Quirky and interesting facts for a successful conversation at intermission
With Palazzo Bajazzo and Bohème Suprême, Konrad Beikircher shook up the dusty genre of opera guides in charming fashion. Now he’s done himself one better with Pasticcio Capriccio: Inimitably blending the highest professional expertise with a subtle sense of humor, Beikircher guides us through more great operas, from Rossini to Puccini to Richard Strauss, from Mozart to Wagner to Alban Berg. With narrative flair, he makes composers and librettists accessible to us, describes plots in a way that keeps us laughing out loud, explains musical hits and flops – and assigns scores in categories such as “Test of Time Factor,” “Yawn Value,” “Tearjerker Potential” and “Enjoyment Level.” In short: Pasticcio Capriccio gives us everything we need to hold our own in a conversation with opera lovers. And it’s great fun to boot.
