By ANDREW POWELL Published: June 16, 2017 MUNICH — Today Berlin got as close to Munich as Vienna already is: four hours by rail. Deutsche Bahn test-trains for the first time ran the recently completed high-speed track between the two German cities, 400 miles apart, and the company promised passenger service starting Dec. 10, the […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: June 16, 2017 MUNICH — An odd thing happened during the curtain calls last evening after a taut, riveting Rusalka here at Bavarian State Opera. The orchestra players made various signs of approval for the cast members’ work, as is customary, and then essentially none for the conductor (and leading lady’s […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: May 17, 2017 MUNICH — President Trump will next Friday (May 26) attend his first orchestra concert since taking office. Scheduled for 7 p.m. al fresco at the Teatro Antico in Taormina, Sicily, the program consists of Italian opera overtures and intermezzos: Puccini – Madama Butterfly: Act III Sunrise Rossini – […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: May 16, 2017 MUNICH — Nikolaus Bachler’s Bavarian State Opera has been having its idea of fun with the taxpayer money it receives. In connection with a new Tannhäuser, due May 21, it commissioned for its quarterly Max Joseph magazine a discussion of Wagner’s bacchanale of distant bathing naiads and sedate […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: May 2, 2017 MUNICH — Like the miracle of compound interest, Bavarian State Opera’s pricing can chart smartly upwards when you’re not watching. The company sells using an astounding total of 128 price points — the product of eight price categories for its National Theater home and sixteen sliding scales. Things […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: April 30, 2017 FERRARA — Lanky Teodor Currentzis looms over his MusicAeterna players the way Basil Fawlty loomed over Manuel, and with comparable gestures. It is anyone’s guess how their 13-year relationship has survived, what with labor conditions in Russia, the quirks of period-instrument practice, their joint move from Novosibirsk (in […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: March 13, 2017 MUNICH — Bavaria’s Culture Ministry declined to comment last week on the handicapping of online ticket buyers by Bavarian State Opera, one of the entities it supervises. In theory the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Culture, Science and Art, to give it its full name, supports culture […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: March 13, 2017 MUNICH — Philipp Stölzl’s new and relatively sane production of Andrea Chénier will be video-streamed Saturday by Bavarian State Opera as part of a regular free service. — when: 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT), March 18, 2017 — where: https://www.staatsoper.de/tv.html Omer Meir Wellber brings his inimitable visceral […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: March 7, 2017 MUNICH — Without citing an error, Bavarian State Opera claimed last month that the report here about its handicapping of online ticket buyers contains “false statements” but at the same time said it would “leave it as it is.” The report, based on research by people using two […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: February 22, 2017 MUNICH — Bavarian State Opera had a delicate problem. It was selling too many tickets online, more with each passing season. Its system, powered by CTS Eventim, was so robust and so fast that little was left to sell via phone or in person minutes after the 10 […]
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