Tannhauser - Royal Opera House

First things first - Tannhauser is not Wagner's strongest opera dramatically. In fact, in some respects, it seems a step back from Der Fliegende Hollander. Neither Venus or Elisabeth is drawn with the same depth as Senta and at no point does Tannhauser's inner conflict rival that of the Dutchman's. The only character who stands out for me as a fully rounded creation is Wolfram, Tannhauser's equivalent of Erik (who I never feel much for). In this instance Wolfram's cause was done no harm whatsoever by the singer, but more of that later.

Second things second - despite the above the Royal Opera's new production of Tannhauser is incredible. I would happily go again tonight (OK, maybe tomorrow, I need a night off) if I could. The opera may not be in the league of many of Wagner's other mature operas but it's, in many ways, one of his most consistent in terms of pacing. Four and a half hours in the theatre flew by.

The cast for this run is as follows:

Conductor - Semyon Bychkov
Tannhäuser - Johan Botha
Elisabeth - Eva-Maria Westbroek
Venus - Michaela Schuster
Wolfram von Eschinbach - Christian Gerhaher
Herrmann, Landgrave of Thuringia - Christof Fischesser

Despite much criticism of Botha for his size you can't really fault the voice, especially his diction, which was remarkable. He may be a big man with a big voice but he does act the role as well as sing it. For me the real stars of the show though were Semyon Bychkov, the ROH orchestra and chorus - all of whom got as big a cheer at the end as (almost) any of the singers. I love the fact that the Covent Garden audiences are willing to applaud the orchestra and chorus as much as they do. In this case, as is often the case with Wagner here, the conductor gets the orchestra on its feet before the opera has even begun, in recognition of the work they're about to put in.

The shock of the night, for me and (judging by the reviews) for everyone else too, was just how good Christian Gerhaher is. His Wolfram was incredibly sung and, especially in act III, dramatically stunning. If you can get to Covent Garden and find (and afford) one of the few remaining tickets, it's worth going just to hear him. Otherwise I believe the opera will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 over Christmas so tune in.

L'Isola Disabitata - Linbury Studio Theatre

Haydn's L'Isola Disabitata, premiered in December 1779 is a short piece, clocking in at around 90 minutes (including an interval). This run of three performances (the first at the Royal Opera House) is part of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme week and proved a wonderful chance to hear four new singers and see a rare opera by a well-known composer - plus, at £5 for my standing ticket, it was a bargain to boot.

The first obvious point of interest is that the opera makes use of accompanied recit throughout (so no harpsichord in the pit). Each of the four singers gets an aria or two and the piece is tied up by a final quartet. The whole thing turned out to be an absolute treat - simple yet engaging and entertaining. Anna Devin as Sylvia was the standout performance of the night although, to be fair to the other three, she did have rather more to work with in terms of character. Nevertheless her characterisation was superb, never slipping into the cloying 'little girl' acting so many actresses go for out of laziness or lack or ability (all hair twirling and cocked head). If this is anything to go by her Papagena in next year's Zauberflote will be a treat.

I find Steven Ebel (Gernando) intriguing, he's got a very distinctive voice that drags you in. I'd love to hear him in a lieder recital as I have a suspicion he could be superb.

I really hope that the ROH decides to revive this production in the near future as it was a success on pretty much every level and it would be a shame if three nights is all it's going to get.

Rigoletto - Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 11/10/2010

This was the first time I've seen Rigoletto in the theatre, despite having been a fan of the opera for several years (it was, in fact, the opera that changed my mind about the genre - see Disc of the Day #11). I did have a ticket to one of the early performances of this production a few years ago but was ill and couldn't attend. As you might imagine I was pretty excited by 7.25 last night.

The first thing to say is that I love the staging. The fact that the Duke's palace spins round to become Rigoletto's house is wonderfully simple yet illuminating. Like many Verdi operas (Aida is a prime example of this) much of the tension comes from a character placed in a situation that demands two different things of him. Whether this is public figure/private figure (Aida) or father/court member (Rigoletto), the opposing pulls created make the drama. So here we have the palace, all hard, flat lines offset against the broken lines of Rigoletto's home. Simple, wonderful, enlightening.

Then we have the cast. Dimitri Hvorostovsky has the same wonderful quality I hear when I listen to Jessye Norman - that is I always get the sense there's another gear there if it's needed. Singing Rigoletto this in no small miracle.

I must admit that I wasn't bowled over by Wookyung Kim's Duke - I couldn't help feeling there was a bit of...well...welly missing. Howwever, I absolutely loved Patrizia Ciofi as Gilda - on a night where the performance was dedicated to the memory of Joan Sutherland it must have been difficult to sing this role but sing it she did and brilliantly.

Special mention should also go to Raymond Aceto and Daniela Innamorati as Sparafucile and Maddalena, both of whom were excellent.

The cast has a couple of variations over the run:

Conductor

Dan Ettinger
Christopher Willis

Duke of Mantua

Wookyung Kim

Rigoletto

Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Paolo Gavanelli

Gilda

Patrizia Ciofi
Ekaterina Sadovnikova

Sparafucile

Raymond Aceto

Maddalena

Daniela Innamorati

Having waited a while to see Rigoletto I didn't want to wait long to see it again so I'm going again, with a friend who knows nothing about opera, next week. I'm seeing the same cast which is, in part, a shame as I'd like to see the other lot. However, if last night again is what I'm getting then bring it on.