Monthly Archives: October 2015

Clément’s cruel Don Pasquale strikes a sour note as Glyndebourne Tour opens

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Donizetti: Don Pasquale *** Glyndebourne, 10th October 2015 “It’s a hard lesson,” explains Norina, justifying her behaviour as ‘Sofronia’ in teaching elderly bachelor Don Pasquale for wanting to marry. In Mariame Clément’s Glyndebourne production, revived here for the Tour, it … Continue reading →

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Lacking a sense of abandon: Cranko’s Onegin at Staatsballett Berlin

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Tchaikovsky: Onegin *** Staatsballett Berlin, Schiller Theater, 8th October 2015 “Happiness was once so near us.” That line from Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin  should be crushing, the tender moment when Onegin and Tatyana realise what could have been. That final … Continue reading →

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A tale of three Hoffmanns: Kosky’s Komische Oper production a triumph

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Offenbach: Les contes d’Hoffmann **** Komische Oper, Berlin, 7th October 2015 Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann must be a gift to stage. Based on three of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s disturbing tales, the opera allows plenty of scope for inventive directors – or possibly … Continue reading →

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Dud bullet: Thalheimer’s Freischütz fires blanks at Staatsoper Berlin

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Weber: Der Freischütz *** Staatsoper Berlin, 6th October 2015 The Wolf’s Glen scene in Weber’s Der Freischütz is terrifically difficult to stage – a supernatural centrepiece to a folkloric opera. Director Michael Thalheimer circumvents this in his Staatsoper Berlin production by … Continue reading →

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Paradise regained: Vasco da Gama sets sail in style at Deutsche Oper

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Meyerbeer: Vasco da Gama **** Deutsche Oper Berlin, 4th October 2015 There are some random ways to die in opera – caught in an avalanche, hurled into a cauldron of boiling water, thrown to the lions – but inhaling the … Continue reading →

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