Intermezzotag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-12958022009-11-12T01:17:55+00:00opera and concerts in london and beyondTypePadBryn Terfel is not so badtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef01287581110f970c2009-11-12T01:17:55+00:002009-11-12T01:22:19+00:00Bryn Terfel - Royal Festival Hall, 11 November 2009 For marketing purposes only, cuddly Bryn Terfel is currently posing as a Bad Boy. But as CD-pimping, Gubbay-promoted, extravagantly-priced celebrity recitals go, this one was actually pretty good. Not only did...inter mezzoArtaxerxes at the Royal Opera Housetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0128756cf218970c2009-11-11T18:33:05+00:002009-11-11T18:33:05+00:00Artaxerxes - Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre, 9 November 2009 Martin Duncan's new production of Arne's Artaxerxes is one of the most exquisitely-costumed operas I have ever seen. It's almost worth the price of admission simply to gaze on Johan...inter mezzoMaria di Rohan at the Royal Festival Halltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a65fbf9d970b2009-11-10T18:09:09+00:002009-11-10T18:09:10+00:00Maria di Rohan - OAE / Elder - Royal Festival Hall, 7 November 2009 Mark Elder and the OAE spent the week before this concert performance rehearsing and recording Maria di Rohan for the Opera Rara label. The consequent polish...inter mezzoPeter Gelb shares fortune with duckstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0128756efb41970c2009-11-10T11:55:15+00:002009-11-10T11:55:15+00:00A Scottish widow who died in August has left nearly half of her £10m fortune to the Metropolitan Opera. Peter Gelb and co will benefit to the tune of £4.5m - that's $7.5m in colonial terms - enough to buy...inter mezzoENO's brilliant Bluebeard tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a65fae46970b2009-11-09T18:36:09+00:002009-11-10T23:53:09+00:00Duke Bluebeard’s Castle / The Rite of Spring - ENO, 6 November 2009 Opera and ballet don’t necessarily go as well together in practice as they do in theory - witness Covent Garden’s recent Acis/Dido double bill and Opera Holland...inter mezzoPlacido mixes it in Berlintag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef012875663acc970c2009-11-09T11:50:19+00:002009-11-09T14:04:31+00:00Hell may freeze over before Plácido Domingo gets any regular airplay on MTV. But at least they ask him round for dinner now and again. Here he is at last night's MTV Cinema For Peace bash in Berlin. Plácido mit...inter mezzoworld-class iconic revenue streamstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6b0a1a1970c2009-11-06T12:28:59+00:002009-11-06T12:28:59+00:00According to Licensing.biz ("for everyone in the business of licensing"), the Royal Opera House's never-ending quest for cash is taking a new turn. It's looking for retail partners ("A high street retailer would be the perfect solution for us" )...inter mezzoRenee Fleming - second helpingstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6ad3634970c2009-11-05T21:04:36+00:002009-11-05T21:04:37+00:00think of it as the encore she never gave:inter mezzoRoyal Opera House introduces edible foodtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6a8b20a970c2009-11-04T18:04:47+00:002009-11-04T18:06:07+00:00I raise a glass to the most welcome ROH announcement of the year. Starting April 2010, the Royal Opera House's catering operations will pass from current incumbents Searcys to Company of Cooks. Farewell clammy sandwiches, limp chicory, raspberry drizzle and...inter mezzoa small portion of Renee Flemingtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6a3bee9970c2009-11-04T00:48:00+00:002009-11-04T11:33:53+00:00Renee Fleming / RPO / Dutoit - Royal Festival Hall, 3 November 2009 This concert was billed as Renee Fleming with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, but the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra featuring Renee Fleming would have been more accurate. I expect...inter mezzoAngela Gheorghiu drives another man up the walltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6a50991970c2009-11-03T18:06:34+00:002009-11-03T18:06:35+00:00"when I met her for the first time earlier this summer, my hackles sank: she was funny and full of beans, she was generous-spirited and appreciative, she looked a million dollars. Then I went home and discovered that she had...inter mezzoRoyal Opera House Manchester = dead?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a64f7439970b2009-11-03T17:45:08+00:002009-11-03T18:25:59+00:00With the news that the Ambassador Theatre Group has bought up a clutch of British theatres, including Manchester's Palace Theatre, could the Royal Opera House's great push northward be thwarted? The controversial plan involved redeveloping the frankly knackered Palace at...inter mezzoENO cut prices againtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a64f4764970b2009-11-03T17:21:52+00:002009-11-03T17:21:53+00:00Once again ENO have slashed prices on their slow-selling shows. Is is worth paying full price for anything at the Coliseum any more I wonder? If their pig's ear of a Turandot appeals, TicketMaster are offering £74 tickets reduced to...inter mezzothe sweet smell of Renee Flemingtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6a041ff970c2009-11-03T12:04:35+00:002009-11-03T12:04:36+00:00Renee Fleming made her debut in the overpopulated celebrity fragrance market last year with La Voce, so super-exclusive it's only available from the Met shop, which now smells like a Boots counter as hordes of operagoers spritz themselves silly with...inter mezzoBryn Terfel explains the difference between opera and musical theatretag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6a0b536970c2009-11-02T18:25:04+00:002009-11-02T18:25:04+00:00Speaking to Adam Sweeting in the Daily Telegraph, the world's greatest Sweeney Todd clarifies the all-important distinction from his opera work: "A musical theatre singer can stay in one city for years, so he can be at home. Singing-wise, there's...inter mezzoThe Barber of the Mettag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a64408b2970b2009-11-01T17:51:57+00:002009-11-01T17:51:57+00:00Il Barbiere di Siviglia Metropolitan Opera, 31 October 2009 Can the Met please everyone at once? Come to that, can it please anyone? I found Bartlett Sher's Il Barbiere di Siviglia beyond conservative, sitting comfortably within the tradition of tradition...inter mezzomore booing at the Met?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6440b5d970b2009-10-31T14:36:14+00:002009-10-31T14:44:39+00:00Reader Thomas listened to the Sirius broadcast of the Met's first Turandot of the season - the same performance I attended last week. He asks why I didn't mention the "loud boos for Marcello Giordani" which were apparently audible on...inter mezzoat home with Pappanotag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a6432ffb970b2009-10-31T04:53:31+00:002009-10-31T04:59:29+00:00Not even pausing to check for dust bunnies or sneak a look in his bathroom cabinet, the FT pokes its nose into Tony Pappano's domestic arrangements, current and past.inter mezzoTurandot at the Met - Lise Lindstrom goes choppingtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a681d493970c2009-10-29T06:04:33+00:002009-10-29T06:05:53+00:00Turandot - Metropolitan Opera New York, 28 October 2009 I caught Lise Lindstrom's Met debut and you didn't. With the house's resident screamer Maria Guleghina out with a cold, 'B' cast Lindstrom was brought in to make her first Met...inter mezzoPlacido Domingo IS Simon Boccanegra - in photostag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d834ff890853ef0120a66e6f48970c2009-10-23T12:52:04+01:002009-10-23T12:52:05+01:00Most of us won't I guess be lucky enough to be present at Placido Domingo's baritone debut as Simon Boccanegra in Berlin tomorrow. But at least we can look at the pictures. Here they are, all by Monika Rittershaus for...inter mezzo