Into 2014

Jan. 5th, 2014 10:34 am
chickenfeet: (Default)
2014 kicked off with my annual physical because nothing says "Happy New Year" like a finger up one's arse.  I seem to be in reasonably good shape bar this cough that won't go away and rather high blood pressure.  Those two mean I have the bumper fun bag of inhalers and meds to work with for the time being.  Also I'm being good about exercising again (so far).

Work now includes a rather intimidating strategy project on top of everything else but no definitive word about my future post March 30th.

Recent DVD reviews include Busoni's Doktor Faustus; a christmas present from the lemur, a rather unthrilling Elektra from Baden-Baden and Puccini's Il Trittico from the Royal Opera House.  Live performances are a bit thin on the ground right now but I'll kick into high gear on January 18th when COC starts up again with Così fan tutte.  I'm hoping to interview Sir Thomas Allen ahead of the premier.

Otherwise it's snow, freezing rain and arctic temperatures.



chickenfeet: (four seasons centre)
Live reviews:

Richard Margison at Koerner Hall
Against the Grain's choreographed Messiah

On video disk:

Thaïs with Renée Fleming and Tom Hampson
A rather good Rape of Lucretia from ENO
A less satisfactory Gloriana from Covent Garden
A weirdly spectacular Orfeo ed Euridice from Les Fura dels Baus

On CD:

An interesting and unusual Christmas album; Christmas at Casa Diva

and more thoughts of the COC's Rufus Wainwright commission


chickenfeet: (mew)
The COC announces its first new opera project since 1999. Rufus Wainwright gets another go at writing an opera.  My take, and better, the comments on my take are here.  I also liked Peter Tiefenbach's tweet.  "Neef hat der Ihrfisch gesprungen".

Also two more DVD reviews; a rather unsatisfactory Tristan und Isolde and a very good Turn of the Screw.

chickenfeet: (four seasons centre)
DVD review of Christof Loy's production of Die Frau ohne Schatten which could hardly be more different from the Wernicke production at the Met.

Blu-ray review of Jake Heggie's rather excellent Moby Dick at San Francisco Opera.

The COC Ensemble Studio competition gala
at the Four Seasons Centre last night.

chickenfeet: (four seasons centre)
Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur gets the all star treatment at Covent Garden.  More...

The free concert season in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is kicked off by the artists of the Ensemble Studio and a special guest.  More...

chickenfeet: (Default)
Michael Sturminger's Giacomo Variations looks much the same on DVD as it did in the theatre.

There's only one DVD version of Britten's Albert Herring and it dates back to 1985 but it's a good one.

chickenfeet: (spear)
Krzysztof Warlikowski’s 2011 production of Cherubini’s 1797 opéra comique Médée is dramatic and well sung.  More...
chickenfeet: (Default)
Benjamin Britten's reworking of Pepusch and Gay's The Beggar's Opera was recorded by the BBC in 1963 and is now available on DVD.  More...
chickenfeet: (spear)
The final instalment of Kasper Holten's Copenhagen Ring is clever and satisfying.  More...
chickenfeet: (Default)
Meyerbeer's Dinorah is a very strong candidate.  More...
chickenfeet: (cute)
Robert Carsen's staging of Lully's Armide is first class and so are the performances but the music is still Lully.  More...

Louis Riel

Aug. 19th, 2013 04:00 pm
chickenfeet: (canada)
Harry Somers' 1969 opera about the Northwest rebellions of 1869 and 1885 is musically and dramatically effective and looks and sounds quite decent in a 2011 DVD release from the Canadian Music Centre.  More...
chickenfeet: (widmerpool)
Robert Carsen's 2011 Glyndebourne production of Handel's Rinaldo riffs off the English school story tradition with jolly hockey sticks, derring do and quite a few smacked bottoms.  More...
chickenfeet: (death)
John Dew's German language version of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots filmed at the Deutsche Oper in 1991 is quite disturbing and very good music theatre.  More...
chickenfeet: (Default)
The latest DVD to come this way is a French Revolutionary propaganda comedy; Cherubini's KoukourgiMore...
chickenfeet: (Default)
Manuel de Falla's La Vida Breve is an interesting short opera combining verismo and flamenco elements.  More...
chickenfeet: (Default)
J-P Ponelle's 1979 film of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea is campy, even by 1970s standards.  More...
chickenfeet: (death)
The 1970 BBC2 film of Britten's Owen Wingrave is now available on DVD. It's very interesting. More...
chickenfeet: (four seasons centre)
A second look at the Channel Four film of Britten's Owen Wingrave.

Philippe Sly and Julius Drake at Walter Hall.

May 2025

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