SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

The Royal Opera season 2009/10: A preview from Mark Berry (MB)


The Royal Opera offers nine new productions for the 2009/10 season. First of the mark will be Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Antonio Pappano and directed by Christof Loy, reaffirming a partnership first heard here in Pappano’s opening production as Music Director, that of Ariadne auf Naxos. A strong cast is headed by Ben Heppner, Matti Salminen, Nina Stemme, Michael Volle, and Sophie Koch. Russian repertoire receives a welcome double dose of attention with Tchaikovsky’s The Tsarina’s Slippers (conducted by Alexander Poliachenko and directed by Francesca Zambello) and Prokofiev’s The Gambler (conducted by Pappano and directed by Richard Jones, sung in English). The cast for the latter includes Roberto Saccà, Angela Denoke, and Sir John Tomlinson. Two Baroque operas will be staged: Thomas Arne’s Artaxerxes and Handel’s Tamerlano. Both feature orchestra’s other than the Royal Opera’s own, the former being a presentation in the Linbury Studio Theatre from the Classical Opera Company under Ian Page. Tamerlano will see Ivor Bolton conduct the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Plácido Domingo and Kurt Streit sharing the role of Bajazet in Graham Vick’s production, first seen in Madrid. Aida returns to Covent Garden, courtesy of David McVicar and Nicola Luisotti; Marcelo Álvarez will appear as Radames. Pappano will conduct Laurent Pelly’s new production of Massenet’s Manon, the cast including Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón.

Covent Garden will also witness one world premiere and one new production of an opera premiered as recently as 2006. The Linbury acts as host both to Eleanor Alberga’s Letters of a Love Betrayed, a chamber opera based upon Isabel Allende’s novel, and to Jonathan Dove’s The Enchanted Pig, originally seen at the Young Vic. John Fulljames will direct the latter. Letters of a Love Betrayed is the latest fruit of ROH2’s partnership with Music Theatre Wales; Michael Rafferty will conduct and Michael McCarthy direct, with Mary Plazas creating the role of Analía Torres.

Two works from the Italian repertoire will be heard prior to Tristan. Sir Mark Elder leads a concert performance of Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix. Semyon Bychkov, fresh from his recent triumph in the Royal Opera’s Lohengrin, conducts a revival of Nicholas Hytner’s production of Don Carlo. The cast includes Jonas Kaufmann, Simon Keenlyside, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Tomlinson once again. Zambello’s Carmen will receive two outings, in October and June. Bertrand de Billy leads the first cast, including Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, whilst a younger group of singers will make their respective Covent Garden debuts under a first-time Royal Opera conductor, Constantinos Carydis. The Pappano/Richard Jones partnership returns in a double-bill of Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and Puccini’s Gianni Schicci, with later performances conducted by Paul Wynne Griffiths. John Schlesinger’s popular staging of Der Rosenkavalier returns under the baton of Kirill Petrenko, and a cast including Sophie Koch, Soile Isokoski, Peter Rose, and Sir Thomas Allen. La Bohème is seen with two different casts around Christmas time, in John Copley’s 1974 production. Andris Nelsons, the highly acclaimed music director of the CBSO, may be heard in December, whilst January performances are shared between Maurizio Benini and Paul Wynne Griffiths.

The first month of the New Year will also witness works by Stravinsky and Mozart. Robert Lepage’s production of The Rake’s Progress returns, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, and with a cast headed by Toby Spence, Kate Royal, Kyle Ketelsen, and Stephanie Blythe. Jonathan Miller’s Così fan tutte, hitherto conducted by Sir Colin Davis, will be heard under the baton of the music director of the Lisbon Teatro Nacional de São Carlo, Julia Jones. Davis can, however, be heard later on in the season, for a revival of David McVicar’s production of Le nozze di Figaro. Erwin Schrott, Mariusz Kwiecien, Annette Dasch, Camilla Tilling, and Christine Schäfer star. David Syrus leads later performances, some with a partially different cast. Another favourite Covent Garden knighted conductor returns for the music of his beloved Janáček, Sir Charles Mackerras leading English-language performances of The Cunning Little Vixen, in Bill Bryden’s production. Rossini’s Il turco in Italia grants another opportunity to hear Benini conduct with both Allen and D’Arcangelo on stage, joined by Aleksandra Kurzak and Alessandro Corbelli. Yves Abel conducts Sir Richard Eyre’s production of La Traviata in both May and July. Angela Gheorgiu will be heard in the final run, whilst Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s fans should seek out the May performances. Juan Diego Floréz, Natalie Dessay, Felicity Palmer, Donald Maxwell, and Corbelli once again appear in Donizetti’s La fille du regiment. Pelly’s production is conducted by Bruno Campanella. Domingo’s legion of admirers will have the opportunity to hear him again, this time as a baritone, in Simon Boccanegra. Pappano conducts in a revival of Elijah Moshinsky’s production. Towards the end of the season, McVicar’s Salome returns, this time under the baton of Hartmut Haenchen. Angela Denoke, Johan Reuter, and Gerhard Siegel head a promising cast. Last but not least will be the Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Concert on a 17 July matinée.

Mark Berry


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