Favorites by Year 2018

2018

For another perspective on 2018 see the KK Awards.

This list is limited to performances that took place in 2018.  This was another year without travel, but there is so much on the internet these days that it hardly matters.  This year I reviewed 46 performances, including 1 CD, 4 DVDs, 12 HDs, 11 live, 1 movie, 16 Streams and 1 YT.

Favorite Performances

Full cast

• Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte.  I saw only one Mozart this year, and it was this overdone, rather silly circus.  Nevertheless I loved it because it slanted the plot toward the arrogance and egotism of the men.  ** Met HD

• Donizetti's Roberto Devereux live at the San Francisco Opera with Sondra Radvanovsky was even better than her performance in New York in 2016.  **  Local

• (AN)Verdi's Aida  with Anna Netrebko and Anita Rachvelishvili  I loved Anna and Anita together and was surprised to see the same old production made to look new.  The tenor sort of ruined it.  Look it up in Met on Demand.  ** Met HD

• (JK)(AH)Verdi's Otello live streamed from the Bayerische Staatsoper with Kaufmann and Harteros.  It was an Otello for a lifetime.  **  Live Stream.

 

• Saint-Saëns' opera Samson et Dalila in HD from the Met starring Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca for sheer sexiness.  ** Met HD

• Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence from the ROH.  This appears in the list because it's a new opera and starred Barbara Hannigan.

•  Muhly's Marnie  for the wonderful work of Isabel Leonard. This was a world premier.  ** Met HD

• The Sonya Yoncheva film festival from the Met in HD included Verdi's Luisa Miller, Puccini's La Boheme and Puccini's Tosca.  Taken together this was a remarkable tour de force.  My favorite was her Tosca.  ** Met HD  Another excellent opera this year that starred Sonya Yoncheva was Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea from Salzburg.  Live Stream.

• Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci live at the San Francisco Opera were magically joined into a single opera.  **  Local

• Barber's Vanessa from Glyndebourne.  This was excellent.
  

• Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor from Teatro Real, Madrid starring Lisette Oropesa and Javier Camarena.  Wonderful singing.

• Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots streamed from Paris Opera Bastille starring Lisette Oropesa.  I liked this best for Lisette who replaced Diana Damrau.  **

Singer of the Year

Lisette Oropesa wins the singing prize for both Lucia and Les Huguenots.  For the year of Lisette.

New to Me Opera

1. Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence (new this year), 
2. Britten's Albert Herring (research), 
3. Donizetti's Il campanello di notte,done live at CSUS
4. Heggie's It's a Wonderful Life.  (live at SFO) 
5. Meyerbeer's Le Prophete (research from Toulouse), 
6. Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots  live from Paris
7. Muhly's Marnie (new from the Met in HD), 
8. Petit's Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard, done live at CSUS
9. Rubinstein's The Demon (for Dmitri), 
10. Stravinsky's Perséphone (research on DVD for Sellars), 
11. Sullivan's The Gondoliers (I'm weak in the Gilbert and Sullivan area.  Live in Sacramento), 
12. Verdi's Il Corsaro (it amazes me I can still see new Verdi), 
13. Weill's Die sieben Todsünden (research for Sellars),

##20 top 20 all time

** live, live stream or live in HD

Things recommended to buy

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