ALBAN BERG Lulu
starring Barbara Hannigan
Natascha Petrinsky | Dietrich Henschel
Charles Workman | Tom Randle
Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie
Paul Daniel conductor
Krzysztof Warlikowski stage direction
Label: Bel Air Classiques
DVD: BAC 109
Intl. release: 24 September 2014
Buy & Stream
REVIEWS
Disc of the Month for Lulu DVD
“this Lulu is irresistible because of Barbara Hannigan’s performance of the title role, one as sexy as it is vocally incandescent”
– Opera Magazine, March 2015
“It’s a comparatively rare occurrence to encounter a performance on the opera stage that has such a magnetic visual and physical impact as Barbara Hannigan’s portrayal of Berg’s tragic heroine…Her absolute vocal mastery is marvellous…Many of the supporting protagonists in this torrid drama are no less compelling.”
– BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2014 *****
“rewarding viewing for all who appreciate this devastating work…this Lulu offers stupendous accuracy of pitch and rhythm…The performance is impeccably prepared musically, with the sensual qualities given full value, the maximum in rhythmic exactitude and abundant theatrical flair. The recorded sound is natural and full bodied.”
– International Record Review, December 2014
“Musically it’s superb. Barbara Hannigan gives everything she’s got and then some to the title role.”
– Guardian, Tim Ashley, December 2014
“Et puis il y a la bombe Hannigan, nouvelle incarnation fascinante de Lulu par son côté protéiforme : la souplesse d’une liane, l’élégance d’une vraie danseuse, la multiplicité des visages, des physiques même, de l’enfant gracile à la pouffe défaite, tout est chez elle naturel et percutant. Et la voix est merveille, qui se joue des pyrotechnies et des intervalles avec un charme qu’on ne connaît à personne.”
– Radioclassique France, December 2014
“And she [Lulu] is a sensation: The Canadian soprano must be every Lulu director’s dream. She is a vocally sovereign miracle of a performer. So girlishly seductive and femininely confident, so jaded and not quite of this world, so obsessed with sex and in need of love, so much devil and angel in one: No one currently personifies this more convincingly.”
– Frankfurter Rundschau, October 2012
“Barbara Hannigan is Warlikowski’s Lulu, and the production seems built around her. Who else would look this good in nothing but lingerie and pointe shoes while singing each note with such crystalline perfection?”
– Financial Times, October 2012
“Pour sa première Lulu, Barbara Hannigan entre aussitôt dans l’histoire: non seulement parce qu’elle danse sur les pointes et habite son rôle par tous les pores de la peau, mais parce qu’elle le chante avec une aisance, une virtuosité et des couleurs qu’on ne connaît à aucune autre aujourd’hui. Cette femme doit venir d’une autre planète.”
– Le Figaro, October 2012