October 13, 2012: I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (Bellini) in Oslo

2012-10-13 I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (Bellini), Den Norske Opera & Ballett (Oslo)

Giulietta = Marita Sølberg
Romeo = Vesselina Kasarova
Capellio = Magne Fremmerlid
Tebaldo = Diego Torre
Lorenzo = Yngve André Søberg

Antonio Fogliani, conductor
Den Norske Opera & Ballett

Chorus and Orchestra

It was Vesselina Kasarova's debut in Oslo's new opera house, but it was Marita Sølberg's triumph.

It was strange being in Oslo for an opera. This was a concertant opera. But that was not it. My mother died early Monday morning. And now on Sunday this opera, I Capuleti ed i Montecchi, a Romeo and Julia story. My mother died of breast cancer. This time it had spread through her body.

I still liked Bellini's music and the opera, but I could not get into it. It was too far away from my life. Marita Sølberg was fantastic. Her voice is so warm and so she was the ideal Giulietta. Vesselina Kasarova is, of course, the famous Bulgarian mezzo, but I have never really warmed up to her. She was a teenage Romeo, walking strangely about. Her voice was more soprano than mezzo. Diego Torre was a wonderful Tebaldo. Loved his tenor voice. Magne Fremmerlid as Cappelio and Yngve Andre Søberg as Lorenzo are two amazing basses who sang well. The conductor Antonio Fogliani worked hard to get the right sounds from the orchestra. The chorus sang well. It would have been wonderful if it could have become staged this opera, but that was not to be this time.

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For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com If you want to see more photos from my OperaDuets Travels, go to www.operaduetsphotos.com

October 13, 2011: Madama Butterfly in Vienna

2011-10-13 Madama Butterfly (G. Puccini), Wiener Staatsoper

Cio-cio-san, aka Butterfly = Daniela Dessi
B.F.Pinkerton = Marian Talaba
Sharpless = Eijiro Kai
Suzuki = Juliette Mars
Goro = Herwig Pecoraro
Yamadori = Peter Jelosits
Kate Pinkerton = Jeanine De Bique
Onkle Bonze = Alexandru Moisiuc
Der kaiserliche Kommissär = Marcus Pelz
Der Standesbeamte = Martin Müller
Mutter Cio-Cio-Sans = Arina Holecek
Base = Denisa Danielová

Patrick Lange, conductor

Regie - Josef Gielen
Bühnenbild - Tsugouharu Foujita
Kostüme - Tsugouharu Foujita

I really liked Eijiro Kai as Sharpless. Marian Talaba was even from front row a weak Pinkerton. He struggled with the singing. He was clearly not at ease. He was a great Stewa in JENUFA so why not in Madama Butterfly. Daniela Dessi was really good in act 2+3, I guess maybe it took me almost the act 1 to get it. The love duet was almost all Dessi, Talaba was too weak.

I loved my seat and that I could see what happened in the orchestra. They seemed to enjoy themselves, those men and women in the orchestra. I loved to watch the female first violinist. It gave depth to my understanding of the music of Giacomo Puccini.

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For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com If you want to see more photos from my OperaDuets Travels, go to www.operaduetsphotos.com

October 13, 1997: Fedora in Vienna

1997-10-13 Fedora (Umberto Giordano, Wiener Staatsoper

Fedora Romazoff = Agnes Baltsa
Loris Ipanoff = José Cura
Olga Sukarew = Anat Efraty
De Siriex = Davide Damiani
Dimitri/Ein kleiner Savoyarde =
Dana Liliana Ciuca
Desire = Helmut Wildhaber
Baron Rouvel = Franz Kasemann
Cirillo = Peter Köves
Dr. Boroff = Marian Pop
Grech = Rudolf Mazzola
Dr. Lorek = David Cale Johnson
Nicola = Friedrich Springer
Sergio = Johann Reinprecht
Michele = Martin Thyringer
Boleslao Lazinski = Paul Harris
Ivan = Nicholaas van Huyssteen

Anton Guadagno, conductor



I chose a cheap ticket that made the opera look like this:

Act 1 Vladimir's Palace
I saw Agnes Baltsa in a beautiful red dress 3 times.
Nothing else. Luckily I knew the opera, so I knew what was going on. Wonderful singing. But my question was: "How was the acting. And the room?"


Act 2 Fedora's Palace in Paris
This time I saw more. I could see 1/3 of the stage. And luckily I could most of Agnes Baltsa & Jose Cura when they were together. I had to lean out to see them. GREAT singing!
But Cura was sobbing in "Vedi, io piango" ruined the moment.

Act 3 LoveNest in Switzerland
I could see everything. GREAT.

Inszenierung
Jonathan Miller

Ausstattung
Tobias Hoheisel

Lichtgestaltung
Paul Pyant

Choreinstudierung
Johannes Meister

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