It’s time to laugh at the fat bloke again – Falstaff in Vienna Any production of Falstaff stands or falls by the performance of its titular fatboy. Ambrogio Maestri, sporting homegrown manbewbs and built-in padding looked born to the role. His voice is not the most beautiful, he strained for his high notes and rasped

All’s well that ends well This performance transpired to become a rather routine event – despite its excellent cast and scheduling during the Festival Weeks. Dating back to Oct 2003, this Falstaff has seen several revivals with a mixture of casts – and indeed this time round only Herwig Pecoraro’s Bardolfo stems from the original

Staatsoper Wien: Verdi – Nabucco … Elisabeth Kulman sang Fenena. A beautiful voice, did her part wonderfully, one really hopes she gets a role she can shine into. Fenena is a small part. But she did it well!! … Februar 2008

Volksoper Wien: Britten – A midsummernights dream For it’s first-ever English language performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (seen Nov. 10) Vienna’s Volksoper assembled some of its best young singers, many of whom were not yet born when Benjamin Britten died, thirty years ago.American soprano Jennifer O’Loughlin, the company’s reigning Pamina, made a ravishing Tytania

Tokyo: Mahler – Symphonie Nr. 2 … It was an excellent performance featuring the beguiling soprano Akie Amou and Elisabeth Kulman, the sensational alto. …

Volksoper Wien: Mozart – Die Zauberflöte Elisabeth Kulman was a sublime Pamina: young, pretty and sexy; her focused, creamy and powerful voice, smoothly extending down into her lower range, reminds one of Gundula Janowitz. A profoundly sad “Ach, ich fühl’s” was a highpoint, memorable for some perfectly produced, unearthly pianissimos. ohne Datum

Who’s hot? Elisabeth Kulman gave an arresting performance in the unlikely setting of Hohenegg as Alcina – fullblooded and accomplished, a wonderfully lush voice. November/Dezember 2001