xn--vrossignol-b7a: München

Tampilkan postingan dengan label München. Tampilkan semua postingan

Minggu, 15 Mei 2011

L'Elisir d'amore, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 11. May 2011

L'ELISIR D'AMORE | Gaetano Donizetti

Bayerische Staatsoper 11. May 2011 | 19:00-21:45 | 1

Marco Armiliato | Dirigent

David Bösch | Inszenierung

Patrick Bannwart | Bühnenbild

Falko Herold | Kostüme

Michael Bauer | Licht

Rainer Karlitschek | Producktionsdramaturgie

Johannes Haider | Chöre

Anna Netrebko | Adina

Matthew Polenzani | Nemorino

Fabio Maria Capitanucci | Belcore

Alessandro Corbelli | Dulcamara

Tara Erraught | Giannetta

Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

CHARACTERS

Adina: ricca e capricciosa fittaiuola (soprano)
Nemorino: coltivatore; giovine semplice, innamorato di Adina (tenore)
Belcore: sergente di guarnigione nel villaggio (baritono)
Il Dottore Dulcamara: medico ambulante (basso comico)
Giannetta: villanella (soprano)
Cori e comparse di villani e villanelle, soldati e suonatori del reggimento, un notaio, due servitori, un moro.

SYNOPSIS

Synopsis

LIBRETTO

Libretto: Atto 1, Atto 2

HIGHLIGHTS

Act 1 - "Benedette queste carte!...Della crudele Isotta" (Anna Netrebko, Tara Erraugh, Matthew Polenzani, Chorus)
Act 1 - "Caro elisir! sei mio!" (Matthew Polenzani)
Act 1 - "Lallarallara... Esulti pur la barbara" (Matthew Polenzani, Anna Netrebko)
Act 1 - "Adina credimi, te ne scongiuro" (Matthew Polenzani, Fabio Maria Capitanucci, Anna Netrebko, Tara Erraugh, Chorus)
Act 2 - "La donna è un animale stravagante... Venti scudi!" (Fabio Maria Capitanucci, Matthew Polenzani)
Act 2 - "Una furtiva lagrima" (Matthew Polenzani)
Act 2 - "Prendi, per me sei libero" (Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani)

REPORTS
Herbert attended the premiere and he kindly wrote the following short report for the blog:

It was great fun and she seems to enjoy this production. Her singing and acting were superb. After the show there was a big dinner for sponsors, but she came out to her fans before she returned to the dinner. She took some time for giving autographs, posing for photos and chatting with the crowd

PHOTOS

Tara Erraught (Giannetta), Alessandro Corbelli (Dulcamara), Matthew Polenzani (Nemorino), Anna Netrebko (Adina), Fabio Maria Capitanucci (Belcore), L'Elisir d'amore, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 11. May 2011. Photo: Herbert

Anna Netrebko (Adina), L'Elisir d'amore, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 11. May 2011. Photo: Herbert

Matthew Polenzani (Nemorino), Anna Netrebko (Adina), Marco Armiliato (Conductor), L'Elisir d'amore, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 11. May 2011. Photo: Herbert

Anna Netrebko (Adina), Matthew Polenzani (Nemorino), L'Elisir d'amore, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 11. May 2011. Photo: Herbert

Anna Netrebko, L'Elisir d'amore, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 11. May 2011. Photo: Herbert

Rabu, 20 Oktober 2010

DEAG Classics AG announces the "Summit Meeting of Classical Music Stars" with Anna Netrebko, Erwin Schrott and Jonas Kaufmann

Breaking news! DEAG Classics AG has announced today the "Summit Meeting of Classical Music Stars" featuring Anna Netrebko, Erwin Schrott and Jonas Kaufmann in a 2011 Eurpean concert tour.

Concerts will be held at the Königsplatz in München on Friday, 29. July 2011, Stadthalle in Wien on Saturday, 6. August 2011 and Waldbühne in Berlin on Tuesday, 16. August 2011.

Advanced ticket sales for those concerts commence on Friday, 22. October 2010.

Sabtu, 11 Juli 2009

Klassik Open-Air Konzert, Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Königsplatz, München 10. Jul 2009

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko and Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky performed yesterday night at the Klassik Open-air concert, at the Königsplatz of München, in front of 13 000 people, for 2 and a half hours. The two artists were accompanied by the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The first part of the exciting evening concert was exclusively devoted to Russian composers, with arias and duets from operas and works by Mikhail Glinka (Ruslan and Lyudmila) and Piotr Tchaikovsky (Pique Dame, Eugene Onegin and Iolanta). The Russian tenor Sergei Skorokhodov joined Anna Netrebko on the stage for the duet of Iolanta.

After the interval, the second part of the concert included arias, duets and works by German and Italian composers: Richard Wagner (Tannhäuser), Richard Strauss (Cäcilie), Giuseppe Verdi (Il Trovatore), Giacomo Puccini (Madama Butterfly), Pietro Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana) and Ruggiero Leoncavallo (Pagliacci).

Anna Netrebko, who had sung for the first time ever the Cio-Cio-San monologue of Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Mariinsky Gala on 5. July 2009, sang once again this aria at the Königsplatz in München, being one of the highlights of the evening.

Reached its climax, as encores, Anna Netrebko sang the aria "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" from Franz Lehár's operetta "Giuditta" and Dmitri Hvorostovsky sang the Russian folk song "Ochi chornyje".

At the end, standing ovations for Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Valery Gergiev.

Programme
Anna Netrebko, soprano | Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Sergei Skorokhodov, tenor

Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater
Valery Gergiev

Königsplatz, München
Friday 10. July 2009

Mikhail Glinka: Overture - Ruslan and Lyudmila
Mikhail Glinka: "Grustno mne, roditel dorogoy!" - Lyudmila's Cavatinna, 1. Akt - Ruslan and Lyudmila - Anna Netrebko
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: "Ja was ljublju" - Yelensky's Aria, 2. Akt - Pique Dame - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: "Tvojo moltschan je neponjatno" - Duet Iolanta-Vaudemnont, 7. Bild - Iolanta - Anna Netrebko, Sergei Skorokhodov
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Polonaise 3. Akt - Eugene Onegin
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: "Oh, kak mnje tjashelo" - Final scene Tatiana, 3. Akt - Eugene Onegin - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Interval

Richard Wagner: Overture, Tannhäuser
Richard Wagner: "O Du, Mein Holder Abendstern" - Wolfram's Aria, 3. Akt - Tannhäuser - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Richard Strauss: "Wenn du es wüsstest" - Lieder Op. 27 Nr. 2 - Cäcilie - Anna Netrebko
Giuseppe Verdi: Overture - La Forza del Destino
Giuseppe Verdi: "Il balen del suo sorriso" - Conte Luna's Aria, 2. Akt - Il Trovatore - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Giacomo Puccini: "Un bel dì vedremo" - Cio-Cio-San's Aria, 2. Akt - Madama Butterfly - Anna Netrebko
Pietro Mascagni: Intermezzo Sinfonico, Cavalleria Rusticana
Ruggiero Leoncavallo: "Nedda! Silvio, a quest'ora" - Duet Nedda-Silvio, 1. Akt - Pagliacci - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Encores

Franz Lehar: "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" - Giuditta - Anna Netrebko
Russian folk song: "Ochi chornyje" - Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Reports
Herbert kindly wrotes the following report for the blog:

The Königsplatz is such a large area. But with its neo-classicistic "Greek" buildings on three sides it is a very effectful place. There was no rain, but it was bitterly cold. That is why Robert Braunmüller called his first short review of the first part of the concert "Die Eisheilige" - "The Saint of Ice". - And maybe therefore quite a number of people stood up 10 minutes before the end of the official programme (!!) and started moving towards the exits - which was very stupid and impolite. Another newspaper, BILD, says: "We are all ill today, but it was worth it."

In the first half Anna wore her beautiful red dress as in St. Petersburg, and in the second half it was the same as in Braunschweig: a silver top and a long black skirt. - She looked marvellous, and again she seemed to have lost a few pounds. (I think it was due to the terrible costumes why she looked a bit plump as Violetta in SF).

The programme was similiar, but not completely the same as in Braunschweig. It was very demanding and ambitious, but I think Valery Gergiev is nobody for a light-hearted "summer concert" with all the popular melodies everybody can do. So it was completely Russian in the first half, and in the second part we heard Anna sing "Un bel dì vedremo" for the first time. I think this was one of the highlights of the evening. Oh yes, Madama Butterfly could be one of Anna's next roles. Her voice is in top form.

Robert Braunmüller writes about Anna: "In the final scene of 'Eugene Onegin' La Netrebko was compelling again by her art of outlinig a character with a few gestures and giving it a colour of its own by her voice."

Anna's encore was one of her favourites, "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" - with her vivacious dance (barefoot!) in the middle. When Dmitri sang his encore, Anna seemed to have forgotten that she had to perform her gipsy dance around him, as she did in Braunschweig. Shortly before the end she really ran out from behind - with skirts up - and made only a few movements before she kneeled down in front of Dmitri as in Braunschweig.

A long and wonderful evening!

On-line Press Reviews
Star mit Zar - merkur-online.de, 10. Jul 2009 [German]
Anna Netrebko feiert eine russische Opern-Nacht - Bild.de, 11. Jul 2009 [German]
Sopranistin - Etwa 14 500 Menschen bejubeln Netrebko und Hvorostovsky in München (Mit Bildern) - Ad-Hoc-News.de, 11. Jul 2009 [German]
Musik im Dunkeln - sueddeutsche.de, 11. Jul 2009 [German]
Netrebko und Hvorostovsky begeistern 14 500 Menschen in München - Ad-Hoc-News.de, 11. Jul 2009 [German]
Die Eisheilige: Netrebko am Königsplatz - Abendzeitung, 11. Jul 2009 [German]
Anna Netrebkos große Charme-Offensive - SZ 11. Jul 2009 [German]
Die Eisheilige - Abendzeitung, 12. Jul 2009 [German]
Schön und ergreifend - SZ 13. Jul 2009 [German]
Anna von Russland und ihr Gefolge - Wiener Zeitung, 13. Jul 2009 [German]
München: Anna Netrebko und Dmitri Hvorostovsky 10.7 - Der Neue Merker, 15. Jul 2009 [German]

Photos
Programme of the Concert. Note that there is a mistake in the printed Programme, as Anna sang the Lyudmila's Cavatinna of the 1. Act of Ruslan and Lyudmila, and not the Lyudmila's Aria of the 4. Act. Photos [1-2] by Herbert.

Königsplatz before the start of the concert. Photos [1] by Herbert and [2] by Anne

First part of the concert. Photos [1-2] by Herbert.

Second part of the concert. Photos [1-4] by Anne

Videoclips
Scene and Duet Iolanta/Vaudémont "Tvojo moltschan je neponjatno" from "Iolanta". Uploaded to Youtube by dvedas

Excerpts of "Oh, kak mnje tjashelo" from Eugene Onegin. Uploaded to Youtube by khleba18a

"Wenn du es wüsstest" - Lieder Op. 27 Nr. 2 - Cäcilie - Anna Netrebko. Uploaded to Youtube by dvedas

"Il balen del suo sorriso" - Conte Luna's Aria, 2. Akt - Il Trovatore - Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Uploaded to Youtube by dvedas

Excerpt of "Un bel dì vedremo" from "Madama Butterfly". Uploaded to Youtube by khleba18a

Excerpts of "Nedda! Silvio, a quest'ora" from Pagliacci. Uploaded to Youtube by khleba18a

Excerpts of "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" from "Giuditta". Uploaded to Youtube by x3Puffinx3 [1] and by khleba18a [2]

Excerpt of "Ochi chornyje". Uploaded to Youtube by khleba18a

Kamis, 09 Juli 2009

Article on Anna Netrebko in the German newspaper TZ, 9. Jul 2009

Today's newspaper TZ publishes an article about tomorrow's Open-Air Concert of Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, at the Könisgplatz in München.

It speculates a little bit about the weather forecast (only 9-16 degrees Celsius and rain showers) and it presents a first, pretty much detailed, prediction of tomorrow's concert programme.

Programme
Anna Netrebko, soprano
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone

Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater
Valery Gergiev

Königsplatz, München
Friday 10. July 20009

Mikhail Glinka: Overture, Ruslan and Lyudmila
Mikhail Glinka: Aria, Ruslan and Lyudmila - Anna Netrebko
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Yelensky's Aria (Pique Dame) - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Polonaise (Eugene Onegin)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Final scene (Eugene Onegin) - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Duet (Iolanta) - Anna Netrebko

Interval

Richard Wagner: "O Du, Mein Holder Abendstern" (Tannhauser) - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Richard Strauss: "Wenn du es wüsstest" (Cäcilie) - Anna Netrebko
Giuseppe Verdi: Aria (Il Trovatore) - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Giacomo Puccini: Aria (Madama Butterfly) - Anna Netrebko
Pietro Mascagni: Intermezzo Sinfonico, Cavalleria Rusticana
Ruggiero Leoncavallo: "Nedda! Silvio, a quest'ora" (Pagliacci) - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Related Posts
Press Conference of Anna Netrebko at the Vier Jahreszeiten Hotel in München
Interview to Anna Netrebko in the German newspaper Abendzeitung, 8. Jul 2009

Minggu, 31 Mei 2009

La Bohème, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 2009

La Bohème, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 24. Mai 2009
La Bohème, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 28. Mai 2009
La Bohème, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 31. Mai 2009

Jumat, 29 Mei 2009

La Bohème, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 31. Mai 2009

La Bohème
Giacomo Puccini
Giuseppe Giacosa und Luigi Illica

Nationaltheater, München
Sonntag, 31. Mai 2009

Besetzung
Musikalische Leitung Daniele Callegari
Inszenierung Otto Schenk
Bühne und Kostüme Rudolf Heinrich
Chöre Andrés Máspero

Mimi Anna Netrebko
Musetta Jessica Muirhead
Rodolfo Joseph Calleja
Marcello Nikolay Borchev
Schaunard Christian Rieger
Colline John Relyea
Parpignol Ho-Chul Lee
Benoît Alfred Kuhn
Alcindoro Rüdiger Trebes
Ein Zöllner Christopher Magiera
Sergeant der Zollwache Igor Bakan

Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

La Bohème - Synopsis

Reviews
Herbert attended also the third and last performance of the run and he wrote a short report:

The performance was sold out, of course, but today there were not so many people of the "high society" in the audience as last Thursday, but "ordinary" opera lovers who showed their feelings at the end of the performance. I saw some ladies wiping tears out of their eyes after Mimi had died and Rodolfo had broken down at her deathbed. There was a storm or even a tornado of applause - people were stamping their feet and cheering and applauding like hell. The German President Horst Köhler and his wife were also present, and they stood up like anybody else and kept applauding at curtain calls.

There was a large crowd of fans at the stage door again. Joseph Calleja had to sign many autographs before he came out to get some fresh air. He said that tomorrow (!) he had rehearsals in London!

Then Anna came, in a short white coat. She was clever and promised that she would sign everything - but PLEASE outside where she would get some fresh air. So everybody went out with her and then she spent at least 20 minutes or more in front of the stage door and signed programmes, answered questions, talked about President Köhler who visited her backstage and was photographed many many times. She also accepted to be photpgraphed side by side with her fans. Finally, when everybody was happy, she waved and said good-bye and then she walked down the street, I guess she went to the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten.

The second report comes from Attila, who was also there for the last performance of the run.

Anna Netrebreko expects to sing Trovatore in 2012.

Mingling with fans at the stage door after the third successful performance of La Boheme in Munich, Anna gave a date for when she expects to sing the role of Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore - in 3 years time. She made the comment after dismissing my suggestion that she should sing Madame Butterfly. "Oh, no! Not Butterfly!" she said scrunching up her face "But I will sing Trovatore." When? "In three years."

Anna looked like a star; fresh and visibly relieved that the short run of Boheme's was finished. Anna stood with people in the street outside the stagedoor; chatting to everyone in turn, standing for photographs, making jokes, accepting expensive presents. Someone suggested she had been even better tonight than the previous performance on Thursday. She made a face dismissing the compliment "Really?? Nooooo!" This was not the same Anna we had seen in a post-performance trance on Thursday. Tonight's show had been more like a working evening for her.

Tonight's performance was indeed different because it wasn't the simple intuitive vocal approach but instead more of an interpretive performance, one which she made happen, rather than one of those evenings which just happen on their own. I think the relatively weak cast and conductor was a factor in making Anna pull out all the stops in this Boheme - aided and abetted by Calleja who was again fantastic this evening.

From the very beginning Anna sang with a noticeably richer voice, spinning the tone rather than just floating it; a slightly more Bellini-esque way of singing. It seemed that now she has fully regained the flexibility and ease of the upper voice, she is putting back into it more of its characteristic dark richness. For me it gave her interpretation more of a sense of forboding, certain passages - particularly the last act really benefitting from the extra body in the lower part of the voice.

Interpretation-wise, her themes were a little easier to read. In the first act, her fear of isolation was palpable; when Rodolfo is calling down to his friends in the street telling them he will follow, you could see the fear in Anna's face at the prospect of yet another evening alone. When Rudolfo invites her to join them for the Christmas Eve festivities, the invitation is a dream come true for her. She is seduced not just by his charm, but by the possibility of the kind of wonderful partying bohemian social life she probably envisaged when sher first arrived in Paris but which had so far elluded her.

In act two, Anna shows Mimi entering a whole new vagabond lifestyle with her new friends; I particularly liked the touch where Mimi steals a bottle of wine from the table and puts it under her shawl, passing it to Rudolfo who hides in his jacket.

The third act became one long extended duet for Anna and Calleja, as the fears of both of them - her fear of loneliness, and his fear of her imminent death -- turn miraculously into the warmest possible love duet. Calleja's envelopping arms were even more sensual this evening, turning the lovers' togetherness into a protective shelter from the harsh cold snowy winter. When Marcello and Musetta are having their comic squabble, Mimi and Rudolfo are totally oblivious to a world of arguments and bitterness; locked in an unending embrace - an eternal kiss.

In the final act, Mimi is back in her adoptive world with her beloved group of friends, oblivious to her own illness - but she is not the usual delirious Mimi who doesn't understand what's going on around her. This Mimi has made a journey from the 'nobody' she was when she first appeared on the stage, conquering all her fears through love and through her proximity to death. Unlike her Vienna Traviata who dies disconnected from the people and the world around her, this Mimi can face death easily because she has achieved a connectedness. Her added vocal richness and her earthbound quality made this evening's death seen much more real and human.

Calleja was great, especially in Acts 3 and 4. His fear of Mimi's worsening illness in Act 3 becomes a trauma in Act 4 when Mimi is brought in. He is absolutely devastated, finally breaking down in tears when Shaunard and Colline leave the two of them alone. It's this emotional devastation he suffers which stops him realising Mimi has died, his suffering isolates him from the reality going on around him. So when he does realise she has died, it brings him crashing back down to earth. An earth in which Mimi is no longer alive.

Press Reviews

On-line Press Reviews
München, Bayerische Staatsoper: LA BOHÈME, 31.05.09, Gisela Schmöger, Der Neue Merker [German]

English translated extracts of a number of reviews published in German press or websites, for different performances of the run, are available at the press review section of Joseph Calleja's website.

Photo Album
Curtain calls photos [1-4] by Herbert

Stage door photos [1-10] by Herbert

Kamis, 28 Mei 2009

La Bohème, Bayerische Staatsoper, München 28. Mai 2009

Share|

La Bohème
Giacomo Puccini
Giuseppe Giacosa und Luigi Illica

Nationaltheater, München
Donnerstag, 28. Mai 2009

Besetzung
Musikalische Leitung Daniele Callegari
Inszenierung Otto Schenk
Bühne und Kostüme Rudolf Heinrich
Chöre Andrés Máspero

Mimi Anna Netrebko
Musetta Jessica Muirhead
Rodolfo Joseph Calleja
Marcello Nikolay Borchev
Schaunard Christian Rieger
Colline John Relyea
Parpignol Ho-Chul Lee
Benoît Alfred Kuhn
Alcindoro Rüdiger Trebes
Ein Zöllner Christopher Magiera
Sergeant der Zollwache Igor Bakan

Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

La Bohème - Synopsis

Reviews
Herbert, who was at the premiere of La Bohème on 24. May, did also attend the second performance of the run and wrotes the following report for the blog.

The second performance of La Bohème was a FANTASTIC night again!

I think there must have been a rehearsal since Sunday because the performance was a little bit more fluent than last time. But the difference was not too big. Anna Netrebko and Joseph Calleja were in top form again, both vocally and as actors. There were many curtain calls (for about 15 minutes) and the audience was enthusiastic.

I think there must have been a party or a reception of the sponsors after the show, because a) I saw the BIG BOSS of LINDE, the main sponsor of the Munich opera, and b) both Anna and Calleja came to the stage door and signed lots of autographs, but then they did not go out into the street, but returned to the opera house, where the director was already waiting for them. And Anna wore a beautiful blue, short dress as if she went to a party. It was raining outside, so this would have been the wrong dress for going home...

Anna was in a very good mood at the stage door, better than last time where the crowd of people seemed to be too much for her. Today she was smiling all the time and spoke to the people. I told her that I had got a SMS message that at the same evening Erwin Schrott had a big success as Don Giovanni in Wiesbaden, and when she said that her colleagues were fantastic I asked her what she thought about the audience. She smiled and said: "The Munich audience is very cold....." - of course this was a joke.

The second review comes from Attila who, after being at one of the performances of La Traviata in Wien, he did attend this performance of La Bohème in München.

This was an amazing performance. These are great days when we finally have a singer whose Mimi can bring to mind great sopranos such as Tebaldi and Caballe. I say to people see Anna now, don't leave it until tomorrow.

This Munich Boheme was a totally different experience from Anna's Traviata in Vienna. Instead of an intelligently thought out performance full of ideas and deliberate use of different vocal colours and styles, we had here in La Boheme an intuitive artist simply living the character without any apparent 'art'. From her first aria the voice was perfectly placed, the phrasing ecstatic. She left no room for thoughts of how she could do it better.

This Mimi was a total innocent rather that a calculating flirt, ill from the very beginning rather than a wilting flower in slow decline. She was lucky (or unlucky) enough to fall into the spider's web of Calleja's Rodolfo who showed himself to be a congenial sexual predator doing all he could to enmesh his new neighbour.

The most miraculous singing from Anna was in the third act, the voice soaring with no effort, plenty of subtle phrasing and beauty of tone. Plenty of genuine emotion, never overblown of histrionic. It's hard to believe that the Met Lucias were only a few months ago - I feel sorry for anyone whose vocal image of Anna was formed by her singing at that time.

I thought at some points in the evening that Calleja would not find the incredible range of emotion which he had shown in his Alfredo in the Vienna Traviata, but I think he was deliberately saving it for the end of the opera. The moment when he understands Mimi has died was devasting, suddenly he was overcome by a violent grief that went from a total refusal to accept her death to the sudden realisation of the extent of his loss - all in a matter of seconds. The voice is amazing; it's strange these days to listen to a tenor who does not force. I must admit that I wasn't impressed when I had listened to recordings even of his live performances. But when you see him live you are completely transported by his lack of tension, both vocally and in his stage presence. He makes the audience feel relaxed. But at the same time he has a warm and deeply sensual side which he uses very subtley to make scenes progress emotionally. I am beginning to think - having only seen him sing with Anna twice - that it's this relaxed warm emotional quality which is bringing out the best singing we have ever heard from Anna.

At the curtain calls Calleja was still in tears from Mimi's death, but he cheered up when he appeared to sign autographs at the stage door. Anna finally appeared in her blue dress, and literally looked like she was still in a trance. After her Vienna performance she had been tired but charming. This time she appeared to have come from another world; she looked at people quizzically like a new born fawn assessing a totally unfamiliar world. I walked up and told her that tonight she had been even better than in Vienna - she momentarily woke from her trance, her eyes lit up and she seemed to connect with me, "Really? You think so?" I told her I thought Tebaldi and Caballe could not have sung Mimi better. She smiled broadly, almost embarassed and seemed reassured. I think she agreed it had been a fantastic performance.

The rest of the cast were a bit weak. Anna and Calleja were like giants in a land of small people - with the notable exception of John Relyea who was a youthful, charismatic and very well sung Colline. The weakness of the other cast members meant the group ensembles didn't work for me, and the production of Act 2 was disappointing with Musetta going off with street boys instead of focusing her alternate passion on her old rich admirer. After Vienna, the Munich orchestra is a disappointment and the acoustic here is very dry.