Opera Chic

Guth Vibrations: Così From Salzburg

A hard-to-please friend txt'd earlier today from Salzburg re: the premiere of the new Cosi Fan Tutte (earlier on OC) last night in Salzburg: "Best Cosi ever- seriously".

Apparently Guth rocked, Leonard too, Petibon did very well, Persson too, and the guys rawked, except Skovhus, but then he never does. Adam Fischer led a lightning-fast reading of the score, flaunting his Wiener.

Claus Guth's final installment in his Mozart-DaPonte trilogy for Salzburg, this time, blessedly, without Niki Harnoncourt in the pit and without heroin on stage, seems to be an elegant, unsettling take on the opera -- with iPods.

It was broadcast live on Austrian TV (a true sign of civilization), and Opera Chic will enjoy a nicely burned Region 0 DVD of it over the weekend, and you probably won't, but she'll report back. In the meantime, YouTube has some bits and pieces in the usual sorry YouTube lofi way.

Così Fan Guth: A Cast So Hawt You Will Express Your Joy

French soprano Patricia Petibon is caught in the passion over a smoking Cosi' fan Tutte cast. The new Claus Guth production opens on July 30 for the Salzburg Festival. 

Miah Persson is Fiordiligi, Isabel Leonard (who looks so happy because she bagged Teddy Tahu Rhodes and you haven't) is Dorabella and Patricia Petibon is Despina. Rounding out the males is Topi Lehtipuu as Ferrando, Florian Boesch as Guglielmo, and Bo Skovhus as Don Alfonso. 

 

(Above & below: Miah Persson and Isabel Leonard)

 

You've seen the girls...now click the link below for the man candy!

Hallelujah

Opera Chic will post something naughty regarding Claus Guth in a short while: then, our more pious readers might as well pre-emptively enjoy some Christian redemption with Guth's stunning production of Haendel's Messiah from earlier this year.

Claus Guth's "Meistersinger" @ Liceu

Essential Liceu blogger GTL Torn T has nice things to say about Claus Guth's staging (via Dresden) of "Meistersinger" in Barcelona, Sebastian Weigle conductor -- complete info here in a .pdf file.

Last Exit To Salzburg: Claus Guth Injects New Ideas In Don Giovanni, Trims Erwin Schrott's Chest Hair

Claus Guth, that gloomy, silly man, did it again: after his Mozart/ Da Ponte Strindberg Nozze di Figaro two summers ago in Salzburg, all desaturated colors, rotting moldy walls, and flower-busting peasant girls in "Ricevete, O Padroncina", here's his Don Giovanni, that opened last night in Salzburg, with fast food gadgets and intravenous substances and general douchebaggery. Netrebko bebbedadde Erwin Schrott (above left; below) is a needle-crazed Leporello with seriously trimmed chest hair

Let's hear it from Claus himself:

What is modern about this opera about a ladykiller from the 18^th century?
I see this piece as a study of man’s fear of death. What is enjoyment, what is panic, how much can we arrange ourselves in life, protect ourselves from danger, etc – those are the questions that interest me. When and where such questions are set is totally unimportant for such fundamental topics.

The good news is, this time Niki Harnoncourt is not conducting.

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