Deutsche Oper Berlin. Wagner's Die Walkure. May 27, 2026.

Deutsche Oper Berlin.  1.RANG Links (Seat 5-2, 120 euros).

This time we caught both banners.

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor - Sir Donald Runnicles.  Siegmund - Matthew Newlin; Hunding - Tobias Kehrer; Wotan - Jordan Shanahan; Sieglinde - Elisabeth Teige; Fricka - Annika Schlicht; Brunnhilde - Trine Moller; Walkures - Martina Weischenbach, Felicia Moore, Maria Motolygina, Aleksandra Meteleva, Arianna Manganello, Karis Tucker, Nicole Piccolomini, Lauren Decker; Hundingling - Eric Naumann.

I guess the producer achieves something if people who attend their productions talk more about the sets than the music itself.  But is that a good thing?  Today I found myself debating a bit more about whether the sets helped or hindered the audience's appreciation of Wagner.

The opening scene consists of three characters: Siegmund, Sieglinde, and Hunding.  I think we can suspend our traditions and consider it a good thing that Siegmund and Sieglinde, twins, fall in love, and Sieglinde - trapped in forced marriage - decides to leave her husband.  But why bring in Hundingling (didn't know the name until I read the Program), a child of Hunding and Sieglinde.  Actually that the child was the couple's son didn't occur to me at first, I thought the fourth character's task is to act out the emotions in the drama; he showed fear, love, disinterest, and disdain at different times.  However, one would appreciate the Act even without this Hundingling; one could even make a case that his presence distracts.  In all the productions I have seen, it takes a while before the twins fall in love.  Herheim decides no time should be wasted, Sieglinde embraced and kissed Siegmund soon after they met.

The challenge of many Wagner operas - Walkure included - is that the drama is delivered by a few singers; it takes superb singing to capture the audience's attention for long periods of time.  The extras provide some level of visual distraction; but one can also say it's a vote of no confidence by the director that the singers are good enough by themselves.

Hunding had a shotgun, and Siegmund didn't succeed in retrieving Nothung - cleverly left behind by Wotan at the end of Das Rheingold - until the third try, are some of the unnecessary deviations from the original script.  The piano became a more versatile prop when it was raised and rotated with Siegmund standing on it while describing his past.  Also, more and more suitcases (or facades thereof) are used to provide the backdrop for the sets.  The role of the "book" (I noticed more clearly the title) became clearer today: it stressed that the audience is seeing a rehearsal.  Indeed the singers refer to it every now and then.  Also, the piano "playing" that happens every now and then also stressed the rehearsal aspect of what unfolds on stage.

When Brunnhilde first appeared, she had this joyous look on her face.  The other Valkyries also presented as a happy bunch of warriors.  That joy, unfortunately, was short-lived, as the tetralogy continues to unfold.

For me Act 2 contains the saddest episode in the Ring.  I find the dialog between Brunnhilde and Siegmund about his impending death particularly moving.  Today was no exception, despite the fact that I was watching a rehearsal.

At the end of Act 2.  Siegmund, Sieglinde, Brunnhilde, Wotan, Fricka, and Hunding.  Yes, Wotan is sung by another artist, he may be a last-minute substitute.

End of performance.  Next to Runnicles are Brunnhilde, Wotan, and Sieglinde.  The others are the Valkyries.  Also note the suitcase-theme set.

I mentioned in the Das Rheingold writeup we didn't see Alberich turning into a dragon and a toad, here the missing element is Grane.  The steed is mentioned several times, but never shows up (not even as a butler as in Bayreuth).  How will they do the scene in Gotterdammerung where Brunnhilde leads Grane into the fire?

Speaking of the fire, it was represented by projections of images onto "the sheet."  The sheet has raised corners that are meant to represent the flame.  The cleverness is beginning to get old, as the setup reminds me of these Halloween costumes that are basically a sheet with a hole in it.

Wagner has this tendency to drag out some conversations to such an extent that one wonders what more can be said.  The one between Wotan and Brunnhilde in Act 3 is a good example of that.  Sometimes additional listenings can add to the appreciation of the story, not today though.

At the very end, Sieglinde came up from the piano and Mime delivered a baby from her.  That helps to set the scene for the next opera.

Overall, this was an enjoyable performance.

Deutsche Oper Berlin. Wagner's Das Rheingold. May 26, 2026.

Deutsche Oper Berlin.  1.RANG Links.  Row 7, Seat 1 (120 euros).

That's how the entire Ring cycle started.

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor - Sir Donald Runnicles.  Wotan - Iain Paterson; Donner - Thomas Lehman; Froh - Kieran Carrel; Loge - Thomas Blondelle; Alberich - Michael Sumuel; Mime - Ya-Chung Huang; Fasolt - Albert Pesendorfer; Fafner - Tobias Kehner; Fricka - Annika Schlict; Freia - Martina Weischenbach; Erda - Lauren Decker; Rheinmaidens - Lea-ann Dunbar, Arianne Manganello, Karis Tucker.

The banner announces the opera that is being performed.  We didn't notice the second banner which would have the title of the opera on it.  (Das Rheingold for today.)

I started this series with considerable trepidation, predominantly due to the pre-reading of this production (what little I did of it), and due to a dialog I had with Microsoft CoPilot.

What I read about this production gave me an impression that it was similar to that of the Bayreuth Ring, but at a different (more difficult) level.  A different story was being played on stage than the one Wagner intended, and the audience is left to fend for itself when it comes to understanding what is going on.  CoPilot introduced to me the term Regietheater and all its implications, and suggested a completely different mindset would be needed if the operas are to be appreciated fully.  To make things worse, CoPilot says the director Stefan Herheim is of the third-wave Regietheater generation, and uses terms like Postdramatic, Meta-Theatrical, and Ontology-Changing to describe their products.  None of these terms is familiar to me.

Let me first say my reaction after seeing this first of the operas was that all the worries are overblown.  It was perfectly fine to treat this as a modern rendition of the old warhorse, although the director may have chosen to skip some elements in the original plot.  Or rather chosen not to emphasize them, or represent them some other way.  And he added a few elements to it.

A grand piano forms the center-piece (and supposed anchor) of the production.  It sat there, by itself, as the audience filed into their seats.  Then a group of travelers came on stage with suitcases, and the leader hits a key on the piano.  No sound came from the piano, as it's just a prop (a rather versatile one, it turns out).  Instead the orchestra started with a soft E-flat, exactly as Wagner intended.  A few observations.  The Director (Herheim) meant these to be refugees, although so far (I finished Walkure last night) they could just be travelers who happen to be spectators.  The other is the music performed is exactly what Wagner wrote (not that I know all the details).  Also, suitcases are used a lot in this production.  They are placed in front of the piano so the entrances and exits of people are blocked from the audience, they are basic building blocks for the different sets (e.g., walls).

One clever ploy is that these travelers become the Nibelungs.  But the production designers didn't bother to "change" Alberich at all when he used the helmet to turn into a big dragon and a small mouse.  I thought they could at least project these images onto this jack-of-all-trades sheet.

Generally speaking, the leitmotifs can be appreciated just as Wagner intended them.  Valhalla, Staff, Notung, Rhine, and others all evoke images of their intended objects.  Again, this opera can be appreciated exactly as Wagner intended it, other than some of the "new" elements Herheim introduced.  In my opinion, most of them are superfluous anyway, luckily they are not significant enough to detract from the drama.

In fact, one can even complain some staging is a bit clumsy.  A prime example is the way they used gold as payment to the giants for completion of Valhalla.  They simply took objects (golden ones, I suppose) from suitcases and piled them onto Freia who was lying in the piano; no subtlety, no finesse.  And the gold ring is the same gaudy lighted orb used in many other productions.

The other prop that is constantly present is the sheet.  Herheim talks about how it started small and grew in size.  I didn't catch the progression.  But I had to admire how they could control a rather large sheet, and how they could project different backgrounds onto it to accommodate different scenes.  And it is a lot cheaper than the 24-plank setup the Met used for its now-retired set.  While the sheet worked admirably in this opera, it got a little comical during Die Walkure (again, I am typing this entry after having seen Walkure).

The way they used effigies for Fasolt and Fafner was also clever.  I was disappointed when their heads (made from suitcases, of course) dropped to the floor even though the two were still singing.

In other productions I have seen, Das Rheingold ends with Wotan leading the family towards Valhalla.  Here Wotan goes down the prompter's box and follows Erda to the center of the earth (?), that would explain how the two conceived Sigmund and Sieglinde.  Indeed the opera ended with a projection of twin fetuses.  I thought they copied the Bayreuth production, but Anne remarked that the Bayreuth twins were Wotan and Alberich (a fact that production made up).  Incidentally, Erda is located at the prompter's box as she supposedly knows how the story unfolds.  Interesting idea, but I am quite sure Erda isn't the prompter.

The prompter's box must be quite sturdy as we often have people standing on it.

One more new element in this production is that the spectators are watching a rehearsal, thus the action we see is one additional level removed from the story.  If that is indeed the case, is the actual audience (yet one more level removed) supposed to feel any emotion from the story?  As I said, the audience can ignore all these distractions; does that make the production a success, or a failure?

There is this "book" whose significant was lost on me during Das Rheingold.  In Die Walkure the title "Die Walkure by Richard Wagner" appears clearly on the cover.  I suppose it is to emphasize we are seeing a rehearsal here, and people still need their scores at this stage.

What made today's performance great was that Wagner came through, by and large.  Despite all the added elements, we get the story as Wagner intended it.  Credit must be given to the musicians - both the singers and the orchestra.  The singers came across strongly (a few weak spots here and there, but I don't remember the specifics), and the orchestra sounded superb.  Incidentally, Runnicles is the first left-handed conductor I have seen.

From left: Rheinmaidens, Mime, Freia, ?, Loge, Runnicles, Alberich, Wotan, Fricka, ?, Erda, ?, ?.  The first two ?s are Donner and Froh, the second are Fasolt and Fafner.

I have remarked before how hard-edged German opera productions tend to be.  Today's was somewhat tamer, although there really is no need for simulated sexual scenes.  And this great tendency to strip down to underwear and slips.  One unexpected aspect is how the Nibelungs move strikingly like Nazis, with the goosesteps and the outstretched arms.

In addition to the four operas in the Ring, we are also going to a concert at Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus.  Six altogether.  My entries thus would have to be quite brief.

Spring Concert. Students of William Hobbs. May 15, 2026.

Barsky Art Gallery, Hoboken.  General Seating.

What could they possibly be doing?

Our three grandchildren all take piano lessons from the same teacher.  Their mother (Ellie) and another mother encouraged their teacher to have a recital for his students.  Tonight was the first ever recital; there may be more to come.

The students range in age from 5 (Everly) to Grade 12 (17 or 18?).  One is going on to be a music major in college, while others may just be beginners.

All three seemed to enjoy the chance to play in front of others.  Indeed Everly raised her hand when the teacher asked who wanted to go again.  She didn't get picked, but did it again during refreshment time.

New Jersey Symphony. Joshua Bell, violinist and conductor. May 14, 2026.

NJPAC, Newark, NJ.  First Tier (Seat F01, $62).

Bell performed Saint-Saens' Third Violin Concerto.

Program

Egmont Overture, Op. 84 by Beethoven.

Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61 by Camille Saint-Saens.

Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, "Italian" by Mendelssohn.

This is a concert of pieces that please the listener.  It showcases the ability of the orchestra, of the soloist, and of the conductor.  In this case the latter two are one Joshua Bell.

Joshua Bell became the principal guest conductor of NJ Symphony this season (25/26), and, as far as I can tell, does one program with the orchestra every season.  To put that in context, the NJ Symphony runs through about 12 programs (not counting special events and movie soundtracks).

For the Egmont Overture, Bell played a concertmaster who also led the performance.  As such he replaced the regular concertmaster, and sat on a piano bench rather than a typical orchestra chair.  For the Saint-Saens concerto, he was the soloist and the conductor (when he was not player), typical of what folks leading as soloists do.  We heard the Italian symphony about two weeks ago at Carnegie Hall, so it was still somewhat fresh in my mind.

The Egmont overture was part of a suite of incidental music composed for Goethe's play portraying the life of Lamoral, Count of Egmont.  One might say it's very Beethovenian, what with the many contrasting passages.

The Egmont Overture kicked off the enjoyable concert.

The most famous violin pieces written by Saint-Saens are Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and the third violin concerto.  Both contain beautiful and somewhat singable melodies, and are technically difficult but not out of reach for the serious student.  Of course, playing them well is quite another matter altogether.  It was another day in the office for Bell.  For some reason this violin concerto has somewhat fallen out of favor, the last two times I heard it was in 2017 and 2007, per this blog's entries.  I couldn't remember the tunes before the performance, but they came back once the concerto started.

Eric Wyrick sat in the concertmaster's chair for the rest of the concert.  Here shaking hands with Bell after the Saint-Saens violin concerto.

It pleases me to say that today's Italian symphony was better than what I heard two weeks ago.  And I enjoyed that performance.  (Of course my recollection of the OSL performance is hazy by now.)

Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony brought the concert to a conclusion.

Today's concert was designated as "relaxed performances," thus accommodating those who may find some noises unpleasant or rigid concert etiquette challenging.  The general audience knows this going in, and is asked to be understanding.  Someone did make considerable noise during the concert, and the orchestra simply played on.  That doesn't mean the performance isn't affected by the noises, or the enjoyment somewhat diminished.

I was half expecting Bell to do an encore piece, but appreciate that he worked hard enough.

Stevens Cooperative School Middle School Instrumental Concert. May 12, 2026.

Stevens Campus in Hoboken, NJ.

The end of a school year is marked by various musical events.  For today it was the Middle School (Grades 5-8) Instrumental Concert.  Last year was a combined concert of both instrument and voice ensembles, for this year they decided to split into instrumental and vocal sessions.  The vocal session will be in early June.

Our grandson Reid plays the violin, and our granddaughter Maisie plays the clarinet.

The entire concert lasted a bit over an hour.

Anne with the musicians.

Maisie announcing the piece the 5th grade clarinet ensemble will be playing (Yellow Submarine).

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6th Grade Strings

Close up of Reid.

NEC Preparatory School String Training Orchestras and Preparatory String Orchestra 8:30. May 9, 2026.

Jordan Hall at NEC, Boston.  Orchestra (free).

The PSO 8:30 Ensemble.

Program for PSO 8:30.

Cello Ole by Richard Meyer (1952-2012).

Solace by Scott Joplin, arr. R. Longfield (1868-1917).

Bartok Miniatures by Bartok, arr. H. Alshin (1881-1945).

The pieces performed by the PSO 8:30.

Conductor for STO: Peter Jarvis

Conductor for PSO 8:30: Marta Zurad.

Our granddaughter plays the cello with this ensemble.  We enjoy coming up to Boston to hear her perform.

For this concert the three orchestras took turns to perform.

The Bartok Miniatures consists of (1) Hungarian Wedding Dance; (2) Evening in the Village; and (3) Sword Dance.

STO 9.

STO 8.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Yuja Wang, piano and director. May 1, 2026.

Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall.  Dress Circle (Seat BB30, $121).

Yuja Wang after performing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1.

Program

Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 "Classical" (1916-1917) by Prokofiev (1897-1953).

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 (1830) by Chopin (1810-1849).

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16 (1912-1913; reconstructed 1923) by Prokofiev.

The "original" program.

About a year ago, Yuja Wang was named an artistic partner of the MCO.  It turns out she had been collaborating with the ensemble for many years (probably as a soloist with them).  Tonight we got to see what such a collaboration would be like.

The concert started with an announcement.  First was a change in the order of pieces on the program (see screenshot), second was that Wang's arm or hand was injured (apologies, etc), and third was this concert was dedicated to the memory of Michael Tilson Thomas, who passed away the week before.  A similar tribute was made at last week's NY Philharmonic concert.

With the performance of OSL from yesterday still fresh in my mind, it didn't take too long for me to decide the MCO sounded a lot better.  While Prokofiev's first symphony may not be the most challenging of his, it was still a fast-paced 18-minute piece that called for great precision and a wide range of dynamics.  The ensemble met it head on.  And the "chamber" in MCO was highlighted in this piece: there was no conductor (which was slightly surprising), and only those instrumentalists that had to play sitting down (cellists, for example) sat down (a particular episode of Seinfeld came to mind).

In our Subaru (which we replaced about 8 years ago) we had only a couple of CDs.  One of them had the Prokofiev symphony on it, so we have listened to it multiple times, especially on longer trips.  That usually means I have in my mind how the piece should be performed.  It was done differently tonight, and I enjoyed it.

We had encountered the MCO before as part of Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, performing Benjamin's Written on Skin.  I characterized the orchestra as large.  Interestingly, we saw a singer (Barbara Hannigan) a few days ago at David Geffen Hall.

The string section of orchestra has 10 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 violas, 5 cellos, and 2 basses.

As to the two piano concertos, Wang was just her usual self, putting out an impeccable performance while enjoying herself.  In the past I often noticed that she would move her mouth (singing along) while playing; tonight we were too far away to make that observation.  With both concertos she directed the orchestra during her "spare time."  Given how well the ensemble did for the Symphony, I am not sure that was at all necessary.  I guess the title "director" needs to be earned in some way.

Conclusion of Prokofiev's Piano Concert No. 2.  Only one costume change for this concert.

A few tidbits from the Playbill.  Chopin wrote his first two concertos when he was 19, and tonight's concerto was the second one, but got its moniker because it was published first.  Chopin is the one credited with revolutionizing piano playing, and this work was original, and aggressively difficult but yet delicate.  Instead of a dialogue between the soloist and orchestra, Chopin's concertos are opera singers performing arias while accompanied by an orchestra in the pit.  Indeed, Chopin wrote only these two concertos, since he apparently decided the piano would do nicely just by itself.

The technical challenges of Prokofiev's second concerto, considered the most difficult of his five, are such that Prokofiev was apprehensive about playing it.  Indeed he thought he played badly at the beginning of the third movement at a Paris concert.  The concerto also has long cadenzas in both the first and third movements; the one in the first movement probably took up half the movement.  The Intermezzo movement in this four-movement concerto doesn't sound like any intermezzos of Brahms's.  Most intermezzos are contemplative, not this one.

The original score composed in 1912-13 was lost in a fire not long after its completion, so what is in the repertoire today is the version Prokofiev reconstructed in 1923.  Since Prokofiev thought it was fine, there is no debate.  (Prokofiev considered the revisions to be substantial.)

No one would begrudge Wang if she chose not to do any encores.  After all, she had an injury, and just performed two difficult concertos.  But then we are talking about someone who did a Rachmaninoff marathon, "a 2 1/2-hour performance spanning 97,000 notes and featuring multiple costume changes." So we got to hear two encores.  No additional costume changes, though.

The first encore was quite interesting.  The soloist was accompanied by a few musicians in the orchestra, including one clapping his hands.

The concert started late, and the soloist always took her time coming on to the stage.  That meant we caught the 11:23 pm train back to New Jersey.  But it was a great concert.

Orchestra of St. Luke's. Masaaki Suzuki, conductor; Midori, violin. April 30, 2026.

Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall.  Balcony (Seat B56, $27).

Suzuki and Midori at the conclusion of Beethoven's Violin Concerto.

Program

Overture to Don Giovanni, K. 527 (1787) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 (1806) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, "Italian" (1833, rev. 1834) by Mendelssohn.

Although Orchestra of St. Luke's calls Carnegie Hall it's home, tonight was my second ever encounter with the ensemble.  It's director Bernard Labadie retired a couple of years ago, today's concert was led by Masaaki Suzuki, a Bach and early music specialist per the Playbill.  While there was no Bach for this evening, the three pieces on the program should make for an enjoyable evening.

A few notes into the Don Giovanni overture I was already wondering about the quality of the orchestra.  Instead of light and crisp, what I heard was muddled, bothering on confusion.  Not Mozart at all.  I have remarked many times before it's difficult to tell a "great" Mozart performance from a "good" one, there definitely was no need to fret if tonight's belongs in either category.

At the end of the Don Giovanni Overture.

Things did get better, but not as much as I expected.

When she first came onto the music scene as a teenager (or even younger), Midori was one of these once-in-a-generation phenomena.  I remember seeing her perform before my blogging days, and always came away thinking how that's possible.  Other than an online performance during COVID times, I had seen Midori only once, about 20 years ago.  I enjoyed the Prokofiev, but described a certain "dreamlike" effect in her style.

Beethoven works because of his genius in telling a coherent story with passages that require great, fundamental technique.  (The one I heard performed by James Ehnes is a prime example.)  I am sure Midori is fully capable of that, but she has chosen to infuse some ephemeral quality to the music, resulting in many passages being delivered differently than what I expected.  So, subtly perhaps, some passages sounded different, bothering on "wrong."  The cadenza was still superb.

She played an encore which I couldn't identify, and indeed don't remember much of two days later.

Mendelssohn's Italian symphony saved the day.  I have heard it only a couple of times in the last twenty or so years, but somehow the piece sounded very familiar.  Some tunes are catchy that way.  To the orchestra's credit, the piece indeed sounded Italian, perhaps the Program Notes helped.

The concert ended with a lively rendition of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony.

A credit card I have provides a $150 credit on StubHub every six months.  I used up all $150 to buy these partial view tickets in the balcony.  I could see Midori's violin if I leaned forward, so it was not a good seat.  Indeed they cost the original buyer $27 each.  He didn't make all the difference, Ticketmaster and StubHub probably got the lion's share of the proceeds.

We managed to catch the 10:23 pm train back to NJ.  That the concert started reasonably on time helped.  (At about 8:06 pm, if I work backwards from the photo time stamps.)

New York Philharmonic. Barbara Hannigan, conductor/soprano. April 23, 2026.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat Y103, $50).

Hannigan at the end of the concert.  One of the cameras can be seen to her right.

Program

Metamorphosen, A Study for 23 Solo Strings (1945) by R. Strauss (1864=1949).

La Voix humaine, Tragedie lyrique en un act (The Human Voice, Lyric Tragedy in One Act), FP171 (1958) by Poulenc (1899-1963).

We had no idea what to expect from the concert, especially the second part.  We have seen instrumentalists (mostly violinists and pianists) both simultaneously performing as soloists and leading the orchestra at the same time; this would be our first encounter with a vocalist in that role.

First things first.  Metamorphosen was a piece written by Strauss just before the end of World War II.  Per the Program Notes, by that time Strauss had gone through two world wars, and was in declining health, so this work was in part "an agonized cry from the heart, a dark report from a dark time."  I frankly didn't find the work dark, and failed to appreciate the title until the work was more than half-way through.  Metamorphosis is a drastic change - think caterpillar to pupa to butterfly - but the piece begins as a very long serene statement; I couldn't detect any pause for a while. It only got a bit agitated towards the end.

While Strauss indeed gave the work its title, he also called it "a study for 23 solo strings."  (5 each first and second violins, violas, and cellos; 3 basses.)  Did he really have 23 instruments all going in different directions?  And can anyone trace all 23 at the same time? There are only twelve notes in a scale.  I looked at the score, the staffs are 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, and 1 bass; sometimes lines are "divisi," but far fewer than 23.

Hannigan and the 23 string players performed Strauss's Metamorphosen.

The beginning measures of Metamorphosen.

A page in the score where all 23 players have a line.

This from a YouTube video screenshot.  Evidently there is a septet version of the work.

Strauss makes sense after one understands what he is trying to do.  For this first listening, I think "study" is a more appropriate title.

La Voix humaine is best described as a one-woman single-act opera.  The story is simple enough.  Elle (simply means she/her in French) is talking on the phone with someone who is probably her former lover.  During the course of the 45 minute act, she pleads, cajoles, contradicts herself, and sprinkles in a good amount of incoherence.  The audience doesn't hear what the party at the other end says. The telephone technology in the 1950s also results in disconnects, interferences on the party lines, and noise.  Therefore Elle spends a good amount of time asking the operator to reconnect.  She evidently has taken 12 pills (type not specified) and eventually wraps the phone cord around her neck.  The audience is left to decide if she succeeds in killing herself.  The stage directions call for her letting the receiver go and dropping her head at the end.

What we saw today was even more of a one-woman show: Hannigan both conducted the orchestra and sang the role of Elle.  Not what I expected, but it was still an interesting experience.

When I saw the large screen on stage, my assumption was that some kind of projection would provide the backdrop for the opera.  It turns out there were (I think) three cameras pointed at Hannigan.  Most of the time it was a frontal shot, but two side cameras (which I couldn't locate) would provide shots from the sides.  Images are superimposed, reflected, or repeated to create some visual effects.  Orchestra members (most of the time the first violins and the hair of a violist) would sometime be in the shot.  At one point, the image on the screen was frozen for a few minutes, Hannigan turned around and sang directly at the audience.  What it spontaneity?  Since it happened again later in the play, I'm not so sure.

It must have taken a lot of planning and rehearsal to pull the thing off.  At least as far as the videography is concerned.  The story itself, while tragic, is typical for a tragedy.  Since Hannigan sang most of the time with her back to the audience (she was conducting, after all), the sound didn't project all that well.  And I am quite sure some sort of sound enhancement was used.  The exception would be the time she turned around, her voice projected very well at that time.  There was a bulge on her back which was probably part of the transmitter.

The camera sometimes would zoom in very close, so only her mouth would be on the screen.  That was a bit too close for comfort, even though we were seated in about the middle of the auditorium.

The opera ended with her arms still in the air, so not quite the "letting the receiver go and dropping her head" called for in the stage direction.  And of course there was no physical telephone or phone cord either.

Curtain call.  Imagine the screen filled up by a close up of Hannigan's mouth.

Taken from the NY Times.

I have also been amazed that conductors give singers very clear cues during an opera's performance; I guess that's mostly to sync up the vocalists with the orchestra.  Perhaps if one is familiar enough with the full score then it is unnecessary?

Hannigan is Canadian, so I assume her fluency in French is excellent.  We saw her in the Opera "Written on Skin" by George Benjamin about 10 years back.  She was in the lead role, my blog entry for that event didn't talk about her specifically, other than that the singing was generally good.

(Note added 5/9.  Before the concert started, an image of Michael Tilson Thomas was projected onto the screen.  He had passed away the day before, on April 22.)

We got these tickets because we couldn't pass up on the $50 deal.  It was definitely worth that, perhaps more.