Interstellar Galactomic Nabucco

The 2025 production of Verdi’s Nabucco recorded in the Arena di Verona is nothing if not spectacular; visually and vocally. One might ask though if it’s anything other than spectacular. Stefano Poda, who was responsible for designs and direction, makes some pretty bold claims in his Notes; “a symbolically charged reflection on power, spirituality and human identity”, “contrasting dualities: Babylonians and Hebrews, rationality and spirituality, progress and faith”, “the possibility of inner transformation and human reconciliation”. That’s a lot of freight for Nabucco to carry and I’m not sure it does but the visuals are certainly spectacular.

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Violanta

Violanta is one of those works which seem oddly out of place, among other things.  It’s a one act opera by the eighteen year old Erich Korngold which premiered in Munich and Vienna in 1916.  It hardly needs saying that most eighteen year olds in Europe in 1916 were engaged otherwise than in composing rather overwrought operas about seduction and death in 15th century Venice but there you go.

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Rienzi

Wagner’s Rienzi is really quite an interesting work.  It follows the conventions of the French grand opera rather than the more integrated structure of most of the later works, although as presented in Toulouse in 2012 some of those elements, for example the ballet, have been removed in the interests of cutting the work down to manageable size.  Even with the Toulouse cuts it runs three hours.

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Pyramus and Thisbe – a world premiere

The new COC creation Pyramus and Thisbe with music by Monteverdi and Barbara Monk Feldman opened last night at the Four Seasons Centre.  I was expecting abstract and cerebral, which it is, but I was rather expecting that I might admire it more than enjoy it.  As it turned out it was a remarkably satisfying show on many levels.

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