It took 150 years for Rienzi to make its Bayreuth debut. Now Wagner’s early grand opéra meets fake news, power and mass manipulation – musically overwhelming with Andreas Schager and Nathalie Stutzmann, theatrically caught between contemporary relevance and visual overload. Before Wagner, there was already Wagner.
Category: Opera Reviews ENG
High School Instead of Village Idyll: Donizetti’s Love Potion in Bregenz
The Bregenz Festival with premiere Gaetano Donizetti’s opera L’elisir d’amore on August 17, 2026. Directed by Anna Kelo, the production reimagines the story set in a high school, focusing on themes of love and identity. The cast showcases impressive vocal talents, and the audience responded enthusiastically.
Verismo Unleashed: Andrea Chénier at the 2025 Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival featured a concert performance of Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier,” showcasing exceptional performances by Piotr Beczala, Elena Stikhina, and Luca Salsi, highlighting the opera’s emotional depth and relevance.
Cultivating Talents and Community
Frank Hilbrich, one of Germany’s leading opera directors, discusses his move to Gelsenkirchen’s Musiktheater im Revier, his vision of opera as a “sanctuary of real-life connection,” and his commitment to nurturing diverse audiences and young talent. From his “old-school” approach to reinterpreting classics to innovative, cross-genre programming, Hilbrich outlines a roadmap for sustainable, socially engaged music theatre.
A Murderer of Women as a Tormented and Wonderfully Singing Hero
Otello is not evil, nor is he clinically ill. He is a man living in a system that offers him no support – an outsider who has never learned to cope with his emotions. His tragedy is this: he loves – but he does not trust.
Bayreuth Festival: Wagner’s Vision Enhanced: Parsifal in the Age of AR
Jay Scheib’s 2024 Bayreuth Festival production of Wagner’s Parsifal boldly merges tradition with augmented reality, pushing opera’s boundaries. Viewers wearing AR headsets are immersed in a fantastical world where virtual elements intertwine with live performance, transforming Wagner’s work into a multi-layered experience. While occasionally overwhelming, moments of poetic brilliance emerge. With an outstanding cast led by Andreas Schager and Ekaterina Gubanova, supported by Pablo Heras-Casado’s nuanced conducting, this Parsifal raises pivotal questions about opera’s future and technology’s role in classical performances, demonstrating the art form’s power to adapt and captivate in the digital age.
Bayreuth Festival: Family Feuds and Child Exploitation in Wagner’s Epic
Standout musical performances shine through controversial production Performance on August 20, 2024 By Oxana Arkaeva Production fotos by @Enrico Nawrath Read in Spanish The Bayreuth Festival’s productions of Wagner’s Das Rheingold have evolved significantly over time. Initially adhering to Wagner’s original vision under his family’s guidance, the festival saw a dramatic shift with Wieland Wagner’s “New Bayreuth”…
Bregenz Festival: Nature’s Encore: When Weather Steals the Show
Philipp Stölzl’s ambitious production of Der Freischütz faced unexpected challenges as inclement weather forced a last-minute relocation from the spectacular Lake Constance stage to the Great Hall. This move significantly impacted the cinematic staging and created a series of logistical issues that affected both the audience experience and the performance itself.
Bregenz Festival: Opera’s Next Generation Takes Center Stage
The Bregenz Festival’s production of “La cambiale di matrimonio and “Gianni Schicchi” brilliantly combines Rossini and Puccini in a fresh, innovative staging by Birgit Fassbaender. Featuring a talented young cast from the Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, the performance showcases promising voices like Idil Kutay and Francesco Auriemma. With its cohesive integration of two distinct operas, impeccable comedic timing, and the Symphonic Orchestra of Vorarlberg’s captivating performance under Claire Levacher, this production exemplifies the festival’s commitment to musical excellence and nurturing emerging talent.
Semper Oper Dresden: The Jewish Woman from Toledo
Glanert skillfully utilized a plot that served as an ideal template for a deeply moving narrative, complemented by excellent composition. Guided by his visual interpretation of the text and drama, Glanert’s score features a palette of dark tones occasionally interrupted by vibrant red-yellow-orange splashes.
Free in wanting, free in doing, free in enjoying
“Free in wanting, free in doing, free in enjoying”. This production plays with the idea of blurring boundaries and the interplay between reality and fiction. Kratzer suggests that everything is theater, and everyone within the theater acts accordingly.
A brilliant conclusion of the Bayreuth 2023 “Ring” cycle
The “Ring” by Victor Schwarz is dedicated to demystifying its characters. Schwarz immerses us in a concrete, contemporary, profoundly human family drama populated by highly ambivalent characters.
Tutti gabbati? – “Falstaff” at Salzburg Festival 2023
Mixed audience reaction, with both “boos” for the staging and conductor and “bravi” in appreciation of the singers. By Oxana Arkaeva Visited performance on August 26th, 2023 En español Salzburg – the historic Austrian city, is located in the picturesque surroundings and is renowned for its stunning architecture, rich cultural heritage, and as the birthplace…
Self-immolation and burning scores at the theatre in Bremen
The vocal ensemble, mainly composed of house members, presented good singing. Above all, Sarah-Jane Brandon as Prima Donna and Ariadne.
Powerful “Asrael” at the Bonn Opera
Majestic, immense, mighty! The premiere of the new production of Alberto Franchetti’s rediscovered opera “Asrael” at the Opera Bonn on October 16th impressed with its amplitude and high-level of production. As a part of the “Focus 33” project of the Opera house that aims to bring back music theatre works that disappeared from the repertoire after 1933 / 1945 it attracted the vast international audience including the descendants of the composer´s family from Italy.
Salzburg Festival: Puccini’s Emotional Odyssey
Puccini “Il Trittico” and Asmik Grigorian’s tour de force performance as Lauretta, Giorgetta, and Suor Angelica.
Singers, Staging, Orchestra 