Peter Grimes, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, June 2011
Posted on 22 June 2011This production brings out the horrid awkwardness of Grimes’s estrangement from the local community, eliciting our sympathy for him …
Tag Archives: Ben Heppner
Wagner at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, a retrospective, February 2010
Posted on 17 February 2010Five Wagner operas in six days … was quite a marathon, but well worth it, particularly for three of the productions.
Lohengrin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wagner Wochen, February 2010
Posted on 10 February 2010Friedrich’s excellent staging is well supported by the performers, particularly Waltraud Meier, who plays the evil Ortrud with subtle malice, and Eike Wilm Schulte, who portrays a fiercely tendentious Telramund with a commanding voice — this nasty pair both exhibit great stage presence.
Tristan und Isolde, Royal Opera, October 2009
Posted on 3 October 2009The orchestra performed with distinction under Antonio Pappano, and the Opera House had put together a superb cast, led by Nina Stemme as Isolde. She was terrific throughout, and in the Liebestod she rose effortlessly above the orchestra