Living at the Opera

From Seen and Heard International By: José M Irurzun; Picture © Antoni Bofill Soloists, Orquestra Simfònica y Coro del Gran Teatre del Liceu.Conductor: Marco Armiliato. Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona. 13.14 & 15. 12. 2009 (JMI) Verdi’s Trovatore had not been performed at Barcelona’s Liceu since the1992–93 season, which is extremely strange, taking into [...]

Opera research tells us that, at first, Giuseppe Verdi was considering “Azucena” as the name for his 1853 opera, Il Trovatore. If the composer were still alive and had attended the opera’s December 22nd performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, he very well might have. There was no doubt while watching the [...]

From Seen and Heard International By: José M Irurzun; Picture courtesy of the Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia (below)Oksana Dyka as Cio Cio San After opening its opera season with Berlioz’s Les Troyens, Valencia returned to box-office security by programming Madama Butterfly, last performed here in April 2008. Some would say it is [...]

While watching the Turandot HD Telecast on November, 7th, it became apparent that the performance in the house was definitely superior to the one shown in selected movie theaters around the world, or to be specific at the El Con in Tucson, AZ. Just a few minutes into Act One, the audience realized the weather [...]

From Seen and Heard International By: José M Irurzun, Picture © Javier del Real Soloists, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid. Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid. Conductor: Jesús López Cobos. Teatro Real de Madrid. 1 and 3.11.2009 (JMI) This is the premiere of the new production by Joan Font (Les Comediants) in co -production with three [...]

For the second opera in the Cinema in Opera series the Loft Cinema chose La Traviata staring Angela Gheorghiu in her La Scala debut as Violetta in 2007. Considering all the publicity, pro and con reviews and personal comments on YouTube surrounding the Romanian soprano’s performance, its safe to assume that the Opera World still [...]

General Manager Peter Gelb and Theater Director Luc Bondy certainly have garnered a lot of attention for their new production of G. Puccini’s Tosca. More than 25 reviews appeared in newspapers and online of the work’s opening night premiere in September. For proof, Google Met’s Tosca reviews as a starter. Added to that were the [...]

Photo to the left: Gregory Kunde as Antenore and Juan Diego Flórez as Ilo Act One Scene V11 © Amati Bacciardi. Official ROF photos. Zelmira* was the last of nine operas Rossini composed for the San Carlo Opera House in Naples in 1822. It turned out to be his most adventurous musical drama of all [...]

From SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL OPERA REVIEW By: José M Irurzun Production: Bayerische Staatsoper. Stage Direction: Yannis Kokkos. Sets and costumes: Yannis Kokkos. Lighting: Michael Bauer. This production had its premiere in January of last year directed by Yannis Kokkos, who as usual for him, designed the sets and costumes. The production is very traditional [...]

1967 was a very good year for Renata Scotto both in the quality of her singing and in her approach to opera as drama. The soprano had three standout performances that year. The May 18th Lucia di Lammermoor in Naples noted on this site. She sang a vocally impressive Gilda in Rigoletto on August 11th [...]