Recently acquired recordings

I recently acquired the following recordings :

- John Adams : The Gospel According to the Other Mary, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, DG 479 2243 ;
- David Amram : The Final Ingredient, conducted by the composer, Premier Recordings PRCD 1056 ;
- Carlisle Floyd : Markheim, conducted by Knud Andersson, Vai, VAIA 1107 ;

- Philip Glass : Galileo Galilei, conducted by Anne Manson, OMM 0091 ;
- Howard Hanson : Merry Mount, conducted by Tullio Serafin, Naxos 8.110024-25 ;
- Ildebrando Pizzetti : Fedra, conducted by Enrique Mazzola, Accord,  4803437 ;

- Tan Dun : Tea - A Mirror of Soul, conducted by the composer, Deutsche Grammophon 00440 073 0999.

Received in the mail this Saturday morning

Today, I have received the following in the mail :

- Weimar, Deutsches Nationaltheater : June-July 2014 leaflet ;
- Krefeld Mönchengladbach, Theater : June-July 2014 leaflet ;
- Fürth, Stadttheater : 2014-2015 season program book.

Received this Friday morning

This Friday morning, I have received the following leaflets :

- Staatstheater Stuttgart, June 2014 ;
- Theater Trier, June 2014.

2014-2015 season in Theater Ulm

In the 2014-2015 season, the Theater Ulm will present the following operas :

- Giuseppe Verdi : La Traviata, conducted by Timo Handschuh, directed by Matthias Kaiser (new production) ;
- Franz Lehar : Die lustige Witwe, conducted by Michael Weiger, directed by Benjamin Künzel (new production) ;
- Engelbert Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by Daniel Montané, directed by Benjamin Künzel (revival, first performed in November 2013) ;
- Claudio Monteverdi : Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, conducted by Hendrik Haas, directed by Matthias Kaiser (new production) ;
- Luigi Cherubini : Medée, conducted by Daniel Montané, directed by Igor Folwill (new production) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Cosi fan tutte, conducted by Timo Handschuh, director unknown (new production) ;
- Benjamin Britten : Peter Grimes, conducted by Daniel Montané, directed by Matthias Kaiser (revival from a production first performed in Trier in March 2012).

There will be 7 different operas in 4 languages, with 5 new productions, and 1 opera less than 100 years old. A world première will happen in Ulm in June 2014 : Erlöst Albert E. by composer Gerhard Stäbler.

'A Flowering Tree' by John Adams in Paris

This Wednesday night, I have attended the second performance of John Adams' opera A Flowering Tree at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The hall was half full / half empty. Though there are no real interactions between singing characters, except the duet in Act II, the music is great, with lots of percussion.

The direction by Vishal Bhardwaj was rather poor, with almost no sets, but was saved by the vivid choregraphy by Sedesh Adhana.

The three singers delivered the goods, except maybe Franco Pomponi as the Narrator whose wobble was slightly disappointing.

At the same time, early this May, John Adams' opera Doctor Atomic is having its first performances in France, in Strasbourg.

2014-2015 Season at the Musiktheater im Revier - Gelsenkirchen

During the 2014-2015 season, the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen will perform the following operas :

- Richard Strauss : Die Frau ohne Schatten, conducted by Rasmus Baumann, directed by Michael Schulz (new production, coproduction with the Staatstheater Kassel, where it will be first performed later this month) ;
- Georg Friedrich Händel : Belsazar, conducted by Christoph Spering, directed by Sonja Trebes (new production) ;
- Carsten Kirchmeier : Das Gespenst von Canterville, conducted by Askan Geisler, directed by Carsten Kirchmeier (world première). This new children opera consists of arrangements of music by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Henry Purcell and others ;
- Emmerich Kalman : Die Csardasfürstin, directed by Dietrich W. Hilsdorf (new production) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Zauberflöte, conducted by Rasmus Baumann, directed by Michiel Dijkema (revival of a 2009 production) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Rigoletto, conducted by Rasmus Baumann, directed by Michael Schulz (new production) ;
- Isidora Zebeljan : Simon das Findelkind, conducted by Valtteri Rauhalammi, directed by Michiel Dijkema (world première). The première was originally planned for last April, but was postponed to next year.

Received in the mail this Monday morning

This Monday morning, I have received the following in the mail :

- Gelsenkirchen, Musiktheater im Revier : 2014-2015 season book ;
- Gelsenkirchen, Musiktheater im Revier : 2014 June and July leaflet ;
- Freiburg, Theater : June 2014 leaflet ;
- Nürnberg, Staatstheater : May and June 2014 leaflets.

2014-2015 season at the Staatsoper in Hannover

The following operas will be performed in Hannover during the 2014-2015 season :

- Giorgio Battistelli : Lot, conducted by Karen Kamensek, directed by Frank Hilbrich (world première) ;
- Georges Bizet : Carmen, conducted by Anja Bihlmaier, directed by Monique Wagemakers (revival, first performed in June 2013) ;
- Arrigo Boito : Mefistofele, conducted by Karen Kamensek (in concert) ;
- Engelbert Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by Anja Bihlmaier, originally directed by Steffen Tiggeler (before December 2011) ;
- Leos Janacek : Jenufa, conducted by Karen Kamensek, directed by Floris Visser (new production) ;
- Pietro Mascagni : Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo : Pagliacci, conducted by Mark Rohde, directed by Philipp Himmelmann (revival, from last January) ;
- Jules Massenet : Werther, conducted by Anja Bihlmaier, directed by Bernd Mottl (new production) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Don Giovanni, conducted by Benjamin Reiners, directed by Benedikt von Peter (revival, production to be premièred later this month) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by Anja Bihlmaier, directed by Ingo Kerkhof (revival) ;
- Giacomo Puccini : Tosca, conducted by Mark Rohde, directed by Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka (new production) ;
- Jean-Philippe Rameau : Castor et Pollux, conducted by Benjamin Reiners, directed by Alexander Charim (revival, production to be premièred next June) ;
- Johann Strauß : Die Fledermaus, conducted by Benjamin Reiners, directed by Martin G. Berger (new production) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : La Traviata, directed by Benedikt von Peter (revival) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Un ballo in maschera, conducted by Mark Rohde, directed by Olivier Tambosi (revival, first performed in September 2013).

15 operas will be performed in only 4 different languages (German, Italian, French and Czech). There is only one opera composed since 1914, but it is a world première. The season consists of 9 revivals, 1 opera in concert and 5 new productions, including the new Battistelli opera.

Received this Saturday

This Saturday morning, I have received in the mail :

- Saarbrücken : Saarländisches Staatstheater, Mai 2014 leaflet ;
- Munich : Die Münchner Philharmoniker, 2014-2015 season book.

In Munich, Lorin Maazel, celebrating his 85th birthday, will conduct the following operas :

- Giacomo Puccini's La Fanciulla del West in December 2014 ;
- Rodion Shchedrin's The Enchanted Wanderer in March 2015 ;
- Francis Poulenc's La Voix humaine in a double bill with Jean Cocteau's play, in June 2015.

Today : world première performance of Julian Anderson's 'Thebans' in London

Today, Saturday May 3rd, 2014, Thebans, the new opera composed by Julian Anderson, will be performed for the first time in London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera.

Inspired by Sophocles's Theban plays, the libretto in English by Frank McGuinness, is a story of incest, political ambition, love and loyalty that follows the fate of Oedipus and his daughter Antigone.

Sophocles's three Theban plays (Oedipus tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone) have been adapted to the lyrical stage several times by composers including Igor Stravinsky, George Enescu, Harry Partch, Antonio Sacchini, Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Carl Orff, Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli, Arthur Honegger, Richard Strauss and Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner.

The cast is the following :

Edward Gardner (conductor), Pierre Audi (director), Roland Wood (Oedipus, baritone), Peter Hoare (Creon, tenor), Julia Sporsén (Antigone, soprano), Matthew Best (Tiresias, bass), Susan Bickley (Jocasta, mezzo), Christopher Ainslie (Messenger and King Theseus, countertenor), Anthony Gregory (Haemon, tenor), Jonathan McGovern (Polynices, baritone).

The orchestra is quite a large one : 3.3.3.3 - 4.3.3.1, 5 percussionist, harp, piano, synthesizer, celesta and strings. The scores and parts are available from Faber Music publishers.

A recording is to be broadcast by BBC Radio 3 on Monday May 26th.

Received in the mail this morning

This morning, I received the following items :

- program book for the world première performance of Andrea Molino's opera qui non c'è perché, that happened in Bologna last April 24th ;

- Theater Ulm : 2014-2015 season program ;
- Theater und Orchester Heidelberg : June 2014 brochure ;
- Volksoper Wien : June 2014 leaflet ;
- Staatstheater Darmstadt : June 2014 leaflet.

Received yesterday in the mail

Yesterday, I received the following brochures in the mail :

- Berliner Philharmoniker, 2014-2015 season ;
- Bühnen Hannover : Magazin n° 5 (Hannoversche Allgemeine, April 25, 2014) ;
- Staatsoper Hannover : 2014-2015 season, with Konzerte 2014-2015 book and Schauspiel Hannover (2014-2015 season program book) ;
- Braunschweig, Staatstheater : June 2014 brochure ;
- Bonn, Theater : June-July 2014.

Next season, the Berliner Philharmoniker will perform the following operas :

- Hector Berlioz, La Damnation de Faust, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle (first in Baden-Baden in March and April 2015, then in Berlin) ;
- Jonathan Dove, Was lauert da im Labyrinth (The Monster in the Maze), conducted by Sir Simon Rattle (June 2015), world première performance of a new children opera, then to be performed by the London Symphony Orchestra ;
- Richard Strauss : Der Rosenkavalier in Baden-Baden (directed by Brigitte Fassbaender) in March and April 2015.