Der Freischutz - Barbican; LSO, c. Davis

[Prommer]

This surely will be recorded for issue but also broadcast by R3?????

[David-G]

I am greatly looking forward to this. It is far too long since Der Freischutz appeared at Covent Garden.

[Prommer]

This was a corker last night....

[David-G]

Absolutely excellent. Sally Matthews as Aennchen and Lars Woldt as Kaspar were especially good. It's such a wonderful score!

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Opera Britannia review here:

http://operabritanniauk.wordpress.co...th-april-2012/

[aeolium]

Oh dear, IGI - doesn't sound too good, especially the use of a narrator which must have been a real distraction. A shame, as it's such a wonderful opera - I saw the ROH production in ?early 1980s with Colin Davis conducting and it was excellent. It is difficult to stage though and perhaps a concert performance can be as effective as any. I would love to see WNO do it, with Koenigs conducting.

[David-G]

An interesting review - but for all that, it was a hugely enjoyable evening. The narration was well done as these things go. I would encourage anyone to go to this evening’s performance.

[ARBurton]

Oh dear, IGI - doesn't sound too good, especially the use of a narrator which must have been a real distraction. A shame, as it's such a wonderful opera - I saw the ROH production in ?early 1980s with Colin Davis conducting and it was excellent. It is difficult to stage though and perhaps a concert performance can be as effective as any. I would love to see WNO do it, with Koenigs conducting.

WNO did it sometime between 1989 and 1991. But a revisit would be welcome! Or Oberon. Or Euryanthe.

[aeolium]

WNO did it sometime between 1989 and 1991. But a revisit would be welcome! Or Oberon. Or Euryanthe.

Yes indeed to any of them! But all of them difficult to stage, especially perhaps Euryanthe. Poor Weber - he was dreadfully let down by his librettists, wasn't he? A pity perhaps that he and E T A Hoffman did not collaborate on an opera. Weber admired Hoffman's opera Undine and although that libretto was not Hoffman's, he did write a libretto for his own Singspiel Die Maske.

[David-G]

Glyndebourne staged Euryanthe in 2002, with the OAE. It was panned by the critics, but I greatly enjoyed it, and saw it twice.