Archive for the ‘Q reviews’ Category

“Parsifal” at the Bastille

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Parsifal

a stage-consecrating festival play in three acts

Music and Libretto by Richard Wagner

Paris Opera at Bastille
Performance of 17 March 2008

Musical Direction: Hartmut Hänchen
Mise en Scène: Krzysztof “Buy-a vowel” Warlikowski
Sets and Costumes: Malgorzata Szczesniak
Lighting: Felice Ross
Video: Denis Gueguin

Director: Miron Hakenbeck
Choral Director: Winfried Maczewski

A New Production

Gurnemanz: Franz Joseph Selig
Kundry: Waltraud Meier
Amfortas: Alexander Marco-Buhrmester
Parsifal: Stig Anderson (for Christopher Ventris)
Titurel: Victor von Halem
Orchestra and Choruses of the Paris Opera

an account by KEN QUANDT

Like the Grail, this is an opera that only feeds the watcher who delights in the good. As such it should be less popular than it is, but the music is so beautiful it will never disappear from the repertoire. Thus, it presents a challenge to music lovers and opera lovers: Find the good.
(more…)

Posted in reviews, playlists, Q reviews | No Comments »

Q Review: “Pelleas et Melisande” at Covent Garden

Saturday, June 23rd, 2007

Pelléas et Mélisande

an opera in five acts

Music by Claude Debussy
Libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck

Royal Opera House at Covent Garden
Performance of 21 May 2007

Conductor: Simon Rattle
Director: Stanislas Nordey
Set Designer: Emmanuel Clolus
Costume Designer: Raoul Fernandez
Lighting: Philippe Berthomé

A co-production with the Salzburg Easter Festival

Mélisande: Angelika Kirchschlager
Golaud: Gerald Finley
Arkel: Robert Lloyd
Pelléas: Simon Keenlyside

an account by KEN QUANDT

(more…)

Posted in reviews, Q reviews | No Comments »

subscribe to the Q review

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

the Q review is now available as an RSS feed to which you can subscribe. If you’re already familiar with RSS, you know that a feed subscription – in your browser, your mail program, or a program created specifically for RSS – will keep an eye out for Ken’s reviews and fetch them for you whenever a new one appears. And if you weren’t already familiar with RSS, well, now you are – and Google Reader is one easy way to get started.

subscribe to Q review feed « subscribe!

You also have options to subscribe to our playlists, to the podcasts, or to the whole classics without walls site over there in the “subscribe” section on the right.

Posted in other news, Q reviews | No Comments »

Q review: “Recovered Voices” at the LA Opera

Tuesday, March 13th, 2007

Recovered Voices

Recovering a Musical Heritage
The Music Suppressed by the Third Reich

LA Opera – James Conlon, Musical Director
March 7 (Première Performance)
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

an account by KEN QUANDT

(more…)

Posted in Q reviews | No Comments »