Which Handel's Alcina?

[fantasia2000]

Hi All - I'm new here, so please be kind 

I'm a man on a mission, to catch as many Handel's opera productions as I can. I recently watched the Met production of "Giulio Cesare", and it was the greatest opera experience in my life! (I'm aware that it was the same production as the Glyndebourne, but nothing beat watching it live, imo).

I found out that in February next year, both Zurich Opera and Paris Opera will do Alcina. Here are the details of each performance:


George Frideric Handel  :  Alcina
25, 27, 30 Jan 2014; 2, 5, 7, 9, 12 Feb 2014   
Paris, Palais Garnier
Les Talens Lyriques
Conductor   Christophe Rousset
Producer   Robert Carsen
Sets, Costumes   Tobias Hoheisel
Lighting   Jean Kalman
Choreographer   Philippe Giraudeau
Alcina    Myrtò Papatanasiu
Ruggiero    Anna Goryachova
Morgana    Sandrine Piau
Bradamante    Patricia Bardon
Oronte    Cyrille Dubois
Melisso    Michal Partyka


George Frideric Handel  :  Alcina
[NP] 26, 31 Jan 2014; 2, 5, 7, 9, 16m, 22, 25 Feb 2014   
Zürich, Opernhaus
Orchestra La Scintilla
Conductor   Giovanni Antonini
Producer   Christof Loy
Sets   Johannes Leiacker
Costumes   Ursula Renzenbrink
Lighting   Bernd Purkrabek
Choreographer   Thomas Wilhelm
Alcina    Cecilia Bartoli / Agneta Eichenholz
Ruggiero    Malena Ernman
Morgana    Julie Fuchs
Bradamante    Varduhi Abrahamyan
Oronte    Fabio Trümpy
Melisso    Erik Anstine
Cupido    Silvia Fenz


My question is, which one would you recommend to go?

I have done some researching over those two productions, and both have pros and cons.
1) The Paris performance will be conducted by Christophe Rousset that I like. I also like Sandrine Piau and Patricia Bardon (from the Met Giulio Cesare). However, I have reservation over Robert Carsen production. Yes, I think it's the same production that William Christie did with Natalie Dessay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnb3m90nl-E), but I read bad reviews for subsequent performance without the star-power of Natalie Dessay. It looked pretty modern interpretation, complete with full-nudity, etc. I also never heard of Papatanasiu, and further research seemed to indicate that this could have been her first Handel performance. Also, the surtitle will be only in French, so I will need to familiarize with the english translation of the libretto beforehand.
2) The Zurich performance features the star power of Mdm Bartoli as Alcina. However, I'm not familiar with the conductor or the rest of the cast. The production is by Christoph Loy, which staged this at Bavarian State Opera in 2005 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4pgAecD5_c). From that video, the production looks like a beautiful one. In addition, Operabase mentions that the surtitles will be in German and English (can anybody confirm this for Zurich Opera? Thanks!)

Has anyone seen either or both productions before? It'll be an expensive trip for me, so I want to make sure that I enjoy the production. Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[Guido]

Having not seen either cast or production, I can't give specific advice, but can say that Carsen's stagings tend to be very beautiful and intelligent. Also be aware that Cecilia Bartoli has a very small voice these days - much smaller than recordings suggest - and I'm not sure that she'll really fill the Zurich opera house. Of course she's an interesting artist, and the sound might be fine in the stalls.

Why not go to both?!

[The new erato]

It's Paris vs Zurich .....say no more. I mean; it's not all about the opera production. 

[Geo Dude]

Why not go to both?!

Based on his location the travel costs might get just a tad expensive.

[fantasia2000]

Thanks for all who responded. Yeah, it's pretty expensive to see both.

I think I will most probably choose to see it in Paris, as I just found out that on February 10th, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées will do Handel's Theodora as concert opera, with pretty outstanding cast:

Harry Bicket direction
Rosemary Joshua Theodora
Sarah Connolly Irene
Andrew Kennedy Septimius
Tim Mead Didymus
Neal Davies Valens
The English Concert
Choir of Trinity Wall Street

So I think this will be the best bang for my bucks.

This will also be my first concert opera, so I think it'll be an interesting experience for me. Let's just hope I won't fall asleep!!

Thanks again,

Mike

[Geo Dude]

I have a recording of Bach's Motets by the Trinity Wall Street Choir and it is quite impressive.  Glad to see that they're getting some recognition and being invited to an international gig like that.

By the way, since I didn't offer any help earlier let me say that I admire your dedication in traveling to Europe for an opera.  Between flight costs, lodging and ticket prices I imagine that will add up.  I do hope you will report back to us after the performance to give us your thoughts on it!

[fantasia2000]

By the way, since I didn't offer any help earlier let me say that I admire your dedication in traveling to Europe for an opera.  Between flight costs, lodging and ticket prices I imagine that will add up.  I do hope you will report back to us after the performance to give us your thoughts on it!

Geo Dude, it's gonna be expensive indeed. That's why I was looking for the most bang for the buck, so to speak. Right now, it seems like it's going to four nights, four operas trip. Starting with world premiere of "Brokeback Mountain" in Teatro Real on 2/7, "La Sonnambula" with Diana Damrau and JDF in Liceu on 2/8, "Alcina" in Paris on 2/9 and "Theodora" in Theatre Champs-Elysees on 2/10.  I will report back when I indeed make the trip. 

[nico1616]

I would certainly prefer Paris. I have seen many productions of Carsen, even some Handel, and they were always intelligent and very beautiful.
Has Loy done much Handel? I have seen some Mozart directed by him, it was not remarkable.

The names I recognize in the cast are Piau and Bardon in Paris, great vocal actresses, Ernman (who did good performances in Agrippina) and of course Bartoli. Bartoli has indeed a very small voice and her vocal overacting always gets on my nerves.

Rousset and his orchestra are another plus for Paris, he once conducted the best Tamerlano I have ever heard.

[fantasia2000]

Thanks nico1616! I decided on the Paris as well. Still considering whether or not to extend the trip to include Robert Carsen-directed, William Christie-conducted, Rameau's "Platee" the following week at Vienna. I'm not much familiar with Rameau's oeuvre, so I'm not sure whether this is great introduction to Rameau. But definitely it seems like going to be spectacular, at least on paper.

[Wendell_E]

Still considering whether or not to extend the trip to include Robert Carsen-directed, William Christie-conducted, Rameau's "Platee" the following week at Vienna.

I say "go for it!"  The DVD of Platée (a different production, by Laurent Pelly, conducted by Minkowski) is delightful, and I almost always like Carsen and Chiristie's work.

[fantasia2000]

I say "go for it!"  The DVD of Platée (a different production, by Laurent Pelly, conducted by Minkowski) is delightful, and I almost always like Carsen and Chiristie's work.

Cool thanks for the recommendation.

I was in Boston last night to see the final performance of Handel's first opera, Almira, as part of Boston Early Music Festival. It was such an amazing experience. Pretty much everything was done right. The staging, although focusing a bit on the slapstick side, was inspired and wonderful. Painted cardboard background changed almost every single scene to emphasize the drama unfolded in front of it. The costume was traditional and fabulous. During the lecture it was mentioned that the staging/costume reimagined 16th century Spain through the eyes of 17th century German.

Above of all, it was a night of highest order music-making. The orchestra in period instruments was exciting, energetic and definitely colorful. I'm not familiar with the score, but the orchestra was large, with extensive brass and percussion sections. The singing was absolutely wonderful, with not a single weak casts. I'm not familiar with any of the names, but I think I will be in the future. Of particular note is Amanda Forsythe as Edilia, which I think receives the loudest cheer of the night. The voices blended well and the whole cast worked brilliantly as a team.

Another point to note was the lovely dancers throughout the operas, well-choreographed to a perfection. Surprisingly to me, this opera resembled French Baroque operas more than other Handel's mature operas, with dances attached to many occasions throughout the operas.

It was a long afternoon, 4 hours in total with an intermission and a five-minutes break, but time flies pretty quickly. It's great to hear bits and pieces of what would be other Handel's tunes in this opera; most noticeably, the tune of "Lascia ch'io piangia" in the dance section of Act 3.

This performance should be a nice reminder to all opera directors that staging opera traditionally doesn't mean to be boring and outdated. In fact, it'll bring out the best of the lyrics and music, and subsequently, enable the audience to "get" the opera better. I didn't even read the program at all; I didn't need to - the combination of music, lyrics and staging explained it all clearly to me.

I'm glad I made the trip - trans-con flights and all. If you can, I strongly suggest you to make the trip to Great Barrington, MA to catch the final 3 performances of this first full-staging of "Almira" in US. I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed!!