Tag: alice in wonderland

thelistenersguide:

operanerd:

Alice in Wonderland, Unsuk Chin – Bayerische Staatsoper, 2007 (conducted by Kent Nagano)

Alice – Sally Matthews
Cat – Pia Komsi & Julia Rempe
Duck/Mad Hatter – Dietrich Henschel
White Rabbit/Badger/March Hare – Andew Watts
Mouse/Pat/Cook/Doormouse/Invisible Man – Guy de Mey
Owl/Duchess/Two – Cynthia Jansen
Queen of Hearts – Gwyneth Jones
Old Man/Crab/King of Hearts – Steven Humes
Old Man/Eaglet/Fish-Footman/Five/Executioner – Christian Rieger
Dodo/Frog-Footman/Seven – Rüdiger Trebes
Caterpillar – Stefan Schneider

Okay this opera is actually really cool and let me tell you why:

1. It’s an opera by a Korean woman. Seriously, how cool of a sentence is that to be able to say?

2. She was a student of György Ligeti, who, besides being a wildly influential 20th-century composer, was a huge, huge fan of Lewis Carroll and always wanted to write an Alice In Wonderland opera, but never got the chance to, so this is actually a rather touching homage to a great composer.

3. That stage is trippy and I love it

4. So many cool artistic choices! Having the Queen performed by an ex-Wagnerian soprano makes her voice sound actually pretty terrifying because it’s clearly been “used up” but is still powerful. And the caterpillar is a bass clarinet! Like! That’s super cool!

So if you like opera, watch this one. I enjoyed it.