Turandot with a twist

Hiroshi Wakasugi’s production of Puccini’s Turandot for Tokyo’s New National Theater tries to deal with many complex issues involving the opera - its incompleteness, its possible inspiration in Puccini’s private life and, most of all, preconceived notions of Asian turning around the idea of Orientalism. The clever if contrived solution is the magic trick named [...]

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Wrong direction

When I read that Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was being staged with a Japanese cast at the Bunkamura’s Theatre Cocoon, I thought it would be a valuable opportunity to see the way Japanese artists deal not only with Western theatre, but also in a play that still keeps its freshness in a society in which [...]

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My own private Bach pilgrimage

When the first CD of the Bach cantata series from the Bach Collegium Japan was released, I was immediately convinced by the project - Classic CD magazine offered two tracks from Actus Tragicus that I found simply otherworldly. Having bought the CD, I found not only all the performances praiseworthy, but also the explanations about [...]

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The sunny side of the Vienna Philharmonic

Birgit Nilsson used to refer to Turandot as her “party role”, an opportunity to “relax”  from the enormous lenghts, psychological complexity and difficult harmonies of her signature Wagnerian and Straussian repertoire while still being able to dazzle the audience with her legendary vocal riches. When trying to produce an in-a-nutshell concept for the concert offered [...]

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Something even Fafner would envy

I had already given up my CD-buying in Tokyo. To tell the truth, the fact that that Tower Records - Shibuya branch stays open until 11:00 PM has made me buy way too many CDs I don’t really need was the reason for that, but then I had to go to Akihabara and decided to [...]

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Blessed by the ghost of Karajan

I might be mistaken, but the Suntory Hall in Tokyo has been designed to the approval of Herbert von Karajan - the plaza in front of its entrance is accordingly called Karajan Platz. When you hear the first chord of any piece of music played by an orchestra in this auditorium, you cannot resist thinking of [...]

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Live in black and white

Who among opera buffs have not seen the old videos from the NHK Hall with Japanese subtitles and Mario del Monaco, Giulietta Simionato et al indulging in a plethora of stock gestures surrounded by merely functional sets? I have certainly seen my share of such black and white movies, but never thought I would see one of them [...]

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Finding my way in Tokyo

Finding your way in Tokyo is not easy - addresses are hard to make out, you have to make a thorough research of the kanji in the area map before you venture out in the spot and asking around might be an adventure if you have microscopic knowledge of Japanese language such as I have. [...]

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New York, Rio, Tokyo

Not in this order and I should include Salvador in the list - but that was more or less my week. My final destination (from where I am writing) is Tokyo, where I’ll be staying for a while. Naturally, I have some good tickets for concerts etc  - and I’ll let you know. In any [...]

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Louis Langrée

The fact that I was not in the mood for R. Strauss’ s Metamorphosen made me foresee 26 minutes of absent-mindness. I have to confess: I find Metamorphosen a difficult piece. Its steady process of emotional concentration on a restricted thematic palette can strike one as a bit repetitive if you’re not in the mood [...]

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