Ursula Pfitzner (Mrs. Peachum), Johanna Arrouas (Polly), Carsten Süss (Jonathan Peachum) ©) Barbara Pállfy / Volksoper Wien Volksoper’s stage consists of yellow, circular platforms, like giant toadstools; bundles of clothes are strewn in random piles. The imaginative stage design (Malina Rassfeld) hides Macheath’s sunken level gang HQ. That tune, Mack the Knife (Mackie Messer)- Mac’s swansong- is sung by a waif, be it girl or boy, in ragged top: a haunting link between the eight scenes, and a highlight. Volkoper’s chamber orchestra are outstanding, their brass and wind soloists both abrasive ..read more

Tomasz Konieczny as Cardillac © Michael Pöhn/Wiener Staatsoper Hindemith’s Cardillac is both crime thriller and opera. The central character Cardillac, a master goldsmith, can’t bear to be parted from his creations, and murders to repossess them. Paris is gripped by a series of mysterious murders. Even Cardillac’s own daughter is caught in the web, her loyalty conflicted when an officer buys her a chain, (and has to be killed.) Hindemith’s opera (libretto Ferdinand Lion) is about the problematic relationship beteween an artist and his creation. Once completed, sold, is it still his property ..read more

Lauren Urquhart (Clorinda), Timothy Fallon (Don Ramiro) © Barbara Pálffy/ Volksoper Wien Rossini’s is not ‘Cinderella’ as you know it. And whereas Vienna State Opera’s (ultra-modern) La Cenerentola takes place in a luxury car showroom- it’s all about bling- Volksoper’s is more ‘traditional’. Volksoper’s is a revival of Achim Freyer’s acclaimed 1997 production, and the sets and costumes (Maria-Elena Amos), 18th Century baroque, are magnificent. And, musically, Volksoper Orchestra, incisively conducted by Carlo Goldstein, sustain that rhythmic Rossini vitality with authentic precision. She’s l ..read more

Anna Netrebko (Mimi) © Michael Pöhn/Wiener Staatsoper The atypical artists’ garret in 19th century ‘Bohemian’ Paris. Marcello (George Petean) paints, Rodolfo, poet and writer (Saimir Pirgu’s resplendent tenor), has had to burn his manuscripts to light a fire. It’s pre-Christmas and freezing. Colline the philosopher, (Günther Groissböck), comes back, still broke, from the pawnshop- it’s closed; and only Schaunard (Martin Hässler, very dapper), loaded with food, has had more luck with a commission. In this opening scene, Puccini’s music explodes with youthful optimism and humour. These are stu ..read more

Annette Dasch (Dubarry), Harald Schmidt (Louis XV) © Barbara Pálffy/ Volksoper Wien Based on Carl Millöcker’s (1879) Viennese operetta, Die Dubarry charts the rise of Jeanne Beçu from ‘cleaning lady’ to mistress of Louis XV. Volksoper’s Jan Philipp Gloger’s updating asks what sacrifices she had to make to the top; Jeanne (Annette Dasch) chose between a romantic love affair with artist René, for the chance to be the King’s mistress. Theo Mackeben’s 1931 re-working of the operetta focuses on strong women’s roles; Dubarry makes her own way, and self-promotes her feminine charms. Gloger’s produc ..read more

Josè Maria lo Monaco (Zaida) © Michael Pöhn/ Wiener Staatsoper Monte-Carlo Opera (new director Cecilia Bartoli) are guests for ‘Rossini Mania’, a short season at Vienna State Opera. During the Overture to Il turco in Italia, with its subversive off-key horns- this is ‘Dramma buffo’- a group in eclectic modern dress are watching a black-and-white silent movie back of stage. (This is supposedly a ‘Roma’ camp outside Naples, in Jean-Louis Grinda’s production.) Rossini’s music is phenomenal- spritely, energetic, ever-accelerating, matching Felice Romani’s libretto. (Monte-Carlo’s) Prince of Mona ..read more

Victor Cagnin, Rainer Trost, Vienna State Ballet (c) Barbara Palffy/Vienna Volksoper ‘My brain is racing’ sings famous writer Gustav von Aschenbach (Rainer Trost). His room, consisting of a biedermeier writing desk and hat stand (in Vicki Mortimer’s immaculate period design sets and costumes) is claustrophobic. He repeats, Es rast mein Hirrn, (doing my head in), sung to wavering trumpets, harp and high-pitched flute, in Britten’s ever-inventive, but effective scoring. And Trost’s expressive tenor, and identification with this complex role successfully holds our attention for over three hours ..read more

Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Boris Godunov), Vitalij Kowaljov (Pimen) © Michael Pöhn/ Wiener Staatsoper Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov isn’t a celebration of Russian history under the Czars, rather a study of the abuse of power. Godunov had usurped the throne, and is plagued by his conscience, like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has hallucinations. Modest Mussorgsky’s score (completed 1869), based on Alexander Pushkin’s text, concentrates on the rise and fall of Czar Godunov. More than in Pushkin, the suffering Russian people are at the centre of the plot, but finally the intrigues of the powerful Boyars ..read more

Drew Sarich (Albin/Zaza), Victor Gernot (Georges) © Johannes Ifkovits/Volkoper Wien Georges (Victor Gernot) is the owner of La Cage aux Folles, an ‘underground’ drag club in 1970’s St. Tropez. Like Cabaret’s MC, the linkman, Gernot is the stand-up comedian, introducing ‘a few old friends with new folks’; celebrating their 15th review, and trumpeting the star Zaza (Drew Sarich.) He presents his ‘birds of paradise’, the Cagelles‘. They descend in floating spheres, in a feat of technical wizardry (and tacky costumes.) The drag artistes step out, as if from floating balloons. Then, to WE ARE WHA ..read more

Rebecca Nelsen as Violetta Valéry © Barbara Pálffy/ Volksoper Wien Vienna’s critics praised Vienna Volksoper’s (2008) Verdi’s La traviata: director Hans Gratzer’s beautiful neo-classical sets, under a milky-white haze, the stage backed by a white voile curtain, stage-floor black marble-effect. Most important, right-of-stage is Violetta’s (Rebecca Nelsen) bed/chaise-longue throughout the performance. It’s as if she’s looking back on her short life from her convalescent bed. Thus the misty white atmosphere is ghostly; there’s a mysterious spirit figure that keeps re-appearing until the end. Ci ..read more