A romantic surprise for my wife whilst in Tallinn. We went to watch Carmen and had a great evening. Thankfully the subtitles were in Estonian and English. It was a beautiful building, staff were friendly and helpful. The drinks and canopies were all surprisingly reasonably priced.My advice would be for all fellas to treat their misses!
National opera is called "Estonia". Although the building is historic, the opera is fresh. There are classics and some modern pieces and also some Estonian originals.
we had a brilliant night as part of an enthusiastic audiance entertained with beautiful music in seats we could never have afforded in our home town of london
I stayed two nights in Tallin so I had the oprtunity to go. That night was Ballet Copelia. 17 euros for a well located seat made me expect a not so good performance, but it was a big surprise. Excellent orchestra, dancers and decoration. The venue was full with a lot of families with small chidren enjoying clasical ballet without noise nor disturbance. All in a nice old and cosy theater.
We saw Tosca, sung about as well as I have heard it sung. The tenor was quite a bit too old for the role but sang beautifully, as did Tosca. One of the supporting roles was very weak.Set was unexciting and there was a wholly unconvincing fall by Tosca at the end where they didn't black it out quickly enough. But a good value evening at a fraction of what you would pay in London.
Visited a concert with movie music at the national opera. Enjoyed it a lot. Good musicians, even if the symphonic orhestra is not very big.
Stayed for 5 days in Tallin went to the ballet twice to see Coppelia and Cinderella fabulous dancing particularly loved Coppelia the stage sets and theatre amazing. Cinderella was very contemporary had wonderful dancing but I prefer classically set staging and dancing. Worth a trip or short break to Estonia
It is quite a shock during a 150 years old opera, to have six naked men in high heels, wearing black bunny ears and red sequin undies to protect their reputation.Yes this was Faust, set in a church (very impressive set) in the delightful Opera House, painted in white and pale blue and all very delicate.Very well performed, both by cast and orchestra, and the three hours went past fast (despite the challenging seats of wood, with some padding)Excellent printed programme for 3 euros, and interval drinks at 1 euro. You don't get that in many European opera housesThe final standout, was the cloakroom. Their "rules" insist that everyone cloaks their coats, and I was dreading the surge of 1000 people at the end of the opera.They had four young men, very fast on their feet, clearing four lines of people, and we were out and cloaked in about five minutesOverall a great night at the opera....and Faust is almost a phantom!
Hei, when in lovely Tallinn do bot forget to visit Opera house here. It is unique, and has so many memories and ecchoes of all those wonderful voices. Try and enjoy, in the middle of old town.
Despite strong performances from Jose and other supporting members of this cast, Carmen, played by Helen Locuta, was as exciting as having a Big Mac for dinner ! Swishing her skirt and playing with her fan were mindless attempts to portray the fiery girl of Seville. It was astonishing, despite the great music, to observe the number of patrons asleep ! A disappointment for certain.