Gentle Readers, I thank you for your forbearance during a summer of irregular and infrequent blogging. I have been rusticated for the past months, far (alas) from live opera. Withdrawal symptoms have definitely set in. But now, the end of this hiatus is in sight! Zerbinetta over at Likely Impossibilities has a handy summary of what there is to look forward to at the Met. I, meanwhile, will be in Europe! Not only will I be in Europe, I will be in Germany, land of delicious bread, of infinite Wurst, and of lots and lots of opera! I'm feeling very, very fortunate to have my work take me to a country with over fifty opera houses, and looking forward to getting to see new singers, new houses, and new productions.
My operatic home base, so to speak, will be the Oper Frankfurt. I'm already excited about this; it was in Frankfurt in 2007 that I saw Simon Boccanegra in a Christof Loy production, with Zeljko Lucic in the title role. I loved it, cried when Simon drank the water, and was astonished to learn after the fact that it was supposedly a "difficult" opera. This September, I'm hoping to see the new production of Les vêpres siciliennes:
Also this autumn, Oper Frankfurt will be doing Rusalka, which I've (Really Shameful Confession) never seen; Idomeneo, which I've never seen; and Ariadne auf Naxos, which I can never see too often. Nearby Mainz will be doing Boito's unjustly-neglected Mefistofele. So, as in New York, the only limits on my opera-going will be imposed by financial strictures and by my need to get serious academic work done. Winter brings Tannhäuser... and all this is just at the nearest big company! I am experiencing an acute case of what the wonderful German language calls die Qual der Wahl--the torture of choice. I could go to Paris or Amsterdam or Brussels or Berlin in half a day; or to Vienna or Milan in a day. This makes prioritizing a challenge. I already have an all-star Dresden Elektra on my wish list, along with a Johannespassion staged by Peter Sellars. I've entered the ticket lottery for the Kusej-directed Forza in Munich. And I would ask of you, Gentle Readers, to give me your recommendations for what to add to my opera calendar for the season ahead.
