# Royal Opera House 2015/2016



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

New season announced


----------



## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

The gangster double bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci for me. Two hits so to speak for the price of one.

I'll bring along some cannoli.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I'll probably see Boris Godunov, Lucia di Lammermoor, Nabucco (Platanias), Il trovatore (Lučić) and Tosca.

I also fancy seeing Oepide by Enescu, an opera I've never heard of.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Loge said:


> The gangster double bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci for me. Two hits so to speak for the price of one.


Is it necessary to always pare Cavalleria rusticana with Pagliacci?
There are other short Italian operas from the same era.


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Thank you, I will be walking past the ROH Sat PM and will look for a Friends Application Form. During my daughters teenage years, now safely past, we reduced our Opera going to such an extent it wasn't worth being a friend any more. Still I am torn by my desire to support ENO, who over the years have hit just as many highs for me with stronger productions to contrast with starrier casts.. I will become a friend to one this summer and sign up to start attending more often once again. At heart though I don't think I'm a Canary fancier.


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I hope to catch one or two, from Tannhauser, Boris, Trittico, Trovatore, but I'm won't be going out of my way for any of them. Hopefully there will be some coinciding of dates between forum members.


----------



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

A few new opera premieres make me very excited, particularly the Haas one.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I just hope the productions are better than the daft nonsense I saw from ROH last season.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

DavidA said:


> I just hope the productions are better than the daft nonsense I saw from ROH last season.


Quote from a review of Oedipe which was first shown at La Monnaie

" ... And it really takes off when the sphinx (Marie-Nicole Lemieux in a show-stealing performance as a tortured Janis Joplin rock star) rises from the eerie cockpit of a vintage fighter plane."


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Promming at ROH

I did a Health & Safety course today. This make me a student. Right?


----------



## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

First impression: The lack of the big names... 

Interesting to me:
Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci: It's about time I'm seing those live
Il trittico
Boris Godunov (Forum activity??)
Lucia di Lammermoor
Il trovatore (Forum activity??)

Downsides:
-Placido... you are my hero but please stop singing
-I had hoped for a Cosi, in stead Figaro, not so thrilled about the cast
-Traviata is on every year ?
-Gardiner returning (which is good)... but with Gluck, not my first choice
-No Calleja...

Interesting new singer would be Nicole Car: Apparantly Pappano booked her for Tatyana the minute he heard her... He has high hopes for her.


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Looks like the same production she did in Australia, so I guess that saved Pappano some auditions and rehearsals! It's one of my favourite operas, so I'm quite tempted. Generally I prefer it to La Traviata.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Dongiovanni said:


> First impression: The lack of the big names...


Indeed. No Netrebko, Garanca, Calleja, Alagna.



Dongiovanni said:


> Interesting to me:
> Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci: It's about time I'm seing those live
> Il trittico
> Boris Godunov *(Forum activity??)*
> ...


Too early to commit just yet



Dongiovanni said:


> Downsides:
> -Placido... you are my hero but please stop singing
> -I had hoped for a Cosi, in stead Figaro, not so thrilled about the cast
> -Traviata is on every year ?
> ...


I'm fed up with the endless Traviatas and Toscas with double casts.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Dongiovanni said:


> -Placido... you are my hero but please stop singing


Typo/Freudian slip in the comments?

" ... John responded on 16 April 2015 at 4:02pm
It's the returning casts that really bother me about these revivals. Okay, the house needs Traviata, Tosca, Carmen etc to balance the books but why do we need to keep on hearing singers in the same roles? I would have attended the revival of Il Trittico, for example, but with that casting I might as well just watch the dvd at home. The same goes for Nabucco - you've just released the dvd so would it not have been good to feature a mid career baritone rather than *the flailing Domingo*?"


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Yeah, _flailing_ is ridiculous. I'm a little angry about this. Domingo is one of the opera greats.

I understand both sides of the Traviata discussion, but does ANY opera performance at CG pay its way? I think Holten's point about programming opera favourites for newcomers is more valid. But these should be properly researched - i.e. eight opera that newcomers will love - and then these should be rotated.

It's good to see Kasper Holten responding directly to questions. Sometimes the response are obvious answers to regular gripes (more Traviatas!), sometimes with good information.


----------



## Camillorf (Jul 18, 2014)

I'm looking forward to Lucia with Damrau and Tezier, but why isn't Calleja playing Edgardo like in the recent Erato release?


----------



## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I don't think it is the best of seasons. The double castings of various operas makes me think plans for certain new productions may have been put back. Boris, The Il Trittico revival with probably the best Puccini conductor in the world at the moment, Tannhauser and Il Tovatore are the ones for me to look forward to most.


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

How much longer is Pappano there? Tensions?

"Big egos find this hard to accept, as was graphically suggested earlier this week at another press conference when the Royal Opera's music director, Sir Antonio Pappano, publicly slapped down his chief executive, Alex Beard, with staggering rudeness - "I'm the music director, and don't you forget it. And I'm a Sir," he snarled, after Beard quietly and politely asked him to bring his inconsiderately protracted speech about his new season to a conclusion."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...al-theatre-tessa-ross-rufus-norris-clash.html


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> How much longer is Pappano there? Tensions?
> 
> "Big egos find this hard to accept, as was graphically suggested earlier this week at another press conference when the Royal Opera's music director, Sir Antonio Pappano, publicly slapped down his chief executive, Alex Beard, with staggering rudeness - "I'm the music director, and don't you forget it. And I'm a Sir," he snarled, after Beard quietly and politely asked him to bring his inconsiderately protracted speech about his new season to a conclusion."
> 
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...al-theatre-tessa-ross-rufus-norris-clash.html


Wow! I have first hand experience of Pappano's rudeness so this doesn't surprise me.


----------



## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I think that only doing two new productions and one revival may suggest Pappano may step down when his contract expires in 2017. It's a lot less than he usually does.

Semyon Bychkov or Nicola Luisotti would be my tips to take over.


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

ENO have also released theirs.

Reviewed:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...tional-Opera-has-betrayed-British-talent.html

Hard to break a downward spiral.


----------



## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Belowpar said:


> ENO have also released theirs.
> 
> Reviewed:
> 
> ...


The Tristan and Isolde looks very interesting. Their Tristan, Stuart Skelton is playing opposite Nina Stemme at the Met next year, in that role. And I heard Heidi Melton sing Elizabeth in Tannhauser at the Proms a few years back, she has a wonderful powerful voice. Edward Gardner who did a fantastic job on Mastersinger is conducting.

The tickets on the balcony have been reduced to 20 quid, might go to a few shows, might even take in Phillip Glass's Akenaten.

Update:

Patricia Racette of the Met Opera fame is singing in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. A little bit of American star power at the ENO, interesting..


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I believe a lot of ENO's issues could be solved by not slavishly following this outdated concept of always singing in English; and I say that as someone who generally supports translated operas. But I don't support dogma and intransigence. It seems that the argument is going to rumble on about the lack of UK talent being used, although it's not a new thing that international singers have been given roles at ENO.

I'll certainly be checking out the Tristan and possibly Lady Macbeth (I remember the excellent early 90's production). I won't be going out of my way for anything else. If I do anything, it's to see operas I haven't seen before, and I've seen all these. Looks like a low key season ahead at ENO.


----------



## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Alexander said:


> I believe a lot of ENO's issues could be solved by not slavishly following this outdated concept of always singing in English; and I say that as someone who generally supports translated operas. But I don't support dogma and intransigence. It seems that the argument is going to rumble on about the lack of UK talent being used, although it's not a new thing that international singers have been given roles at ENO.
> 
> .


The problem with the ENO is their marketing. They have reduced their balcony prices to 20 quid. Now at 20 quid they should easily be able to pull in shop girls and shop boys. In the West End there are thousand of them. Hell, going to the ENO is cheaper then a boozy night out. And it will end before your train goes home.

Girls in their 20s will love opera, great female characters , manly men characters. At 20 quid a time they could convince their boyfriends to buy a ticket. If not go with groups of office chicks.

Now the problem is, how to market the shows to them!


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Loge said:


> The problem with the ENO is their marketing. They have reduced their balcony prices to 20 quid. Now at 20 quid they should easily be able to pull in shop girls and shop boys. In the West End there are thousand of them. Hell, going to the ENO is cheaper then a boozy night out. And it will end before your train goes home.
> Girls in their 20s will love opera, great female characters , manly men characters. At 20 quid a time they could convince their boyfriends to buy a ticket. If not go with groups of office chicks.
> Now the problem is, how to market the shows to them!


I'm still not sure if you're being ironic. Don't they already have offers for people in their 20's - £10 a ticket?


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Loge said:


> The problem with the ENO is their marketing. They have reduced their balcony prices to 20 quid. Now at 20 quid they should easily be able to pull in shop girls and shop boys. In the West End there are thousand of them. Hell, going to the ENO is cheaper then a boozy night out. And it will end before your train goes home.
> 
> Girls in their 20s will love opera, great female characters , manly men characters. At 20 quid a time they could convince their boyfriends to buy a ticket. If not go with groups of office chicks.
> 
> Now the problem is, how to market the shows to them!


It has struck me that we are going to see the Met broadcast this Saturday, at a London cinema, and it's sold out.

Price £25 per ticket.


----------

