The iPhone made it to Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera

Conductor Julia Jones kept a good pace going. Sally Matthews (as Fiordiligi) and Nino Surguladze (as Dorabella) portrayed the emotional tension well through out. Troy Cook (Guglielmo) and Charles Castronovo (Ferrando) were convincing in their various disguises and melodramatic entrances. I wondered how they got their tattoos. I was not sure about William Shimell's Don Alfonso - he was fine when in an ensemble, but sounded rather dull when on his own. Helene Schniederman's Despina was ok - though she could have delivered her role with greater dramatic gestures.

Jonathan Miller's production originally included stylish costume by
Giorgio Armani which really worked with his textured walls and
contemporary staging. Subsequent revivals, however, included the Marks and
Spencer's clothing. This run at the Royal Opera included updated costumes (slim fit suits for the men, still rather dull clothing for the women) and Apple
iPhones. The audience seemed to
have liked it.

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Hearing the Berlin Philharmonic at the Philharmonie

Those of us London-centric folks easily forget there are great concert halls in other parts of the world. I remember as a young kid buying DG LPs with von Karajan on the front cover conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. So as my first visit to the city, a visit to the Philharmonie to listen to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was a must. Ivan Fisher started the evening's concert with Haydn Symphony 88. A light and delightful work. As I'd expected, the acoustic of the hall was amazing - probably a good 2.5 second of reverberation - and much more generous than the Royal Festival Hall in London. The strings sounded sweet and the timpani came through clearly with definition. The audience was then treated to Béla Bartók's Seven Pieces for Choir and Chamber Orchestra: the Berlin Phil reduced in size occupying only half of the stage while the Netherlands Youth Choir took the other half. These young performers (all female) sang in Hungarian from memory - not easy at all - and rea...

Faust at the Royal Opera

This is a revival of Charles Edwards (design) / David McVicar (director) production of Gounod Faust. Visually, it is still exciting to watch with the ever changing stage sets of this fantasy. In this production, Erwin Schrott was Méphistophélès - who had style and poise as this devilish character. Michael Fabiano did a good job at portraying Faust - especially in the first act when he had to start off as an old man before turning into an energetic youngster. Irina Lungu had the right French voice type for Marguerite - somewhat vulnerable with sufficient warmth for the romantic scenes. Dan Ettinger in the pit kept the pace going, and the chorus did magnificently in those big numbers.

Will the swish looking Princi become the hottest thing on Wardour St?

This site on Wardour Street in Soho had seen many bars and restaurants come and go. The latest occupant is Princi, an up market Italian bakery brought to London by Alan Yau (of Hakkasan, Yauatcha fame). Natural stones, polished brass and water reflections dominate. The long communal tables ( de rigeur for any Soho eatery), leather upholstered chairs and perfect lighting make this a stylish choice for a slice of cake (made from organic "00" flour) and a caffé machiato from the Italian barista (yes he is, I talked to him in Italian). They seem to have an alcohol licence - so perfect for an early evening spritz , or a late evening caffé correto . The downside is that this is a self-service joint. While everything is stylishly done, all eating implements are disposable. So never mind the side plate.

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