In the next 2 summer weeks, the film festival on Vienna’s Rathausplatz features some opera and music productions well worth seeing:
Handel – Messiah
28th July 2010 (Wednesday) 21:10, 160 min
How can “Messiah” be staged? For director Claus Guth it was clear: Certainly not as a sandals-epic. The result is a stroke of genius: intelligent and gripping. This bear also excellent musicians such as counter-tenor Bejun Mehta, and – with incredible presence – the bass Florian Boesch; J.-Ch. Spinosi conducts.
Schuhmann – Genoveva
1st August 2010 (Sunday), 21:10, 150 min
Schumann’s only opera – wonderfully staged by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Martin Kusej.
Mahler Symphony No. 6 /
A Little Nightmare Music
3rd August 2010 (Tuesday) 21:00, 90 min / 22:30, 60 min
Mahler’s very dark monumental opos – in the interpretation of Leonard Bernstein. Afterwards: Classic music does not (always) have to be serious. At least not if such great musicians as Igudesman and Joo bring together Mozart and James Bond or poach across through music history.
Crazy and breathtaking…
Sacrificium – Art of the Castrati /
Mozart – Requiem
4th August 2010 (Wednesday), 21:00, 45 min / 21:45, 60 min
Cecilia Bartoli recorded very different castrati-arias and decided to do also a documentary (of course with music) about them. Then: Claudio Abbado, the Berliner Philharmonics and excellent soloists interpret the probably most touching Requiem in music history.
Haydn – Orlando Paladino
6th August 2010 (Friday), 21:00, 170 min
A stunning ensemble under Rene Jacobs presents Haydn’s tragicomedy about a knight in love delirium (take the “delirium” rather literally…).
English 
German