The year ahead

Right… So… New year, new thrills, new experiences…

This year is going to be the year of much opera for me…

As well as the usual Live from The Met in HD opera at the cinema experiences, I am going to be seeing more opera live than ever before. 7 operas at the Sydney Opera House. A full ring cycle at The Met (!), in the theatre, rather than via cinema, as well as probably a couple of others while I am there…

Its going to be quite a year for me!!!

So, what am I looking forward to you ask? Well, apart from THE RING (more later), this year's operas at the Sydney Opera House for me are: Turandot, Marriage of Figaro, Die tote Stadt, Aida, Madama Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor and Salome. Of these, three I have sung in as chorus in the past, so I know them REALLY well. (Lucia, Butterfly & Aida) But, Die tote Stadt I have loved ever since I first saw it on SBS one afternoon, in one of their world opera series. It did not make a lot of sense, but since then, I have heard more of it, and am totally looking forward to drowning myself in Korngold's glorious music.

Turandot. What more can I say? It is Graeme Murphy's glorious production, with Rosario La Spina as Calaf and Susan Foster as the big T. I have seen this production on TV in the past, and it is visually gorgeous, but never in the theatre. And never with this cast either.

Lucia with the glorious Emma Matthews as Lucia. Quite frankly, I am not a big Lucia fan, but with Emma, it is very hard to go past. Truly there are very few singers who are as consistently as amazing as Emma. I have watched her from her early days in Perth (doing Yum Yum and various other smaller roles) through to her current stature as arguably our greatest currently working soprano. Tough call, yes, but she really is that good. While personally I prefer a larger voiced Lucia, her interpretation promises to be stunning and worth making the time to see…

And of course, Salome? Well, that is one of those operas that works much better on stage, than recorded. I do have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Richard Strauss. Most of the time he comes across to me as a less talented Wagner, then he floors you with a truly drop dead gorgeous couple of minutes, and you forgive him all the dross you sat through to get there. Yes, I know, it is sort of heresy, but that is exactly how I feel about him. I also recognise that seeing his works rather than just hearing them is also changing that for me…

And of course, Aida? Who can ignore Verdi at his bombastic best, demonstrating the challenges of the personal caught up in events affecting a country's future?

But of course, what I expect to be the real highlight of the year opera wise? Going to New York to The Met, to see Wagner's Ring Cycle, in their new production. If you have not seen any of the video of this production, do a search on youtube, or go to The Met's website to look. It is a visually shocking (in a good way) production, providing an effective way of staging the unstageable. And with Deb Voigt (who is possibly the best Brunnhilde around at the moment) and Bryn Terfel, along with the usual cast of hundreds, it promises to be an amazing experience. We will probably also get to see a couple of other things at the same time (Makropolous case and Billy Budd are on at The Met while we are there as well), as well as a Broadway show or 2…

So, roll on the 4th of February when we start this opera odyssey!!!