds were just as impressive, and the CBSO strings have developed a luxurious golden sheen. Again the pacing was immaculate, the delicious lightness of the waltzing third movement allowing Nelsons to avoid bombast in the powerful finale.

The CBSO under Nelsons are just getting better and better. Hopefully they'll turn up at the Proms this year, but if not, it's worth a trip out of London to catch them.

*****   more photos on next page   *****

LOL Boheme

La bohème - Royal Opera House, 23 December 2009

I was crying at the end of this Bohème alright. With laughter. Had Musetta sacrificed more than her earrings for Mimì? Let's just say the resemblance between the proffered fluffy white muff and her show-stealing Act 2 canine companion* was a striking one.
(*'Pickle' the German Spitz, per programme).

But it's the least of this dreadful old production's problems. Where do I start? The artist who can't afford to eat but can pay a nude model? The door which supposedly leads to a staircase placed in what is clearly an external wall ?  The wagon which rocks throughout the Act 3 prelude then spills out a flustered couple at its end (a 'colourful' addition unsupported by either music or libretto)? The vast distance between Rodolfo and Mimì as he sings of gazing on her face?  Even the welcome sight of Kostas Smoriginas in his underpants was, on mature and objective reflection, gratuitous, though it pains me to admit it. I won't go on. Cinematic style realism, which is this production's aim, relies on getting the details right - all of them. No amount of gasp-inducing fake snow can cover that up.

Some productions are traditional in a good sense. They respect the music and the words, and deal with both honestly if unimaginatively. But this one is simply tired, lazy and past it. I can only guess at what sort of internal politics keep it on the schedules.

The music was some compensation for the torture of the visuals. Andris Nelsons, on the third of his five nights, began brilliantly. The first two acts displayed a chamber-like grasp of colour and detail. Every single note mattered. His dynamic range was broad and bold, his daring luftpausen perfectly judged to highlight what followed without losing track of what had passed. The orchestra played beautifully for him, as well as they have for Pappano and Bychkov in recent months. Something changed after the interval though. The exuberance had faded, the lustrous detail was blurred. Still perfectly good, just not quite as emotionally gripping. I didn't, incidentally, notice any of the pit/stage co-ordination problems some of the first night reviewers commented on.

The cast too is a solid one. Although there was an air of routine to Piotr Beczala's Rodolfo, he stepped up a gear to project his big numbers with more ardour. Hibla Gerzmava was a strong Mimì, perhaps too robust to be entirely sympathetic. Gabriele Viviani (Marcello), Inna Dukach (Musetta), Jacques Imbrailo (Schaunard) and Kostas Smoriginas (Colline) completed the well-rounded central ensemble, the only small complaint being a certain similarity between the voices of Hibla Gerzmava and Inna Dukach. They deserve a better show.

Production photos here.

how much is Andris Nelsons worth?

£7,100 according to Ebay. That was the winning bid for an auction package which included a masterclass with the maestro and the opportunity to conduct the CBSO.

CBSO auction off Andris Nelsons

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra have worked out a way to grab the headlines in the Birmingham Post and pick up a bit of cash for charity along the way too.

They're auctioning off an Ebay package which includes a precious hour alone with their cuddly conductor Andris Nelsons, during which he will impart all his secret skillz to the lucky winner *plus* an hour conducting his personal orchestra the CBSO *plus* a dinner with 'select players' (Grade 8 knife and fork use minimum) afterwards.

For anyone who'd rather fiddle with the CBSO string section, there are similar learn, play and dine opportunities for violin, viola, cello and double bass players too.

Start the bidding now and start it high!

Turandot at the Met - Lise Lindstrom goes chopping

Turandot - Metropolitan Opera New York, 28 October 2009

I caught Lise Lindstrom's Met debut and you didn't. With the house's resident screamer Maria Guleghina out with a cold, 'B' cast Lindstrom was brought in to make her first Met appearance a few days earlier than scheduled. She's played Turandot to great acclaim around Europe recently; this was New York's chance to see what all the fuss was about.

Did she nail it - yes she did! One could quibble whether her voice is the biggest or the best or the most beautiful, but its silvered laser is perfect for the role. And it's accurately pitched without a hint of wobble, indecently flexible and never showed any sign of strain. Within the limits of the ancient Zeffirelli production, which seems to have been choreographed rather than directed, she gave a more than acceptable dramatic performance too, cold and brittle to begin with, melting at the end.

Points must be deducted for her reaction to the warm applause she received at the second act curtain call. In conduct unbecoming a diva, she acted like she'd gone through to the next round of American Idol.

The audience seemed to enjoy the gushing and arm-waving. But then they'd not only applauded the Act 2 scenery (like a gladiator bathhouse from a gay p0rno) but also prematurely ovated on several occasions, ejaculating all over bars and bars of Maestro Nelsons' lovingly detailed score. There was even one knob who yelled out "Viva Puccini" before the Alfano completion started up

What a change from Ed Gardner's rampant decibels at the ENO last week. Nelsons - another Met debutant tonight - never took an extreme path, but subtly highlighted the music's complex layering, teasing out lines I'd never really heard before. And he paced it beautifully, never losing momentum, but not tempted to race either. No conductor is ever remembered for the greatness of their Turandot, but still, it's a tough test. I could see his score from where I was sitting - carefully marked up, and heavily rumpled, as if it had been dropped in the bath then left to dry. Clearly he's been doing his homework.

Vulnerability and determination were convincingly combined in Marina Poplavskaya's Liù. Not easy to pull off but she did it. Pitching issues (worse than usual tonight) and a desperately thin top detract, but not as much as they might with some other singers. Her musicality and conviction and sheer charisma carry her a long way.

Good old reliable Marcello Giordani was the unexciting Calaf. Moving lumpishly as if he'd had no rehearsals whatsoever (which may of course be the case) and mumbling through his lower register, he nevertheless managed to pull together some impressively ringing top notes. Nessun dorma of course brought the house down - some classy Bs the trigger. But for me the effect was diminished by having heard Pavarotti tackle it in the Met shop before the show. There's efficiency and then there's magic.

 

more photos tomorrow...........maybe.......if I can be........zzzzzzz........

Royal Opera House - the Winter Season

Booking for Covent Garden's Winter Season (December to March) starts today for Friends, and 20 October for all you other people.

Not much is massively tempting, though the first of Plácido Domingo's appearances this season is a must-see. He's already sung in Madrid - and been immortalised on DVD - in this striking Graham Vick production of Handel's Tamerlano, conducted for the Royal Opera House by Handel specialist Ivor Bolton. 

Also worth catching - if there are any tickets left - is Plácido 'In Conversation' in the Linbury Studio on 26 February.

Kirill Petrenko is the conductor for Der Rosenkavalier, a dust down for the 1984 John Schlesinger production.  A promising cast is headed by Soile Isokoski, Sophie Koch, Lucy Crowe and Thomas Allen.

Andris Nelsons makes his Royal Opera House debut in December conducting an even more ancient production, John Copley's 1974 La bohème, with Maurizio Benini and Paul Wynne Griffiths substituting in January. Though once should be enough for anyone. Mix'n'match casting includes Piotr Beczala, Hibla Gerzmava and Christopher Maltman. Yards of curtain fabric, acres of creaking boards, smocks akimbo, and even a spot of artistic nudity not mentioned on the ticket (in case you're taking granny).

Last year's disappointing Robert Lepage production of The Rake's Progress makes a swift and brilliantly-cast return. Toby Spence (the best Tom Rakewell in town - he was made for this role) is joined by Kate Royal, Kyle Ketelsen, and Stephanie Blythe as Baba the Turk.  Lovely Ingo Metzmacher conducts and tickets are a bit cheaper than usual, with a top price of £110.

Even cheaper, with a top price of £50, is Prokofiev's The Gambler. Covent Garden take a step into ENO territory with a new English language production by Richard Jones. The cast includes Roberto Sacca, Angela Denoke, John Tomlinson, Jurgita Adamonyte and Kurt Streit, and Pappano conducts. No doubt intended to draw in a new audience, as is a half day education event An Introduction to Opera on 20 February.

It's hard to make Mozart dull, but Jonathan Miller's painfully misguided assault on Così Fan Tutte does the trick. Not half as happening as it thinks it is, and it's doubtful if Charles Castronovo, Troy Cook, Sally Matthews and Nino Surgaladze can salvage it. Julia Jones waves the baton for female conductors.

CBSO do it for free

 

Just announced - the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra are playing two FREE concerts this weekend.

The first and most promising is on Friday at 1.15pm - Andris Nelsons conducts Turnage and Shostakovich in the Symphony Hall. The Nelsons magic is not to be missed, especially at the bargain price of zero.

And there's an outdoor show on Saturday at 8pm in Centenary Square - no programme announced (always suspicious) but there's a firework show afterwards so no-one goes home disappointed.

Wagner - buy now while stocks last

Britain's demand for Wagner is seemingly insatiable - I somehow doubt if last weekend's Mariinsky farrago will have put many off. A couple of operas next summer are already selling fast - best not to leave ticket-buying too long.

Welsh National Opera stage a new Richard Jones production of Die Meistersinger in June 2010, with performances in Cardiff and Birmingham. Bryn Terfel, making his role debut as Hans Sachs, is joined by Amanda Roocroft, Christopher Purves, Brindley Sherratt and conductor Lothar Koenigs. More details and booking here.

Andris Nelsons conducts the CBSO in a concert performance of Lohengrin on 12 June 2010 at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. The cast includes the up-and-coming Lance Ryan and Edith Haller (as seen in Covent Garden's recent Lohengrin) plus veterans Lioba Braun and Eike Wilm Schulte. More details and booking here.

And on a related note, Wagneropera.net is running a competition - write about your Bayreuth experience to win Enrico Nawrath's book Bayreuth Backstage. Details here.

Royal Opera House 2009/10 season - all the details

Here first! - a full list of all the Royal Opera House's main stage productions for the 2009/10 season.

The 2009/10 Covent Garden season opens with neither bang nor whimper but with a credit-crunching concert performance on 7 September (repeated on 14 September). Makes a change from last year's Sun readers' special I suppose.

The opera in question is Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, and the conductor is bel canto genius Mark Elder. The cast includes potential Next Big Things Stephen Costello, Eglise Gutierrez and Luciano Botelho, plus the incomparable Alessandro Corbelli, the first of several welcome appearances this season.

The first staged opera of the season is Nicholas Hytner's lego-loving Don Carlo, with - OMG!- Jonas Kaufmann !!! in the title role. John Tomlinson joins him as the Grand Inquisitor, and the rest of the cast is lifted straight from the first run - Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, fans' favourite Ferruccio Furlanetto, Sonia Ganassi and Pumeza Matshikiza.The conductor is Semyon Bychkov.

This season's contribution to the 2013 Wagnerversary is a new Christof Loy production of Tristan und Isolde. Antonio Pappano conducts Ben Heppner, Nina Stemme, Matti Salminen, Michael Volle and Sophie Koch.

Neigh! Francesco Zambello's ghastly Carmen returns in October, with the latest Covent Garden favourite Elina Garanca back for the title role, fighting off Roberto Alagna, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, and a farmyard full of furry friends. Bertrand de Billy conducts. It's resuscitated again in June 2010 with a distinctly 'B' cast.

October also sees one of Richard Jones's more subtle and effective efforts back on stage - and attractively cast. The shouldn't-work-but-it-does double bill of Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole (Christine Rice, Yann Beuron, Christopher Maltman, Andrew Shore and Bonaventura Bottone) and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (Thomas Allen, Maria Bengtsson and Stephen Costello) is conducted by Pappano.

Francesco Zambello steps into Tchaikovsky's The Slippers in November. The new production will be conducted by Alexander Polianichko and features some serious talent fresh from the Mariinsky - Olga Guryakova, Vsevolod Grivnov, Larissa Diadkova, Vladimir Matorin and Maxim Mikhailov.

John Schlesinger's elderly Der Rosenkavalier is dusted off in December. Kirill Petrenko conducts and the cast includes Soile Isokoski, Sophie Koch, Thomas Allen and Lucy Crowe.

Littering the December and January schedules is the inevitable La Bohème. This time Andris Nelsons conducts most of the double-cast performances, which begin with Piotr Beczala and Hibla Gerzmava and end with not a few tbc's.

Robert Lepage's intermittently effective Rake's Progress returns in January 2010. Ingo Metzmacher, Toby Spence (a Tom Rakewell tdf), Kate Royal, Kyle Ketelsen and Stephanie Blythe promise much on the musical side.

Female conductor alert! Top Lisboan Julia Jones wields the baton over Jonathan Miller's Cosi fan Tutte in January. The cast includes Charles Castronovo and Sally Matthews.

A new Richard Jones production of Prokofiev's The Gambler in February is conducted by Pappano, with a cast including Roberto Sacca, Angela Denoke, John Tomlinson and Jurgita Adamonyte.

Plácido Domingo's first appearance of the season is as a tenor. Graham Vick's acclaimed production of Handel's Tamerlano (recorded in Madrid and available on DVD con Plácido) makes its first visit to Covent Garden in March with Christianne Stoijn, Sara Mingardo and Christine Schäfer. Baroque specialist Ivor Bolton conducts.

Bill Bryden's family-friendly The Cunning Little Vixen returns in March with Emma Matthews, Christopher Maltman and Emma Bell, though the presence of Charles Mackerras on the podium has to be the main draw.

Caurier and Leiser's lovely Il Turco in Italia is back in April, with Maurizio Benini conducting, and Aleksandra Kursak, Colin Lee, Alessandro Corbelli, Thomas Allen and Ildebrando d'Arcangelo in the cast.

Aida is subjected to the David McVicar magic in April. His new production is conducted by Nicola Luisotti and features Micaela Carosi, Marcelo Alvarez and Luciana D'Intino. Bare naked elephants?

The last of the Big Three, Richard Eyre's subtly intelligent La Traviata, makes its annual appearance in May and July. This time her name's in the programme - Our first Lady of the Camellias is the fabulous former Netrebko sub Ermonela Jaho. Joining her in her long-awaited return to Covent Garden in May are Saimir Pirgu and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. July's 'B' Violetta is Angela Gheorghiu, who makes do with James Valenti and Zeljko Lucic. Yves Abel conducts.

Laurent Pelly's now-legendary La Fille du Régiment returns in May with the unbeatable original cast of Juan Diego Flórez, Natalie Dessay, Alessandro Corbelli and Felicity Palmer back in place. Bruno Campanella conducts.

What would tempt Sir Colin Davis back into the pit? How about David McVicar's Le Nozze di Figaro? Erwin Schrott, Camilla Tilling, Maruisz Kwiecen. Annette Dasch, Soile Isokoski and Christine Schäfer head the strong cast.

Antonio Pappano conducts Laurent Pelly's new Manon, coming to Covent Garden in June with the announced cast including Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. Anyone fancy a bet?

In one of those rare operatic fairy stories, June sees a baritone with less than a year's experience thrust into a leading role at Covent Garden. Yes, it's Plácido Domingo again, and this time he's Simon Boccanegra. Antonio Pappano conducts a strong cast including Marina Poplavskaya, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Joseph Calleja. It's the 1991 Elijah Moshinsky production by the way, not the Ian Judge one seen last year.

The season ends in July 2010 with the first revival of David McVicar's controversial Salome. Angela Denoke takes the central role, with Johan Reuter as Jokanaan. Hartmut Haenchen conducts.

No link yet, but more details expected on the Royal Opera House website sometime next week.

****************

*******UPDATE 22/4*******

The Royal Opera House's press releases are now available on their website. Go here for the summary, here for the opera details and here for the ballet.