The Europadisc Review
Saint-Saens - Dejanire (CD + Book)
Kazuki Yamada, Kate Aldrich, Julien Dran, Anais Constans, Jerome Boutillier, Anna D...
£30.49
It is ten years since the ever-enterprising Palazetto Bru Zane set itself the ambitious task of resurrecting and recording all of Saint-Saëns’s neglected operas. More than a dozen exist, of which five – Les Barbares, Proserpine, Le Timbre d’argent, La Princesse jaune and Phyrné – have already appeared, to great critical acclaim and the delight of opera lovers. The latest instalment in this Herculean labour of love, rather appropriately, is Déjanire (1911), which recounts the story of the final days of the great hero-turned-tyrant Hercules and h... read more
It is ten years since the ever-enterprising Palazetto Bru Zane set itself the ambitious task of resurrecting and recording all of Saint-Saëns’s neglected operas. More than a dozen exist, of which five... read more
Saint-Saens - Dejanire (CD + Book)
Kazuki Yamada, Kate Aldrich, Julien Dran, Anais Constans, Jerome Boutillier, Anna Dowsley, Choeur de l’Opera de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo
The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column
Classical Music: The Endgame? 10th April 2024
10th April 2024
A recent visit to the London Coliseum brought home the scale of the challenge facing opera, not just at the home of the troubled English National Opera, but more generally – and, indeed, classical music more widely. What seemed to be a fairly respectable attandance was revealed – on a glance upwards to the upper circle and balcony – to be only half a house: the upper levels were completely empty, having been effectively closed from sale. And this on a Saturday evening! There was a time (in the 1970s and 80s) when Janáček’s Jenůfa would have been a real draw for audiences. Now – presumably on the grounds that it's better to play to a near-full half-house than a sparsely populated whole house – it's relegated to a kind of operatic second division.
What I witnessed is just one symptom of a wider malaise: opera houses and concert halls are struggling to attract an... read more