| Page Views: 4,289 Last Visit to Munich: November, 2006 I Visit Here Frequently | Operas and Cycling in Munich by Nemorino - last update: Mar 26, 2007 |
| Nationaltheater, Max-Joseph-Platz |
The Bavarian State Opera at the Nationaltheater in Munich is one of the best places in Germany to see big-name opera stars. This is the only place I have ever seen Edita Gruberova in a live opera performance. Or Vesselina Kasarova. Or Bryn Terfel. Or Angelika Kirchschlager. |
| Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz |
Besides the Bavarian State Opera, Munich also has a second full-scale opera house called the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz. They do all their operas in German (or Bavarian!), not in the original languages, and also put on the occasional operetta or musical.
I have only been there twice so far. The first time was for Jules Massenet’s Manon in German translation, and the second was for Rossini's Barber of Seville, as staged by one of my favorite German stage directors, Claus Guth, who by the way was born in Frankfurt and has staged several operas at the Frankfurt Opera. I have already described one of his productions on my Zürich intro page.
His idea for The Barber of Seville was to dress all the characters up as insects for the first act, and have them move and behave like insects, which fits remarkably well with Rossini's music. Figaro was a fly, Bartolo a spider, Almaviva a bee and Rosina a butterfly. In the second act they were dressed as people, but went on with their mating rituals which are not that much different between people and insects. OK, I'm admittedly a huge Claus Guth fan, but I found this once again a brilliant production. |
| Alte Pinakothek on a beautiful Sunday in October |
Most of my visits to Munich are for business reasons, but I recently found myself there with over seven free hours on a beautiful golden Sunday in October, so I rented a bicycle and rode all around, first around the center, then Schwabing, then the English Garden.
Munich has a fine cycling infrastructure, so it's no wonder so many people use bicycles as their main form of transportation. |
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 Comments for Nemorino about Munich | | | | |
alancollins Fri May 8, 2009 16:13 UTC
Thanks for visiting my limited Paris pages. My daughter decided on Euro Disney & shopping, I decided on the usual tourist haunts. Fingers crossed I may be visiting Munich again later this year. | toonsarah Sat May 2, 2009 16:09 UTC
I once stayed overnight in Munich (en route home from Oberammergau) but clearly saw only a fraction of what the city has to offer - must go back! Like the churches and park especially :-) | evaanna Fri Apr 24, 2009 22:05 UTC
Sounds like a lovely city with so much to see and do. I prefer the tower with the elevator - I must be getting old.:) Excellent page - great for future visitors to Munich. | BTMonica Wed Apr 15, 2009 04:22 UTC
Did you ride your bike all around Munich? I bet traveling around the city can be a nightmare. I've never visited Munich, but I would like to see the world famous Oktoberfest. |
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