“Wow! That’s some year you’ve had!” was a message written in one of this year’s Christmas cards. “Aiming to top it in 2019?” I’m not sure I have the energy!
My outstanding operatic experience of the year was easily Salome at the Salzburg Festival. Romeo Castellucci’s production had its flaws, but it made such a visceral impact – and Asmik Grigorian was such a mesmerising Salome – that I now wish I’d awarded it the full five stars. I’ve largely taken against writing through the night but worked feverishly until the wee small hours on this one, trying to capture on screen how it made me feel.
Asmik Grigorian (Salome) © Ruth Walz
Parisian highlights included the recent Hamlet at the Opéra Comique (an intelligent staging, with the excellent Stéphane Degout and Sabine Devieilhe in the main roles) and an enthralling Huguenots which, in Lisette Oropesa, featured the best coloratura singing I’ve experienced in decades. Possibly ever.
Gaëlle Arquez (Carmen) © ROH | Bill Cooper
This was the year that Barrie Kosky’s Carmen arrived at Covent Garden. Many hated it, but I enjoyed it immensely and have now seen it five times. Gaëlle Arquez is the Carmen of our time. In a rum year for ENO – I’ll not forget Traviata and Salome in a hurry – The Turn of the Screw in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre was truly spine-tingling. More please. Glyndebourne was again the pick of the country house operas. Its revival of Giulio Cesare was as entertaining as ever.
Sarah Connolly (Giulio Cesare) and Joélle Harvey (Cleopatra) © Bill Cooper
My quest hunting rare Verdi continued, taking me to Buxton (Alzira), Valencia (Il corsaro), Florence (La battaglia di Legnano) and Milan (Ernani). Just the two to go now… Oberto and Un giorno di regno. The full Don Carlos (in French) was terrifically done by Opéra de Lyon and Christophe Honoré – far more convincing than last year’s Paris production. Seeing a reconstruction of the original staging of Puccini’s Tosca in Rome was a special thrill. I suggested to the press officer that they should get it filmed and released on DVD. OperaVision has happily just provided the next best thing. Enjoy.
Anna Lucia Richter, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra © BBC | Chris Christodoulou
The concert season yielded fewer thrills. The pick of the bunch came during a Proms season which saw some excellent visiting orchestras. I adored the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s two concerts, especially a glittering Mahler 4. Teodor Currentzis and Musicaeterna’s Beethoven was gripping and Antoine Tamestit’s exploration of Harold in Italy was a revelation, forcing me to see this non-concerto in a new light. Avi Avital’s recent concert with the Venice Baroque Orchestra was my favourite Wiggygig.
Mozart vs Stadler © Jeroen Suys
Outside London, I enjoyed a well programmed Debussy weekend in Birmingham and Nemanja Radulović’s fantastic Tchaikovsky (Basingstoke) and Khachaturian (Liverpool). The biggest surprise came a few weeks ago. Disappointed at the Palais Garnier cancellation due to the “yellow vest” protests which shut down large parts of Paris, I discovered a clever staging at the Salle Cortot. “Mozart vs Stadler” presented the Gran Partita in a Viennese coffee house where Mozart and Stadler battle out a game of chess, the script derived from their letters, the ensemble as waiters. Fun choreography and the finale nodded to Mozza’s janissary music from Entführung, complete with fezzes and turbans!
Marianela Núñez (Odette) © ROH | Bill Cooper
Ballet-wise, it was the year of Swan Lakes: Liam Scarlett’s excellent new production for The Royal Ballet with Marianela Núñez outstanding, Alexei Ratmansky’s gem of a reconstruction of the 1895 Mariinsky version in Zurich and my first taste of Matthew Bourne’s remarkable staging with its all-male swan corps. I thoroughly enjoyed Vladimir Jurowski’s new Pentatone recording too, even if my attempt at the origami swan on the box cover failed miserably. Away from Tchaikovsky’s lake, I particularly adored Maureya Lebowitz’s delicious Lise in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s joyous La Fille mal gardée.
Matthew Ball (Swan) and Liam Mower (Prince) © Johan Persson
Other highlights on disc include the astonishing Currentzis Pathétique (Sony) and The Pearl Fishers (Pentatone), Cyrille Dubois’ “Je crois entendre encore” the loveliest bit of tenor singing I heard all year.
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla receiving her award © Andrew Fox
The year brought a few extra special moments. Standing through the ROH Ring cycle was less of a challenge than I feared for these aching bones and was memorable in many ways. Presenting Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla with her Critics’ Circle award during a performance at Symphony Hall was an honour, albeit a nerve-wracking one. I’ve interviewed some terrific people over the past twelve months. Meeting my clarinet hero Michael Collins was wonderful, but interviewing Anna Netrebko was the year’s biggest “pinch me” moment. She and Yusif Eyvazov were great interviewees – candid, funny, affectionate – and her Instagram photos? The best.
© Anna Netrebko
Over the course of the year, I saw some 180 events, of which I reviewed around 80. That’s right, contrary to popular belief, some critics do pay to go to stuff. While we’re on the filthy subject of finance, when I head abroad I often receive tweets telling me how lucky I am. And truly I am. I’m lucky my job affords me the opportunity to travel for culture. But apart from a few jaunts this year – a press trip to Valencia (one night), accommodation in Zurich (two nights), a press trip to Paris (to conduct an interview for Gramophone) and a colleague’s hospitality in Vienna – these were funded out of my own wallet and I took holiday leave from my day job to do so.
Press tickets are a great privilege, of course, but with cheap travel abroad – if you are able to book far enough in advance – it’s an affordable expense for now. More affordable than many places in the UK. Indeed, I am reminded that my single night attending the Buxton Festival in July cost more than flights and three nights accommodation in Salzburg at the height of the festival. Now that’s just a crazy situation.
Bring on 2019!
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Swans, severed heads and a deerstalker: 2018 in review
“Wow! That’s some year you’ve had!” was a message written in one of this year’s Christmas cards. “Aiming to top it in 2019?” I’m not sure I have the energy!
My outstanding operatic experience of the year was easily Salome at the Salzburg Festival. Romeo Castellucci’s production had its flaws, but it made such a visceral impact – and Asmik Grigorian was such a mesmerising Salome – that I now wish I’d awarded it the full five stars. I’ve largely taken against writing through the night but worked feverishly until the wee small hours on this one, trying to capture on screen how it made me feel.
Asmik Grigorian (Salome) © Ruth Walz
Parisian highlights included the recent Hamlet at the Opéra Comique (an intelligent staging, with the excellent Stéphane Degout and Sabine Devieilhe in the main roles) and an enthralling Huguenots which, in Lisette Oropesa, featured the best coloratura singing I’ve experienced in decades. Possibly ever.
Gaëlle Arquez (Carmen) © ROH | Bill Cooper
This was the year that Barrie Kosky’s Carmen arrived at Covent Garden. Many hated it, but I enjoyed it immensely and have now seen it five times. Gaëlle Arquez is the Carmen of our time. In a rum year for ENO – I’ll not forget Traviata and Salome in a hurry – The Turn of the Screw in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre was truly spine-tingling. More please. Glyndebourne was again the pick of the country house operas. Its revival of Giulio Cesare was as entertaining as ever.
Sarah Connolly (Giulio Cesare) and Joélle Harvey (Cleopatra) © Bill Cooper
My quest hunting rare Verdi continued, taking me to Buxton (Alzira), Valencia (Il corsaro), Florence (La battaglia di Legnano) and Milan (Ernani). Just the two to go now… Oberto and Un giorno di regno. The full Don Carlos (in French) was terrifically done by Opéra de Lyon and Christophe Honoré – far more convincing than last year’s Paris production. Seeing a reconstruction of the original staging of Puccini’s Tosca in Rome was a special thrill. I suggested to the press officer that they should get it filmed and released on DVD. OperaVision has happily just provided the next best thing. Enjoy.
Anna Lucia Richter, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra © BBC | Chris Christodoulou
The concert season yielded fewer thrills. The pick of the bunch came during a Proms season which saw some excellent visiting orchestras. I adored the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s two concerts, especially a glittering Mahler 4. Teodor Currentzis and Musicaeterna’s Beethoven was gripping and Antoine Tamestit’s exploration of Harold in Italy was a revelation, forcing me to see this non-concerto in a new light. Avi Avital’s recent concert with the Venice Baroque Orchestra was my favourite Wiggygig.
Mozart vs Stadler © Jeroen Suys
Outside London, I enjoyed a well programmed Debussy weekend in Birmingham and Nemanja Radulović’s fantastic Tchaikovsky (Basingstoke) and Khachaturian (Liverpool). The biggest surprise came a few weeks ago. Disappointed at the Palais Garnier cancellation due to the “yellow vest” protests which shut down large parts of Paris, I discovered a clever staging at the Salle Cortot. “Mozart vs Stadler” presented the Gran Partita in a Viennese coffee house where Mozart and Stadler battle out a game of chess, the script derived from their letters, the ensemble as waiters. Fun choreography and the finale nodded to Mozza’s janissary music from Entführung, complete with fezzes and turbans!
Marianela Núñez (Odette) © ROH | Bill Cooper
Ballet-wise, it was the year of Swan Lakes: Liam Scarlett’s excellent new production for The Royal Ballet with Marianela Núñez outstanding, Alexei Ratmansky’s gem of a reconstruction of the 1895 Mariinsky version in Zurich and my first taste of Matthew Bourne’s remarkable staging with its all-male swan corps. I thoroughly enjoyed Vladimir Jurowski’s new Pentatone recording too, even if my attempt at the origami swan on the box cover failed miserably. Away from Tchaikovsky’s lake, I particularly adored Maureya Lebowitz’s delicious Lise in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s joyous La Fille mal gardée.
Matthew Ball (Swan) and Liam Mower (Prince) © Johan Persson
Other highlights on disc include the astonishing Currentzis Pathétique (Sony) and The Pearl Fishers (Pentatone), Cyrille Dubois’ “Je crois entendre encore” the loveliest bit of tenor singing I heard all year.
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla receiving her award © Andrew Fox
The year brought a few extra special moments. Standing through the ROH Ring cycle was less of a challenge than I feared for these aching bones and was memorable in many ways. Presenting Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla with her Critics’ Circle award during a performance at Symphony Hall was an honour, albeit a nerve-wracking one. I’ve interviewed some terrific people over the past twelve months. Meeting my clarinet hero Michael Collins was wonderful, but interviewing Anna Netrebko was the year’s biggest “pinch me” moment. She and Yusif Eyvazov were great interviewees – candid, funny, affectionate – and her Instagram photos? The best.
© Anna Netrebko
Over the course of the year, I saw some 180 events, of which I reviewed around 80. That’s right, contrary to popular belief, some critics do pay to go to stuff. While we’re on the filthy subject of finance, when I head abroad I often receive tweets telling me how lucky I am. And truly I am. I’m lucky my job affords me the opportunity to travel for culture. But apart from a few jaunts this year – a press trip to Valencia (one night), accommodation in Zurich (two nights), a press trip to Paris (to conduct an interview for Gramophone) and a colleague’s hospitality in Vienna – these were funded out of my own wallet and I took holiday leave from my day job to do so.
Press tickets are a great privilege, of course, but with cheap travel abroad – if you are able to book far enough in advance – it’s an affordable expense for now. More affordable than many places in the UK. Indeed, I am reminded that my single night attending the Buxton Festival in July cost more than flights and three nights accommodation in Salzburg at the height of the festival. Now that’s just a crazy situation.
Bring on 2019!
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