Must see
Giacomo Puccini – La Bohème
Direction: Giampaolo Bisanti
Why? A brillant, masterful production by Ole Anders Tandberg. It works on all levels. A production as good as that does not come often, don't miss it! Hopefully the new cast will be as good as the original cast last year. I'll probably get tickets to see it again regardless.
Mimi (Guagun Yu) & Rodolfo (Michael Fabiano)
Picture : Judith Schlosser
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Why not?
Verdi - Macbeth
Direction: Gianandrea Noseda
Production: Barrie Kosky
Why? Barrie Kosky offers an interesting take on Macbeth with a production that is however a bit limited scenically.
Lady Macbeth (Tatiana Serjan) & Macbeth (Markus Brück) Picture: Monika Rittershaus - Opernhaus Zürich |
Erm...
Bellini - I Puritani
Direction: Enrique Mazzola
Production: Andreas Homoki
Why? An unimaginative production. It's not bad but of limited value and not really worth the price of the ticket. Also boring.
Arturo (Lawrence Brownlee), Elvira (Pretty Yende) & Ricardo (George Petean) Picture: Judith Schlosser - Opernhaus Zürich |
Avoid
Tchaïkovski - Swan Lake (Schwanensee)
Choregraphy: Petipa / Ivanov / Ratmansky
Direction: Rossen Milanov / Pavel Baleff
Why? Alexei Ratmansky's reconstruction of the original choregraphy, now 120 years old, is an interesting work of historical research. Sadly, it only highlights how much ballet has advanced since, and how boring it was in the old days, even with great performers. Lazy performance from the orchestra. Don't believe the hype.
Odette (Viktorina Kapitonova) & Siegfried (Alexander Jones) Picture: Carlos Quezada |
See you in September!
Swann