TANNHÄUSER: WHAT'S ON A MAN'S MIND
After more than ten years Tannhäuser returns to Amsterdam. The Dutch National Opera brings a new production of the opera that is about the classic struggle between heart and mind, lust and love and what it means to be a man (or human being for that matter).
Tannhäuser in a staging by Christof Loy goes back to the Paris premiere of 1861 - to the Jockey club. Hypocrisy embedded in the male perspective on women finds an explicit yet thoughtful depiction on stage when the members of the Jockey Club go from sexual excess to strict prudent behaviour. Read the review here >> NL: Tannhäuser, tussen lust en liefde About extreme music
A declaration of love to one of the most extreme music genres on the planet: DEATHCORE
Bringing DIE TOTE STADT to life
De Nederlandse Reisopera brings Die Tote Stadt to life. The theatrical potential that lies in Korngold's late-romantic opera is articulated with skill in another inventive production of the opera nomads from Holland.
NL: De Nederlandse Reisopera brengt Die Tote Stadt van Korngold tot leven Helmut Lachenmann in the Mozart sandwich
Helmut Lachenmann shares the programme with Salzburg's most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. An aural journey from the first Viennese school to the acoustic techno, Musique Concrète Instrumentale, of Lachenmann. A listening experience in which tuning the instruments prior to a Mozart symphony becomes part of the programme.
NL: Lachenmann in de Mozart-sandwich Oedipe: can a man escape his fate?
The Dutch National Opera closes 2018 with OEDIPE by George Enescu. An opera about a man who thinks he can escape his fate, who walks straight into it as a result, and eventually reconciles with it. >>
NL: Is de mens sterker dan zijn lot? One More ...
In the Ring from Hong Kong, Jaap van Zweden leads orchestra and cast in a captivating journey through Wagner's Nibelungen world. Van Zweden doesn’t ride the fast lane but in a good Ring it isn't of any importance how long it takes to make it to the end of Götterdämmerung. In a good performance that end will always come too soon ... >>
Jenufa: ice-cold reality & warm-blooded music
"We could have went to a nice restaurant for your birthday," she says while Anette Dasch raises her skirt and pulls her tights down. The soprano who started the evening with vomiting is sitting on the toilet. Janáček's Jenůfa for the Dutch National Opera is quintessential Katie Mitchell. A director who values, above all, realism in theatre. >>
NL: Jenůfa: ijskoude realiteit en warmbloedige muziek My Parsifal conductor: a Wagnerian Comedy
The Directors Company in New York stages with My Parsifal Conductor a comedic spin-off of real-life events in which Richard Wagner finds himself in a moral, political and musical dilemma when King Ludwig of Bavaria insists that the son of a rabbi, Hermann Levi conduct the premiere of Wagner’s sacred final opera, Parsifal.
An interview with playwright Allan Leicht, Eddie Korbich (Richard Wagner), Geoffrey Cantor (Hermann Levi) and Carlo Bosticco (King Ludwig) >> Lohengrin: Swasti-swans in Brabant
The knight of the Swan in a world of Swasti-swans and war. Opera Vlaanderen starts the new season with David Alden's take on Lohengrin.
NL: Lohengrin: in het Rijk van de Zwaan Dutch National Opera starts new season with 'Die Zauberflöte'
Simon McBurney's production is a roller coaster that revamps the magic in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte . And six years after its premiere, at its third installment, it's still capable to make new converts, amongst them this reviewer. >>
PARSIFAL IN BAYREUTH
Laufenberg's production is a bit of a bumpy ride but Parsifal in Bayreuth is an experience like few other opera-experiences
Heavy Summer (the road to Bayreuth)With Günther Groissböck, Judas Priest and the divine qualities of heavy music. Countdown to Parsifal in Bayreuth. Lessons in Love and Violence
George Benjamin's latest opera is like a dark crystal that harbours many colours. It was composed with the intended singers in mind and it shows. Barbara Hannigan excels, she brings depth to her character, and always has an ear for the belcanto aspect, even in the most challenging of vocal lines.>>
Berlin/Blog: Faust & the claws of time
A trip to Berlin. To the heart of the German (and European) canon with Gounod's Faust at Deutsche Oper Berlin.
BACH/BLOG
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ABOUTThis website wants to be a musical journey from the blues-based hardrock I grew up with to the 19th century music dramas of Richard Wagner I became so enarmored with later in my life.
The music of Wagner feels, more than the music of any other (classical) composer I know, like a natural extension of the hardrock and heavy metal I grew up with. His music can be a place for the metal aficionado who might have reached a point of arrival in his or her listening experience and is receptive for something that goes beyond the sound of double bass drums and howling guitarsolos. Something else, but something that is equally, if not more, satisfying to ears and soul. For me Richard Wagner was the door to new worlds of sound. A guide on a journey through a musical landscape that is still ongoing. Join in and enjoy the ride ... - Wouter de Moor 
Recensies en blogs in het Nederlands Met Die Tote Stadt van Nederlandse Reisopera, Lohengrin in Vlaanderen en Parsifal in Bayreuth. Verder een Vliegende Hollander die Dracula ontmoet, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Aleksandr Scriabin, Gustavo Dudamel, Bernard Haitink en Henry Rollins. |
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