Meta tags:
Headings (most frequently used words):
2026, july, festival, june, munich, opera, blog, of, thursday, monteverdi, et, die, staatsoper, unter, den, linden, 28, boulezian, friday, 17, sunday, 12, wednesday, tuesday, saturday, monday, 29, about, me, search, this, total, pageviews, archive, popular, posts, my, list, broken, branches, sulayman, shibe, purcell, dowland, caccini, traditional, darwish, fairuz, harvey, chaker, takemitsu, and, britten, 14, spitalfields, choir, the, chapels, royal, hm, tower, london, carey, palestrina, soriano, al, entführung, aus, dem, serail, pelléas, mélisande, walküre, turandot, 30, one, blood, borgioni, continuo, ensemble, heumann, la, morte, orfeo,
Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (487), and (275), was (105), that (98), not (79), one (72), with (71), from (70), for (64), more (61), this (58), but (57), have (53), its (49), his (45), opera (44), than (39), may (36), well (35), all (35), what (34), july (33), music (32), perhaps (32), been (31), there (30), were (28), their (27), might (27), june (26), had (26), even (25), work (25), share (24), only (24), here (23), much (23), 2026 (22), yet (22), least (21), too (21), they (21), april (20), august (20), #monteverdi (20), new (20), september (19), october (19), november (19), december (19), january (19), february (19), march (19), director (19), such (19), would (19), wagner (19), has (18), when (18), dramatic (17), first (17), could (17), any (17), which (17), munich (16), both (16), her (16), shibe (15), itself (15), performance (15), like (15), did (15), berlin (14), you (14), something (14), festival (14), again (14), also (14), other (14), anything (14), sulayman (13), chorus (13), before (13), michael (13), two (13), who (13), though (13), then (13), rather (13), can (13), palestrina (13), later (12), andrea (12), without (12), many (12), between (12), far (12), very (12), will (12), less (12), staatsoper (11), hear (11), turandot (11), about (11), orfeo (11), should (11), musical (11), words (11), still (11), out (11), time (11), are (11), most (11), now (11), little (11), mark (10), berry (10), die (10), think (10), heard (10), orchestra (10), ensemble (10), act (10), course (10), some (10), quite (10), point (10), way (10), sense (10), them (10), see (10), another (10), offered (10), certainly (10), seen (9), pelléas (9), choir (9), proved (9), world (9), those (9), our (9), concert (9), being (9), close (9), excellent (9), albeit (9), often (9), gods (9), tower (9), through (8), mélisande (8), labels (8), pinterest (8), facebook (8), blogthis (8), email (8), posted (8), once (8), second (8), style (8), century (8), better (8), composer (8), into (8), state (8), consort (8), ever (8), never (8), place (8), although (8), beyond (8), down (8), hunding (8), german (8), feuerbach (8), almost (8), moses (8), mozart (7), great (7), conductor (7), unter (7), entführung (7), landi (7), borgioni (7), rossi (7), him (7), having (7), programme (7), death (7), jurowski (7), von (7), bavarian (7), designs (7), role (7), drama (7), own (7), enough (7), after (7), chapel (7), production (7), kratzer (7), she (7), wotan (7), fricka (7), worse (7), house (7), religion (7), thomas (7), berghaus (7), staatskapelle (7), different (7), ceylan (7), soriano (7), anne (6), blood (6), walküre (6), den (6), linden (6), chapels (6), royal (6), broken (6), history (6), orchestral (6), maria (6), david (6), line (6), always (6), outset (6), indeed (6), whole (6), performed (6), made (6), founded (6), idea (6), end (6), vladimir (6), betts (6), male (6), set (6), applause (6), put (6), stage (6), present (6), ultimately (6), element (6), direction (6), say (6), onstage (6), old (6), third (6), staging (6), important (6), seemed (6), must (6), images (6), particular (6), ring (6), playing (6), audience (6), just (6), roth (6), let (6), london (6), theme (5), rest (5), hall (5), voices (5), purcell (5), continuo (5), solo (5), orpheus (5), occasion (5), against (5), form (5), response (5), stood (5), opening (5), come (5), setting (5), theatre (5), primo (5), life (5), three (5), lack (5), titles (5), song (5), know (5), city (5), lotte (5), guth (5), lee (5), costumes (5), lighting (5), especially (5), fine (5), seems (5), contrast (5), subsequent (5), under (5), done (5), thus (5), same (5), visual (5), terms (5), english (5), revival (5), recall (5), thought (5), nationaltheater (5), experience (5), early (5), singing (5), sounded (5), hardly (5), things (5), every (5), nothing (5), speaking (5), sieglinde (5), times (5), merely (5), brünnhilde (5), moreover (5), barenboim (5), nature (5), daniel (5), however (5), plainchant (5), ave (5), arr (5), chaker (5), dowland (5), guitar (5), india (4), premiere (4), aus (4), dem (4), serail (4), allegri (4), peri (4), heumann (4), expressive (4), ears (4), immediately (4), heart (4), interesting (4), reminded (4), instruments (4), began (4), sometimes (4), dance (4), else (4), instance (4), sound (4), came (4), evening (4), following (4), power (4), celebrated (4), around (4), acts (4), revealing (4), turn (4), dean (4), queen (4), dramaturgy (4), queens (4), cast (4), throughout (4), future (4), sure (4), liturgical (4), librettist (4), relationship (4), few (4), libretto (4), certain (4), case (4), contemporary (4), command (4), good (4), hint (4), reflection (4), reading (4), off (4), slightly (4), felt (4), suppose (4), led (4), strange (4), fura (4), dels (4), baus (4), christian (4), video (4), structural (4), otherwise (4), respect (4), presented (4), alas (4), until (4), upon (4), post (4), joachim (4), irene (4), anger (4), siegmund (4), revealed (4), character (4), hope (4), given (4), human (4), dresden (4), surely (4), read (4), within (4), rate (4), while (4), suspect (4), does (4), shrine (4), christianity (4), love (4), unusual (4), thoughts (4), blondelle (4), simon (4), kožená (4), golaud (4), period (4), alike (4), brechtian (4), berliner (4), conducted (4), bülent (4), version (4), whilst (4), alone (4), greenaway (4), carey (4), tournemire (4), takemitsu (4), harvey (4), caccini (4), britten (4), butterfly (4), since (3), china (3), deutsche (3), oper (3), international (3), literary (3), wagnerian (3), six (3), blog (3), popular (3), posts (3), spitalfields (3), branches (3), home (3), stefano (3), sigismondo (3), mauro (3), luigi (3), lorenzo (3), jacopo (3), friederike (3), falconiero (3), excerpts (3), cetra (3), mia (3), concept (3), genre (3), treated (3), splendidly (3), artistry (3), twenty (3), previous (3), gone (3), found (3), arguably (3), giovanni (3), action (3), worked (3), guise (3), prior (3), theatrical (3), nicely (3), varied (3), voice (3), why (3), operatic (3), understanding (3), context (3), returning (3), dialogue (3), instrument (3), delle (3), euridice (3), beginning (3), informed (3), various (3), text (3), morte (3), operas (3), written (3), fascinating (3), real (3), vividly (3), communicative (3), performances (3), productions (3), loss (3), above (3), vera (3), boecker (3), pawel (3), horodyski (3), butler (3), johanni (3), oostrum (3), claus (3), elizabeth (3), england (3), mary (3), lord (3), esfahani (3), design (3), bauer (3), emphatically (3), harmonic (3), themselves (3), knew (3), equally (3), apparent (3), westminster (3), abbey (3), whether (3), question (3), likewise (3), tombs (3), electronic (3), sounds (3), conflict (3), material (3), purely (3), left (3), rheingold (3), puzzled (3), musically (3), opposed (3), takes (3), features (3), simply (3), used (3), including (3), country (3), whose (3), anyone (3), solution (3), problem (3), figures (3), met (3), welcome (3), highly (3), reactionary (3), aesthetics (3), strongly (3), garden (3), student (3), loud (3), attempt (3), nor (3), afraid (3), yonghoon (3), sondra (3), radvanovsky (3), golda (3), schultz (3), horn (3), battistoni (3), calaf (3), pedrussa (3), rainer (3), considerably (3), nonetheless (3), difficult (3), elsewhere (3), wish (3), original (3), expect (3), save (3), how (3), peter (3), appeared (3), doing (3), final (3), characters (3), cause (3), europe (3), chinese (3), back (3), tobias (3), nicholas (3), brownlee (3), miina (3), lisa (3), värelä (3), bäckström (3), roberts (3), ekaterina (3), gubanova (3), ain (3), heroes (3), increasingly (3), religious (3), known (3), already (3), sadness (3), intelligence (3), general (3), self (3), mere (3), immortality (3), feuerbachian (3), political (3), begin (3), unlikely (3), outstanding (3), ride (3), odd (3), latter (3), past (3), loved (3), aspects (3), turned (3), events (3), play (3), shall (3), appear (3), during (3), fellow (3), young (3), hegelian (3), critique (3), hegel (3), modern (3), fancy (3), church (3), clear (3), whom (3), offer (3), united (3), quasi (3), mostly (3), earth (3), inspired (3), near (3), long (3), revolutionary (3), activity (3), single (3), reality (3), leipzig (3), others (3), stephen (3), milling (3), keenlyside (3), ruth (3), magdalena (3), henrik (3), brandstetter (3), françois (3), xavier (3), debussy (3), sofie (3), otter (3), yniold (3), terrifying (3), alert (3), vivid (3), similar (3), arkel (3), barber (3), involved (3), directly (3), walk (3), motion (3), insofar (3), stands (3), part (3), guggeis (3), siyabonga (3), maqungo (3), serafina (3), starke (3), laurenz (3), steffens (3), adela (3), zaharia (3), bassa (3), selim (3), konstanze (3), höppner (3), joseph (3), whatever (3), live (3), current (3), interest (3), dramaturge (3), comedy (3), francesco (3), flor (3), peeters (3), colm (3), charles (3), eight (3), orgue (3), mystique (3), assumpta (3), est (3), organ (3), mass (3), offering (3), maris (3), stella (3), readily (3), wigmore (3), sean (3), layale (3), karim (3), jonathan (3), fairuz (3), care (3), branch (3), control (2), classical (2), years (2), manoj (2), quatuor (2), beethoven (2), borodine (2), korngold (2), successful (2), path (2), 2025 (2), castle (2), symphony (2), older (2), interspersed (2), sonata (2), toccata (2), battaglia (2), oblivion (2), soave (2), baritone (2), lira (2), gamba (2), encore (2), happy (2), ending (2), players (2), where (2), apt (2), curtain (2), mood (2), narration (2), showed (2), effect (2), harp (2), lyre (2), halves (2), trabaci (2), soul (2), doubt (2), change (2), charon (2), beva (2), secure (2), strophic (2), incoronazione (2), poppea (2), chitarrone (2), window (2), joined (2), sinfonia (2), consider (2), manifold (2), rending (2), rightly (2), baroque (2), approach (2), libro (2), canzone (2), overture (2), served (2), reflecting (2), contributed (2), lutenist (2), body (2), harmony (2), fashion (2), seventeenth (2), earlier (2), per (2), ballo (2), della (2), notte (2), amore (2), surviving (2), somewhere (2), cavil (2), enable (2), closer (2), tribute (2), mysterious (2), historically (2), members (2), contribution (2), devised (2), small (2), assembled (2), texts (2), four (2), seventh (2), monday (2), heather (2), brett (2), tudor (2), stuart (2), scots (2), female (2), jane (2), darnley (2), scottish (2), executioner (2), mahan (2), choreography (2), christoph (2), hell (2), geoffroy (2), schied (2), inevitable (2), coincidence (2), coloratura (2), lines (2), brought (2), word (2), maybe (2), hecklers (2), swept (2), away (2), straws (2), suggested (2), making (2), equal (2), matter (2), changing (2), comment (2), wozzeck (2), collaboration (2), comes (2), complement (2), return (2), unlike (2), noises (2), large (2), bayerische (2), staatsorchester (2), wise (2), worlds (2), engage (2), tellingly (2), union (2), inconsistencies (2), language (2), points (2), add (2), palace (2), phrase (2), letter (2), historical (2), island (2), sources (2), lie (2), manner (2), artist (2), scene (2), henry (2), mutual (2), successor (2), elements (2), perennial (2), because (2), repertoire (2), appearance (2), people (2), sat (2), neither (2), avant (2), directed (2), none (2), concern (2), gawain (2), monika (2), rittershaus (2), thursday (2), puccini (2), kevin (2), conners (2), van (2), timur (2), liù (2), carlus (2), children (2), extras (2), conducting (2), inheritance (2), disappointment (2), subtle (2), characterisation (2), cold (2), imperious (2), sincere (2), star (2), trying (2), similarly (2), adding (2), absent (2), included (2), singers (2), extended (2), franco (2), quote (2), website (2), curious (2), subtlety (2), thing (2), saw (2), hold (2), attention (2), man (2), circus (2), someone (2), remained (2), wondered (2), tell (2), red (2), blue (2), towards (2), commedia (2), dell (2), arte (2), learned (2), honest (2), rule (2), debt (2), order (2), pay (2), parents (2), bit (2), siegfried (2), disturbing (2), watch (2), follow (2), incest (2), each (2), revelation (2), film (2), instalment (2), projected (2), portrayal (2), score (2), losing (2), valkyries (2), virtues (2), conception (2), socialist (2), social (2), event (2), needed (2), pointing (2), bayreuth (2), vienna (2), played (2), strings (2), dark (2), boulez (2), movement (2), taking (2), became (2), ease (2), flowed (2), accomplished (2), strangely (2), took (2), host (2), numerous (2), actual (2), ludwig (2), admire (2), thereafter (2), god (2), loge (2), unless (2), saxony (2), youth (2), seem (2), alberich (2), hooded (2), problems (2), sunday (2), monologue (2), passes (2), ran (2), assumed (2), unquestionably (2), spared (2), direct (2), sellmaier (2), strong (2), states (2), possibly (2), need (2), marian (2), reference (2), clearly (2), member (2), initially (2), abandon (2), newly (2), right (2), considered (2), remain (2), aloof (2), among (2), purer (2), related (2), crucially (2), revolution (2), year (2), university (2), lectures (2), philosophy (2), friedrich (2), development (2), pre (2), rendered (2), revolutions (2), next (2), rock (2), tristan (2), moving (2), posed (2), stagings (2), try (2), hamburg (2), doctor (2), shepherd (2), oštrek (2), typically (2), intelligent (2), french (2), geneviève (2), occasional (2), compelling (2), hearing (2), cannot (2), anywhere (2), make (2), becomes (2), perfect (2), directorial (2), craft (2), soon (2), offers (2), take (2), rare (2), lightness (2), directors (2), dorotheenstädtischer (2), friedhof (2), adoptive (2), felsenstein (2), survive (2), enduring (2), complex (2), qualities (2), prove (2), lived (2), mid (2), buried (2), paul (2), properly (2), cemetery (2), brecht (2), looked (2), saved (2), ruling (2), unity (2), followed (2), gielen (2), sadly (2), mannheim (2), 1991 (2), over (2), depth (2), refusal (2), sections (2), dated (2), hartmut (2), meyer (2), staatsopernchor (2), blonde (2), pedrillo (2), osmin (2), presentation (2), rooted (2), sonnenfels (2), items (2), want (2), permitted (2), twin (2), virtue (2), toned (2), balance (2), dramatically (2), said (2), truly (2), exquisite (2), erroneously (2), sustained (2), advance (2), harris (2), public (2), buildings (2), congratulation (2), enabling (2), strikingly (2), non (2), aesthetic (2), encounter (2), went (2), forget (2), according (2), encounters (2), show (2), recent (2), busoni (2), conclusion (2), aspect (2), memory (2), works (2), plainsong (2), vincula (2), double (2), assumptio (2), bmv (2), flowing (2), keen (2), building (2), agnus (2), dei (2), rise (2), greater (2), counterpoint (2), admirable (2), shaded (2), intelligibility (2), arrangement (2), tenor (2), structure (2), fugue (2), hymne (2), regina (2), coelorum (2), opportunity (2), legend (2), polyphony (2), excellence (2), fits (2), missa (2), papae (2), marcelli (2), truth (2), associated (2), imagination (2), hands (2), ziad (2), rahbani (2), tomás (2), mendez (2), fantasia (2), dolce (2), tormento (2), turca (2), che (2), amor (2), wainscot (2), pond (2), flow (2), darwish (2), holding (2), songs (2), sufi (2), beirut (2), helwa (2), lamma (2), bada (2), yatathanna (2), sephardic (2), prima (2), vez (2), dalla (2), porta (2), oriente (2), musicians (2), musician (2), york (2), trad (2), boulezian (2), copyright, simple, powered, blogger, dante, paradise, obsession, hannover, zauberflöte, fatal, conclusions, gig, economy, bride, likely, impossibilities, fake, quotes, gun, attributed, national, socialists, 100, birth, galina, ustvolskaya, devil, trill, radio, kunststof, kamps, dover, ullmann, chostakovitch, philharmonie, petit, concertorialiste, macau, burma, hong, kong, portuguse, chindits, ozorio, iconoclast, authentic, raise, proms, roof, jdcmb, lahti, alex, ross, noise, goodbye, rambler, violanta, leaves, wanting, kovachevitsa, opus, klassik, awards, kaufmann, brings, heft, schubert, tchaikovsky, maid, orleans, amsterdam, operajournal, separating, medium, message, overgrown, blomstedt, iron, tongue, midnight, roger, norrington, parterre, box, bartok, bluebeard, tokyo, metropolitan, suntory, jennie, richie, list, 2007, 120, 2008, 137, 2009, 159, 2010, 240, 2011, 206, 2012, 187, 2013, 179, 2014, 170, 2015, 191, 2016, 121, 2017, 134, 2018, 128, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 105, 2023, 102, 2024, dowla, archive, total, pageviews, search, view, complete, profile, subscribe, atom, prinzregententheater, tempro, sopra, fuggi, dolente, core, musiche, cara, barabaso, yerno, satanas, viola, thwarted, returned, emblematic, key, rendition, closing, vanne, felice, pieno, reborn, shorter, passacaglia, contrasting, raiser, yes, importantly, volge, gli, occhi, individually, excerpt, 1619, conditioned, simpler, writing, allied, company, soothed, furthered, farewell, rose, magnificently, entertained, happening, happen, trio, instrumental, treatment, lullaby, cornetist, gebhard, rocking, atop, magic, winning, caronte, onda, festive, mode, ornamentation, tragicommedia, pastorale, probably, coincidentally, centrepoint, freimuth, confreres, ensuing, recalled, masterpiece, remains, rewards, paths, rosa, del, ciel, lament, ornate, wrongly, echoed, fuller, sacro, consiglio, generic, gently, slipped, notions, travelled, hades, humans, musicking, join, sympathy, hors, concours, gathering, momentum, interchange, lands, north, south, alps, medici, court, florence, referred, lorenzino, tedesco, spirit, array, genres, styles, proceeded, feed, pulled, poles, descriptive, prescriptive, proscriptive, madrigalian, registered, richly, seriously, draw, straight, conventional, restricted, modes, expression, compared, dramma, musica, ersatz, orphic, oldest, 1600, poised, comprehension, sung, ulisse, several, mitigated, alchemy, pasticcio, thirtieth, anniversary, commemorated, founding, fred, jacobs, annual, gambist, creating, ish, rejecting, retellings, exploring, protagonists, variously, represented, narrator, ferryman, legrenzi, intavolaturo, liuto, alessando, piccinini, ogni, sorte, strumento, musicale, biagio, marini, book, madrigals, durezze, ligature, consorts, seonwoo, mirjam, mesak, meg, brilleslyper, kennedy, freya, apfellstaedt, joel, williams, iii, rizzio, andrew, hamilton, armand, rabot, harpsichord, etienne, pluss, ursula, kudrna, bob, scott, sven, eckhoff, sommer, ulrickson, yvonne, gebauer, lukas, leipfinger, nod, donizetti, featured, sympathetically, amongst, feckless, warring, stylish, suggestive, disliked, black, coals, ruin, occupied, restoration, workers, grasping, knows, cares, similarities, berg, chord, broader, fields, influence, fundamentally, expertise, roughly, length, planned, realised, striking, become, greek, participate, acclamation, rebellion, husband, wife, daughter, fruitfully, chronologically, aesthetically, fraught, obvious, signs, tension, extraction, cleaning, aforementioned, framing, contradiction, low, pedal, acoustic, scraping, dental, implement, writ, partaking, ushering, invigorating, collided, coincided, ways, multidimensional, bilateral, further, layered, elizabethan, scenes, harpsichordist, harpsichordists, bridged, divides, inciting, deceive, prefigured, possibilities, travel, necessarily, resolve, ponder, active, participants, separately, appearing, partly, retinues, realising, intended, maritally, react, deeds, coming, tantalisingly, meeting, duet, offstage, oddities, understand, archaic, eth, person, singular, employed, wilt, thou, serves, purpose, reflections, convey, indication, richmond, holyrood, fotheringhay, refers, cousin, antagonist, communications, sixteenth, seeds, constructed, confrontation, vii, lady, opposite, ends, james, commissioned, struck, visiting, dramaturgically, focusing, plays, thereby, influencing, providing, concerning, entwined, lives, central, contriving, common, alternative, fold, intriguingly, clinical, white, beneath, perpendicular, gothic, tilted, fortunes, danger, remember, schoolboy, newspaper, pair, composers, objected, harrison, birtwistle, protested, covent, feet, protest, houses, overloaded, modernist, patently, absurd, booing, quarters, unexpected, contentedly, bellow, farmyard, drown, liked, considerable, criticisms, fair, display, mindlessly, vigorously, garde, crafted, refraining, wiser, unsettling, continued, sharp, bullying, altoum, ping, vitor, bispo, pang, tansel, akzeybek, pong, prince, persia, samuel, stopford, mandarin, bálint, szabó, roland, olbeter, chu, oruz, franc, aleu, urs, schönebaum, schönhofer, karlitschek, lejila, selfried, extra, ballet, proverbial, curate, egg, tremendous, stravinskian, precision, hammering, frustrating, listlessness, lost, sight, gorgeousness, tapestry, relative, doubtless, tone, ear, splitting, unrelieved, shouting, subtler, questa, reggia, feel, additional, lovelorn, verbally, attentive, impressed, bar, quality, massed, choral, forces, benefited, school, zeffirelli, default, rite, spring, petrushka, decision, strictly, pure, mighty, suggest, productive, hyperactivity, exception, ultra, says, liú, poesía, discover, plausibly, argued, entirely, satisfactory, berio, alfano, odds, oddly, muted, winding, priority, tonal, dramaturgic, strategy, stops, closes, unnecessary, sort, republican, utter, octogenarian, baby, president, going, evocation, engagement, vacuous, cirque, soleil, breakdancers, acrobats, rollerskaters, obscure, overload, relation, hazard, calmed, instructed, 90s, glasses, promised, delivered, apart, turning, enabled, objects, flying, spectacle, postdramatic, tool, tended, denunciation, meyerbeer, consulting, quotation, 2046, completely, rescued, financial, crisis, buying, ownership, natural, resources, princess, ice, big, brother, european, last, penny, generation, lot, paranoid, western, sinophobia, knock, tamer, racism, perspective, depicted, describe, saturday, der, des, nibelungen, chemistry, ecstatic, foretelling, thrilling, these, twins, positively, excited, prospect, loving, mattering, backstory, mirroring, disappointing, fireside, siblings, mothers, multivalent, sum, day, starting, haughty, assured, thug, violence, beliefs, patriarchal, rights, willing, fight, journey, brink, absorbed, gesture, acting, highest, celebration, expansion, vision, cooperation, achieve, potential, species, godlike, helped, truest, wherever, incisive, furtwängler, recognised, showpiece, symphonic, moments, senses, conduct, miniaturist, nietzsche, jibe, effortful, credit, tried, get, fewer, impositions, rhine, isar, delphic, oracle, unbidden, eternal, riddle
Text of the page (random words):
der ring des nibelungen die walküre ekaterina gubanova irene roberts joachim bäckström miina lisa värelä munich opera festival nicholas brownlee tobias kratzer vladimir jurowski wagner saturday 4 july 2026 munich opera festival 3 turandot 30 june 2026 nationaltheater images geoffroy schied turandot sondra radvanovsky altoum kevin conners timur christian van horn calaf yonghoon lee liù golda schultz ping vitor bispo pang tansel akzeybek pong prince of persia samuel stopford mandarin bálint szabó director carlus pedrussa la fura dels baus designs roland olbeter costumes chu oruz video franc aleu lighting urs schönebaum dramaturgy andrea schönhofer rainer karlitschek revival director lejila selfried chorus children s chorus and extra chorus of the bavarian state opera chorus director christoph hell extras children extras and opera ballet of the bavarian state opera bavarian state orchestra conductor andrea battistoni how curious i learned what this turandot had been about only upon consulting the programme post performance to be honest i wish i had not done so a quotation from la fura dels baus s website will do in 2046 europe is completely under chinese rule more than 30 years china had rescued europe from a financial crisis by buying up the debt the ownership and natural resources china is now the new world power turandot the princess of ice control as big brother every european in order to pay back every last penny and pay off the debt of their parents generation there is i suppose nothing like a bit a lot of paranoid western sinophobia to knock the work s tamer racism into perspective how this was depicted onstage i am at a loss to describe but there you have it for if that sounds like the sort of thing a us republican might utter or like to hear what we saw often suggested something devised to hold the attention of an octogenarian man baby president there was certainly something going on all the time less an evocation of the circus or on engagement with the idea of one commedia dell arte or otherwise than a circus in itself if not so vacuous as say the cirque du soleil carlus pedrussa s production was not so far off as it appeared to think itself breakdancers acrobats rollerskaters someone was and often many people were doing something or many things all of the time quite why remained obscure at least to me i wondered whether some comment was being made about visual overload and perhaps it was but its relation to turandot i could only hazard to tell you until the final scene when things calmed down and the characters were directed rather well titles instructed us when to put on our 90s style 3 d glasses red and blue which promised far more than they delivered apart from turning much of what we saw well red and blue they enabled us to see a few objects flying around between us and the stage spectacle has always been a dramatic or indeed a postdramatic tool in opera here i am afraid things tended towards wagner s celebrated denunciation of meyerbeer as effect without cause pedrussa s decision again i quote la fura dels baus s website to present a turandot strictly pure and original mighty suggest conflict productive or otherwise with visual hyperactivity did it respect the composer s music arguably so in that it presented it as one might expect save for one exception of ultra respect ending when the choir says liú poesía i had not heard it done this way before so was curious to discover how it might turn out not very well alas it can plausibly be argued that there is no entirely satisfactory solution to this particular problem not even berio s and certainly not franco alfano s but this not only sounded quite at odds with what we had seen it also presented an oddly muted winding down to an opera for which subtlety may hardly be a priority but tonal dramaturgic strategy certainly is wozzeck stops rather than closes no one would wish it otherwise for turandot more or less to peter out proved an unnecessary disappointment andrea battistoni s conducting of the munich orchestra offered a proverbial curate s egg tremendous stravinskian precision early on hammering home puccini s inheritance from petrushka and the rite of spring met with frustrating listlessness later on if the reading never lost sight of the gorgeousness of the orchestral tapestry relative lack of structural command doubtless contributed to the disappointment of the close much was loud very loud although considerably more varied in tone than yonghoon lee s ear splitting calaf again this may not be the world s most subtle opera nor is calaf s the most of operatic characterisation there is nonetheless more to it or should be than unrelieved shouting sondra radvanovsky was cold and imperious as turandot and considerably subtler in say in questa reggia it was difficult not to feel the loss of additional music in her case golda schultz s liù was heart rending lovelorn and sincere a star turn without trying to be a star christian can horn s verbally and musically attentive timur impressed similarly for adding much that was absent elsewhere indeed all the singing bar that of lee was of excellent quality or better massed choral forces included i could only wish the singers and we had benefited from a production that had extended beyond school of franco zeffirelli albeit more by default than design posted by mark berry at 6 58 pm email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels andrea battistoni christian van horn golda schultz kevin conners la fura dels baus puccini sondra radvanovsky turandot yonghoon lee thursday 2 july 2026 munich opera festival 2 of one blood 28 june 2026 nationaltheater production images monika rittershaus elizabeth tudor queen of england johanni von oostrum mary stuart queen of scots vera lotte boecker female consorts i iv seonwoo lee mirjam mesak lotte betts dean meg brilleslyper female consort v jane kennedy freya apfellstaedt male consort i lord darnley michael butler male consort ii joel williams male consort iii rizzio andrew hamilton male consort iv scottish lord i armand rabot male consort v scottish lord ii executioner pawel horodyski solo harpsichord mahan esfahani director claus guth set designs etienne pluss costumes ursula kudrna sound design bob scott sven eckhoff lighting michael bauer choreography sommer ulrickson dramaturgy yvonne gebauer lukas leipfinger chorus of the bavarian state opera chorus director christoph hell bavarian state orchestra vladimir jurowski conductor i remember as a schoolboy reading in a newspaper about the hecklers a pair of composers with highly reactionary aesthetics who objected so strongly to harrison birtwistle s gawain that they protested against its revival at covent garden i would hear gawain at a subsequent revival as a student and be swept off my feet but at the time i recall being puzzled by the idea that one would protest against something being performed simply because one did not like it or even because one thought it not very good i did not know much about the repertoire of opera houses at the time but the idea that they were overloaded with new or even modernist work was patently absurd i was equally puzzled at the end of this performance of brett dean s new opera of one blood to hear loud booing from certain quarters of munich s nationaltheater when the composer librettist heather betts and i think director claus guth came onstage it was not a premiere so their appearance was slightly unexpected if welcome could people who had contentedly so it seemed sat through two acts of a new opera have felt so strongly about its music it could i suppose have been its libretto or even its staging that they felt they must bellow farmyard noises in an attempt to drown out applause if they had not liked the opera or had considerable criticisms of it fair enough but what was it that had led them to such a display it was neither a mindlessly reactionary nor a vigorously avant garde work it was well crafted well performed and well directed would not refraining from applause as i am sure many of us have done on occasion have been enough i am afraid reflection has left me none the wiser but the experience was unsettling and has continued to be not least from concern for those at the sharp end of that strange bullying response the phrase of one blood refers to a phrase mary stuart queen of scots used in a letter to her cousin and antagonist historical and here dramatic elizabeth i here elizabeth tudor we be both of one blood of one country and in one island in their communications and other sixteenth century sources lie the seeds of betts s libretto assembled and constructed after the manner of many a dramatic confrontation between the two betts is a visual artist an interesting case for a librettist in terms of scene setting for instance the opening and close of the work in contemporary or perhaps in guth s staging a future westminster abbey in whose henry vii lady chapel the two queens lie at opposite ends at the command of their mutual successor james vi and i who also commissioned their tombs that struck her when visiting as it might anyone but its visual element seems to have been especially important to the librettist dramaturgically focusing the action and the way it plays out thereby also influencing the staging as well as providing elements of a solution for the perennial problem of what to do in a drama concerning the entwined lives of two central figures who never met contriving an occasion on which they did is a common solution it is good to welcome an alternative to the fold in an intriguingly clinical white setting albeit beneath a hint of english perpendicular gothic which tilted at one point perhaps as a reflection of changing fortunes and or danger and so we see the two queens act separately in the beginning later appearing partly at the same time in their own halves of the stage with consort retinues i was puzzled before realising the word was intended musically rather than maritally so as to react one another s words and deeds coming tantalisingly close yet never quite meeting tellingly their union in duet as opposed to written dialogue takes place when both are offstage there are oddities to the libretto or at least features i did not understand the archaic eth third person singular is employed yet we hear will rather than wilt with thou it all serves its purpose well enough though and perhaps such inconsistencies if inconsistencies they be are simply reflections of a language that has always been in change titles were used not simply to convey but at certain points to add to the libretto including indication of place such as richmond palace holyrood or of course fotheringhay castle collaboration between husband and wife librettist their daughter one of mary s excellent consort seems to have been fruitfully close what comes first whether chronologically or aesthetically is ever a fraught question in any such relationship but there were no obvious signs of tension and many of complement likewise between them and guth the extraction of both tombs for cleaning and their return at the end an interesting element of the aforementioned framing rather than contrast or contradiction a low opening pedal electronic rather than acoustic i think sounds rheingold like yet unlike the musical beginning subsequent scraping noises like a dental implement writ large partaking of the drama and ushering in the bayerische staatsorchester here on excellent form under vladimir jurowski s wise invigorating direction two worlds then collided and coincided in more ways than one multidimensional yet bilateral dramatic conflict one might say this was further layered in the elizabethan scenes with harpsichordist mahan esfahani onstage few if any harpsichordists have done more for new music than esfahani here his role once again bridged divides between old and new his instrument inciting orchestral and electronic material and on at least one occasion if my ears did not deceive me prefigured in the purely electronic material of the very opening the dramatic possibilities of such time travel were manifold perhaps all the better for being left to us not necessarily to resolve but to ponder and thus to engage as active dramatic participants similarities with berg first a chord close to wozzeck then broader harmonic fields suggested themselves to my ears at the opening of the second act but i am not sure this was so much influence as my ears making sense of a new harmonic world with music i knew more fundamentally the expertise and artistry with which both acts of roughly equal length were planned and realised was striking still more so in the second perhaps a matter of my having become more at home with the work in that the role of the equally excellent chorus was apparent first liturgical in westminster abbey but changing its role like the greek chorus so as both to comment and participate in acclamation rebellion and more in what was perhaps an inevitable nod to or at least coincidence with donizetti coloratura featured in both queens lines but there was far more to them than that especially as brought so vividly and sympathetically to life by johanni von oostrum and vera lotte boecker amongst the rest of a very fine cast i might put in a word for michael butler s feckless darnley and pawel horodyski s executioner but this was emphatically an ensemble performance as well as one of warring queens designs and choreography were stylish and suggestive throughout maybe our hecklers disliked the black coals of ruin that occupied much of the second act stage before being swept away by restoration workers in the present future i am grasping at straws though who knows ultimately who cares applause from the premiere geoffroy schied posted by mark berry at 11 17 am email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels bavarian state opera brett dean claus guth heather betts johanni von oostrum lotte betts dean michael butler munich opera festival of one blood pawel horodyski vera lotte boecker vladimir jurowski monday 29 june 2026 munich opera festival 1 borgioni monteverdi continuo ensemble heumann la morte d orfeo 28 june 2026 prinzregententheater excerpts from stefano landi la morte d orfeo monteverdi l orfeo giovanni maria trabaci durezze et ligature jacopo peri euridice luigi rossi orfeo interspersed with lorenzo allegri primo ballo della notte d amore monteverdi seventh book of madrigals tempro la cetra biagio marini per ogni sorte di strumento musicale op 22 no 21 sonata sopra fuggi dolente core alessando piccinini intavolaturo di liuto toccata sigismondo d india le musiche cara mia cetra andrea falconiero il primo libro delle canzone battaglia de barabaso yerno de satanas giovanni legrenzi la cetra sonata monteverdi l incoronazione di poppea oblivion soave mauro borgioni baritone monteverdi continuo ensemble friederike heumann concept director viola and lira de gamba fou...
|
