Travels around the Continent
"Bosnia is under my skin. It's the place you cannot leave behind. I was obsessed by the nightmare of it all; there was this sense of guilt, and an anger that has become something much deeper over these last years." (Paddy Ashdown - High Representative for Bosnia & Herzegovina (2002-06).) Gothenburg Opera House had a …
"O diese Sonne" (Oh this sun) - chorus from Der Freischütz I normally avoid travelling much in the summer months for three reasons: it is usually more expensive, everything is busier and I don't get on with extreme heat. When in April, Eurostar had one of their periodic sales offering tickets for just £35, I …
Continue reading "City Visit – Bonn (plus Königswinter and Cologne)"
"Я… я… я… я… я выиграл…, я очень много выиграл."("I... I... I... I... I won, I won a very great deal.")Alexei (The Gambler) - Sergey Prokofiev based on Fyodor Dostoevsky. Last year when I asked my son which opera he would like to see he suggested The Gambler by Sergey Prokofiev. Unfortunately, this is rarely …
"Oh moon in the deep sky,your light sees far,you roam over the wide world,and peer into human dwellings."(Rusalka - Song to the Moon) In the summer, shortly after I had returned from seeing Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in Bonn, I asked my son if there was any opera that he wished to see. One of the …
"The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment." (Johannes Kepler) I wished to see a performance of Puccini's opera La Boheme at my favourite opera house in Gothenburg, and to …
"Zum Ziele führt dich diese Bahn" ("This path leads you to your goal") - from Die Zauberflöte I had been due to attend a wedding on 11th July, but sadly this had been called off a few weeks beforehand. I decided to use the freed up time to make a short trip, the primary purpose …
"Ieri son salita tutta sola" ("Yesterday I went alone") Madama Butterfly Having enjoyed so much my flying visit to see Carmen at the Gothenburg Opera in August 2024, I decided to go again should the opportunity arise. As soon as tickets went on sale for Madama Butterfly, I acquired one. This latest trip was similar …
"L'amour est un oiseau rebelleQue nul ne peut apprivoiser"("Love is a rebellious birdThat none can tame")Carmen In September 2023, on my EuropeExplored trip to Finland and Sweden, I went to see Nabucco at Gothenburg Opera House, the first time I had ever been to an opera. I enjoyed the experience so much that I thought …
Continue reading "City Visit (Operatic interlude) – Gothenburg"