I know it’s not an opera but this seems the best place to discuss it.
Last night I attended a performance of Schoenberg’s cantata Gurreleider at the Sydney Opera House by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simone Young. It was the first time Sydney has heard the work and it an occasion to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the composer.
There were 139 players in the expanded orchestra, 3 choirs totalling 271 singers and 6 superb international soloists.
It was an astonishing overwhelming experience never to be repeated in my lifetime. The spontaneous standing ovation at the end said it all. Tremendous.
I just read a review online of the performance by the Sydney Morning Herald’s music critic. In his words “ a massive monument to the imagination, this performance was a triumph.”