Harmoniques somptueuses, ligne de chant impeccable. Toutes ces qualités on les retrouve chez le contralto chinois Qiu Lin Zhang, probablement la plus belle Erda au monde actuellement.
The performers, led by Polish soprano Iwona Sobotka playing Pamina and supported by the WA Opera and WA Symphony Orchestra, were not deterred by the extravagant production, but revelled in it.
Pamina, sung beautifully by Soprano Iwona Sobotka on opening night. She played the heroine-in-need-of-rescue to perfection, but despite the sexism spouted by some characters, Pamina showed courage, determination and integrity. That said, she does fall into despair when she believes she is no longer loved by Tamino, and Sobotka sings Pamina’s aria with great feeling as she contemplates suicide.
Das Staatstheater Cottbus bringt Giuseppe Verdis „Otello“ auf die Bühne. Ein Beziehungsgespinst, in dem es um Macht und Krieg führende Männer geht – aber auch um die Kraft der Frauen.
Rarely does an opera character spit this malice around your ears so naturally - and even more rarely do you develop sympathy for it: this distinguished ruling clique! Consisting of upstarts, warmongers, schemers, courtiers, seekers of advantage - a deeply mendacious society - and that's why an Iago functions in the fragile Otello system. He lights the candles in the ego trip of the characters, who always stay a step behind him.
Duisburg With the British animation theater troupe "1927", Barrie Kosky staged Mozart's opera in Duisburg's Rheinoper house as a happy folk theater in the digital age. Excellent also the musical side of the evening
Of all the operas in the repertoire, Die Zauberflote is the one that today seems to best stimulate the creativity of directors. We saw it this summer at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence , we can see it at the start of the season in Düsseldorf where Suzanne Andrade and Barrie Koskydemonstrate a pleasing inventiveness. Their idea? Transform Mozart's work into a gigantic cartoon. How? 'Or' What ? Through intensive use of video, which has definitely become an essential element of all opera performances, just like costumes and lights. A white panel the size of the stage frame acts as a screen. Openings, arranged at different heights of this single scenic device, allow the characters to integrate into the projected images. Their permanent renewal prevents weariness from setting in once the process has been understood.