Intermezzo

Michael Haneke's Cosi "the best in years"

While Michael Haneke is in Los Angeles, waiting to discover how many Oscars Amour will land tomorrow, his new production of Così fan tutte premiered tonight in Madrid.

The director left a note for the audience: "I wish you an evening exciting. If you like the show, cross your fingers for me at the Oscars. If you don't, please do the same".

Haneke's production, which his proud compatriots at Kurier have pronounced "probably the best staging in years" blends period and contermporary references. Speaking earlier in the week the director said  "Trying to reproduce pure historical reality is an illusion. We don't know exactly how opera was at the end of the 18th century. We only have images from the last 70 or 80 years. We have a duty to transpose the work to the present".

One member of the Amour cast won't be joining Haneke on the red carpet in LA. William Shimell, who played the elderly couple's philandering son-in-law in the film, is back on stage singing the part of Don Alfonso at the Teatro Real.

Oscar nominee Haneke misses his own premiere

On Saturday night, madrileños can release the ants from their collective pants as one of the most hotly anticipated and secretively conceived productions in the whole of operaland will be unveiled.

Michael Haneke’s new Così fan tutte at the Teatro Real in Madrid follows his highly-praised operatic debut with Don Giovanni in Paris. Production details are a closely-guarded secret, with all participants sworn to silence. All the outside world knows is that Haneke has spent up to 10 hours a day with the singers and created some non-singing parts.

But the director himself won’t be on stage to collect the cheers and boos. Instead, he’ll be thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, where on Sunday night he (and we) will see how many of his five nominations for Amour turn into Oscars. Anticipating a backlash from testy operagoers, Haneke has already sat down with Gerard Mortier to prepare a statement explaining his absence.

Teatro Real Madrid 2013-2014 season announced

Charles Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain and Die von Eroberung Mexico by Wolfgang Rihm are the two big premieres announced by Gerard Mortier today for the Teatro Real's exciting-looking 2013-14 season.

Annie Proulx, the author of the original story, has written the libretto for Brokeback Mountain, which will  be conducted by Titus Engel and directed by Ivo van Hove with the leading roles of Jack and Ennis filled by Tom Randle and Daniel Okulitch. Pierre Audi directs Die von Eroberung Mexico with Nadja Michael in the role of Montezuma.

The 2013-2014 season begins on September 14 with a revival of Il barbiere di Siviglia.  The remainder of the season includes Purcell's The Indian Queen, L'elisir d'amore, Tristan und Isolde (with Bill Viola projections),  Lohengrin, Les Contes d'Hoffman and two Gluck operas, Alceste and Orphée et Eurydice, the last of these in a Pina Bausch version. Alceste is a new Krystof Warlikowski production and features Anna Caterina Antonacci as Alceste. Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and I vespri siciliani will be presented in concert. 

Earlier in the week, management quashed rumours that Gerard Mortier would leave his post as artistic director before his contract runs out in 2016.

Full details here.

First look at Philip Glass's Perfect American

Philip Glass's latest opera, The Perfect American, premieres tonight at Madrid's Teatro Real. Based on Peter Stephan Jungk's novel of the same name, it presents 13 fictionalised episodes in the life of Walt Disney in a production by Phelim McDermott.

Mickey, Donald and the rest of the cartoon crew are no-shows. In their place are a robotic Abraham Lincoln, an owl attack, and a visit from Andy Warhol.  A largely British cast features Christopher Purves in the principal role.

If you can't wait until it turns up at ENO in June, you can watch it live on 6 February on the Teatro Real's web channel, where it will remain on demand (price from €9.95). It will also be shown later on TVE (Spain), ARTE (France and Germany), WDR (Germany), France Television and NHK (Japan). (UPDATE - to be shown on Mezzo TV too).

 Photos below, video here.

Teatro Real Madrid 2012 - 2013 season announced

It's the time of the year to find out what's happening next year, and rocketing off the blocks like a greased chorizo with their new season announcement is Madrid's Teatro Real.

Like everywhere else, the theatre has suffered a budget squeeze, with its public subsidy around a third lower than in was in 2010. Nevertheless Monsieur Mortier has pulled a pretty impressive programme out of the bag.

A Mozart trilogy sees Michael Haneke directing Così fan tutte, Dmitri Tcherniakov Don Giovanni, and Simon Rattle bringing his Berlin Philharmonic to Madrid for Die Zauberflöte. The world premiere of a new Philip Glass opera about Walt Disney, The Perfect American, is a bit of a coup (it later travels to ENO). Wozzeck (with Simon Keenlyside), Moses und Aron and Il prigionero are also on the bill, not to mention a concert performance of Parsifal.

Mortier even bows to his local H8rs without dumbing down. A generous dollop of the profoundly uncontroversial includes Placido Domingo in Il postino, Juan Diego Florez in Les pêcheurs de perles, la Gruberova in Roberto Devereux and Riccardo Muti conducting the obscure Mercadante opera La rappresaglia in what is unlikely to be a cutting-edge production.

Full details available on the Teatro Real site in annoying webmag format.

Madrid Teatro Real: 2011-2012 opera season announced

A corking 2011-12 season lies ahead at the Teatro Real Madrid, courtesy of general director Gerard Mortier. Few big name singers appear, but there are some first-class conductors. With eleven productions either brand new or new to Madrid, the selection of operas and directors shows real imagination in the face of budget cuts.

Monteverdi in Madrid

L'incoronazione di Poppea - Teatro Real Madrid, 24 May 2010

You don't expect singing of subtlety and elegance from Danielle de Niese and, unsurprisingly, you don't get it here. But you can practically see the steam rising from her squirming, panting Poppea. No-one is going to topple De Niese from her perch as the reigning queen of baroque sluts any time soon. She dominates the stage every time she steps on it.