A deeply engaging Tristan und Isolde

Having seen the Glyndebourne and Royal Opera productions of Tristan und Isolde not so long ago, I was quite looking forward to a concert performance of this epic Wagner opera - one without cumbersome staging and weird stage directions. It turned out to be one of the best performances I have ever heard of this work. Gary Lehman sang Tristan with thoughtfulness and directness. His voice remained strong and composed throughout the three acts. It would be very exciting to see him as Siegfried in the near future. Violeta Urmana was absolutely fabulous - the Isolde role enabled her to show off her entire range of vocal colours and emotions. Could she be a future Brünhilde? And there was a really good rapport between them. Anne Sophie von Otter's Brangäne was also very good - especially in Act II where she sang from a Level 6 Box high above everyone else - very effective. Bill Viola's video projections were good in places, distracting in others - luckily this being a concert performance one can ignore what's
being shown above the orchestra. Esa-Pekka Salonen led the Philharmonia Orchestra with firmness and encouragement - and the players were responsive throughout. A memorable Tristan und Isolde is hard to come by, and this one will stay with me for a little while.

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Written On Skin at the Royal Opera

This was the first revival of George Benjamin's Written On Skin. As with contemporary operas, familiarity goes a long way in appreciating the work. In this revival, I found Christopher Purves's The Protector powerful and moving. Barbara Hannigan, who sang Agnès, was superb. The pure and slightly eerie tone of Iestyn Davies as The Boy completed the perfect cast.

Götterdämmerung at The Met

Carl Fillion's set design for The Ring at The Met caused a real stir at the premier. Though not having the luxury of seeing the whole Ring, I managed to get a ticket to see Götterdämmerung. Fabio Luisi at the helm of the large Met orchestra kept everything going. There was enough breathing space for the drama to unfold, and there were muscular moments that needed to punctuate the drama. Probably not as poised as Bernard Haitink at Covent Garden many years ago, or as gutsy as Antonio Pappano this season in the same house. But nonetheless very good. Deborah Voigt was a fine Brünhilde - as the role demands from beginning to end. Lars Cleveman was quite a believable Siegfried - youngish looking, jumps about, looking slightly naive on stage. Hans-Peter Köonig was OK - none of his phrases sent shiver down my spine as there was not enough evil. Back to the set. The rotating 'fingers' really worked (you can see them in this pic - sitting above the performers), especially...

Hänsel und Gretel at the Royal Opera

Having seen Hänsel und Gretel only a few months ago at Glyndebourne , I was looking forward to see how the Royal Opera will bring this fairytale opera to life. Christian Fenouillat pastoral set worked well. Like many operas with a small cast, he added a bounding box to reduce the size of the stage without losing perspective. Angelika Kirchschlager and Diana Damrau were believable Hänsel and Gretel respectively. Their stage acting (how they walked, jumped and cuddled) conveyed a real sense of innonance. Thomas Allen (their father) was on good form. The Dew Fairy (by Anita Watson) was fabulous with an orange duster and a yellow squirty spray cleaner. All in all, the creative team managed to strike a good balance between serious opera and fairytale. Colin Davis also did real justice to Humperdinck's lush Wagnerian score. It would be nice for this lovely work to remain in repertory around this time of the year to counter-balance the sickly sweek Nutcracker.

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