Lulu

I grew up with The Victor Book of the Opera in the house; I pored over the production stills, regretting that I never got to see the singers in concert. The entry for Lulu was most fascinating: there was Evelyn Lear singing pertly over Dr Goll's body, then Anneliese Rothenberger driving Dr Schon crazy, finally Kerstin Meyer as Geschwitz in her death throes. Well I thought I had to some day see this opera, and now I have thanks to La Monnaie in Brussels. My rating is mostly for the singers; I wasn't at all impressed with the staging (why have thirty or so extras on stage who aren't needed? K. Warlikovski is guilty of directorial overreach). Dietrich Henschel is not the best Schon--he's more of a lieder singer I think--but at least he's tasteful. Charles Workman as Alwa is always moving and right. Natascha Petrinsky is hardly present, she's the least impressive Geschwitz I've seen. Barbara Hannigan shows us she's a great lyric soprano, the part has no problems for her. All in all, not the greatest experience but still worth watching.