Happy New Year 2013
Jan 1 2013

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year to one and all!

So, having neglected my blog for a long time, I’ve decided that Opera and Me should have a new lease of life in 2013.

The plan? Shorter posts, more frequently … and addressing more than just live performances that I’ve seen. Here goes…

And would just like to say a huge thank you to all those lovely people I’ve met (some again and again) in 2012 as a result of my blog and through my Opera and Me twitter account. Thanks for your support, advice and encouragement! And thanks to all the people I haven’t met and who still read, contribute to and use my blog… thanks for getting it to nearly 64000 hits!

Yours ever,

*me*

Rosemary Joshua (Despina) and Thomas Allen (Don Alfonso) in Royal Opera House's production of 'Così Fan Tutte' - February 2012 © Royal Opera House
Mar 13 2012

Così Fan Tutte: Constancy, Comedy and Cancellations

The best laid plans of the Royal Opera House don’t often go awry… but on this fateful day in February, I think some of their senior staff might have had a bit of a headache! What do you do when your star baritone drops out of a performance at the last minute with no time to get his standby replacement from Paris? Well… here’s what happened….
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Natalie Dessay (Manon), Giuseppe Filianoti (Des Grieux) and Franck Ferrari (Lescaut) in Massenet's 'Manon' at the Opéra National de Paris - January 2012 © Charles Duprat
Jan 21 2012

Manon: Parties, Punks and Priests in Paris

With Little Me’s first birthday looming just around the corner, what better way to celebrate than to go back to the place where his opera journey began…. in Paris! This time to see Natalie Dessay and Giuseppe Filianoti in Massenet’s Manon at the Opéra Bastille. And what a bizarre experience this performance was!
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Marina Poplavskaya (Violetta) and James Valenti (Alfredo) in the first cast of 'La Traviata' - October 2011 © Royal Opera House
Dec 31 2011

La Traviata: A Tragic Triumph

I’ve always had a soft spot for Verdi’s La Traviata ever since I saw it for the first time during my undergrad. When I saw that the Royal Opera House were staging it over a three-month period this winter with three different casts, I jumped at the chance of booking tickets… and one for each cast! Having seen two of the casts, and with the news that Anna Netrebko has cancelled her performances in January, I thought I would end my first year of blogging on a Verdian high…
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Jonas Kaufmann (Faust) and René Pape (Méphistophélès) in Met Opera's new production of Gounod's 'Faust' - December 2011 © Ken Howard
Dec 31 2011

Faust: The Met’s Nuclear Production

In this, my last Met Live in HD viewing of 2011, I went to see another production of Gounod’s Faust, a far cry from the Royal Opera House production I saw in September. Des McAnuff’s production was far out – it was set between the World Wars, with Faust as a nuclear scientist. While I’m not sure I followed all of the historical and cultural ideology implanted in this production, it was definitely not a hindrance as by the end I was in tears. It was very moving!
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The lovers, Rodelinda (Renée Fleming) and Bertarido (Andreas Scholl), in Met Opera's production of Handel's 'Rodelinda' - December 2011 © Ken Howard
Dec 31 2011

Rodelinda: Handel gets the Hollywood treatment

This production just proves how versatile the Metropolitan Opera is at staging great productions across the board. Having seen Siegfried at a Met Live in HD screening less than a month previously, I was back in Malvern to watch my first full-length Handel opera on the big screen – this time with Handel’s number 1 fan, my father.
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The impressive set for Act 3 in Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin' - November 2011 © Neil Libbert, ENO
Dec 31 2011

Eugene Onegin: A Tchaikovsky Triumph

This performance, for me, was special in many ways. Not only was it a great performance, both musically and visually, but also it was part of a reunion with some of the people with whom I had visited the Salzburg Festival in August this year. Having seen three operas and some concerts in Salzburg, it seemed fitting that the first big UK reunion should be at an opera. So 17 opera tickets later… and we were off to see my first Tchaikovsky opera of the year, Eugene Onegin.
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The final scene from Janáček's 'Katya Kabanova' - November 2011 © Welsh National Opera
Dec 31 2011

Katya Kabanova: WNO take on Janáček

One of my very first solo operatic experiences was a Welsh National Opera production of Jenůfa a good few years ago in Oxford, so it felt like déjà vu returning to the New Theatre to see WNO’s production of another Janáček opera, Katya Kabanova.
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Eglise Gutiérrez as Amina ("The Sleepwalker") in Bellini's 'La Sonnambula' - November 2011 © Royal Opera House
Dec 31 2011

La Sonnambula: Sleepwalking, Snow and Singing

In this, my first Bellini opera of the year, I was both excited and interested to find out more about this composer and his operas. Another talented composer who died far too young (being only 33 when he died), he managed to compose a good few operas – the most famous being Norma and La Sonnambula. I was really impressed with the opera – but, unfortunately, I didn’t really like Marco Arturo Marelli’s staging of it – I felt something was lacking.
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Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde) and Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried) in Met Opera's production of Wagner's "Siegfried" - November 2011 © Ken Howard
Dec 31 2011

Siegfried: The Machine Strikes Back

The third installment in the Met’s current Ring Cycle productions was Siegfried and this time I travelled to Malvern Theatres with my mother to watch the Live in HD screening. Having really enjoyed the screening of Die Walküre earlier in the year, I couldn’t wait… and by goodness was it worth the wait!
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