Vesselina (and Véronique and Charles) in my Mailbox...

Mozart Week continues at my house! This arrived today:

I finally tracked down a copy of this 2006 recording. It's hard to believe I haven't tagged any posts with LCdT for almost a full year. A while back I featured Tito's three arias sung by Charles Castronovo, not realizing they were from this recording. A quick search did not reveal any other clips from this CD over at the Toob. In the next week or so, I will see what I can do to address this gap.

Ariadne Auf Naxos – Zürich 2006 (Part 2: They Shoot Composers, Don't They?)

<rant> People who complain that Ariadne is not regal enough, or Zerbinetta isn’t perky enough make me nuts.  It’s an opera about mythical and theatrical characters. For that matter, it’s an opera about opera.  So, how would one propose a literal staging or interpretation?  OK, that was rhetorical, although if anyone has some ideas, I welcome them.  Ariadne is supposed to be on a deserted island. If there are some paper maché rocks and cliffs on stage, does it suddenly become more believable? I suggest for the perfect literal/realistic interpretation, the entire audience be flown to an actual deserted island with real rocks and caves. </rant>

Ariadne Auf Naxos – Zürich 2006 (Part 1: Is this the real life?)

 “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? 

Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality…”

- Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

I keep trying to write my review of the 2006 Zürich Opera performance of Ariadne auf Naxos (staged by Claus Guth). But my notes continue to be no more than a series of questions. Questions are good, but I am not sure a list of questions actually constitues a review. Though now that I think if it, that could be a great new approach...or not.