Must See Medici TV – Stars in Concert and Staatsoper Lulu

...and speaking of Thomas Hampson, here he is in concert, along with some other singers you may have heard of...

I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my holiday weekend to-do list. 

Watch this at Medici.TV

And now for something completely different, there's this: 

Watch the opera here on medici.tv 

Thanks to MediciTV for sharing this for those of us who missed the live stream on StaatsoperTV. I watched Act 1 on Saturday, but had to give up at intermission. The storm was really messing with my internet connection. What I've seen and heard is impressive. DT's production seems to really suit the expressionist tone of the plot and music. (Lulu is my number-one top 20th century opera!) 

And the cast is doing an exceptional job so far, featuring singers well-known for their Mozart interpretations (including two former Belmontes as Alwa and the Painter!) Watch this blog for a full review sometime soon.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Stuttgart, 1998 (Part 2: Buy One, Get One Free)

Konstanze & Belmonte 2 (far L & R)
congratulate the singers after a
lovely performance of the Act 2 Finale.

Double casting Entführung (or any opera) raises questions. What's the difference between the singing and the acting on stage? What separates the singers from the actors? What brings them together? Are we supposed to recognize each pair as playing one character? Don't you just love it when my reviews degenerate into a list of questions?

Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Stuttgart, 1998 (Part 1: Double Fun)

A lot of folks have already written thoughtfully about this Hans Neuenfels' Die Entführung aus dem Serail , so I will stick with some observations that I think are my own and that I think no one else has pointed out, or at least not dwelt on as much. In this production, Neuenfels has cast each role (save one) with both a singer and an actor. But not in a way that you might be expecting. 

Konstanze and Belmonte 1 (center) have decided to die for love.
No one else thinks this is a very good idea.