Simon Boccanegra (2)

Thursday May 25, 2006 - Muziektheater Amsterdam

Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

Andrzej Dobber - Simone Boccanegra
Roberto Scandiuzzi - Fiesco
Angela Marambio - Amelia
Roberto Covatta- Gabriele
Marco Vratogna - Paolo
Roberto Accurso - Pietro
Choir of the Dutch Opera
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra - Ingo Metzmacher (conductor)

A new, even better tenor and for the rest again a great performance. But they should fire the stage producer (Mussbach) fot the rest of his life.

Wednesday May 24, 2006 - Concertgebouw Amsterdam

Bach: Mass b minor 'Hohe Messe'

Joanne Lunn - soprano
Christina Landshamer - soprano
Robin Blaze - altus
Gerd Türk - tenor
Peter Kooij - bass
Bach Collegium Japan - Masaaki Suzuki (conductor)

A very good performance of this great work, which I heard almost 20 years ago for the first and last time live. Especially the two most wonderful parts of this work, the 'Et incarnatus est' and 'Crucifixus' were beautifully sung.

Simon Boccanegra

Monday May 15, 2006 - Muziektheater Amsterdam

Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

Andrzej Dobber - Simone Boccanegra
Roberto Scandiuzzi - Fiesco
Angela Marambio - Amelia
Alfredo Portilla - Gabriele
Marco Vratogna - Paolo
Roberto Accurso - Pietro
Choir of the Dutch Opera
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra - Ingo Metzmacher (conductor)

Besides the awful stage direction this was a great evening, by the suberb singing of Dobber, the conducting of Metzmacher and by that wonderful music of Verdi. Dobber has a powerful silver baritone with similarity of the voice of Mario Sereni you can hear on some old recordings. I look forward to my second visit!

Babi Jar

Friday May 12, 2006 - Concertgebouw Amsterdam

Mozart: Symphony nr. 29

Sjostakovitsj: Symphony nr. 13 'Babi Jar'

Sergei Leiferkus (bass)
Prague Philharmonic Choir
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Kurt Masur (conductor)

An impressive concert. The Babi Jar is a great symphony, which was played very good. The singing of Leiferkus was superb. Also good to hear Mozarts KV 201, the most classical symphony there is.

Maazel

Saturday May 6, 2006 - Concertgebouw Amsterdam

Wagner: The Ring without words

(arr. Maazel)

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Lorin Maazel (conductor)

Maazel is the most arrogant conductor I know, but some of his concerts were very good - especially when he conducts R. Strauss. Tonight he played his own arrangement of some orchestral parts from the Ring. It's always good to hear the Concertgebouw Orchestra play Wagner, but after the concert the conclusion of my concert friend and I was: they could better play three times the Ouverture Meisteringer before the break and three times Siegfrieds Trauermarsch after the break instead of this compilation...

Revenge (2)

Sunday April 30, 2006 - Muziektheater Amsterdam

R. Strauss: Elektra

Nadine Secunde - Elektra
Felicity Palmer - Klytämnestra
Gabriele Fontana - Chrysothemis
Donald Kaasch - Aegisth
Gerd Grochowski - Orest
Toonkunstchoir Amsterdam
Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra, Ingo Metzmacher (conductor)

Bought a ticket for a second visit to this great opera. A lot of opera's I try to visit two (or sometimes three) times.