A resilient Montserrat Caballé, still singing into her 80s, has been forced to cancel upcoming concerts in April and May after breaking an arm. She had dates in Austria, Switzerland and Germany, including Vienna’s Konzerthaus, which announced that she would need to continue physiotherapy until the end of May. Last October Caballé, then a sprightly 79, suffered a stroke while […]
Vienna
Boris Bilinsky: costume and set designer for ballet, opera and film and legendary graphic artist
Boris Bilinsky was born in Odessa in 1900, but left Russia in 1920, escaping from the aftermath of the Revolution. He settled in Berlin where he was still able to collaborate with Russian theatres, but in 1923 he moved to Paris and worked with the Studio Albatros, a production company in Montreuil. Albatros had only been set up […]
La Famiglia: opera Italian-style with the Muti family
Riccardo Muti’s daughter is about to make her directing début: Chiara Muti will direct Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna, which her father will conduct, for the Ravenna Festival. Oh yes, her mother, Cristina Mazzavillani is the Festival’s artistic director. Nice and cozy… keep it in the family. Chiara Muti isn’t new to the theatre. She emerged from […]
Cecilia Bartoli finds a last-minute replacement for Anna Netrebko in Salzburg
Cleopatra is the theme of Cecilia Bartoli’s first season as Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, but one of her Cleopatras has fallen ill. Anna Netrebko, who was due to sing the première of “Cleopatra and the Serpent” by Rodion Shchedrin, as part of the concert “Cleopatra orientale” on 28 May is sick, and will be replaced […]
Vienna Opera and La Scala exchange goes ahead tomorrow
A much-anticipated exchange between the Vienna Opera and Milan’s Teatro alla Scala will go ahead despite earlier fears it might be cancelled because of a strike. Two unions at the Milan opera house – Cgil and Uil – had threatened to strike tomorrow, because of proposed changes to staff contracts announced earlier this year, thereby cancelling the […]
Manuel Legris’ Nureyev tribute ends the Vienna Ballet season
A tribute to Rudolf Nureyev topped off a hit season for Manuel Legris’s Vienna Ballet with the former French star providing two of the highlights. The Nureyev Gala, due to become an annual event, marked the end of Legris’s first season as director of the Vienna ensemble, which has seen a renaissance on his watch. The dancer […]
Homage to Stravinsky with an addio to a transgender ballerina in Verona
The Verona Arena Ballet commissioned a Stravinsky evening from local-boy Renato Zanella, best known for his work in Stuttgart and Vienna. He chose Apollon Musagète and The Firebird – brave considering that the stage pictures and choreographic shapes are burned into every ballet-lover’s memory. In fact it was impossible to remove George Balanchine’s choreographic genius from the mind […]