Alexander Tsymbalyuk

Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove makes a major Met debut with a new take on Mozart’s tragicomedy, re-setting the familiar tale of deceit and damnation in an abstract architectural landscape and shining a light into the dark corners of the story and its characters. Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann makes her Met debut conducting a star-studded cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as a magnetic Don Giovanni, alongside the Leporello of bass-baritone Adam Plachetka. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez, and Ying Fang make a superlative trio as Giovanni’s conquests—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Zerlina—and tenor Ben Bliss is Don Ottavio.

"Idomeneo" de Mozart es una obra sobre el amor, el odio, los celos, la guerra y la destrucción. Muestra de una manera inquietante el genio musical del compositor de Salzburgo. Cada figura se caracteriza individualmente sin perder de vista el conjunto musical. En cierto modo, el "Idomeneo" anticipa técnicas wagnerianas en la composición. La dirección de esta producción en el Teatro Real de Madrid estuvo en manos probadas de Robert Carsen, quien lleva la obra al escenario de una manera contemporánea, moderna y muy inquietante. Bajo la dirección soberana de Ivor Bolton, Eric Cutler, David Portillo, Anett Fritsch y Eleonora Buratto se encuentran entre los cantantes.

The first revival of David Bösch’s new production for The Royal Opera, with two casts including Maria Agresta, Lianna Haroutounian and Anita Rachvelishvili.

Franco Zeffirelli’s golden production stars the great dramatic soprano Nina Stemme as Turandot, the icy Chinese princess who has renounced all men. Marco Berti is Calàf, the unknown prince who solves Turandot’s riddles and wins her love. Anita Hartig sings Liù, the faithful slave girl who gives her life to save Calàf, and Alexander Tsymbalyuk is Timur. Paolo Carignani conducts.

Visually this is a gripping production which captures the drama of this opera perfectly. It's downright exciting! and I found the singing, acting, and orchestral playing reasonably fine. I found only one major problem with it, a problem that kept Puccini for quite a few years. Turandot has been looking for an opportunity to kill Calif and Calif has singlemindedly tried to get Turandot to love and wed him focusing on her and ignoring a better looking girl who loves him truly. The problem is how to get the audience to applaud the match once Calif gets his wish. Puccini couldn't figure out how to do it. The traditional quick ending doesn't do it, and Berio's attempt is longer , tries its best, but ends up making it plain this is one wierd couple.

The impulsive and charismatic Don Giovanni travels through Europe seducing women, accompanied by his long-suffering servant Leporello. But when Don Giovanni commits murder, he unleashes a dark power beyond his control. Kasper Holten’s production is rich in both colourful comedy and exhilarating drama. Set designs by Es Devlin (Les Troyens) and costume designs by Anja Vang Kragh (Stella McCartney, John Galliano for Christian Dior), with video projections by Luke Halls and choreography by Signe Fabricius, portray the visually entrancing world of Don Giovanni. At the heart of the production are the beauty and invention of Mozart’s dazzling score, which ranges from gorgeous arias and dramatic duets to the brilliant layering of dance melodies that bring Act I to a virtuoso close.

In Siegfried, the “Second Day” or third evening of the Ring Cycle, we meet the pivotal hero of the epic tale. The energetic drive from Die Walküre is pursued here while Siegfried finally recaptures the mighty ring from Fafner the Dragon and awakens Brünnhilde from her penal sleep on the great rock. Lance Ryan, having interpreted this role on the greatest stages of the world including the Bayreuth Festival, portrays the naïve hero. His antagonists are Peter Bronder, great and agile as Mime, Terje Stensvold, an experienced Wanderer and Johannes Martin Kränzle, who continues his mean and deceitful depiction of Alberich. The leading ladies are Nina Stemme, once again unrivalled as Brünnhilde and Anna Larsson, moving as the God-mother Erda.

El cineasta chino de renombre internacional Chen Kaige ofrece una opulenta puesta en escena del cuento de la princesa china Turandot, que solo se casará con un príncipe capaz de resolver sus acertijos. Con suntuosos trajes, decoración y escenografía diseñadas en China, la producción de Kaige agrega un acento convincente y auténtico a la exótica paleta orquestal de Puccini. Zubin Metha y la brillante Orquestra de la Comunitet Valenciana ofrecen "una verdadera pirotecnia de sonidos" (Wiener Zeitung), Maria Guleghina triunfa como Turandot. Grabado en 2008 en el Palau de les Arts de Valencia.