There are elements of Eurotrash in this outdoor Aix-en-Provence summer opera production. Nevertheless, the splendid singing and acting transform the story, normally treated as farce, into something considerably more serious. As many other critics have noted, the young lovers have not yet sorted everything out as this performance ends. Act One begins with the principal characters running around in the outdoor theater -- while the audience takes it in as if they had been advised to sit back and enjoy the novelty. Very likely they were also asked to refrain from applauding at the end of arias and ensemble pieces, in which the three-hour opera abounds.
Karl-Ernst Herrmann
Director
Lorenzo da Ponte
Writer

Sophie Koch
Dorabella
Ana María Martínez
Fiordiligi
Stephanie Degout
Guglielmo
Shawn Mathey
Ferrando

Helen Donath
Despina

Thomas Allen
Don Alfonso
Manfred Honeck
Conductor
Vienna Philharmonic
Love Happy58%
A Night at the Opera74%
Silk Stockings68%
Battle of the Year67%
O'Dessa58%
Coyote Ugly62%
One Chance66%
Teen Spirit60%
Monster High: Boo York, Boo York77%
Dinner in America77%
Power Ballad69%
Grace Unplugged60%
Make Mine Music58%
Star!69%
Too Late Blues63%
Hounddog64%
Find Me Falling65%
Let It Shine69%
Wild Style61%
Honeydripper58%