Chrystal E. Williams

Chrystal E. Williams

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The Metropolitan Opera: Akhnaten 2019 (9)

Philip Glass’ opera “Akhnaten”, premiered in Stuttgart in 1984, forms the third part of the portrait opera trilogy about personalities who have influenced the course of human history. The conclusion of the trilogy deals with the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, who attempted to establish a kind of monotheistic cult around the god Aton during his reign in the 14th century BC, but failed due to the resistance of the priesthood. The production presented here was undoubtedly one of the very great successes of the 2019/20 season at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, due not only to the outstanding cast of singers (led by countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo) but also to Phelim McDermott’s imaginative staging, which captivates with sometimes breathtaking imagery.
Chrystal E Williams

Chrystal E Williams

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The Ice Break - Tippett 2020

When a Russian dissident is released after 20 years of imprisonment, he finds his wife in despair, his son estranged and the world outside sinking into racial violence. As events get out of hand, the rivalry between blacks and whites turns into a murderous mob riot. Birmingham Opera’s artistic director Graham Vick takes up the challenging of mounting Tippett’s both visionary and eccentric opera, that has remained unstaged since its premiere in 1977. An unused warehouse is transformed into an airport terminal, through which the audience enters a participatory experience, ushered by the chorus.
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Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk - BOC 2021

A bored, unhappily married woman dreams of love and of starting anew elsewhere. When she starts an affair with a rakish farmhand, her passion pushes her to crime... Birmingham Opera Company's 50th production relocates Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk to a disused, iconic nightclub where, amidst the 150 volunteer actors and chorus, audience members encountered bloody brides, oversized rats and poisoned wedding guests. Accompanied on stage by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a band from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and with a radical set design by the Banksy collaborators Block 9, ‘the production is perhaps its most brilliant so far’ (The Observer)
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The Rhinegold - BOC 2022

Hidden in plain sight, three guardians collude to protect the gold for those in power. An outsider, Alberich stumbles upon them and an opportunity to make his life matter, but at a cost. Meanwhile, Leader Wotan desperate to hang on to the Gods’ fading glory, struggles to balance power, his own laws and the standards of public life. Birmingham Opera Company, known for staging opera in empty warehouses and disused factories, here performs RhineGold in the relatively conventional surroundings of Birmingham Symphony Hall. The production is from August 2021 with the pandemic still dictating so much of our lives. This is an urban RhineGold; Rhinemaidens are selfie-taking party girls, Alberich is cycle courier, and Wotan is first seen giving a press conference for FNN: Fake News Network. This RhineGold, complete with the new English translation by Jeremy Sams, can be seen as a step closer to Wagner’s vision of a total work of art acting as a lever of change in society.