War and Peace was one of the great triumphs of the ENO's golden age in the seventies: it was stunningly well done. I regret not being able to see the WNO version.
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Just saw Santa Fe Opera's revival of The Pearl Fishers, with the late Lee Blakeley's production now in the very capable hands of Shawna Lucey. Tenor Ilker Arcayurek sounded a bit strained as Nadir, but otherwise, a solid production. (Proms on iPlayer will have to take a back seat the rest of this week.
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I had a seat at the first night of La Fille du Regiment at ROH recently; a friend could not use her Amphi ticket so I bought it.
Setting aside the opera itself for the moment
the thing that astonished me, not having been in the amphi for years, was the whole opening up at that level for restaurants and bars, with superb views over the Piazza, and the rest of London.
I don't know if this is new, but the building is open to all for access to bars and restaurants from 1000 (a.m.) every day, including non-performance days.Comment
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Being open to all every day is new this year (18/19 season). I occasionally stop in for a coffee even if I'm not attending an event as it is one place that I know won't be blasting loud pop music at me. There also far more events of various types including some nice free mid-day recitals. And it is wonderful to have so much space during intervals!Comment
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BSP's annual Santa Fe Opera visit wound up with this season's world premiere, The Thirteenth Child of Poul Ruders, and Janacek's Jenufa. TTC had its good moments, but also draggy moments, almost as if not to make the short running time even shorter. Even with intermission, the show didn't break 2 hours. Darko Tresnjak staged the work well, with a medieval castle turned 90 degrees off its base and a staircase out of Hitchcock's Vertigo. He used video projections effectively, even if snakes slithering along the stairs when the bad guy, Drokan, was on stage were not a subtle touch. PR and librettists David and Becky Starobin (the latter of Bridge Records fame) were on hand to take a bow. You'll all be pleased to know that Paul Daniel conducted very well.
The UK is likewise represented in the Jenufa production, which began at ENO. This performance was absolutely splendid, by far the best of the 3 productions that I saw this week. Laura Wilde was brilliantly touching in the title role, well complemented by Patricia Racette as the Kostelnicka. In opera, there's good overacting and bad overacting, and Racette fell well on the good side, to capture the character's strains that lead her to her terrible act. An unrecognizable Susanne Mentzer provided one of the production's few comic moments, when she tried to swing her handbag at the mayor's wife in Act Iii during the pre-wedding scene. Although the production seemed updated to something like Soviet-era Czechoslovakia (which would make references to Vienna seem odd), it wasn't all strict kitchen sink realism in Act II, with the odd room angles. Johannes Debus conducted excellently, and everyone on stage and the pit got through the rain mists and wind that swept through the open side walls during Act III. In fact, it was curious to see the wind ruffling the singers' clothes and hair (as well as Debus' hair), especially given that Act III is set indoors. But no matter, as they all kept calm and carried on.
Speaking of Janacek, one side note was when I found the Met Opera Sirius channel into rental car, and heard the end of Act I of Vec Makropoulos from January 1996 (sung in English), whereupon the announcer's voice was that of...Margaret Juntwait. It was a jolt, until I remembered the archival nature of the Sirius Met Opera channel.Comment
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