La donna del lago - Royal Opera House, 17 May 2013 (first night)
The Royal Opera House has pulled together the most perfect cast imaginable for this new production. They more than lived up to expectations, with line after line of the most thrillingly spectacular Rossini singing I've ever heard. Even a production that rivals the recent Nabucco for sheer ineptness couldn't dim their brilliance.
Les Troyens is a masterpiece rarely perfomed in Germany, so you might imagine it would be a big draw. But this swift resuscitation of David Pountney's December 2010 production returned burdened with a shedload of negative reviews. Little surprise there were plenty of empty seats and 'upgrades' to be grabbed (though Wagner and premieres aside, that's usually the case at the Deutsche Oper these days).
It was a shame. The production is flawed and the performance was less than impeccable, but I've sat through much worse.
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