From Finland with Love (2002)

In 2002 I saw Carmen in Helsinki, Finland with Agnes Baltsa and Alberto Cupido. It was great. I loved it just as much as Carmen in Deutsche Oper Berlin 2000-02-05. That time also with Agnes Baltsa and Alberto Cupido. In Berlin it was dialogue, in Finland sung recitatives. A few days earlier I had enjoyed Il Trovatore in London with José Cura, Veronica Villarroel, Vladimir Chernov and Yvonne Naef. It was a great month, May 2002!!

I loved my Cura year 2002
2002-05-11 Il Trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi), Royal Opera House, London (Manrico)
2002-06-28 José Cura & Giuseppina Trotta, Dalhalla (tenor & conductor)
2002-07-13 Otello (Giuseppe Verdi), Opernhaus Zürich (Otello)
2002-11-09 Opera Concert, Aalborg Kongress & Kultur Center (tenor & conductor)
2002-11-29 Opera & Symphonic Concert, Konzerthaus Wien (tenor & conductor)
2002-12-13 Samson et Dalila (Camille Saint-Saëns) (dress rehearsal), London (Samson)
2002-12-15 Samson et Dalila (Camille Saint-Saëns), London (Barbican) (Samson)

I loved his Manrico in London, his Otello in Zürich. Was overwhelmed by his concerts in Dalhalla (Sweden), Aalborg (Denmark), and of course his concert in Vienna. I even loved the Rachmaniov. I love Samson et Dalila and his Samson, the only thing for me was that it was just concert and not opera version. But I loved it. The funny thing about me and the Barbican concert was that I was staying in a hotel called Barbican ... and I got really sick. I vomitted over the whole bed. Luckily with a lot of soft drink I never got the dry vomit which I think is the worst of the worst. But it must have been a nightmare to come into the hotel room and be cleaning. I told the staff so that the person would not get shock. Because I was so sick in the night before I had to leave for home I really worried about that travel. But I got a taxi and then I got home and all was well.

My Baltsa year 2002. First Janacek opera for me, Jenufa. 2 times Jenufa, and 4 times Carmen.
2002-03-02 Jenufa (Leos Janacek), Wiener Staatsoper (Die Küsterin)
2002-05-15 Carmen (Georges Bizet), Finland National Opera (Helsinki) (Carmen)
2002-06-09 Jenufa (Leos Janacek), Wiener Staatsoper (Die Küsterin)
2002-06-23 Carmen (Georges Bizet), Wiener Staatsoper (Carmen)
2002-06-26 Carmen (Georges Bizet), Wiener Staatsoper (Carmen)
2002-09-29 Carmen (Georges Bizet), Wiener Staatsoper (Carmen)

In all it was 25 performances that I saw in 2002. And it was my first time on Inter-Rail. Opera-Rail I called it: Vienna (Jenufa, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Juive), Zurich (L'Italiana in Algeri), Munich (Aida), Düsseldorf (L'Italiana in Algeri, Don Carlos), Zurich (Carmen, I hated it so I left in the middle), Vienna (Carmen *2 w/Baltsa, antidote to Zürich), Dalhalla in Sweden (wonderful, wonderful concert with Cura). That was in June.

In January: Nabucco, Parsifal (Vienna). March: Jenufa (Vienna). April: OperaGala. May was great, and so was June. July: Otello with Cura, Raimondi in Zürich. September: Carmen and Roberto Devereux (loved it, the whole opera this time) in Vienna. November: Two concerts with Cura, one in Aalborg and then in Vienna. December: 2 times Samson et Dalila and La Traviata in between.

Baltsa/Cura in 2003 and more

For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com