Alban Berg

Wozzeck 18+

Franz Lehar tried to bring the operetta genre closer to opera when he created "The Land of Smiles", written a quarter of a century after his famous "The Merry Widow". 
According to the plot, Count Gustav is in love with Lisa, the daughter of Count Lichtenfels. Suddenly, she becomes infatuated with a Chinese diplomat, Prince Sou-Chong. After the wedding, despite the fears of relatives and friends, the newlyweds go to China. In Beijing, Lisa discovers that she is not ready to accept Eastern culture and ancient traditions. In particular, she is disgusted by the custom of polygamy. 

Faithful Gustav also arrives in Beijing and Sou-Chong's younger sister Princess Mi, falls in love with him. But first of all he wants to help out Lisa, who feels like a prisoner, locked in a golden cage. Love is replaced by hate. The girl leaves her husband and returns home. 

Reviews: 

Director Andreas Homoki stages the performance as a revue and, at the same time, with deep feeling shows the sadness of lovers who are not destined to be together (Musik heute).

This operetta really brings smiles, if only because everything in it is harmonious, beautiful and impeccably staged (Tages Anzeiger). 

There is a truly glamorous sheen in Kleiter's singing. The main characters articulate their emotional conflict as painfully and convincingly as if they were performing a Puccini opera.  (Gramophone). 

Director - Andreas Homoki.

Performers
Julia Kleiter (Lisa)
Piotr Beczała (Sou-Chong)
Rebecca Oliviera (Mi)
Spencer Lang (Count Gustav)
Cheyne Davidson (Chung, Sou-Chong's uncle) 
 Martin Zysset (chief eunuch) 

Zürich Opera Chorus 
Philharmonia Zurich
Conductor - Fabio Luisi

Zurich Opera House
2017

Franz Lehar. The Land of smiles 12+

Lucia di Lammermoor is rightfully considered a masterpiece of the bel canto style, one of the key works of the heyday of Italian opera art. This is the incredible beauty of music, a combination of deep lyricism and vivid dramatic themes. 

Love and madness intertwine in a mist shrouded Scottish castle. Enrico Ashton wants to restore his family to its former glory by promising his sister Lucia to the powerful  Lord Arthur Bucklow. But Lucia had already given her heart to Enrico's nemesis Edgardo Ravenswood. He decides to make peace with Enrico, telling him about his love for Lucia and asking for her hand. Alas! Evil fate destroys all plans. 

"The famous Mad Scene is played on a glass harmonica, just as Donizetti planned for the world premiere in Naples. Lucia goes into a frenzy at the flickering sounds. In her blood-soaked wedding dress, Irina Lungu lets her voice shimmer as it rises above the tragedy of her heroine" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). 

While listening to this impeccable recording, it is hard to believe that during the performance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the choir and orchestra were in a rehearsal room a kilometer away from the theatre, and music was played live without delay through the speakers into an empty orchestra pit. 

Stage Director - Tatjana Gürbaca 

Performers:
Massimo Cavaletti (Enrico Ashton) 
Irina Lungu (Lucia)
Piotr Beczala (Edgardo Ravenswood) 
Andrew Owens (Arthur Bucklow) 
Oleg Tsybulko (Raimondo, Lammermoor's chaplain, Lucia's tutor) 
Roswitha Christina Müller (Alice, Lucia's companion) 
Ian Milne (Norman, head of the garrison) 

Zurich Opera Chorus
Chorus Master Janko Kastelic 

Zurich Opera House
2021

Gaetano Donizetti. Lucia di Lammermoor 18+

The dramatic fragment of the unfinished play by the German playwright Georg Buchner, which Alban Berg based his opera on, is a dispassionate example of social injustice and human suffering. At the same time, it is a grotesque, gaining strength in exaggerations. Director Andreas Homoki refuses any realism: his radical creation is inspired by the puppet theatre. The production won the 2017 International Classical Music Award. 

Act I
Soldier Wozzeck shaves the Captain, he demands to do it more slowly, and then lectures the soldier, reproaching him in immoral behavior: Wozzeck has an illegitimate child. 

Wozzeck replies that virtue is a luxury not available to the poor. Wozzeck and his friend Andrés are cutting firewood in a field. Wozzeck is frightened by hallucinations, he hears noise, and the setting sun seems to him like a fire in which the earth burns. Suddenly everything calms down. 

Marie, the mother of Wozzeck's child, and her neighbor Margret watch a military band pass down the street. Marie admires the handsome tambour-major, Margret makes fun of her. Left alone, Marie sings a lullaby to her little son. Wozzeck appears. He talks about his visions, they seem to him bad omens. Marie tries to calm him down, but he runs out of the barracks without even looking at his son. Marie is in tears, she also runs out of the room, leaving the baby behind. 

Wozzeck comes to the doctor, who pays him to participate in pseudo-scientific experiments. The doctor is looking forward to becoming famous for his research. He prescribes Wozzeck a diet. Wozzeck is again haunted by visions, which the doctor believes to be confirmation of his theories. 

Tambour-major lavishes compliments on Marie at the door of her house. At first, she resists his advances, but then gives in. 

Act II 

Marie admires the earrings given to her by the tambour-major. When Wozzeck arrives, she tries to hide them and then says she found them on the street. Wozzeck suspects something is wrong. He gives her the money he has earned and leaves. Marie is overcome with remorse. 

Wozzeck attacks Marie with his suspicions and forces her to confess to treason. He is ready to hit her, but Marie coldly replies, "Better a knife in the body than someone's hand on me."

The captain and the doctor meet on the street and talk about sickness and death. Wozzeck passes by, they hint that Marie is unfaithful to him. Wozzeck asks not to mock the only thing that is dear to him in the world, and then runs away.

Two drunken apprentices entertain people in a pub. Wozzeck enters and sees Marie dancing with the tambour-major. A dummy approaches Wozzeck and says that he smells blood. Wozzeck imagines that the dancers in the beer hall are covered in blood. 

Iin the evening Wozzeck wakes up with nightmare memories of what he saw in the beer hall. The drunken tambour-major enters, boasting of his victory. The men fight and Wozzeck loses. 

Act III

Marie is alone with the child. She reads the Bible, first about the forgiven adulteress, then about Mary Magdalene, and prays to God for mercy.

Marie and Wozzeck are strolling near the pond. Marie wants to get back to the city as soon as possible, but Wozzeck forces her to sit next to him. He kisses her and makes jokes about her fidelity. When Mari tries to escape, he draws a knife and kills her.
 
Wozzeck drinks in a tavern, shouting incoherent words, and dances with Margret. Margret  notices blood on his hands, he can't explain where it came from, and runs out.
At the pond Wozzeck looks for his knife and throws it into the water. Suddenly it seems to him that the moon is ready to reveal his crime to everyone. He goes further and further into the water to wash off the blood and re-stash the knife in a safer place. The doctor and the captain hear him drowning while walking near the pond. 

Neighborhood children play in the street and tell Marie's son that his mother has died. He does not understand their words and continues to play, singing a song. 

Performers: 
Christian Gerhaher (Wozzeck)
Gun-Brit Barkmin (Marie) 
Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Captain)
Lars Woldt (Doctor) 
Brandon Jovanovich (Tambour-major) 
Mauro Peter (Andres) 
Irène Friedli (Margret) 
Pavel Danilyuk (First apprentice)
Cheyne Davidson (Second apprentice) 
Martin Zysset (Dummy)
Alessandro Rinehart (Marie's son)
Philharmonia Zurich 
Choir and Children's Choir of the Zurich Opera House (Director - Jürg Hämmerli) 
Stage Director - Andreas Homoki 
Conductor - Fabio Luisi 

Zurich Opera House 
2016

Alban Berg. Wozzeck 18+

The "Mermaid" is based on the "Czech version" of the classic fairy tale, in which the little mermaid falls in love with a prince and, more than anything else, wants to become an ordinary girl. In this opera by Antonin Dvorak, everything ends tragically, and there is no need to say that “they lived happily ever after”. 

The production was run by the principal conductor of the Slovak National Theatre Rastislav Stur and director Hugo de Ana (Argentina), who also designed the costumes and developed the scenography of the performance, using 3D mapping for the first time on the opera stage. 

Director - Hugo de Ana 

Performers

Dinara Alieva (Mermaid) 
Peter Berger (Prince) 
Stella Grigoryan(Baba Yaga the Witch) 
Nathan Berg (Water Sprite) 
Jolana Fogasova (Foreign Princess) 

Choir and Orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing
Conductor – Rastislav Stur 

National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing 
2018

Antonin Dvorak. Rusalka (Mermaid) 18+

The Zurich Opera House under the direction of Cornelius Meister presents an original musical interpretation of the tragic love between Werther and Charlotte. 

Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez perfectly conveys the feelings of his suffering hero: "Werther" is undoubtedly a real masterpiece. Perfect from a musical point of view, it takes us to another dimension and gives us incredible pleasure.” 

Anglo-French mezzo-soprano Anna Stefany played the role of Charlotte, who is in love with Werther: “Her life was running smoothly, and then she met Werther. It was like a thunderbolt. Was it painful? Yes, it was? but it was also great. Her feelings are well understood to me, because very often restraining factors are imposed on relationships - some traditions and conventions imposed by society, there may be a problem of age .... So everything in this opera is very credible.” 

The stage director Tatjana Gürbaca uses a narrow stage space to emphasize the idea of ​​the social framework that constrains the characters. Will the characters stay trapped or do they manage to break free? 

Tatjana Gürbaca: “There are no strange characters in this opera - any pharaohs, geishas and ​​crazy kings. This is what attracts me to it. The action takes place in Germany, it is purely a family story. The bourgeois façade, the normative power of the church, the conflict of generations - all this has hardly changed since then. Werther himself is like a deity descended to Earth. He sees the world differently, which means that others around him can also take a different look at reality - in a slightly deformed, even crazy perspective." 

Reviews: 

"This is what a musical theater should be like" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). 

“You can definitely boast of his wonderful technique - high notes and dramatic flashes. But even more impressive are the moments in which Flores conveys Werther's emotions, especially because he does not emphasize them” (Tages Anzeiger).

Performers: 

Juan Diego Florez (Werther) 
Anna Stefany (Charlotte) 
Melissa Petit (Sophie) 
Audun Iversen (Albert) 
Cheyne Davidson (Judge)
Martin Zisset (Schmidt)

Philharmonia Zurich 
Children's Choir and Choir of the Zurich Opera House 

Conductor - Cornelius Meister 
Chorus master - Ernst Raffelsberger 

Zurich Opera House 
2018

Jules Massenet. Werther 18+

Giuseppe Verdi loved dark storylines. His opera "Simon Boccanegra" is one of the composer's little-known but incredibly beautiful scores, which is also characterized by gloomy moods and sharp conflicts. It is not surprising that the author entrusted the central parts to low male voices. Simon Boccanegra (baritone) is the protagonist of this historical drama about a social outsider, a former privateer who was elected first Doge of Genoa in the 14th century.

His rival Jacopo Fiesco (bass) personifies the power of the aristocracy. In addition to the political conflict, Verdi is interested in the broken family ties of Simon, who lost his beloved, but years later found his kidnapped daughter. The third deep voice is bass-baritone Paolo Albiani. From a friend of Boccanegra, he turns into his mortal enemy, which leads the plot to a tragic denouement. 

Reviews: 

Both the conductor and the orchestra did an excellent job in this work by Verdi. A subtle and meaningful interpretation of the score, combining the desired passion with deep drama, showed the many-sided talent of the great composer. Fabio Luisi again made me think of Verdi as an extremely popular, but at the same time misunderstood master. 

Performers: 

Christian Gerhaher (Simon Boccanegra) 
Jennifer Rowley (Amelia Grimaldi) 
Christoph Fischesser (Jacopo Fiesco) 
Otar Jorjikia (Gabriele Adorno) 
Nicholas Brownlee (Paolo Albiani) 
Brent Michael Smith (Pietro) 

Philharmonia Zurich 
Choir of the Zurich Opera House 

Zurich Opera House 
2021

Giuseppe Verdi. Simon Boccanegra 16+

Grandiose festivities take place at the court of the Duke of Mantua. But the assembled society does not rejoice in life, but seeks salvation from mortal boredom in joy. The most cynical of all is the court jester Rigoletto. Trying to protect his daughter from the corrupt world, he tries to act on Gilda with prohibitions, but the young woman goes her own way. 

Director Tatjana Gürbaca, who was named "Director of the Year" by the magazine "World of Opera" (Opernwelt) in 2013, was able to create a "live picture" - expressively tender and poetic. In a modern-spirited interpretation, she abandoned luxurious scenery and historical costumes and completely focused on the nature and actions of the main characters. 

Director - Tatjana Gürbaca 

Actors and Performers: 
George Petean (Rigoletto) 
Alexandra Kurzak (Gilda) 
Saimir Pirgu (Duke of Mantua) 
Andrea Mastroni (Sparafucile) 
Judith Schmid (Maddalena) 
Julia Riley (Giovanna) 
Valery Murga (Count Monterone) 
Cheyne Davidson (Cavalier Marullo) 
Dmitri Ivanchey (Matteo Borsa) 
Yuri Tsiple (Count Ceprano) 
Deanna Breiwick (Contess Ceprano)
Dara Savinova (Duchess' Page) 

Choir of Zurich Opera House 
Zurich Philarmonic
Conductor - Fabio Luisi 

Zurich Opera House 
2014

Giuseppe Verdi. Rigoletto 16+

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo"… Vincenzo Bellini's rarely performed opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi is far from Shakespeare's version. Instead of a story about a tenderly blossoming first love, the libretto shows the last day in the life of two young people. The main mood of the work - touching melancholy - suddenly turns into a catastrophic whirlpool of passions. 

The success of the Zurich production of the "pearl of bel canto" (critics dubbed it “mafia” because of the colorful scenery) owes much to the impeccable skill of the main performers - the young Olga Kulchinskaya and her much more experienced colleague Joyce DiDonato. 

Reviews: 
"The energetic, demanding and more mature sound of Joyce DiDonato's voice highlites Kulchinskaya's clear and almost instrumental soprano. The final scene in their performance literally stops the passage of time" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) 

“The mood is maintained by dim sepia-toned lighting through Venetian blinds… Modestly decorated rooms are invariably occupied by powerful men in dark suits and tuxedos that look menacing. The tension is such that you feel like a fight could break out at any moment, and it inevitably happens.” (OperaJournal) 

Stage Director - Christoph Loy 

Performers: 
Joyce DiDonato (Romeo) 
Olga Kulchinskaya (Juliet)
Benjamin Bernheim (Tebaldo) 
Alexei Botnarchuk (Capellio) 
Eric Anstine (Lorenzo)

Zurich Philarmonic 
Choir of Zurich Opera House 
Conductor - Fabio Luisi

 Zurich Opera House 
2015

Vincenzo Bellini. I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues) 16+

"The Rake's Progress" is the last work of Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical period. The author develops the theme of a hero who has broken the law. The plot is based on the meteoric rise and fall of Tom Rakewell, who deserts his fiancée Ann Truelove for the pleasures of London in the company of Nick Shadow, who turns out to be the Devil. After a series of unfortunate events, Tom ends up in Bedlam, a psychiatric hospital south of London. 

This production of "The Rake's Progress" marks the debut of renowned singer Barbara Hannigan as an opera conductor. Hannigan, a recognized expert in contemporary music, has played Ann Truelove opera role many times. 

Casting for participation in the opera was held throughout Europe. More than 350 young soloists from 39 countries of the world took part in it. 

In this unique and exquisite work, director Linus Fellbom takes viewers on a journey through space and time, from the distant future to the present and beyond to 18th century London. 

Stage Director - Linus Fellbom 

Performers: 
Aphrodite Patoulidou (Ann Truelove) 
William Morgan (Tom Rakewell) 
John Taylor Ward (Nick Shadow) 
Kate Howden (Baba the Turk) 
Ziad Nehme (Sellem)
Eric Rosenius (Farther Trulove) 

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra 
Conductor - Barbara Hannigan 

Gothenburg Concert Hall 
2018

Igor Stravinsky. The Rake's Progress 18+

Opera in 2 acts
Libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré 

Sung in French 

Musical Director and Conductor - Artyom Makarov
Director - Pavel Sorokin (Rostov-on-Don) 
Set designer - Ernst Heidebrecht (Germany)
Costume designer - Tatiana Noginova (St.Petersburg) 
Light designer - Irina Vtornikova (Rostov-on-Don) 
Choirmaster - Alexander Alekseev 
Сhoreographer - Alexander Ischuk (Moscow) 
Сoncertmaster - Valentina Galinchenko 

Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre 
Premiered on June 21, 2017

The Pearl Fishers  16+

Don Giovanni by the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theatre was premiered in 2019. According to the director’s decision, there is no specific era and place of action in the performance. The characters are immersed in a fantastic, surreal space where the ideals of past art are dying. They are replaced by falsehood, empty shine, selfies, likes, virtual friends and artificial beauty, vanity and selfishness. The stage directors create a world where the real and the sublime disappear, and instead of a work of art, the cover of a glossy magazine remains in the frame. 

Act I 
Don Giovanni's servant Leporello is waiting for his master. He soon arrives in the company of Donna Anna. Suddenly, the Commandant, her father, appears. Insulted, he challenges Don Giovanni to a duel. The duel is short - the Commandant is killed. Don Giovanni and his servant retire. Donna Anna returns - now she is accompanied by Don Ottavio, her fiancé. Standing over the body of the murdered Commandant they swear revenge on the killer. 

Don Giovanni unexpectedly meets Donna Elvira, a lady whom he once seduced and abandoned. Leporello shows Donna Anna a long list of master's love victories - more than two thousand names. Donna Elvira leaves, also vowing revenge. 

Don Giovanni and Leporello find themselves at a village festival where the wedding of a young Zerlina and Masetto is celebrated. Don Giovanni is smitten by the beauty of the lovely girl and invites her to his castle. 

While Leporello distracts Masetto, Don Giovanni tries to lure Zerlina into a distant room. She screams and calls for help. Suddenly, Don GiovanniJuan is surrounded by his enemies. But he, as always, manages to sneak away with impunity. 

Act II 
Leporello appears, who wants to get rid of Donna Elvira. She mistook him for Don Giovanni. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio also come here, and then Zerlina and Masetto. Leporello exposes himself in order to save his life, but this does not soften the anger of the avengers, so he flees.

At two o'clock in the morning, Don Giovanni and Leporello meet at the cemetery. Their conversation is interrupted by a ghostly voice. This is the statue of the Commandant  speaking. Don Giovanni orders the servant to invite the statue to dinner.

Donna Anna talks to Ottavio and tells him that she really loves him, but her grief for her father is still so strong that she cannot think about marriage. 

Don Giovanni feasts at home. There is a knock on the door, a statue of the Commandant  appears - he demands that Don Giovanni repent, but the latter turns out to change his life. At that moment, the entire palace disappears into hellfire. 

Performers: 
Jan Leishe (Don Giovanni) 
Askar Abdrazakov (Leporello) 
Elvira Fatykhova (Donna Anna) 
Ilgam Valiev (Don Ottavio) 
Larisa Akhmetova (Donna Elvira) 
Gennady Rodionov (Commandant) 
Dilyara Idrisova (Zerlina) 
Salavat Kiekbaev (Masetto) 

Musical Director and Conductor - Artyom Makarov 
Director - Philipp Razenkov 
Art Director - Elisei Shepelyov (St.Petersbug) 
Light Director - Irina Vtornikova 
Choirmaster - Alexander Alekseev 
Concertmasters - Valentina Galinchenko and Margarita Shavyrova 

Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre 
Premiered on July 9, 2019

Don Giovanni. Opera 16+

Petite Messe Solennelle is Gioacchino Rossini's last major work in the first author's edition in 1863. 

Performers 
NTRADA Vocal Ensemble under the direction of Ekaterina Antonenko
Conductor - Mikhail Shekhtman. 
Soloists:
Lyubov Petrova (soprano) 
Yulia Mennibaeva (mezzo-soprano)
Alexei Tatarintsev (tenor)
Evgeny Stavinsky (bass)
Pavel Nersesyan (piano)
Elizaveta Miller (organ) 

Zaryadye Concert Hall (Moscow) 
November 17, 2020