Wagner’s operas are an acquired taste, and it took me about a decade to acquire. Not only was Wagner one of the two most influential opera composers of the nineteenth century, he was also a huge influence on Hitler and the rise of the Nazi party in the twentieth. The Read More …
Before my first trip to Bregenz in the summer of 2002, I was very skeptical about the loudspeaker system. I was afraid it would either sound tinny, like a London musical, or ear-splitting like a rock concert. But it was neither of these. It was pleasant, natural, clearly audible but Read More …
The opera house on Lake Zürich was designed and built in 1891 by the Vienna architects Fellner and Helmer, who were involved in building no fewer than forty-eight theaters and opera houses in cities all over Europe between 1873 and 1919, including for instance Augsburg, Gießen, Salzburg and Prague. The Read More …
The Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper), in the National Theater in Munich, is one of the best places in Germany to see big-name opera stars. This is the only place I have ever seen Edita Gruberova in a live opera performance. Or Vesselina Kasarova. Or Bryn Terfel. Or Angelika Kirchschlager. Read More …
The current Leipzig Opera House was built during the 1950s after several architectural competitions and considerable uncertainty about what an opera house should look like in the new Socialist State of the Workers and Farmers. It came out looking quite Spartan and egalitarian, but the acoustics are good and you Read More …
When I think of Berlin I think of opera and construction sites — and here I was lucky enough to get both in the same photo, because they happened to be ripping up the street “Unter den Linden” right in front of the State Opera House (Staatsoper) when I was Read More …
When I first saw the announcement for this concert in 2008, I must admit I was a bit suspicious. It said in large letters: “HOMMAGE à MARIA CALLAS” followed in smaller letters by the name of a soprano I had never heard of, who was said to be “from La Read More …
The Düsseldorf opera house is an inconspicuous building located on a major street which is now called Heinrich-Heine-Allee, a name it received in 1963. Before that it had several different names, depending on who was in power at the time. Under the Nazis it was called Hindenburgwall after Paul von Read More …
Here it is, Milan’s legendary Teatro alla Scala, one of the world’s oldest (and newest) opera houses, first built in 1778, scene of the world premieres of operas by Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, Ponchielli, Boito, Puccini and many others. Some of the world’s greatest singers have performed here, like Maria Malibran Read More …
The one thing I really messed up on my visit to Milan in 2008 was that I didn’t see the exhibition Ricordi e i Fantastici 5 — and why not? Because I didn’t notice the little sticker saying it had been extended, so I thought it was all over before Read More …