Conductor Lottery

Fabio Luisi hurried to the Met's rescue after James Levine's accident where he now resides as principal conductor. This has left the Vienna Symphonics more or less without such. (Officially Luisi is keeping this position until 2012/13. One doesn't envy him for this commute.) Was it Luisi's new calling that gave momentum to the search for a new face to hand the baton over to? Be that as it may, this week the Symphonics announced that their new face will be 36-year-old Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan. He will start this job with the season 2014/15 which leaves the Symphonics without a music director for a year. He will also remain principal conductor of the Opéra National de Paris. A comparably tolerable commute, one may add.

 © www.philippe-jordan.com

Vienna's New Violetta

The Vienna State Opera is getting ready for their first premiere of the season. After approximately 300 performances of the perhaps a little dusty but still functioning production of "La Traviata" by director Otto Schenk they're throwing out the chaiselongue and bringing in an all new, (almost) all French and all modern production by Jean-François Sivadier as seen earlier this year at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

© http://www.festival-aix.com

One may argue that vocally this might not be the best fit for Natalie Dessay but everyone who has seen this woman act before must simply be looking forward to being introduced to her Violetta.


One may also argue that a modern production that has obviously been created around the energetic and creative person of Dessay, the actress-singer, might not work as well with park-and-bark-approaches by other singers who will take on this role in the future. It is also to be seen how the production will do without long rehearsal periods where - as experienced in the past with long standing productions at this house - little details are lost and the functionality of a production is proved...or not.

On October 9th we will try to imagine how this new Traviata production might last for another 300 shows.

© http://www.festival-aix.com

Summertime - and the living is easy?

Here, I think, DuBose Heyward was partly wrong. Life is not all that easy as an opera lover since you are deprived of your everyday dose of culture during the summer. The doors of the beloved houses that provide music on the highest level stay closed (whatever happens in there during those months will remain a mystery - secret techno clubbings are my guess) and one has to come up with alternative ideas of indulging in the arts.

One of the few reasons why one should be happy to be living in a country like Austria is that one is offered a few alternatives in this regard. In the next months I shall share my explorations of these alternatives.

Film Festival in front of Vienna's city hall

My favorite alternative to bypass cultural summer dullness is the Film Festival am Wiener Rathausplatz as it can be attended spontaneously and without burdening your budget. Here opera, concert and ballet performances (mixed with a little pop culture here and there) are shown every night from July until September. The presenters make sure not to forget the big names of opera. Hence, you can spend 3 hours of your warm summer evenings with Juan Diego Flórez, Anna Netrebko or Jonas Kaufmann - without paying extortionate entrance fees. You're in for a treat on September 3 when they'll broadcast a Simone Boccanegra live from the Wiener Staatsoper with the likes of Plácido Domingo, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Barbara Frittoli.

How often have you wished to have an alcoholic beverage handy during a performance? This is the chance for you! For lovers of food and drinks this film festival will make your heart beat faster as you will be able to see a world class performance whilst enjoying half a liter of wine cooler (or more) and food from one of the numerous food stands. And for the nostalgics amongst you who miss the shushers from your local opera house for the more authentic opera experience you will most certainly find some of them here as well trying to establish quiet in a public place like this.