Recent Posts. Page 4

IL TROVATORE in PISA
11/24/17 •
PISA/ITALY: Il Trovatore the second opera of Verdi’s “popular trilogy” (the first was Rigoletto) was composed between 1851 and 1852 on a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, a text on which Verdi himself and Emanuele Bardare also worked after the sudden death of the Neapolitan librettist. By Fabio Bardelli, Foto: Imaginarium Creative Studio., and Alfredo Anceschi.

MAESTRO JOSEP PONS MUSIC DIRECTOR OF LICEU UNTIL 2021-22 SEASON
11/23/17 •
BARCELONA/SPAIN: The Executive Committee of the Fundació Gran Teatre del Liceu convened last Thursday morning to approve the extension of Maestro Josep Pons’s contract as music director of the Fundació Gran Teatre del Liceu for the next four seasons.

SHAUNA STAAF på Moulin Rouge i Paris.
11/20/17 •
PARIS/FRANKRIKE: Svenske Shauna Staaf er med og skriver svensk dansehistorie i Paris. I April fulgte hun i sin pappa, Joachim Staaf´s fotspor, som danser i verdens kanskje aller fremste kabarett, og ihvertfall i en av de som lengst har vært i drift, og forrsatt ligger på topp nivå i verden. Av Henning Høholt. Copyright reserved.

Royal Copenhagens julebord for 2017.
11/18/17 •
KØBENHAVN/DANMARK: Like sikkert som Julen står for døren er det at Københavnerne, og de mange som reiser til København for julehandel og forjulskos er Royal Copenhagen å Amager Torv midt på Strøget. Fredag var det offisiell åpning av Royal Copenhagens årlige julebord for 2017.

OPERAHUS no 2 i Oslo?
11/17/17 •
OSLO/NORGE: Når jeg også i år gleder meg over hvilke omfattende operaaktiviteter som virkelig er i Oslo, og ser på hvor mange operatalenter som utdannes i Norge, og norske i utlandet, men hvor dessverre ikke Norge enda har sett for seg at der også bør være arbeidsplasser til de mange forskjellige talenter, da det for mange av dem, tydelig vil gi dem følelsen av å spille sine talenter ved kun å ha muligheten til å overleve ved å måtte fortsette sine karrierer innen undervisning, elle rved å måtte flytte til utlandet, hvor heldigvis der bare i Tyskland finnes et 90 talls operahus, hvor mange talenter forsvinner til, gå inn i korvirksomhet, eller annen virksomhet hvor deres musikalske utdannelse kan benyttes. Av Henning Høholt, Foto Tomas Bagackas.

Leading Opera Voices of the World at Bolshoi
11/15/17 •
MOSCOW/RUSSIA: A sold out Bolshoi Theatre allready some months ago, waited for the concert presenting: Leading Opera Voices of the World. And it became a success and a compliment also to the initiative of bringing 8 excellent young singers to Bolshoi, to give them the chance to be heard by an international audience. By Romuald Sip.

Giacomo Meyerbeer: LE PROPHETE in Berlin
11/14/17 •
BERLIN/GERMANY: With his LE PROPHETE (1849) Giacomo Meyerbeer rendered, in operatic form, one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of the Reformation. The story of the rise and fall of the radical sect of Protestant Anabaptists, who controlled the city of Münster in a short-lived reign of terror in 1535, continues to fascinate audiences with its portrayal of religious and pre-Communist thought, a terrorist regime and the vision of a “kingdom of God on Earth”. By Tomas Bagackas

Queen Victoria, Albert and Coburg
11/12/17 •
COBURG/GERMANY: In these days where the Norwegian TV audience has the pleasure of enjoying the seria in 8 parts telling about HM Queen Victoria of England. I am being inspired to look back on my visit in 2015 to the beautiful castle in Coburg, and to the private apartment of Victoria in the Castle. Furthermore to the medieval castle Veste Coburg. Visited by Henning Høholt, text and photos.

Oslo Opera Festival – en Suksess
11/11/17 •
OSLO/NORGE: Oslo Opera Festivals avsluttings konsert ble lidt forsinket avholdt i Universitetets Aula i Oslo, 31. Oktober 2017. Med et flott program helliget opera verker av Verdi og Wagner ble dette en suksess. Av Henning Høholt. Tekst. Fotos: Tomas Bagackas

Lukáš Vondráček – piano firework
11/10/17 •
OSLO/NORWAY: With Lukas Vondracek as piano solist in Rachmaninoffs Pianocncerto no 3 d-min op 30 together with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra led by Vasily Petrenko, the audience experienced a piano firework, that is seldom heard. By Henning Høholt

New York Times praises Herheims «La Boheme»
11/08/17 •
NEW YORK/USA: A front page article in The New York Times (Nov 1st.) analysizes recent productions of «La Boheme».
Classic music editor Zachary Woolfe discusses nostalgia and renewal in the Puccini-classic with reference to New York and Europe. By Torkil Baden.

Elisabeth Teige deltar i Melchior konkurransen i Aalborg
11/07/17 •
AALBORG/DANMARK: Wagner frelste behøver nå ikke lenger å reise til Bayreuth for å høre Wagner. De kan reise til Aalborg, hovedstaden i Nord-Jylland, og se Richard Wagner, der i levende live (1813-1883) var en meget lille mand af statur. I Aalborg kunne han fra onsdag 11. Oktober 2017 sees fire steder, men her i form af statuer med en højde på 3,5 meter hver. I byen står han opstillet ved City Syd og naturligvis nede ved Limfjorden ved siden af Musikkens Hus. Men allerede ved flyplassen, som ligger nord for byen, hilses man velkommen av en statue av komponisten. Av Henning Høholt.

Operagalla i København
11/06/17 •
KØBENHAVN/DANMARK: Fredag kveld var Deres Majesteter Dronning Margrethe II av Danmark og Dronning Sonja til stede under en operagalla i DR Koncerthuset i København. Omtalt av Henning Høholt.

LA RONDINE in Firenze
11/04/17 •
FIRENZE/ITALY: Opera or operetta? Neither of them or perhaps both of them: the eternal dilemma regarding La Rondine by Giacomo Puccini has been dragged just from its birth on the stage of Grand Théatre de Monte Carlo on 1917 March 27th.Review by Fabio Bardelli, Photos: Michele Borzoni.

Bartoli is Cinderella in Monte Carlo
11/03/17 •
Cecilia Bartoli is a perfectionist and moves carefully. In February she toured Europe with a concert version of the score of «Cenerentola», which she first performed in the 1990-ies. Now she goes on stage again with the Ponnelli-production from 1968.
Review by Torkil Baden.

Les Troyens in Dresden
11/01/17 •
DRESDEN/GERMANY: Hector Berlioz and the Troyens in Dresden’s Semperoper seems to be the fulfillment of two stories of the 19th century. – Les Troyens Conducted by John Fiore.
In February 1843 the French composer travelled to Dresden for the first time and stayed for around two weeks – nomen est omen- in the “Hôtel de France”, a nice baroque palace from 1680, destroyed in 1945. “Now let’s talk about Dresden: I was engaged there for two concerts, and I was going to find there choir, orchestra, music of harmony, and moreover a famous tenor since my entry in Germany, I had not yet seen reunited of such richnesses.” Berlioz writes in his memories. By Christoph Münch

Lutherstadt Wittenberg – Reformasjonen 500 år jubilee
10/31/17 •
WITTENBERG/GERMANY: The summer hit in Wittenberg, Germany is the Middle Age market in the beautiful city of Wittenberg, Germany, where the hit is the parade Saturday at 14.00 called Martin Luthers Wedding, where thousand of participants in middle age costumes are making a longa parade through the beautiful city center, inclusive participants, suppose to play the roles as Martin Luther and his wife Katarina von Bora. The authorities in the city tells that 100.000 visitors was expected to be present at this market day, and the small citys streets were packed. Visited by Henning Høholt

Barcelona City Hall or Casa de la Ciutat
10/30/17 •
BARCELONA/SPAIN: City Hall, also known as the Casa de la Ciutat, stands on one side of the Plaça Sant Jaume, right in the middle of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and in front of the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Visited by Henning Høholt. Text and photos.

The Great Gatsby – Les Folies Bergères
10/30/17 •
PARIS/FRANCE: Dwight Rhoden, the famous American choreographer and artistic director of the Complexions Contemporary Ballet, the company he founded, presented last week in Paris his ballet The Great Gatsby, inspired by the Fitzgerald’s eponym novel. The project is quite ambitious and is starring an international ballet star, Denis Matvienko, former Principal of the Mariinsky Theatre. By Christophe de Jouvancourt.

Die Walküre in Beijing
10/28/17 •
BEIJING/CHINA: There was tumultuous applause for Die Walküre , which the Beijing Music Festival is showing in a coproduction with the Salzburg Easter Festival. At its opening performance yesterday, 24 October, the Walküre was greeted with enthusiastic cheers from the 1,300-strong audience in the sold-out Poly Theatre in Beijing.

Hedda Gabler with the Nationalballet, Oslo
10/27/17 •
OSLO/NORWAY: Hedda Gabler by Marit Moum Aune based on the famouse Henrik Ibsen novel, with the Norwegian National Ballet, premiered 28. Sept. 2017, was interesting, following well up ms. Aunes Ghosts, also build one of mr. Ibsens other novels. It is very demanding for the dancers, with the splendid Grete Sofie Borud Nybakken in the demanding titelrole. Review by Henning Høholt, Fotos Erik Berg

Cecilie Lindeman Steen mottar Danseinformasjonens Ærespris 2017
10/26/17 •
OSLO/NORGE: Cecilie Lindeman Steen har i over 30 år markert seg som en av de viktigste utøverne i norsk samtidsdans. Hun kjennetegnes ved en fengslende scenisk tilstedeværelse, integritet og et nyansert og rikt bevegelsesspråk.

Vendela Kirseboms utrolige reise
10/26/17 •
OSLO/NORGE: Fra lange dager og ulønnet arbeid til millionkontrakter og middag i Det hvite hus. Vendela Kirsebom har datet George Clooney, vært “gift” med Arnold Schwarzenegger og nektet å sitte til bords med Donald Trump. For første gang forteller hun hele sin historie – om reisen til toppen av moteverdenen og inn blant a-kjendisene i USA.

Mozarts Requiem i Asker og i Oslo
10/26/17 •
ASKER/OSLO/NORGE: Kringkastingsorkestret og Sølvguttene med Askers egne solister: Birgitte Christensen (sopran), Ingebjørg Kosmo (mezzosopran), Rolf Sostmann (tenor) og Øystein Skre (bass). Dirigent: Fredrik Otterstad. I Asker Kirke, Torsdag 26. oktober, kl. 19.00.
og i Uranienborg kirke, Fredag 27. oktober, kl. 19.00

Therese Ulvo med Oslo Philharmonien
10/25/17 •
OSLO/NORGE: I forbindelse med Norsk Komponistforenings 100-årsjubileum lanseres et storstilt talentprogram for unge komponister som skal gi Norge nye profilerte komponister med internasjonalt nedslagsfelt. Therese Ulvo komponerer for Oslo Philharmonien.