Reviews of Only the Sound Remains (Teatro Real)

29.10.18

As was the case with the Paris production earlier this year, audiences and critics were ecstatic with the Spanish production of Kaija Saariaho's opera "Only the Sound Remains" at Teatro Real.

El Pais:
''… deserving of the biggest praise of all are the members of the Meta4 Quartet … which makes the extraordinarily difficult easy, just as it happens with the four marvelous voices of Theatre of Voices, which Sariah makes hiss, vocalize, mutter, whisper, emit precise metric sounds of evasive pitch and, of course, sing. Peter Sellars even makes them gesture with moving arms. The contribution of both quartets, far superior in all respects to those who premiered the opera in Amsterdam in 2016, is transcendental and any praises fall short in accounting for the degree of sensitivity, technical perfection and affinity with the fleeting and reverberating sound world of Saariaho which they demonstrate each and everyone.”

Shangay.com:
“ ... fascinating and wonderful vocal quartet Theatre of Voices complements what you see (and hear) on stage. An exquisite amplification of the sound achieves in the voices, together or alone, nuances that reach the soul … When the opera is finished, only the sound remains, Only the sound remains. But a sound that makes you think and that allows you to enjoy the beauty of the scene … Hopefully, contemporary opera opens the door that has been closed for so many years, too many, and that allows the restoration of the much needed composer/spectator reunion. It is the future of opera.''

Beckmesser.com:
“Pure intonation and infinite vocal flexibility”
https://www.beckmesser.com/critica-saariaho-la-luz-tras-las-tinieblas

ABC.es:
⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ (five stars)