The Tempest, Thomas Adès’ second opera has been hailed as a masterpiece in many parts of the world, but it took the Frankfurt performance on 10 January this year (German premiere), performed by Oper Frankfurt under the direction of Keith Warner for the work to truly make its mark with German critics:
‘Unbefangen betrachtet, ist Adès’ Oper ein prachtvolles Meisterwerk und eine höchst ambitionierte Shakespeare-Neuinterpretation…
Das Instrumentalkolorit brücksichtigt grille Effekte ebenso wie feinxiselierte, gelegentlich auch nach “unerhörten” Schönheiten strebende Momente. Nicht Zuletzt schreibt Adès brilliant für die menschliche Stimme.’
Frankfurter Rundschau (Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich), 12 January 2010
‘Sein „Sturm“ lohnt den Opernbesuch.’
Frankfurter Allgemeine (Julia Spinola), 12 January 2010
Hugh Canning asserted: ‘Among the new British operas of the first decade of the 21st century, Thomas Adès’s The Tempest — originally staged by the Royal Opera in 2004 and revived three years later — looks set to have the longest shelf life... Between the world premiere and the first US production (Santa Fe Opera) in 2006, the Covent Garden version was seen in Strasbourg and Copenhagen, but it has had to wait until 2010 for a first presentation in Germany…Adès’s brassy, lightning-punctuated storm music resounded in the opera’s prelude, Prospero (Adrian Eröd) cast his spell in his cubic cell, while the victims of his shipwreck appeared to be falling through water, as if drowning...it was a powerful statement of intent: The Tempest as Prospero’s box of magic tricks...It works spectacularly well’.
The Sunday Times (Hugh Canning), 31 January 2010
The Tempest has a further seven performances in Germany scheduled from 12 March to 29 May 2010 at Theater Lübeck.
Future performances:
12, 21 & 26 March 2010, 11 & 21 April 2010, 6 & 29 May 2010, Theater Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany: dir. Philipe Bach/prod. Reto Nickler