Così fan tutte - English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire, 7 March 2013
English Touring Opera's new production of Mozart's most inscrutable opera relishes its confectionery charms but also hints at the darker undercurrents beneath. Emphasising the symmetries of the score, the young couples are upholstered in matching rococo finery like pairs of identical twins. Flanking the stage are the two mirror-image panels of Samal Blak's frugally efficient set.
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.
Continue reading "Michael Haneke's Cosi "the best in years"" »
Così fan tutte - Opera Holland Park, 16 June 2012
The weather had improved marginally by Saturday - theoretically midsummer - but no-one was dressing for the calendar. Even the tutelary goddess of W11, Dame Lady Antonia Fraser, was wisely wrapped in full winter wear as a devious wind flicked scarves into eyes and hair into lipgloss.
Pity the singers, with their expanses of 18th century bosomage exposed to every chilly draft.
Stalls seats for the Royal Opera House's Così fan tutte are 'only' £75 (down from £195) with Travelzoo's latest offer. It's valid for performances on 27, 30 January and 4 February.
As with the earlier Don Giovanni offer, you book online as normal, entering the code PZOO in the promo code box.
Approximately 6,000,000 tons* of sand will be shovelled into Shoreditch's Village Underground later this month to create a beachy, sixties, French Riviera vibe for the new Così fan tutte from young company Vignette Productions.
It's directed by Andrew Staples ('Andy' for Shoreditch purposes), better known as a successful tenor, and recently seen as Narraboth in Covent Garden's Salome. Graham Ross conducts a fresh-faced cast and bijou orchestrette.
Playing for just two nights, 19 and 21 August, it promises to introduce abrasive particles into the crevices other productions don't reach.
The photos by Jonathan Barker were taken at last night's plein air premiere in Seillans, Provence.
Buy tickets online here (£30 each).
* Intermezzo estimate
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
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.
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