Faust - Royal Opera House, 18 September 2011 (first night)
looking for a John Tomlinson impersonator?
Despite some outstanding performances from a top-drawer cast, this second revival of David McVicar's Faust somehow fails to hit the mark. Part of the blame is of course Gounod's - never afraid to cut a flowing story dead in its tracks with a crowd-pleasing ballet or drinking song.
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Rigoletto - Royal Opera House, 11 October 2010
Viewing the gaudy corpse of a once-magnificent Zeffirelli production on the Met stage can make you wonder why his work was once considered bold and daring. Yet look at some of the frozen-in-youtube performances, the ones he actually, personally, directed – the famous Callas/Gobbi Tosca for example – and you sense the hand of a theatrical master. The difference between then and now of course is that then he was there to shape every detail of the performances. Over the years they’ve become debased and diluted by a series of indifferent in-house directors and all we see now are the vast, vulgar sets and the preposterous costumery.
Is David McVicar’s theatrical legacy headed the same way?
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Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Ivari Ilja - Wigmore Hall, 11 June 2010
Tchaikovsky Again, as before, alone, The nightingale, The heroic deed, I opened the window, Don Juan’s serenade
Rachmaninov The dream, She is as lovely as the noon, Sing not to me, beautiful maiden, Oh no, I beg you, forsake me not
Tchaikovsky Reconciliation, A tear trembles, None but the lonely heart, The fearful moment
Rachmaninov When yesterday we met, In the silence of the secret night, He took all from me, Christ is risen
Encores: Tchaikovsky Sred’ shumnogo bala (In the Midst of the Ball), Serenade, Rachmaninov Ja byl u nei (I was with her) (I'm not 100% sure of these, so if you know better, please let me know)
It’s now twenty years since Dmitri Hvorostovsky made his Wigmore Hall debut. This recital, dedicated to the recently-deceased mezzo Irina Arkhipova, followed the same programme as that first one (according to his record company at least). But the mood was hardly celebratory. Bottom-of-the-vodka-bottle Russian melancholy underlay every one of his Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov songs.
Continue reading "Dmitri Hvorostovsky returns to Wigmore Hall" »
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La Traviata - Royal Opera House, 11 May 2010 (first night)
One big star - step forward Dmitri Hvorostovsky - wasn't quite enough to give make this umpteenth showing of Richard Eyre's gracefully ageing production twinkle quite as brightly as its last two revivals.
Continue reading "La traviata resuscitated at Royal Opera House " »
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"He blacked out a tooth. He painted a devil the size of a fist on his chest—and right when I’m singing to him, he pulls his shirt open and shows it".
Sondra Radvanovsky tells New York Magazine just how far Dmitri Hvorostovsky will go to make her corpse.
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This is what a baritone plunging through the atmosphere at 100mph looks like.
And there's a video too!
Check it out on Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Facebook page.
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Anna Netrebko / Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Philharmonia Orchestra - Royal Festival Hall, 18 January 2010
Anna pinched Katherine's frock, Katherine Jenkins nabbed Anna Netrebko's erstwhile partner. So all's square. But who could fill the gaping Rolando-sized slot at Anna's side? Who could sing like a god, hold the stage as an equal, and match her for costume changes?
Step forward Dmitri Hvorostovsky, trussed into the tightest trousers and highest heels ever sported in the service of opera. No more puffy 'ethnic' blouses for Dmitri, squeezed first into cutaway satin, then clinging velvet, like a cross between a Chippendale and a Vegas magic act.
Not to be outdone, Anna slipped into a black ballgown so daringly low cut she must have superglued her bewbs into position (no pics, but see her in the same gown on Carlos's blog here), followed in the second half by Katherine's hand-me-down. Though she's not quite back down to fighting weight, Anna has clearly shed most of her post-baby surplus and - though there's been speculation - it didn't look to me as if there's another one on the way.
The programme wasn't particularly adventurous, but it was well balanced. And I doubt if any in the cocktail-gowned audience had come to hear extracts from Wozzeck anyway. At least it was good value, with four solos from each and a duet to end each half.
Both began with odd and difficult choices. Never the Wagnerian, Hvorostovsky's O Du, mein holder Abendstern from Tannhäuser sounded gritty and pressured. And Strauss's Cäcilie demanded a lighter more effortless tone than Netrebko was able to produce.
A selection from Faust was more accommodating. Hvorostovsky's elegant legato ease in Avant de quitter ces lieux was matched by Netrebko's playful Jewel Song, where only her dragging overweight coloratura let her down. Together at last in the Pagliacci duet which closed the first half, they coaxed each other into a convincing display of simmering passions.
But if the first half had been uneven, the second was a different matter. Netrebko sprang out in her Barbie frock and delivered a sparkling, teasing Il Bacio followed by a wistfully intense Song to the Moon. Hvorostovsky's Rigoletto sacrificed a little beauty of tone for dramatic effect and was all the better for it. But singing in Russian for the first time all evening seemed to uncork something even deeper within, and his aria from Pique Dame was simply stunning.
The best was left to the end. It's hard to imagine the final scene from Eugene Onegin being sung with more conviction, fatalistic purpose or tragic effect. Absolutely heartstopping stuff.
But we weren't to go home sniffling into our hankies - Anna returned to flounce barefoot and winking through Meine Lippen, sie kussen so heiss and Dmitri to strut the Russian favourite Dark Eyes (not Moscow Nights as the experienced professionals of the British press - nice bet hedge Nick - seem to have heard from halfway to the car park).
******** more photos on next page ********
Continue reading "Netrebko and Hvorostovsky at the Royal Festival Hall" »
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The Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky Royal Festival Hall concert scheduled earlier this year and cancelled due to a broken nail or whatever it was has now been rearranged for 18 January 2010.
Anyone who booked for the original concert has already been given the opportunity to re-book, as have South Bank members.
Public booking opens tomorrow, 18 September, for the rest of youse.
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Was this what stuck in his throat? The Daily Telegraph reports his ex-wife is stalking him through the courts for an improvement in the maintenance payments negotiated ten years ago.
His annual income was found in court last year to be £1.86 million. This leaves him, according to her lawyer, with a "massive" surplus of £1 million or more after tax.
Guess he can afford to cancel the odd gig then.
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First Dmitri kindly took over when Rolando cancelled his 24 June Royal Opera House recital with Antonio Pappano.
Now the saviour of the day is sick himself. According to the latest Royal Opera House press release:
"Unfortunately Dmitri Hvorostovsky is now also under doctors' orders to completely rest his voice and it is with great regret that he has had to cancel all his current engagements."
(UPDATE - he apparently caught a severe throat infection during his recent Russian tour).
The good news is that the concert goes ahead - with three for the price of one! Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja and Thomas Hampson have stepped into the breach, with ROH concert master Vasko Vassilev providing further support.
Statistics indicate that at least one of them should still be standing by Wednesday night.
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I knew it was too good to be true.
This is the sicknote email I just received:
Dear patron,
We are sorry to announce that Anna Netrebko is suffering from influenza and has today withdrawn from the concert at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday 19 May 2009. At such short notice, it has not been possible to offer an alternative programme with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Ion Marin, and so regretfully, the performance tomorrow will not take place. We are working to identify an alternative date for the concert in the future months.
Aaaaargh!!!
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Following Rolando Villazón's enforced withdrawal from his Royal Opera House recital with Antonio Pappano on 24 June, his place will now be taken by the silver-haired leather-trousered barigod Dmitri Hvorostovsky, the ROH have just announced.
This concert will be Dmitri's first solo recital at the Royal Opera House and the programme will include songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov in the first half, and Italian arias and Neapolitan songs in the second. Whether he'll be cooking up Siberian ravioli in the interval hasn't been confirmed.
Existing ticket holders can apply for a refund, and no doubt some will, which means more tickets should be available at some point. So chin up if you missed out first time round - there may yet be hope.
****** UPDATE - tickets now available - here ******
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There's always plenty on in London musically speaking, but May looks particularly busy.
For starters, at the Royal Opera House, Diana Damrau and Giuseppe Filianoti take a roll in the hay for the first revival of Laurent Pelly's L'elisir d'amore. Il trovatore and Lohengrin are still around too.
At the ENO, David Alden's hotly-anticipated new Peter Grimes opens. Stuart Skelton, Amanda Roocroft, Gerald Finley and Felicity Palmer sing, Edward Gardner conducts. The second new production of the month is film director Abbas Kiarostami's first venture into opera, Così fan tutte.
Purcell's King Arthur is performed in concert at the Barbican on 6 May by Le Concert Spirituel. There are limited *free* tickets for under-26's for this one (check out the freeB link on the Barbican site).
17 May is Handel-fest day. Christopher Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music bring Arianna in Creta to the Barbican. Miah Persson, Lisa Milne and Sonia Prina appear as originally scheduled, but Kristina Hammarström replaces the previously-announced Angelika Kirchschlager.
The performance starts at 6.30pm, so there should be (just) enough time to get there from Zurich Opera's Agrippina, which begins at 2pm in the Royal Festival Hall. The impressive cast joining Marc Minkowski and Zurich Opera's specialist period ensemble, Orchestra La Scintilla, includes Vesselina Kasarova, Eva Liebau, Marijana Mijanovic and Anna Bonitatibus.
The other operatic event worth mentioning is not in London at all, but in Manchester. Over two nights, 9 and 10 May, Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra perform Götterdämmerung in concert at the Bridgewater Hall, with Katarina Dalayman as Brünnhilde. If this was in London, tickets would go in a flash, but there are still plenty of seats available. Manchester is clearly a harder sell. It rather underlines the folly of the Royal Opera House's plans to create a Mancunian outpost. Northern opera lovers may be dedicated - there just aren't a lot of them.
On 31 May, Rene Pape joins Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall for the UK premiere of Torsten Rasch's 2003 song cycle Mein Herz brennt. This is (loosely) based on the music of headbanging German industrial metallers Rammstein - a fact the Southbank promo guff intriguingly fails to mention. Not as scary as it sounds though, as the source material is engulfed by Jurowski's favoured big-boned retro-nouveau Eastern bloc neo-romanticism (or Vladcore for short).
On a smaller scale, there are lots of recitals this month, including the big one, Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky at the Royal Festival Hall on 19 May.
At Wigmore Hall Kate Royal sings Schumann and Brahms on 7 May, and there's a solo recital from the great Jordi Savall the day after. On 19 May (the same date as Netrebko/Hvorostovsky unfortunately) Mojca Erdmann, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber tackle Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch. The Wigmore's busy Haydn weekend begins on 29 May with an András Schiff lecture recital at 2pm.
And there are a few more Wigmore day time events worth mentioning. On 12 May at 2pm there's a *free* recital of Kurtag and Schubert by Jonathan Biss, which will be recorded for the Wigmore's own label. On 18 May at 1pm Anne Schwanewilms sings Debussy, Strauss and Wolf, and on 25 May at 1pm Ingrid Fliter plays Chopin and Schumann.
Philip Glass makes a rare appearance at the Barbican on 26 May for an evening of chamber music.
The fabulous Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain plink and twang at the Cadogan Hall on 5 May.
One of the most intriguing events of the month is a Barbican concert on 30 May. Various artists including the Britten Sinfonia perform the Music of Moondog , and there are companion pre, post and interval events, including an 11.30pm concert at St Giles Cripplegate, Moondog Around Midnight .
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The wonders of YouTube. Here, in a 2000 interview, Dima demonstrates how to make the Siberian ravioli called pelmeni.
He also reveals a youthful obsession with Queen - which goes a long way to explaining this (which you just have to see, if you haven't already).
Not to mention these.
(thanks frufruj for uploading the video!)
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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)
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.
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*******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.
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Il trovatore - Royal Opera House, 13 April 2009 (first night)
If the first night singing didn't quite hit dress rehearsal standards (I wonder why?) it was still the high point of this otherwise dismal production. A stop-start narrative and half-cooked characters make Il trovatore not the easiest opera to stage. Nevertheless, it's musically strong, truly inventive and a production that steers the audience away from too much left-brain analysis can capitalise on the thrills buried not too far beneath the surface.
But not this one. The monumental sets with their giant pillars and furnaces and gratings are handsome but randomly irrelevant - a palace patio, a railway station, an industrial pizzeria. And when a character really needs some help from the furniture, there's nothing there. How can Leonora mistake Luna for Manrico when they're both in plain view in front of her? Now if Roberto Alagna had been given a nice pillar to hide behind, we would all have sniggered less.
Not that there is much action. Characters barely engage with each other, movement is restricted to stock operatic gesture. It's as if they've all rehearsed on different continents from an Acting for Dummies video and come together for the first time tonight.
Add murky lighting, top off with thumb-twiddling set changes every twenty minutes, and what little momentum is built up in the turgid, static scenes evaporates. The final nail in this particular coffin is the unintentional comedy of the last scene, with everyone writhing on the floor like salted slugs.
Oh well, at least the sword fights (always a ROH strong point) provided a few seconds thrill.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky's dignified Luna provided the vocal highlight. Am I abusing my power? Luna asks himself as he realises there's only one way he's ever going to get the girl. This is no cartoon villain, as Hvorostovsky's noble military bearing emphasises, but a victim of his own desires.
Roberto Alagna's vocal production didn't have the ease of the rehearsal, and he often seemed disengaged - though he did manage to pull out his big numbers with a certain panache. And I was touched to see what a generous colleague he proved to Malgorzata Walewska, another singer whose form had dipped somewhat. At least she managed to whip up some gypsy passion (an emotion sorely lacking elsewhere). Her harsh, throaty vocals wouldn't pass muster in every role, but they added a certain dramatic integrity to her Azucena.
Sondra Radvanovsky was the clear audience favourite. She showed much more emotional involvement in her character than she had at the rehearsal, but at the expense of a degree of vocal control. It's a big, jolie-laide sort of a voice, and I'm not sure yet if I actually like it, but right now Radvanovsky's miles ahead of any other Leonora.
Mikhail Petrenko (Ferrando) and Monika-Evelin Liiv (Ines) were again strikingly impressive.
Not so Carlo Rizzi. Although the Royal Opera House orchestra played cleanly and accurately for him, he just could not keep them together with the singers, racing ahead for every cabaletta, dragging his heels behind whenever the pace slowed. But though he took a maximalist line, with changes of pace or scoring highlighted (often grotesquely so), nothing could compensate for the depressingly inert spectacle on stage. Time to throw this particular baby on the fire if you ask me.
I should perhaps point out that the majority of the tourist-heavy holiday audience were massively enthusiastic about the whole thing - there's clearly no accounting for drink taste.
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more photos over teh page --------->>>
Continue reading "Il trovatore at Covent Garden FAIL FAIL FAIL " »
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I don't usually write about rehearsals because you don't necessarily get 100%-honed performances, and its not really fair to make public comment in those circumstances. But yesterday's general rehearsal for the ROH's latest run of Trovatore was so superb I feel a duty to spread the word. (And just in case Monday's opening night doesn't reach the same heights - but let's not go there yet).
We all know what Caruso said - that all Il Trovatore needed was the four best singers in the world. And with this cast - Roberto Alagna, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sondra Radvanovsky and Malgorzata Walewska - it came as close as you could hope for.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Luna has been the highlight of previous runs of this production. Well, this time he's got stiff competition, but once again he sang with nobility and distinction. Just like he always does. And was it wishful thinking, or have his acting skills taken a dramatic (ha!) turn for the better? In recital, his natural exuberance is as memorable as his leather pants. But stick him in an opera, and he often looks as if he's reading from an autocue. Not in this show. Even the Egli era tuo fratello! at the end was, for once, not remotely tittersome - his quale orror! sent a jolt through the auditorium.
And here's my profound rumination of the week. Dima's snowy hair is absolutely perfect for every role he plays, whatever the character, whatever the period. So why do production designers neverever duplicate it for other singers? Does he have copyright hair or something?
The Angela-less Alagna seems back on top form. He sounds healthy, he even looks a bit slimmer. Manrico is a real test of his abilities, and while you never feel there's a millimetre to spare, ultimately there's no audible strain whatsoever. He just grabs every note and hurls it forth heroically. So much for his plans to chicken-out from half of the murderous Di quella pira, as the Daily Telegraph's recent interview claims. He belted out both verses like the champion of the tenor Olympics. If he naughtily slipped out of character to acknowledge the applause, who can blame him? And in the tender, lyrical moments that are more his home territory, wooing Leonora or soothing his dear old mum, the natural beauty of his voice shone through to heart-melting effect.
Sondra Radvanovsky wobbled a bit to begin with, but her supreme technical control soon became apparent. She spun her long lines out silkily and crested even the highest notes with liquid ease. Every note and every syllable was shaped and coloured in minutely-nuanced detail. Inevitably, it lacked the thrill of spontaneity - she's a sort of earthy Renee Fleming in that respect. I wasn't always convinced she was living the part either - her dedication to crafting the beautiful line often distanced her from the heart of the role. But I can't think of anyone right now who could sing Leonora better.
Malgorzata Walewska was a bit of a find as Azucena, with a rich lower register and a winning line in dramatic venom that more than compensated for some insecurities on top.
OK, that's your four best singers, but this production is immaculately cast top to toe. Mikhail Petrenko, a mahogany bass in the classic Russian style, has great presence as well as a fabulous voice - what a terrific Ferrando. Monika-Evelin Liiv's Ines more than held her own against Sondra Radvanovsky. And Haoyin Xue, who never made much of an impact on me when he was in the ROH's Young Artist programme, has matured into a fine, solid singer.
Despite the best casting it's ever had, and despite fine 19th century set and costume designs, the production is still as dire and inert as it ever was. It looks like some dredged-up '70's relic even though it can't be more than ten years old, and it makes the legendarily-'difficult' storyline even more incomprehensible and absurd. But more on that after the opening night.
And the audience weren't just the usual riff-raff. What a surprise to see sitting in a private box - Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott. She wore a loose beige geometric-patterned shift, chatted and signed autographs for her neighbours on either side, and applauded enthusiastically along with everyone else. A lousy phonecam shot:
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The Royal Opera House's spring season starts in March. Booking is already open for Friends of the ROH; mere punters can join the online queues on 3 February.
First up is Bellini's version of the Romeo and Juliet story, I Capuleti e i Montecchi. I haven't seen this production, but it premiered in 1984, so I'm betting on more crinolines than underpants. The big draw is the casting of Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca. The ROH have cunningly scheduled around la Netrebka's inevitable sick leave by placing performance dates at the beginning and end of March, with a big recovery break in between.
Netrebko and Garanca perform Crudel, d'onor ragioni in Vienna:
The fabulous Mark Elder conducts, and also opens one of his orchestral rehearsals to public scrutiny on 14 February - highly recommended.
The pairing of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Handel's Acis and Galatea is not just a celebration of both composers in their anniversary year - it's also the first ever co-production of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet. Both are directed by Wayne McGregor - a bold choice, as music generally seems more an afterthought than a creative basis for his choreography. But we shall see. More ROH debutants in the cast, which includes Sarah Connolly, Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies and Danielle de Niese.
The Alagna circus rolls into town for Elijah Moshinsky's brutally trad production of Il trovatore. Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sondra Radvanovsky provide the vocal backbone. Opera's own Don Johnson is also interrogated 'In Conversation' for anyone lucky enough to snag a ticket. Will Mrs A come and cheer him along from the stalls? Unlike Anna Netrebko, she's far too grand for the cheap seats
More Moshinsky with his ancient but unfussy Lohengrin, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Man-mountain Johan Botha shares the title role with the merely stout Simon O'Neill - both are worth catching. The reliable Petra Lang and Falk Struckmann are Ortrud and Telramund, but perhaps the most interesting casting is Edith Haller, barely out of music college but already a Bayreuth veteran. She replaces the previously-advertised Anne Schwanewilms as Elsa.
Last year's hay-strewn Laurent Pelly L'elisir d'amore is speedily revived, this time with Diana Damrau and Giuseppe Filianoti.
Finally, there's a special performance of Verdi's Requiem conducted by Pappano on 13 March - soloists are Barbara Frittoli, Olga Borodina, Piotr Beczala and Ildar Abdrazakov. Be warned tickets will go quickly for this one.
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Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Evgeny Kissin - Barbican, 16 October 2008
Wassiliy Kandinsky: Russian Scene (Sunday)
Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Barbican programme tonight was the same one I heard him perform in Edinburgh a couple of months ago, all from the more distant corners of the Russian repertoire. A not insignificant change of pianist though, with Evgeny Kissin joining him in London. As they stood, bathing in the warm welcome with their blousy black shirts, cheesy grins and curious hairdos, only the presence of the piano indicated that this was a recital not a hairdressing competition.
The all-Tchaikovsky first half was frankly a bit of a disappointment. Hvorostovsky, though good, was not at his best. He looked and sounded anxious and challenged. Straining at the top, parched at the bottom, he approximated the most distant notes. He improved as he went on, but there was no question that this was not the standard we had seen in Edinburgh - though here too there was vigorous applause between all the songs.
Kissin, on the other hand, was a revelation. Often justly criticised for thumping, here he was a sensitive and accomodating partner. And needless to say, he breezed through the many technical challenges. I've long admired his Shostakovich, so perhaps it's the old cliche, Russians play Russian best.
The second half, as in Edinburgh, was shared between Medtner and Rachmaninov. Both demand much virtuoso pianism, a sort of river of shimmering semiquavers that the song line floats serenely above. Again Kissin impressed with his ease and sensitivity.
Hvorostovsky, meanwhile, was transformed, his full, rich, burnished tone back in place, as if the first half was just some bizarre aberration. I don't know, perhaps he was simply holding himself back, storing up ammo for the full second half attack. He moved more freely, he sang more openly, he hit every single note cleanly. And when he sang, we heard Goethe and Pushkin's wonderful poetry and could overlook Medtner's rather derivative settings. Pulling off a few miraculously-sustained final notes turned the audience into putty. And I know that's kind of a cheap trick, but that doesn't mean it's an easy one - it's gobsmackingly impressive in the flesh.
Whatever the sins of the first half, the capacity audience didn't mind, or more likely didn't notice, and two encores were gratefully received.
The first, something I didn't know and didn't quite catch, meant 'Sounds of the Night', and was more of the same. The second, Robert's aria from Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, was the standout of the night, Hvorostovsky sounding totally at home in its simple, direct idiom.
I hadn't appreciated that poor Hvorostovsky was working on his birthday (46 today!) until he was presented with a bouquet and - a Barbican first I think - a birthday balloon.
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