Opera Fresh

Juilliard Forges Partnership with EMI Classics for iTunes

2012-02-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

More information after the jump.

"This unprecedented joint initiative offers a way to help these students gain exposure and experience in the fast-moving digital world of today’s classical music, teaching them the process of recording and releasing an album online. Each student was selected by a panel of judges first at Juilliard, then at EMI Classics, and was given the opportunity to record an EP-length album consisting of repertoire they themselves selected. The EPs are mastered specifically with iTunes in mind, using high-resolution sourced audio to deliver the music to listeners exactly the way the artists and recording engineers intended. The end result provides fans with an incredibly rich and detailed listening experience. Juilliard will celebrate the release with a FREE public concert featuring all three students in performance on Monday, March 12th at 8:00PM in the School’s Paul Recital Hall (155 W. 65th St., New York, 10023; Messrs. Appleby, Lee, and Tao will perform selections from the tracks recorded for The Juilliard Sessions. Free tickets are available starting February 27 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard, 155 West 65th Street, Monday – Friday, 11 AM – 6PM. Phone (212) 769-7406; information at events.juilliard.edu. The three EP releases feature a broad variety of repertoire, reflecting the diverse musical tastes of the three winners. Pianist Conrad Tao chose a pair of Debussy preludes, followed by Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka (a piano arrangement of music from the ballet of the same name), and closing with a work composed by Conrad himself, entitled Three Songs. Tenor Paul Appleby recorded a trio of Schubert songs and Britten’s Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo. Twenty-four year old violinist Sean Lee recorded Richard Strauss’ Sonata for Violin & Piano in Eb major, a work written when the composer was the same age as Lee is now. Paul Appleby is a tenor who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera (most recently in their acclaimed new production, The Enchanted Island), and is a National Winner of the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as well as a recipient of a 2009 Sara Tucker study grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. Sean Lee is a violinist who studied with Itzhak Perlman, and who won both the Juilliard Concerto Competition and the William Schuman Prize. In addition to his solo career, Lee performs regularly with the New York-based Metropolis Ensemble and also dedicates himself to a variety of educational initiatives. Seventeen year old Conrad Tao is a pianist/violinist/composer who has received numerous honors ranging from the Gilmore Young Artist prize to the US Presidential Scholar award, and most recently was named as the only classical artist in Forbes magazine’s ’30 Under 30: The Youngest Stars in the Music Business’ list, alongside the likes of Adele, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and others. The Digital Debut Series – which launches with The Juilliard Sessions recordings and a similar series of releases from students at The Royal College of Music, London – is an initiative by EMI Classics to present to international audiences the work of some of classical music’s most promising young stars. Beginning with two the world’s most prestigious music schools, Digital Debut plans to expand each year to include new conservatories from around the world. EMI Classics is one of the world’s leading classical record labels, with over 100 years of experience and one of the largest and most beloved catalogs in history including artists such as Maria Callas and Itzhak Perlman. Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is one of a handful of globally recognized performing arts schools, unique in its pre-professional and youth education in music, dance, and drama. Currently more than 800 gifted artists representing 38 US states, and 37 foreign countries are enrolled at Juilliard, located in NYC on the Lincoln Center campus." [Source]

CONTACTS:
EMI Classics PR
Andrew Ousley
Andrew.Ousley@emimusic.com
212.786.8607

Juilliard PR
Janet Kessin
jkessin@juilliard.edu
212.799.5000 ext. 207

Daniela Fally Sings Zerbinetta's "Großmächtige Prinzessin"

2012-02-27T23:43:00.000-05:00

New Releases: Gruberova, Mields, Piau and Thielemann

2012-02-27T23:02:00.000-05:00

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Doris Soffel

2012-02-27T12:30:00.005-05:00

As record labels explore the cost effectiveness of the MP3 format, many are digging deep into their archives to find recorded material to re-issue from previous CD incarnations or in some cases for the first time since their original LP release. Click on the Amazon widget to hear MP3 audio samples.

Baby, It's Cold Outside: -30 Degree Music Festival in Sweden

2012-02-26T00:41:00.000-05:00

Soprano Avemo sings to keep warm at Vinterfest

"As concert venues go, this one is perfect – a barn-like structure, whose pine timbers emit a fragrance not unlike that of a sauna, whose long glass windows look out across oxon-red wooden Swedish farmsteads and the frozen expanse of Lake Orsasjön. The Vattnäs Konsertlada is the labour of love of local girl, the international opera singer Pers Anna Larsson, and is being used at Sweden's by now best-known music festival, Vinterfest, for the first time. Guests are streaming into the barn, stepping on pine branches strewn across the entrance to stop them sliding on the ice. Meanwhile the artists for the lunchtime concert whose eclectic offerings range from Ophelia's madness scene from Ambroise Thomas' 1868 Hamlet, to Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E flat major have taken pre-concert refuge down the road in this hamlet in central Sweden at the house of local silversmith Bernd Janusch who has given them use of his artist's studio, his bedroom and the baby grand in his living room, to warm up. Kerstin Avemo, the Swedish soprano probably best known for her portrayal of Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at the Gothenburg Opera last year, about which critics raved, is the first to arrive in the Konsertlada, in a car whose winter tires grip the icy sloped road between Janusch's cosy [sic] blue and white bungalow and the barn. If she possessed any diva-like qualities she has been forced to leave them at the door along with her fur-trimmed winter coat and knee-high snow boots which she replaces with a pair of dainty pale pink heels, sniggering along with the audience as she slips them on before taking up her position on the stage." [Source]

From One Hamburger to Another: Lagerfeld Advises Merkel

2012-02-26T00:30:00.001-05:00

The potential fashion offense in Oslo.

"Top designer Karl Lagerfeld has offered German Chancellor Angela Merkel fashion advice, recommending she wear better-designed legwear -- and unbutton her jacket. Merkel, whose typical outfit can be a single-coloured trousers and jackets got the benefit of the German-born designer's knowledge in the pages of Saturday's Focus news magazine. The 57-year-old German leader has been mocked by some critics as a mousy bumpkin from the former East Germany, but she made headlines when she revealed a plunging neckline during an opera performance in Oslo in 2008. 'Overall her dress code is okay but the cut should be more precise,' Paris-based Lagerfeld told Focus. 'And she should wear her jackets open over a blouse with better cut trousers.' Lagerfeld, who like Merkel was born in the northern port city of Hamburg, argued that this would allow her to 'move with more ease.'" [Source]

Deborah Voigt Gives Weight Advice to Young Singers

2012-02-26T00:21:00.000-05:00

Light as air: The soprano in México
(Photo: Jorge Serratos/Universal)

"Al ser cuestionada sobre la tendencia de la ópera de privilegiar la imagen sobre la música, Deborah Voigt advirtió: 'Los días en que podía haber una voz espectacular pero sin atractivo físico han pasado; ahora que enseño a alumnos les digo que deben prepararse en todos los aspectos e ir al gimnasio. Esto lo sé ahora porque en los últimos años he vivido una transformación que me ha permitido tener otros papeles. La ópera es, hasta cierto punto, un negocio, si un día aparece una voz milagrosa con un empaque poco agraciado seguirá siendo espectacular pero le costará más trabajo estar en este mundo.'" [Source]

Dmitri Nabokov, Son of "Lolita" Author, Dies at 77

2012-02-25T23:57:00.000-05:00

"Dmitri Nabokov, the only child of acclaimed novelist Vladimir Nabokov who helped protect and translate his father's work while also pursuing careers as an opera singer and race car driver, has died. He was 77. Dmitri Nabokov, who helped protect and translate his father’s works, also pursued his own careers as a race car driver and opera singer. He also was a mountain climber and a playboy. The younger Nabokov died Wednesday at a hospital in Vevey after a long illness, literary agent Andrew Wylie said Friday. He had been hospitalized in January with a lung infection. Dmitri Nabokov spent much of his life trying to carve a life away from the shadow of his father, whose books Lolita and Pale Fire are regarded as some of the best English prose ever written. The Harvard-educated son was a mountain climber, opera singer, race car driver and playboy. But Dmitri Nabokov always returned to protecting his father's literary legacy, translating and editing his father's plays, poems, stories, the novella The Enchanter and Selected Letters.....'My father is gradually marching - with his two favorite writers, Pushkin and Joyce - arm in arm into the pantheon to join the greatest of all, Shakespeare, who is waiting for them,' Nabokov told The Associated Press in a 2009 interview. 'I like to think that I did my bit to keep things on track.' After the success of Lolita, Dmitri Nabokov translated his father's Invitation to a Beheading from Russian, and after his father's death, he wrote the memoir On Revisiting Father's Room. In 1962, the younger Nabokov began to race cars competitively and until 1982 he maintained an active professional operatic career as a basso profundo. After the death of his mother in 1991, he sold the remainder of the Nabokov archive to the New York Public Library and attended conferences dedicated to his father." [Source]

Palm Beach Opera to Make Major Seasonal Changes in 2013

2012-02-25T23:42:00.000-05:00

Nicole Cabell as Juliette and Arturo Chacón-Cruz as Roméo star in Palm Beach Opera’s remarkable production of Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Read the review of the performance by clicking here.
(Photo: Chris Salata/Daily News)

"Palm Beach Opera announced a planned 2013 season Friday night contingent upon closing a deficit and fund-raising that has yet to materialize. The company continues to struggle with an ongoing deficit and reduced contributions from patrons. Next season Palm Beach Opera will move to a festival business model, with a more concentrated season running three months from January through March at the Kravis Center, which they hope will reduce expenses. Further, the company will inaugurate an association with Lynn University and also offer a variety of opera performances throughout Palm Beach County. The season will open in January with Verdi’s La Traviata. Rossini’s La Cenerentola will follow in February with Richard Strauss’s Salome closing the season in March. Casting details are yet to be announced. The company will also mount a fully staged production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw featuring the company’s young artists at Lynn University’s Wold Performing Arts Center in Boca Raton. Other off-site festival events include a free outdoor concert performance of Bizet’s Carmen at the Meyer Amphitheater in West Palm Beach and a gala concert in Palm Beach. Details of the season were announced by company general director Daniel Biaggi at Friday’s opening-night performance of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette at the Kravis Center." [Source]

When in Doubt, Send a Soprano In To Do a Home Depot Job

2012-02-25T23:29:00.000-05:00

Gary Karr with his instrument

"Double bass virtuoso Gary Karr has played in all of the world's great concert halls, from La Scala in Italy to the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Royal Albert Hall in London. Karr and pianist Harmon Lewis - his partner in life as well as on stage - have entertained audiences throughout the Middle East, in Russia, Japan, North and South America, Europe and Asia. But their favourite concert hall is the one they created in their three-storey, cliff-side home in Victoria....To create an acoustically superb space, they brought the walls in slightly and angled them so there would be no echo. 'You need to bend walls so there are no parallel surfaces,' said Lewis, who has a doctorate in organ music. They also added mirrors to enhance the lively sound. The storage-room ceiling was unfinished. 'It was a very unfriendly room,' Karr said. To solve the problem, the homeowners created an accordion ceiling and covering it with multi-coloured floor tiles. 'Home Depot didn't have enough of any one colour to do the ceiling and the floor, so we made a rainbow room,' Karr said with a chuckle. Montreal-born soprano Pierrette Simoneau, who formed Opera Piccola in Victoria in 1982, helped choose the tile colours." [Source]

Verdi's "Aida" Hits Royal Albert Hall in London

2012-02-25T23:06:00.000-05:00

"'Set amid the ruins of ancient Egypt,' promised the fliers. The impresario Raymond Gubbay has achieved many feats in his 45 years in showbiz but transporting the city of Thebes or the Temple of Vulcan to the Royal Albert Hall is not yet one. But he's had a darned good try in his latest opera-in-the-round blockbuster, Verdi's Aida, directed by Stephen Medcalf and designed by Isabella Bywater, which opened to a packed Royal Albert Hall last Thursday....In the first of three casts the Italianate-sounding American Marc Heller, making his UK operatic debut as Radames, was alone in seeing the point of vowels and consonants. He scaled 'Celeste Aida' with assurance and acted with the right kind of arms-akimbo gestures needed for this space. In the title role of the Ethiopian slave girl, Indra Thomas was sympathetic and looked magnificent but was off form vocally, struggling with top notes throughout. Claire Rutter and Catrin Aur, both strong performers, share the role for remaining performances. Some of the cameo roles were well taken and musical standards otherwise were high." [Source]

A Farewell: Last Performance of Elizabeth Connell (1947-2012)

2012-02-25T22:52:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth Connell, 65, of London, a South African-born opera singer who won global acclaim, died Feb. 18 of cancer. She debuted at Ireland's Wexford Festival in 1972 and did both mezzo and dramatic soprano roles. She had a long association with Opera Australia and the English National Opera, and she performed on major stages including the Bayreuth festival in Germany, Metropolitan Opera in New York and La Scala in Milan. [Source] Read more at the New York Times by clicking here.

The Metropolitan Opera 2012-13 Official Season Brochure

2012-02-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

Now available online, click here to view the whole season brochure complete with videos of Bartlett Sher, David McVicar, Robert Lepage, David Alden and more, discussing their respective new works. Also included are photos of the performers in costume for their roles next year.

Renée Fleming Talks About the Germination of Her LOC Role

2012-02-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

2012-02-20T12:30:00.005-05:00

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Elisabeth Söderström

2012-02-13T12:30:00.008-05:00

Sensational Pop Star Whitney Houston Dies at 48

2012-02-11T21:31:00.000-05:00

Madonna Pays Homage to the Operatically Scaled "Cleopatra"

2012-02-06T23:18:00.000-05:00

Click the above image to launch a scene from the 1963 film featuring opera-friendly Elizabeth Taylor under-dubbed by "Vogue." Check out a comparison image of Madonna from the Super Bowl XVLI on Sunday, after the jump.

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Anna Moffo

2012-02-06T12:30:00.009-05:00

Portrait of the Day: Petra Lang

2012-02-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

Check out the article posted by Una Voce Poco Fa about the mezzo-soprano Petra Lang. The image below is taken from the article.

"Il Trovatore" at the Wichita Grand Opera Garners Praise

2012-02-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

Bulgarian soprano Zvetelina Vassileva

"Manrico, the Troubadour, was played admirably at the last minute by tenor Michael Wade Lee, who had sung the role in the fall with the Lyric Opera in Dublin. The roll [sic] of Lenora was played by Zvetelina Vassileva. Vassileva possesses a voice with great tonal flexibility and she was able to display great tenderness and utter pathos; her coloratura tones were breathtaking. Baritone Michael Nansel’s Count di Luna also displayed a great vocal and emotional power making his character compelling and believable. Suzanne Hendrix powerfully dispatched her role as the most disturbed and disturbing mother since Shakespeare’s Gertrude, mother of Hamlet. The famous Anvil Chorus, gloriously staged, was strongly performed, but other choruses were plagued by weak diction and ensemble, particularly the chorus of nuns in Act II. The cast and orchestra were guided masterfully through the twists and turns of the score by music director Steven Mercurio. Mercurio’s clear, confident approach to the score made for a well-paced performance. Aside for some tuning challenges between sections, the playing of the orchestra was committed and very good." [Source]

Benedict Andrews Moves "Figaro" to a Gated Community

2012-02-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Joshua Bloom, Benedict Andrews, and Taryn Fiebig, at the Sydney Opera House
(Photo: Nikki Short/The Australian)

"Oxygen masks, walking frames and maids in starched uniforms are not normally associated with Mozart's 18th-century opera The Marriage of Figaro. But in director Benedict Andrews's imagination, these touches are a way to bring European feudal society crashing through the centuries into modern times. One of Australia's most accomplished theatre makers, Andrews is staging his first opera here after a false start two years ago. His production of Figaro was slated for 2010 but Opera Australia postponed it amid box-office fears and a $900,000 deficit. In the meantime, Andrews made his opera debut with a London production of The Return of Ulysses. 'I'm getting my first big drug hits as an opera addict,' he said before a rehearsal yesterday at the Sydney Opera House. Andrews has transferred Figaro from an 18th-century manor in Seville to a modern gated community to make clear tensions between characters of different social classes. 'This milieu, the framing device of the gated estate, there's nothing that radical about it,' he said. 'It's a simple transposition to a plausible present. 'The opera is about forms of love, forms of desire . . . but they are associated with class and politics and who has what, who gets what, who wants what.' The action begins with a young couple on their wedding day, Figaro and Susanna, and the threat of their aristocratic master, the Count, to exercise the droit du seigneur: the mythical right of a feudal lord to take a subordinate girl's virginity." [Source] For more about performance dates and purchasing ticket prices, click here.

"Dueling Divas" at the Waldorf Astoria Viennese Opera Ball

2012-02-05T23:44:00.000-05:00

"The 57th annual Viennese Opera Ball at the Waldorf Astoria was a fair full of random cast members. Beauty queens, 'Project Runway' and 'Dancing with the Stars' alumni, West Point cadets and a biochemical scientist were all partying with the Austrian-American blue bloods at the anticipated white-tie event. Renate Brauner, vice mayor of Vienna, was the guest of honor. 'To be honest, I don't attend many balls in Austria,' said Ms. Brauner. 'But I've also never been to Brooklyn until this trip.' Perhaps because the cheapest ticket cost about $975, the entertainment portion was very elaborate. Two separate horse-drawn carriages were called to duty, transporting the evening's 'Dueling Divas,' a duo of Metropolitan Opera singers, Cynthia Sieden and Amy Shoremount-Obra. They arrived at the ball in fancy equestrian transportation, giving each other icy stares while their ponies circled the ballroom. They were acting out a diva rivalry as part of the evening's theme, while pretending to compete in a role in Mozart's The Impresario. Even though the script was camp, guests ate it up." [Source] One more photo of the divas after the jump.

Renée Fleming Wows New Jersey Audiences in Concert

2012-02-05T23:25:00.001-05:00

La Fleming at the New Jersey Performing Arts
Center (Photo: Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)

"With an album simply titled 'The Beautiful Voice' among her many recordings, Renée Fleming may be first recognized for the sheer quality of her sound. And audiences at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Sunday had ample opportunities to soak in that plush, opulent soprano. But while in fine form, Fleming made an impact with more than her musicianship. Throughout her performance with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra under music director Jacques Lacombe, she was a warm, gracious presence. With infectious enthusiasm, she invited listeners into her world. She shared her affection for greatest hits arias as though they were new, and succinctly touted the virtues of lesser-known works." [Source]

Super Bowl XLVI Commercials Offer Up Some Verdi and Rossini

2012-02-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

Marie-Nicole Lemieux Sings Berlioz, Wagner, and Mahler

2012-02-03T23:37:00.001-05:00

Click image to purchase the recording

"As one of the cruel realities of competition, the winners switch from glory to complete oblivion after a few ephemerous mediatic sparks. When Marie-Nicole Lemieux won the Queen Elisabeth Singing Competition in 1998, nobody knew she would become the contralto of her generation, and nobody knew - even if many guessed at it - that she would become one of the most versatile singers imaginable as well as a first-class tragedian. In August 2000 the producers of Cypres were the first to offer her a recital with the pianist Daniel Blumenthal. Programmed was nothing less than Les Nuits d'été, the Wesendonck and the Rückert-lieder - three cycles of lieder counted among the most intense of the repertory. The calm trembling of the contralto in Berlioz, its poignant dignity in Mahler and its heightened expression in Wagner made this record into an undeniable commercial and artistic success. More than ten years have passed since; Marie-Nicole Lemieux today appears on the biggest stages in the world, and this "historic" record reminds us that even at the beginning of her career, the singer from Quebec was already the genius performer we know today." [Source]

"Le Cerisaie" Does Not Succeed in Blossoming at Palais Garnier

2012-02-03T23:25:00.000-05:00

Elena Kelessidi as Madame Lyuba Ranyevskaya in the Philippe Fenelon opera La Cerisaie adapted from Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard. (Photo: Andrea Messana/Opera de Paris)

"What were they thinking of? There is so much that is bafflingly wrong with Philippe Fénelon’s new opera – score, libretto and staging – that it is hard to know where to begin. But let’s start with the choice of Chekhov, hardly an obvious option even if the dominant introspective tone in his plays should appeal strongly to contemporary opera composers’ aversion to eventful narrative. Fénelon’s often dirge-like score – steeped as usual in Berg but this time heavy with quotes from Russian music – adds insult to injury with aggressive, overwritten orchestration. It too often seems geared to Dostoyevskian angst or a Solzhenitsyn gulag and jars with a fin-de-race family weighing its memories and confronting the end of an era. Even leavened with traditional lullabies and harmonious choruses – but also an embarrassing lift from Verdi’s Masked Ball on the feeble grounds that this is the act where the ball takes place – it is still an exhausting onslaught on the ears. Georges Lavaudant’s staging and Jean-Pierre Vergier’s glacial, hideous sets and costumes deliver the coup de grâce. Lavaudant works hard to outbid Fénelon with corny ideas. Monologues are swamped in useless background agitation; a ballerina flutters on so often, she seems to be justifying her fee, while a chorus of babushka peasants is handled with comical woodenness." The singing was apparently very good, click here for the rest of the review. [Source]

Fancy Men's Footwear Making Its Way to the Opera

2012-02-03T23:09:00.000-05:00

Behold the Christian Louboutin "Mikarani" opera slipper: $2,195

"Opera pumps, evening slippers, court shoes — all are fairly off-putting, emasculating names for the footwear that made its way down many runways during the recent men’s shows in Europe. A more user-friendly term might be evening slip-ons. Those prim, shiny black-patent shoes, traditionally finished with grosgrain ribbon and worn to the opera and other after-five affairs, have been transformed into red-carpet walkers ornately decorated with embroidery, tassels, metal studs, glitter and prints. Dries van Noten chose sleek brown pony and black astrakhan for his version. Almost every single pair of shoes that walked down the Etro runway was a slip-on that was either jacquarded, paisleyed, embroidered or feathered. Jimmy Choo’s hyper elegant and wildly expanding men’s line has so many varieties of
their evening shoe, the Sloane, that is seems almost a wardrobe staple — leopard prints, studded stars and a house-designed 'porno camo' are just some of what’s offered. Sarah Burton’s rich, dandified Alexander McQueen collection, with its Prince of Wales plaids, trompe l’oeil moiré and knickered suits, had an elegant evening outfit in black and white with a shoe embroidered with such large white roses they looked life-sized. Tom Ford, ever the night bird, has shown elegant evening shoes in his line from the get go: rich velvets ready for a monogram and extravagant brocades, some with slinky tassels. Perfect for a handsome Beverly Hills house husband. And Christian Louboutin, who presented his growing men’s line in Paris, added some more slip-ons in velvet with studded cap toes and a properly regal crest. Given the recent stateside popularity of the espadrille, and similar styles by Toms Shoes, the evening slip-on has big potential for a life outside the opera house. Say, with a pair of worn in, rolled-up jeans and a simple white shirt? I’m in." [Source]

Rolando Villazón Re-emerges With New DG "Werther"

2012-02-02T23:34:00.000-05:00

Click on image to order the new Werther recording

Brigitte Nielsen und Roger Moore beim Wiener Opernball

2012-02-02T23:26:00.000-05:00

"Vom Dschungelcamp zum Opernball: Die dänische Schauspielerin Brigitte Nielsen ist einer der Stars beim diesjährigen Wiener Opernball. Gemeinsam mit 'James Bond'-Darsteller Roger Moore wird Nielsen auf Einladung des österreichischen Bauunternehmers Richard 'Mörtel' Lugner das Fest besuchen, wie Lugner verkündete. Die 48-jährige Ex-Frau von Hollywood-Star Sylvester Stallone erklärte, sie freue sich schon darauf, nach Wien zu kommen. Nielsen war vergangene Woche bei der jüngsten Staffel des RTL-Dschungelcamp zur Dschungelkönigin gekrönt worden. Der österreichische Bauunternehmer Lugner holt alljährlich Stars und Sternchen zum Opernball nach Wien, die ihn bei dem Society-Ereignis begleiten. So waren unter anderem Hollywood-Star Sophie Loren, Baywatch-Nixe Pamela Anderson oder US-Schauspielerin Andie MacDowell Gäste in seiner Loge. Im vergangenen Jahr hatte Lugner die im Sex-Skandal um Italiens Ex-Regierungschef Silvio Berlusconi bekannt gewordene Karima El Mahroug alias Ruby mit auf den Ball genommen." [Source]

Marina Poplavskaya Fails to Impress at Tchaikovsky Hall

2012-02-02T23:07:00.000-05:00

"In the Tchaikovsky Hall was a concert soprano Marina Poplavskaya - the one most quoted is online famous western scenes of domestic divas. The singer appeared with the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater....Less glossy hype than for La Netrebko, but it is really impressive demand, as well as an intriguing versatility, declared from the very beginning. Belkantovye queens of Donizetti and Verdi's dramatic party, Rimsky-Korsakov and Puccini, and another drop of the Baroque (she sang with Theodore Currentzis Belinda in Dido and Aeneas Purcell) and a bit of Wagner (Third Norn in Götterdämmerung). In short, nothing prima donna assoluta, for which there is neither repertory nor tessitura obstacles. But the launch of its present-day Moscow concert discouraged. The impression of Matilda's aria from Guillaume Tell Rossini singer greased colorful tone unstrung, hacking, and top notes of muffled sounds. Well, let's not raspelas, but then there was another smash hit once, and now a rarity - Isabella's cavatina from Robert le diable Meyerbeer, where no qualitative leap has not happened. For Marina Poplavskaya is not a problem of depth and penetrating power, it is beautiful sound and Mills parades elegant pianissimo, it is in the middle of the range is really memorable, entailing the nobility of tone, in addition, it is artistically without affectation, and enumerates the styles with adequate certainty. However, the picture of undisputed maestro of all this is in no way willing to take shape. Perhaps the best were two imposing Verdi Room, "Toi qui sus le neant" Elizabeth, from Don Carlos and the final scene of Desdemona

from Otello. Also not ideal - in Elizabeth ever did, and yell, and dilute the persistent tone portamento, but still the character of the party is clearly more comfortable for her. But Desdemona (by Marina Poplavskaya in 2008 sang with Riccardo Muti in Salzburg) has turned out much closer to the model - and not just pure technique, and even that little old-fashioned, but beautifully made until nuance little things 'Theatre,' which stood out in the vocals. Ironically, the last Russian disappoint prepared block. If a small aria from Francesca Francesca da Rimini, Rachmaninoff's lack of warming up and prunes phrasing looked more likely reason for the arraignment, the scene of writing is objectively Tatiana was annoyed at that: in the interpretation of the singer's spectacular, but heavy, sounded appeared out of nowhere constraint , the lack of organic and elemental tonal clarity. Speak in such cases, the general words about the lack of good schools, which theoretically could result in malfunctioning vocal and worse - the last thing, but there's one, and in addition to logic-chopping can judge the taste that ultimately outweighs: spontaneous, natural shades of a rare game, but not completely faceted voice or is it carefully, uniformity and orderliness." [Source]

First Time on CD: Janet Baker in Walton's "Troilus and Cressida"

2012-02-01T23:54:00.000-05:00

Click the image to purchase the EMI Classics box set.

Kelly Kaduce Talks Baby and "Butterfly" in Portland

2012-02-01T23:41:00.000-05:00

"Making predictions about musical performances is a fool's errand, as much as handicapping presidential primaries or the Super Bowl. But it's safe to say that Portland Opera's Madame Butterfly, which opens Friday night at Keller Auditorium, promises greatness, not least because it features one of the most appealing and acclaimed singers the company has brought in recent years. A winner of the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, rising star soprano Kelly Kaduce made her Portland Opera debut two seasons ago as Mimi in La Bohème, her signature role. 'It was Kelly Kaduce, who sang Mimi with gorgeous, open lyricism, who made the magic happen,' wrote The Oregonian's David Stabler, echoing the buzz around the performance. It's easy enough to point to good reviews; anyone singing at Kaduce's level with a halfway decent publicist can produce loads of them. But her press is noteworthy for the effusive praise she inspires even while performing two of the most well-worn roles in opera -- Mimi and Cio-Cio San, the title role of Butterfly -- and especially for critics' unanimity over finer points of her vocal beauty and control, the nuances of her acting and the strength she brings to characters distinguished principally by their vulnerability. Kaduce returns to Portland 10 months after having her first child. In a conversation last week in which she was as bright and focused as her high register, she mentioned how the physical experience of pregnancy and motherhood affected her vocally. 'Certainly I felt some changes,' she said, adding with a laugh that 'the support comes so much more easily when your abdomen is distended.' After taking four months off around the time of the birth, she said she is still rebuilding her stamina but feels that her voice has gained some fullness." [Source]

Major Landmark Soprano Camilla Williams Dies at 92

2012-02-01T23:29:00.000-05:00

"Camilla Williams, the first black woman to appear in a leading role with a major US opera company has died in Indiana aged 92. She had been suffering from cancer, according to Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where Williams became the first black professor of voice. The singer made her debut in May 1946 in the title role of Madam Butterfly with the New York City Opera. She also became a strong advocate for civil rights. 'It's impossible to overstate how important that was for the music scene in New York, for African-American singers, and for American singers,' F Paul Driscoll, the editor-in-chief of Opera News, told the Washington Post. Williams' debut performance came nearly nine years before Marian Anderson became the first African-American singer to appear at New York's more prestigious Metropolitan Opera. A New York Times review of Williams at the time, said the singer displayed 'a vividness and subtlety unmatched by any other artist who has assayed the part here in many a year.' The following year she performed the role of Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme and in 1948 she sang the title role of Verdi's Aida. In 1951 she sang the title female role in first complete recording of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess." [Source]

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Helena Juntunen

2012-01-30T12:30:00.006-05:00

Vivica Genaux to Give "Pyrotechnics" Concert in Kansas City

2012-01-24T11:52:00.000-05:00

Firework Starter (Photo: Christian Steiner)

"Mezzo-Soprano Vivica Genaux and Europa Galante chamber orchestra will celebrate Vivaldi with a 'Pyrotechnics' concert at 8 p.m. Friday, February 3, at the Folly Theater (12th and Central Sts.) in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Vivica Genaux, the dazzling and theatrically engaging mezzo-soprano, joins forces with conductor Fabio Biondi and the Italian chamber orchestra Europa Galante, acclaimed for revolutionary and passionate performances of Baroque and Classical works. The evening’s concert, 'Vivaldi Pyrotechnics,' is fashioned after the heralded Virgin Classics album of Vivaldi’s arias recorded by Genaux and Europa Galante, and nominated for the 2011 Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Performance. Tickets for the 'Vivaldi Pyrotechnics' concert are priced $20, $40, $45, $55, and $65, and can be ordered online at http://hjseries.org link or by phone at 816-415-5025." [Source]

Cabaret Star Meow Meow Struts Her Stuff For Australian Vogue

2012-01-24T11:14:00.000-05:00

Feminine Feline: Meow Meow (Photo: Karl Giant)

"Performance artist Meow Meow gives the traditional fairytale Little Match Girl a cabaret twist. She’s sold out shows in the West End, at Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House. David Bowie, Mikhail Baryshnikov and dance legend Pina Bausch all selected her to be part of their festivals. She sings, dances, tours and is recording an album. So does highly acclaimed cabaret artist Meow Meow ever have a quiet night in? 'Yes, I remember one,' she says, fluttering her thick lashes and pressing a finger to her cheek. 'Gosh, it must have been back in 1956.' The witty and deliciously vampy Meow is back in town for her new show Little Match Girl at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre. It will not, however, be a traditional rendition of the Christmas fairytale. 'In my mind what I’ve got is a collision of things, European fairytales in the snow and the ice with a really hot bushfire poem country – that’s sort of my starting point,' she declares. Meow seems to have been neatly slotted into the current cabaret revival, but her work is more far reaching than that. 'I see it as performance art,' she says, sipping her champagne cocktail. 'Definitely music/ dance/theatre: it’s a hybrid.' She laughs. 'It’s about triggering as many sensitivities of the audience as possible, so doing it visually, aurally, [with] smell as you go.'" [Source] Watch a clip of the chanteuse in action (even an operatic vocal bit...) in a video after the jump.

2005 "Batman Begins" Features "Mefistofele" in Opera Scene

2012-01-24T00:24:00.000-05:00

The 2005 Christopher Nolan film Batman Begins features a scene with the young Bruce Wayne attending the opera with his parents (just before they are murdered...). The excerpt is "Folletto!...Folletto!" from Boito's Mefistofele and is performed by Norman Treigle, Ambrosian Opera Chorus and The London Symphony Orchestra under conductor Julius Rudel. You can buy the complete recording here. See a video clip of the scene by clicking on the above photo. [Source]

Philip Glass Fusion Work "Les Enfants Terrible" Hits Raleigh

2012-01-23T23:47:00.000-05:00

A scene from Les Enfants Terrible (Photo: Elisabeth Carecchio)

"Les Enfants Terribles is a fusion of opera and ballet by Philip Glass; the last in a trilogy of such hybrids based on the works of Jean Cocteau. Premiered in 1996, it was staged at Raleigh's Fletcher Opera Theater last week in honor of the composer's 75th birthday, with a French libretto and English narration and supertitles. Drawing talent from the NC Opera and Carolina Ballet, with new choreography and direction by Robert Weiss, the sold-out Sunday matinee was a crowd-pleasing, if muddled, enchantment. The music was a constant highlight. For 'hypnotically snowy,' you'd have to call John Luther Adams to top Philip Glass, who could turn a phone-book recitation into a magical dream-world. Three pianists—one of whom, Wilson Southerland, was also the conductor—provided grinding ostinati and twinkling arpeggios pocked with ominously thundering chords, and I admired the players for finding their entry cues in the lean, repetitive music. The voices occasionally struggled to project over the pianos, but all the principals gave strong performances: baritone Timothy McDevitt, as a vulnerable yet blustery Paul, especially gave me chills at the moments of greatest rapture, though the singer/dancer pair that played Lise (soprano Jessica Cates and Lara O'Brien, respectively) earned the heartiest ovation. The spiraling climax left me breathless, at least, repaying the rough or confusing passages along the way." [Source]

Supreme Court Copyright Decision Shouldn't Affect Classics

2012-01-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

Opera-loving Justice Ginsburg

"Established opera companies and symphonies should not be hurt seriously by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week upholding a law that moved the work of composers such as Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitry Shostakovich from the public domain to copyright protection. Timothy O'Leary, general director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, said in an interview, 'It is possible that (the decision) will add some additional costs but not substantially.' O'Leary said that about one of Opera Theatre's four productions each season is under copyright, but that 'we don't make decisions about what operas to perform' based on whether royalties are due. In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not violate the First Amendment by taking works in the public domain and placing them under copyright protection. Works in the public domain may be performed without royalties, while copyright protection requires royalties. The law that the court upheld extended copyright protection to works of foreign artists from the early 20th century who created their works at a time when U.S. law did not provide them with copyright protection. In addition to Russian composers such as Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Igor Stravinsky, the law also applied to paintings by Pablo Picasso, movies by Alfred Hitchcock and books by authors such as C.S. Lewis and Virginia Woolf." [Source] Check out two pictures of Justice Ginsburg in more operatic settings after the jump.

Ginsburg with Renée Fleming

Ginsburg with Patricia Racette

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Ute Trekel-Burckhardt

2012-01-23T12:30:00.008-05:00

La mezzo-soprano belge Rita Gorr est décédée

2012-01-22T14:46:00.001-05:00

The late mezzo-soprano with conductor Georges Prêtre. Visit the artist's birthday tribute with sound clips by clicking here.

"C'est une grande dame du chant, la mezzo-soprano belge Rita Gorr dont nous avons appris le décès survenu en Espagne ce dimanche. Elle est née en 1926 à Zelzate, au nord de Gand où elle a fait ses adieux en 2007. Un tempérament que l'on peut mettre au niveau de la Callas. Pour Manu Couvreur, l'auteur de référence pour l'histoire de l'opéra à La Monnaie, 'c'est certainement l'une des plus grandes chanteuses belges qui n'ait jamais existé et sans doute l'une des plus grandes mezzos qui n'ait jamais existé, non seulement Belge, mais étrangère", relève-t-il. C'est quelqu'un qui a fait une carrière exceptionnelle en Belgique, mais aussi à Paris et puis au Metropolitan à Chicago, à Beyrouth.' 'C'est quelqu'un qui a réussi à se faire un nom aussi bien dans Wagner que dans Verdi' explique Manu Couvreur qui souligne la puissance de la voix de Rita Gorr, 'les murs de La Monnaie tremblaient, quand Rita Gorr chantait, c'était extrêmement impressionnant !'" [Source]

Alexis Weissenberg (July 26, 1929 – January 8, 2012)

2012-01-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

Musical video tributes (including Nicolai Gedda and Montserrat Caballé) to the late pianist after the jump.

When Record Companies Lavished Consumers With Luxury

2012-01-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

Check out this listing on eBay for a box-set LP recording of Le Nozze di Figaro that comes with complete vocal score to the opera! Once CD production came into being, the consumer was lucky to get liner notes. Now with MP3 format, it seems as though it is better that the public knows as little about the recording or performers as humanly possible. And if you want a libretto while listening to the opera? Well, you'll have to sit at your computer to see it on screen for the duration. Two more pics after the jump.

Hot Photo of the Day: Luciano Pavarotti Teases Renata Scotto

2012-01-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

"Tenor Luciano Pavarotti indulges in a little horse play as he licks the shoulder of soprano Renato Scotto 10/31/1976 at Carnegie Hall memorial concert tribute to the late Metropolitan Opera star Richard Tucker. Concert was to provide funds for memorial foundation in Tucker's name."

Renée Fleming: Decca Cover Art 15 Years Later

2012-01-20T22:43:00.000-05:00

America's diva is back with an up-do (reminiscent of her 1997 Schubert release) for her latest CD release on Decca titled Poèmes and features the music of Messiaen, Ravel and Dutilleux. A description and release date follow the photos:

"Voici le très attendu nouvel album de Renée Fleming, consacré exclusivement à la musique française. La soprano Américaine enregistre pour la première fois l'une des oeuvres les plus sensuelles du XXè siècle français : Shéhérazade de Maurice Ravel. Elle interprète également un véritable tour de force vocal : les Poèmes pour mi, chansons d'amour qu'Olivier Messiaen avait composées pour sa jeune épouse. Découvrez également en première mondiale Le Temps l'horloge d'Henri Dutilleux, dédié à Renée Fleming. En complément, le compositeur a orchestré spécialement pour cet album deux sonnets de Jean Cassou, qui ont été enregistrés en sa présence." According to Amazon France, the release date is February 20, 1912.

New Release Box-Sets: Elly Ameling and Kathleen Ferrier

2012-01-18T22:22:00.002-05:00

Click on specific image to purchase the box-set.

Alfie Boe Talks Being Naked For "La Traviata" in Wales

2012-01-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

Do you keep fit at all?

I do, yeah. Doing Les Misérables is quite a workout in itself but when I’m not doing the show I usually spend time in the gym and go swimming. At one point, I did a lot of weights and was taking all the protein shakes and the supplements and I put on a lot of weight. I became really sort of muscle-bound. I was working out for a show because I had to take my clothes off in La Traviata.

What? All your clothes?

Yeah, for the dress rehearsal the director wanted me to be stark naked on stage. It was OK. I built myself up to it and did it for the dress rehearsal and the audience went crazy, it was really weird. I got so many whoops, whistles, gasps and intakes of air that they actually cut the scene. So in the end, I just took my shirt off and kept my trousers on. It was an amazing experience though. Whenever I did do it the wings were full. And I didn’t mind.

So this was full frontal?

Full-frontal, yeah. It was a bit scary. And a bit stupid, I don’t know (laughs). But I’m pretty happy with my manhood so…
[Source]

Julie Taymor's "Magic Flute" Down Under With Australian Opera

2012-01-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

"Julie Taymor's renowned and fanciful production of The Magic Flute, which originated late in 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera New York, arrived triumphantly at the Sydney Opera House on January 6. Impressively reconstructed locally and directed by Matthew Barclay, it inaugurated a Mozart-intensive Opera Australia summer holiday season. While this Flute is memorable for its innovative good humour and often cartoonish design touches, its premiere under the baton of Jonathan Darlington was only very intermittently anything like as impressive musically. Its vocal apex was Emma Pearson’s pretty well impeccable assault on the Queen of the Night’s second aria. Andrew Brunsdon’s Tamino improved as the evening wore on. Andrew Jones never quite managed to creep convincingly inside Papageno’s happy-go-lucky shoes, but David Parkin was a reasonably sonorous Sarastro and Nicole Car a pleasing Pamina. This is the abridged family version of Taymor’s production, so it is odd that only two of the 28 performances will be matinees." [Source]

Apple Opéra Ranks Among the 9 Most Innovative Stores

2012-01-18T21:02:00.000-05:00

"The Apple Opéra Store – facing the city’s famous Opera de Paris, is gorgeous and very Parisian. The location, which opened in 2010, features original décor from the bank that once occupied the space. Inside, carved wooden stairs with wrought-iron railings connect the floors, instead of Apple’s signature glass and chrome steps." [Source]

Samuel Ramey To Do Residency at Western Michigan University

2012-01-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

Samuel Ramey in his signature role of Attila

"Samuel Ramey, one of the biggest, well-known voices in the opera world will perform and share his knowledge at Western Michigan University next month. For more than three decades Ramey has been considered one of the top leading bass and bass-baritone performers in the world. He's appeared on the biggest stages, including Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera, and performed with the best orchestras, including the London Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic. Ramey will undertake a guest residency at the School of Music at WMU from Feb. 3-6, where he'll interact with students via a master class, Q&A session and private coaching, according to a press release from WMU. Ramey will perform a free concert with the University Symphony Orchestra and Collegiate Singers at 3 p.m. Feb. 5 at Miller Auditorium." [Source]

Lise Lindstrom Talks Nudity as Salome for San Diego Opera

2012-01-18T20:28:00.002-05:00

"At the cocktail party the other night, I can't remember who said it, but they told everyone, 'By the way, she takes all her clothes off.' I was, like, fabulous."

Nadja Michael in the Salome production at San Francisco Opera that Lise Lindstrom will do at the San Diego Opera beginning January 18, 2012 (Photo: Terrence McCarthy)

Read more of the interview with Lise Lindstrom and Greer Grimsley by clicking here. One more picture after the jump from the "Dance of the Seven Veils."

Measha Brueggergosman Talks About Having a Healthy Heart

2012-01-18T20:04:00.000-05:00

Measha Brueggergosman chats on Canada AM (click image to launch video)

Plácido Domingo Will Conduct Youth Orchestra in Harlem

2012-01-18T19:50:00.000-05:00

As if this guy does not do enough already! Well, good for him. "On Wednesday night, opera superstar Placido Domingo will spread the love of music to some of his youngest fans. He’ll take the stage with New York City school children in Harlem, where some of the kids are rehearsing for the performance of a lifetime. At PS-129, the top musicians from the Harmony Program are getting ready for Wednesday night’s big gala and their conductor will be Placido Domingo. 'I’m going to meet the most famous opera singer in the world and I’m going to be very happy to see him,' 9-year-old Johann Arias told CBS 2′s Cindy Hsu. Domingo is being honored Wednesday by the program that has nearly 100 students in Harlem and Brooklyn. They are learning about music 2 hours after school, 5 days a week. 'It’s not just about reading the notes on the page or playing a song on a stage. It’s really about teaching children the skills that they can apply to their academics,' Executive Director of the Harmony Program, Annie Fitzgibbon, said. 'Children through music learn how to focus, how to concentrate, how to work with others.'" [Source]

MET Sirius XM Radio Tonight: "Tosca"

2012-01-18T17:41:00.000-05:00

Listen to the Metropolitan Opera perform Puccini's Tosca live tonight at 8:00 PM EST on Sirius XM radio. Intermission guest: Anthony Roth Costanzo, Patricia Racette and Ferruccio Furlanetto.

Opera-Singing Beauty Pageant Contestant Wins Miss America

2012-01-17T12:00:00.002-05:00

Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler of Kenosha, Wisconsin

Age: 23
Education: St. Joseph High School | Carthage College
Platform Issue: Circles of Support-Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents
Scholastic Honors: Dean's List; Outstanding Senior Music Major Award,; Music Department Honor's Recital Participant
Career Ambition: To become a Speech Pathologist
"A college professor described the Kenosha native who is now Miss America as humble and genuine. Laura Kaeppeler was crowned Miss America 2012 on Saturday night in Las Vegas. She attended Carthage College in Kenosha, where she majored in music and vocal performance. She sang opera during the competition, where her platform was supporting and mentoring children of incarcerated parents. Carthage assistant professor Gregory Berg accompanied Kaeppeler to recitals as a pianist and worked with her in 2010 as the music director of The Magic Flute, where she was the lead soprano. He said she never craved the spotlight or attention and it was a challenge to get her more comfortable being on the stage." Check out her Miss America performance of "Il Bacio" by Luigi Arditi during the talent portion of the competition after the jump. [Source, Source]

Vacation Destination of Maria Callas and Mick Jagger in the 60s?

2012-01-17T11:29:00.000-05:00

"Spangled seas, hot sun, freshly-squeezed orange juice. There are few early morning pleasures quite so seductive, especially when it's miserable back in England.It is easy enough to find such joys in California, but that is an 11-hour flight and an eight-hour time change away. The beautiful little Moroccan port of Essaouira, with temperatures that do not drop much below 22c even in January, is California practically on our doorstep. The huge hotel rooms, the dazzling light, delicious food and the year-round sporty lifestyle catering for windsurfers, golfers, horse riding enthusiasts - everything smacks of Malibu this side of the Atlantic. But the town also has a fascinating history and such beautiful medieval architecture that it was used in Orson Welles's award-winning film of Othello. There is even an Orson Welles square. I have been going to Morocco ever since the early Sixties. The combination of lingering French sophistication from the days of the protectorate, the flavours of the hot African south, the geometric Arab designs coupled with the romance of the nomadic Berber tribes make it irresistible. I know this beautiful country from the writers' city of Tangiers, in the North, to Goulimine, the gateway to the Sahara, but I have come late to Essaouira, midway down on the Atlantic coast between Casablanca and Agadir. What a wonderful place to have saved till last. It was discovered in modern times by rich European hippies. Musicians from Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix to Maria Callas, came here in the Sixties to immerse themselves in the local beat." [Source] Looking for a place to stay in Essaouira? Check out the Maria Callas suite at the Riad Lotus O'Marine after the jump.

For more information about the hotel, click here.

What Do Opera Singers and Robots Have in Common?

2012-01-17T11:12:00.000-05:00

Female robot by Hajime Sorayama

"The charity Communication Matters estimates that there are more than 30,000 people in the UK who could benefit from speech-generating communication technology, although not all of them have access to it. This number is likely to increase as people with profound disabilities are living longer due to medical advances. However, it is hard for robotic voices to command listeners' attention for more than short periods of time and, given that the majority of users lack the advantage of being able to expound on the secrets of the cosmos, they are understandably keen to sound as realistic as possible. But, says Dr Christopher Newell of the School of Arts and New Media at the University of Hull, sounding more human isn't necessarily the answer. The science of robotics has found that when devices become too human-like, people's positive reactions quickly turn to feelings of deep unease and even revulsion, and he believes this may also apply to artificial voices attached to real people. The phenomenon has become know as the 'uncanny valley' syndrome, the 'valley' being the dip in a graph showing the range of human reactions to a robot, and has been put to good use in many a sci-fi film involving Stepford Wives-style androids. Newell believes that it may be more fruitful to focus on making synthesised speech more attractive to the ear rather than more realistic. 'It's about finding an acoustic formula that gives the feeling that a person is worth listening to,' he says. The former opera director is running a research project, in partnership with Newcastle and York universities, that aims to find out what synthetic-speech technology can learn from the voices of opera singers. 'The technology can potentially benefit from associating itself with the performing arts, where there is an understanding of voices. In opera, you're dealing with the extreme end of human vocal capability, yet the voice has a seductive emotional power. We're looking at whether there's anything we can extract from the acoustic features, or the content of an opera production, that we can bottle and pop into a speech synthesiser.' His research is focusing on a series of performances of Mozart's The Magic Flute, which he recently directed for Co‑Opera Co, a training company for young opera singers. The study used technology designed by digital interaction researchers from the School of Computing Science at Newcastle University, and was funded by the Research Council UK's Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy project. The aim was to isolate times during the performance when audience members felt the 'tingle factor' – those goosebumps moments, as when Pavarotti hits that top C at the end of Nessun Dorma." [Source]

Lady Gaga Ready to Present "Electro Pop Opera" Tour

2012-01-17T10:53:00.000-05:00

"Lady Gaga has described her forthcoming world tour as an 'electro pop opera.' The singer, who released her second album ‘Born This Way’ earlier last year, is reportedly planning to embark on a two-year tour. GaGa told her fans via Twitter: 'I'm drinking a beer looking over the new ball blueprints. I can't wait to throw this effen party. ELECTRO POP OPERA!' According to The Sun the singer wants to break U2's record for the highest grossing and most attended tour with a 450-date jaunt. A source told the paper: 'The Haus Of Gaga is taking things up a gear. She is planning to kick things off in Asia and India next year and go on a gruelling world tour. As is always the case with Gaga, the plans came to her in her sleep. She has a target of 450 dates. It has never been done before, but she doesn't think that's a reason not to try.'" [Source]

J. Rosalynn Smith-Clark Sings For Opera Noir

2012-01-17T10:46:00.000-05:00

"Opera Noir Presents Classical Soprano J. Rosalynn Smith-Clark in the West Coast Premier - 'Then Sings My Soul.' J. Rosalynn Smith-Clark, nationally recognized and highly acclaimed classical soprano, will grace the stage on February 3, 2012 at Beebe Memorial Cathedral, Oakland, CA in a staged concert performance of 'Then Sings My Soul.' This riveting 'site-specific' concert performance explores the role of faith and music in the African American journey towards social justice. Joining Ms. Smith-Clark in this much anticipated evening of song and oratorio, is award winning actor of stage and screen, Hawthorne 'Big Red; James. The concert performance of 'Then

Sings My Soul' on February 3, 2012, begins at 7:00 PM at Beebe Memorial Cathedral, located at 3900 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609."

Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.operanoir.org. For sponsorship, publicity and further information contact Glass House Communications at 510.691.8687 or yanad_burrell@glasshousepr.com.
[Source]

Opera Gaining New Audiences in Ankara, Turkey

2012-01-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

A scene from Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves at Ankara Opera

"A Western style of music is having success in the capital of Turkey, which has an Islamic majority and is moving away from the foundations that were laid by Ataturk: opera. Opera theatres are often sold out and ticket sales have increased. This trend was revealed by the Ankara State Opera and Ballet (ADOB), which underlines that the occupancy of theatres increased by 6% in the first half of this season (2011/12), when 36 thousand people saw a total of 68 highly appreciated performances. The season was opened by the ballet The Hunchback of Notre dame and continued with the Turkish opera Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, said ADOB
chairman Erdogan Davran. Davran added that a Tosca premiere was also on the programme (directed by Alessandro Cedrone and lighting by Stefano Pirandello). Opera in Turkey owes its success to the impulse it received from the founder of the modern country, Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk in fact loved this genre, despite the fact that he had opened the country to all Western arts in the fields of painting, sculpture, literature, music, ballet and theatre. He wanted to use culture to tie relations to the Western countries that had used Turkey as eastern bulwark against the Soviet Union for decades. After the fall of the Wall in 1989 and the start of the era of the moderate Islamic Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2003, Turkey started to reposition itself: from NATO guardian to a regional power that wants to become a model for the entire Middle East and North African area. Turkey's shift towards the Islamic world under the umbrella of a secular political constitution does not appear to have corroded the success of opera, at least according to the figures on this season in Ankara." [Source]

A scene from Macbeth at the Ankara Opera

MET Sirius XM Radio Tonight: "The Enchanted Island"

2012-01-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

Listen to the Metropolitan Opera perform The Enchanted Island live tonight at 8:00 PM EST on Sirius XM radio. Intermission guest: Eric Owens.

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Ann-Helen Moen

2012-01-16T12:30:00.009-05:00

Sony Classics Releases Live MET Operas, 5.0

2012-01-14T22:37:00.000-05:00

If you missed round one , two, three or four of the Metropolitan Opera archive performances being released on Sony Classical, time to catch up with the new releases! The latest round might as well be a dedication to Thomas Schippers who is conducting three of the latest editions. At budget prices, these should not be passed up.

Woody Allen Samples Mozart and Prokofiev in "Love and Death"

2012-01-14T00:43:00.000-05:00

The 1975 Woody Allen classic, Love and Death, features Mozart's overture from Die Zauberflöte playing during a scene at the opera. The film also makes heavy use of "Plescheyevo Lake" from Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky.

The Metropolitan Opera By Numbers in Fortune Magazine

2012-01-13T12:33:00.001-05:00

(Photo: Stephen Wilkes/Fortune magazine)

Fortune magazine writer Shelley DuBois takes a look at what the MET has been up to in terms of rejuvenating its brand. "When Peter Gelb, who had been an executive at Sony Classical records, took over in 2006 as general manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera, attendance was fading and the average age of ticket holders rising. Gelb brought in Broadway and West End directors, took chances on innovative, edgy works, and started beaming operas around the world in HD movie theaters. The result: a younger, broader audience and a record year financially for the world's biggest opera.

BY THE NUMBERS
57.7: The average age of audience members at performances in 2010, down from 60.4 in 2005, according to the Met.

$182 million: That's what the Met raised last fiscal year -- up 50% from the previous period. Board chair Ann Ziff and her family, heirs to the Ziff Davis publishing fortune, pledged $30 million.

1,700: The number of venues in 54 countries that will screen Met operas in HD this year. Some 8.5 million tickets have been sold so far. Last year HD produced $11 million in profits for the Met." [Source]

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Bente Vist

2012-01-09T12:30:00.003-05:00

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Galina Vishnevskaya

2012-01-02T12:30:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-01T21:39:00.001-05:00

To all the wonderful readers who follow this blog for entertainment and learning new things, a special thank you and happy new year! Opera Fresh will be on holiday until January 9, at which time postings will resume. Be sure to check out the blogs on the right to stay in the opera loop. Cheers!

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Gwyneth Jones

2011-12-25T12:30:00.001-05:00

At 65, José Carreras Thrives in Fundraiser for Foundation

2011-12-22T11:03:00.000-05:00

"'Over the past week I had concerts in Prague, Lugano, a gala on German TV to raise funds for my leukemia foundation, and on Sunday I had a Christmas concert in Milan. Then I have the most important 'project' of the year which is a few days of holiday with my family for Christmas,' Jose Carreras said speaking at a media conference in Moscow. The singer has visited Russia many times both with solo shows and together with other stars of opera. 'I’m very happy to be back in Moscow. It’s a treat for every artist to come to your country because of its incredible artistic and musical tradition. I have wonderful memories from my previous visits to Moscow. I performed in different venues from the Bolshoi Theatre to the Kremlin, to the House of Music. Here I’ve always been treated with affection and respect from the public. And this is a privilege for any artist,' he explained. This time the tenor performed together with Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko and maestro David Gimenez, Carreras’ nephew. The first half of the program featured classical operatic works, and the second half was dedicated to Christmas. 'It is a challenge for us as we have to go through many different styles,' says David Gimenez. During his previous visit in July Carreras had a chance to visit a hospital for children with Leukemia. His foundation was established following his own recovery from the disease in 1988. 'It is one of my goals, to be involved and to try to help fight leukemia.'" [Source] It is reported that the concerts in Germany raised $8.3 million. For more information and to make a donation, click here.

Stephanie Blythe Warms the Holidays in New Jersey Concert

2011-12-22T09:48:00.000-05:00

Blythe brought Brahms and Bizet
to West Side Presbyterian Church
in Ridgewood, New Jersey

"'Geistliches Wiegenlied,' a cradle song from the Virgin Mary’s point of view, not only showcased Blythe’s commanding instrument — the firm golden core, the round, earthy lower register — but also her impeccable phrasing. She and her chamber music partners gave a communicative account of the piece, conveying the mother’s anxiety as well as her affection....On the more technical side, it would have been helpful if song translations were handed out at the beginning of the concert, rather than after intermission. This made Blythe’s rendition of Brahms’ Eight Gypsy Songs less approachable than they might otherwise have been. While a consummate performer throughout, Blythe sounded just slightly worn in some of the more animated selections. Still, in an impassioned plea for kindness from a lover in 'Kommt dir manchmal in den Sinn,' the waves of abundant sound that poured forth and swelled at key moments mesmerized. The lively dance of 'Brauner Brusche,' a meeting between a gypsy boy and a blue-eyed girl, also charmed...The concert concluded with selections from Carmen: first an assured, playful 'Seguidilla' and then the ubiquitous 'Habanera,' which Blythe made her own. She drew the listeners in, hushing the final lines of verses, leaving one wanting more and letting out a full-force battle cry with the chorus’ refrain — 'If I love you, watch out.'" [Source]

Russian Opera Singer Maria Maksakova About to Get Political

2011-12-22T09:16:00.000-05:00

"While lacking any representatives of the liberal opposition, Russia's new parliament which met for the first time on Wednesday is packed with celebrities ranging from a Playboy cover girl to a tennis legend. The four factions with seats in the State Duma, especially the United Russia part of Vladimir Putin, have stepped up a tradition of encouraging household names to take seats in an apparent bid to give the chamber more appeal. How much impact they will have on political life remains to be seen, given celebrity MPs in the previous State Duma were criticised for showing little interest in policy and rarely showing up for debates....Opera singer Maria Maksakova is also taking a seat but there is no longer a place for Svetlana Zakharova, one of the world's most sought after ballerinas who in the last years juggled her political engagement with dancing commitments and giving birth." [Source] To learn more about Maria Maksakova, click here.

King Roger Pays a Visit to Kiev as Part of "I, CULTURE"

2011-12-22T08:56:00.000-05:00

Tenor Eric Cutler sings in Kiev

"The premiere of the concert performance of Karol Szymanowski’s opera Krol Roger (King Roger) finished the program I, CULTURE (organized by the Polish Institute in connection with Poland’s EU presidency), and became a significant event in Kyiv’s music season. The participants of this international creative project included the Symphony Orchestra of the National Opera of Ukraine, choir cappella Dumka, famous Polish singers Mikolaj Zalasinski (Roger II), Ivonna Hossa (Roxana), Carol Kozlowski (Edrisi), American Eric Cutler (Shepherd), Dumka soloists Oleksii Kriachun (Archbishop), and Tetiana Havrylenko (Deaconess). Polish conductor Michal Klauza was at the helm of the production....I want to emphasize the wonderful performance of very complicated vocal parts made by soloists and choir members of the cappella Dumka. Their voices are amazing! Tenor Eric Cutler who performed Shepherd’s part came specially to Kyiv from America for one soiree only, and early in the morning he is going back, because he has performances at Metropolitan Opera. Mikolaj Zalasinski’s (Roger) performance was very powerful, Ivonna Hossa created a very persuasive image of Roxana. Cappella Dumka and musicians of the Symphony Orchestra of the National Opera did really well." [Source]

Nothing To Do On Boxing Day? Watch "Hansël und Gretel"

2011-12-22T00:33:00.001-05:00

"Hänsel und Gretel isn't just Engelbert Humperdinck's most successful opera. It is also one of the most successful operas of all time. Premiered in 1893, the work was instantly labelled a "masterpiece" by its conductor Richard Strauss, even though it is a somewhat sanitised version of the Brothers Grimm original. Instead of an evil stepmother, as the Grimms have it, the children have a loving but scatty mother and a caring but drunken father. The opera also adds a creepy chorus of echoes to the forest scenes and 14 ballet-dancing angels, who create one of its most spinetingling moments, as the cossetingly somnolent music envelopes the children and helps them through their scary night in the wood. In Laurent Pelly's witty 2008 production for Glyndebourne, to be streamed by the Guardian for a whole week starting on Boxing Day, the tale becomes a gleefully ghoulish satire on consumerism, in which the forest is a maze of dead trees, devoid of any verdant softness. In a touch that feels all too relevant, Hänsel and Gretel's family are forced to live in a cardboard house following economic collapse; the Witch's gingerbread residence is a free-for-all supermarket; and the children who are freed at the end, after the Witch is thrown into her own ovens, are obese, having gorged themselves on the supermarket's high-sugar, high-fat goodies. Usually, there's a strong panto element to the portrayal of the Witch, but here the emphasis is on horror: Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke plays her as a murderous matriarch, sharpening her knife, stripping down to her underwear, revealing wisps of mouldy hair under her wig and a ladder of bodyhair rising up her abdomen." [Source] Watch a preview by clicking here.

Danielle de Niese Contemplates the Role of Music in Society

2011-12-20T13:07:00.000-05:00

Soprano advocating for the Arts

"There are so many serious issues affecting our nation and our world; from the Occupy Wall Street movement, to the Republican GOP nomination debates, the economic crisis in the Euro Zone, the uprisings in the Middle East, the moral tragedy of the little Chinese girl left to die on the road...So what on earth could an opera singer say that would have relevance for you and what you're going through at the moment? We can all afford to do a little soul-searching about the choices we make and the way we live our lives, but sometimes searching one's soul doesn't provide the answers we seek. I could ask myself, for example, why I work hard to bring music and opera to schoolkids who have yet to be exposed to classical music when there are so many bigger problems with our education system. With basic education budgets being chipped into all the time, should we care at all about getting kids to try classical music, which can seem so 'optional' in comparison to English or mathematics? I can only answer this question based on the influence of music in my own life, so for me, the answer is a resounding YES." Read the full article here.

Danielle was also named one of Marie Claire's "Women on Top Awards 2011." Check out the piece here.

Opera Singers Performing Christmas Favorites - Part 2

2011-12-20T09:41:00.000-05:00

"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"
"Coventry Carol"
Eileen Farrell

"White Christmas"
Thomas Hampson

"What Child is This"
Deborah Sasson

"In Dulci Jubilo"
Elly Ameling

"Panis Angelicus"
Luciano Pavarotti

"O Divine Redeemer!"
Renata Tebaldi

"The Trumpet Shall Sound"
Samuel Ramey

"It's the Most Wonderful
Time of the Year"
Plácido Domingo & Leona Mitchell

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
Maureen O'Flynn

"Abendsegen" and "Traumpantomime"
Anneliese Rothenberger & Irmgard Seefried

"Joy to the World" sung by Anna Moffo

Did North Korea Lose Their Leading Opera Composer?

2011-12-20T09:37:00.000-05:00

“Opera is the art of song, the art of action and the art of life.” Kim Jong Il

The North Korean Sea of Blood Opera Company, seen here on a tour to China, credits Mr. Kim
with helping to establish and direct productions.

Kim Jong-il (née Yuri Irsenovich Kim), the supreme leader of North Korea, died on December 17. He was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party since 1948, Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, and the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world. According to Kim's official biography, he composed six operas over two years and also enjoyed staging elaborate musicals. "In 1974 Kim wrote The Art of Opera, in which he set out his principals that Korean opera to be full of "stanzaic songs, which can be understood easily and loved by the people." He continues: "In conventional operas, the personalities of the characters were abstract, their acting clumsy, and the flow of the drama tedious." The book describes how Kim and his dad, the late Great Leader Kim Il Sung, took the husk of a tired art form and gave it a much-needed shot of North Korean communism. Similarly, in a speech to musicians in 1968, Kim

Opera composer and "Dear Leader"

said that music must serve the revolution and not be based on 'uproarious Western music.' Kim said he had initially thought that the song 'Kim Il Sung is our Sun' sounded good in D major. But his father steered him in the right direction, advising E major as better for expressing emotions richly. One of the final accounts of Kim’s musical side came in 2009 when the KCNA news agency reported that he assisted at the rehearsal of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at Pyongyang's conservatory, giving guidance to the director and performers. The Dear Leader praised the teachers’ and students’ efforts to perform an opera of high artistic value, and stressed that the Korean people should get a better understanding of world culture."

"In the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] there are five revolutionary operas, all created in the early 1970s, which have been termed in North Korea as ‘immortal classics.’ In order of production date these are Sea of Blood, The Flower Girl, A True Daughter of the Party, Tell O’ the Forest! and The Song of Mt. Kumgang." [Source, Source, Source, Source, Source]

Renée Fleming Takes Spain Audience on Emotional Rollercoaster

2011-12-19T22:58:00.000-05:00

Cargada de Emociones: Fleming in Spain
(Photo: Nacho Carretero)

"Dicen los especialistas que el canto implica dos centenas de los 250 músculos que cubren el esqueleto humano. Renée Fleming empleó ayer todos ellos para montar al público del Auditorio Miguel Delibes en una montaña rusa de emociones, con recorrido por la ensoñación, el amor, subida al misticismo haendeliano, caída libre por la alegría mozartiana, parada en la nube de Franck o en el conmovedor lamento de Cilea y salida cómica con La Boheme. La voz que resucita a Strauss desplegó un catálogo de obras con el que demostró su versatilidad y su buenhacer desde el barroco hasta la contemporaneidad. Nada parece resistírsele a la estadounidense. La acompañaba en la exhibición un director con el que ya hizo una gira en 2010, Miguel Harth-Bedoya. El maestro dirigió con mimo y brío a la Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, que se puso al servicio de la diva. La obertura de La escuela del escándalo, de Barber, fue la pieza instrumental con la que comenzó el concierto. Harth-Bedoya es una batuta querida por los músicos de la OSCyL. Los hilos invisibles que mueven los brazos del director, tirando ora de los violines, ora de las trompas o la percusión, se acompañan en este caso de expresivos gestos con la cara y el cuerpo. Solo el frac calla en el porte del peruano, que llega a lanzar besos a los músicos para aprobar una interpretación. De Barber a Strauss, pasando por el cinematográfico Herrmann y sus 'Cumbres borrascosas'. Fleming declamó los sueños de Catherine Earnshaw y luego los deseos de Cleopatra. Pero fue con Arabella con la que estranguló cualquier despiste del respetable. Había propina de Strauss para esta primera parte, 'Morgen', un lied cebo que bien podría traducirse en un programa monográfico de las 'Cuatro canciones finales' del alemán para la próxima temporada." [Source]

Anne Hathaway Fashioning a Callas Air in New Batman Film

2011-12-19T21:07:00.001-05:00

Whether she is supposed to be channeling Maria Callas or Audrey Hepburn, this image of Anne Hathaway from the new Batman film, Dark Knight Rises, definitely is a throwback to late 1950's. Check out a photo comparison with Callas and see the movie trailer after the jump.

Opera Singers Performing Christmas Favorites - Part 1

2011-12-19T09:44:00.000-05:00

"Stille Nacht"
Dawn Upshaw with Chanticleer

"Still, still, still"
Bryn Terfel

"He Shall Feed His Flock"
"Come Unto Him"
Barbara Bonney

"O, Holy Night"
Denyce Graves

"In the Bleak Midwinter"
Kiri Te Kanawa & Roberto Alagna

"Mary Had a Baby"
Kathleen Battle

"Die Heiligen Drei Könige"
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

"Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"
Renée Fleming

"O Tännenbäum"
Leontyne Price

"The Virgin's Slumber Song"
Joan Sutherland

"I Know That My Redeemer Liveth"
Marilyn Horne

Indra Thomas and Angela Meade Among Celebrants at Concert

2011-12-18T20:57:00.000-05:00

"Evening Hours" by Bill Cunningham in the Sunday, December 18, 2011, edition of the New York Times

Springtime in Perth, Australia, For Jessye Norman Recital

2011-12-18T14:23:00.000-05:00

Norman singing at the Montreux
Jazz Festival in 2010

"Iconic soprano Jessye Norman has created her own niche as a result of exceptional performances in opera and classical music. Her extensive repertoire and passion for singing will be on show at the Perth Concert Hall on Monday April 23 from 8pm. This recital will feature renowned New York pianist Mark Markham and includes songs by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and pays homage to performers including Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and Josephine Baker. Buy your tickets here.
[Source]

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Edda Moser

2011-12-18T12:30:00.006-05:00

Bass James Olds To Perform in "La Traviata" Sydney Spectacle

2011-12-18T08:52:00.000-05:00

Aussie Bass: James Olds

"A giant stage will be built on Sydney Harbour to bring opera to the masses when Opera Australia presents La Traviata for an exclusive three-week season next year. And James Olds of Cronulla who has made a career as a bass singer will perform in the chorus when the spectacular is staged in March. 'This production is a world premiere, a massive spectacle,' Olds said of the production, which will involve installing huge pillars in the harbour. 'This is going to be a total fanfare with fireworks every night and a shorter opera that is trimmed for all ages and for all audiences.' Olds began classical training in year 10 at Newington College and joined the Conservatorium of Music in 2004. Since joining Opera Australia in 2009, he has performed in many famous productions, including Der Rosenkavalier, MacBeth, The Merry Widow and Pirates of Penzance. Since becoming a full-time performer with the company, he has travelled with their productions and has picked up some small solo and understudy roles." [Source] Read more about James Olds after the jump.

"James Olds was born February 20, 1986. All his life, James' primary passion was performing. Since starting on the TV screen at only 3 years old in the title role of Looking out For Sampson, James has pursued his dreams - sustaining his performance career with notable success. In the first year of high school at Newington College, James joined the Chamber choir after being recognized for having a great singing voice - this developed into James having many years of private singing lessons eventually leading him to win a Scholarship for study at Australia's most prestigious music school, The Conservatioum of Music, Sydney. James was also in numerous theatrical productions during his time at Newington, most notably portraying Little Red Riding Hood in the senior production of Grimm Tales. His acting also continued beyond the school stage as James worked on a number of successful Australian TV series such as Home and Away and All Saints. In 2008, James was accepted into Opera Australia and will be beginning his performance career in the chorus of the upcoming production of Beethoven's Fidelio at the Sydney Opera House. James became friends with Andrew Strouthos over the past few years and was asked to join the LG15: The Last cast as Andrew knew of James' acting abilities and passion for performing." [Source]

Seattle Opera's "Attila" Concept Stirs Up One Canadian

2011-12-18T08:39:00.000-05:00

Machine Gun Hun: John Relyea

"A late contender for the title of most yawn-inducing operatic news announcement of the year: 'Production sets barbarian invasion in today's war-torn world.' The work is Verdi's Attila and the run, opening Jan. 14, is at the Seattle Opera. Could there be a more predictable theatrical tactic? Ubiquitous in Europe, modern-dress productions are now depressingly common in North America. Far from bold and innovative, they are ham and eggs, the usual thing. A new production of a 19th-century opera set in the time actually specified by the librettist: This would be the extraordinary choice today. There was a time when companies could argue in favour of updating and other directorial displacement on the grounds that standard stagings of standard repertoire had begun to look tired. But Attila is an early Verdi opera, seldom performed. This is its Seattle Opera premiere. There is no old-fashioned, iconic look from which to depart. Of course, the Seattle Attila could be a good show in spite of the utterly conventional decision to place it in 'today's war-torn world.' Former Opéra de Montréal general director Bernard Uzan directs. John Relyea, a Canadian bass-baritone, takes the title role. Advance publicity photos show our 21st-century Hun holding a machine gun. Not that updating is the only eye-rolling cliché that can be passed off in the opera house as innovation. The much-written about Canadian director Robert Carsen has summoned some dandies for his season-opening new production of Don Giovanni at La Scala." [Source]

Gwyn Hughes Jones Pays Tribute to Late Footballer Gary Speed

2011-12-18T08:21:00.002-05:00

Tenor Tribute: Gwyn Hughes Jones

"Newcastle United fans paid an emotional tribute to former player Gary Speed. Welsh opera singer Gwyn Hughes Jones led the fans in a rendition of "Bread of Heaven" before the kick off in their home tie against Swansea. He was joined in the centre circle by members of Speed's family and former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer. The song was followed by a minute's applause and fans in the East Stand held up cards which picked out Speed's number 11 shirt from his Tyneside days. As well as the applause, fans chanted Speed's name. On the 11th minute of the game, fans chanted his name again and waved their black and white scarves. The 42-year-old was found hanged at his home in Cheshire last month." [Source]

The late Gary Speed.

A "Hansel and Gretel" Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words

2011-12-17T18:28:00.000-05:00

Kate Lindsey (left) as Hansel, Robert Brubaker (in the oven) as the Witch and Aleksandra Kurzak (right) as Gretel in the Metropolitan Opera production of the classic Humperdinck opera. (Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP)

Opera Influencing Fashion Influencing Architecture in Asia

2011-12-17T17:47:00.000-05:00

Starhill Gallery: Inspired by Christian Lacroix

"'I was inspired by an exhibition at Singapore’s National Museum featuring French designer Christian Lacroix’s opera and ballet costumes, especially the use of heavy, folded fabrics,' Pimbley, 53, says at an interview after the relaunch ceremony. 'There was an immediate corollary between the quality of Lacroix’s folded fabrics and the fine tailoring of luxurious labels in Starhill Gallery. I never knew Lacroix designed for opera, and I found it fascinating, the way he drew and designed the diaphanous clothing and flowing robes. I translated the idea into architecture so that the building appears wrapped in flowing fabric, which, in fact, required some very complex engineering. Architecture is meant to make people’s lives better' maintains Sparch founding partner Stephen Pimbley. 'I didn’t want to create just another conventional mall but a visual statement for Bukit Bintang that offers a fresh,
contemporary identity that engages people. For example, look at Omotesando in Tokyo, which draws thousands of visitors with its unique architecture for the many brands that are present there. Why not for Bukit Bintang too, as it is Kuala Lumpur’s answer to the Champs-Elysees in Paris or Ginza in Tokyo. Some people absolutely love this sort of modern architecture, and some just as equally hate it, but it creates conversation!' It is visible, talked about and often photographed – such is design consultancy Sparch’s work in the region, from Singapore to Shanghai and most recently, in our own Bukit Bintang area of Kuala Lumpur. Sparch (which stands for 'Stephen Pimbley Architecture,' the name of its Britain-born, Singapore-based founding partner) created a visually arresting façade for Starhill Gallery that was unveiled on Dec 1 at an event that included a free concert-on-the-street by crooner Julio Iglesias. What’s being billed as an iconic design had been creating a buzz over the past few months along one of Kuala Lumpur’s main shopping streets, Jalan Bukit Bintang. The unique crystal-like structure with its sleek facade of glass, granite and lightweight steel is an exciting addition to what has otherwise been a an average-looking shopping street in what is the city’s main tourist hub, especially compared with other well-known streets, such as Orchard Road in Singapore or Hong Kong’s waterfront district." [Source, Source]

Clarke Quay: An equally operatic piece of architecture by Sparch

Lyric Opera of Chicago Stage Manager, Caroline Moores, Profiled

2011-12-17T13:35:00.000-05:00

Moores backstage throwing cues to keep the opera running smoothly. (Photo: J. Geil/Oakpark)

"At 5-foot-1, Oak Park's Caroline Moores is a towering force of verve, creativity and efficiency as the longtime production stage manager at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She's the one backstage with the British accent, calling all the cues that help create the pageantry that is opera, and when she speaks, people listen. At the piano run-through of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, which closed Dec. 11, Moores was poised stage right, ready to hold court. With her headset on, she makes sure everything and everybody is in the right place at the right time. At her beck and call are several assistant stage managers who await her signal to verbally call the actors to stage. Everywhere else, scores of people responsible for running the electronics, makeup, wardrobe and props, including techs on the rail who fly scenery in and out, are paying close attention to Moores, waiting for the cue to carry on. In Ariadne auf Naxos, for example, she cues a cloud machine to travel across the stage, and tells stage hands when to fetch, deliver and pull away the boat platform and wagons. In this house, she rules, but not with an iron fist. Rather, Moores says, she facilitates the work at hand, always standing at her oversized console, never sitting. 'It's about being focused, and I need to stand to think,' Moores says." Read the full article here.

Free Online Opera Courtesy of Bayerische Staatsoper in 2012

2011-12-17T13:20:00.000-05:00

"Anfang 2012 startet die Bayerische Oper mit zwei Opern ein Pilotprojekt: Zuschauer aus der ganzen Welt können einen kompletten Opernabend auf der Bühne des Nationaltheaters im Internet live über einen Video-Stream mitverfolgen. Die Clou: die Übertragung ist für alle Nutzer kostenfrei...Einzige Voraussetzung ist eine Breitband-Internetverbindung wie zum Beispiel DSL. Das Video wird mit 600 und 1000 Kilobite in zwei Übertragungsqualitäten angeboten, die sich automatisch an die individuelle Datenverbindung des Internetnutzers anpassen. Für die Nutzung des Live-Streams fallen für den Zuschauer keinerlei Kosten an." [Source]

The first live streams from the opera house will be:

January 7, 2012
L'elisir d'Amore (Donizetti)
Adina: Adriana Kučerová
Nemorino: Pavol Breslik
Belcore: Levente Molnár
Dulcamara: Ambrogio Maestri
Giannetta: Tara Erraught

Musikalische Leitung: Dan Ettinger
Inszenierung: David Bösch

January 22, 2012
Don Carlo (Verdi)
Philipp II, König von Spanien: René Pape
Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien: Jonas Kaufmann
Rodrigo, Marquis de Posa: Mariusz Kwiecien
Der Großinquistor: Eric Halfvarson
Ein Mönch: Diogenes Randes
Elisabeth von Valois: Anja Harteros
Die Prinzessin Eboli: Anna Smirnova
Tebaldo, Page Elisabeths: Laura Tatulescu
Der Graf von Lerma: Francesco Petrozzi
Stimme vom Himmel: Evgeniya Sotnikova

Musikalische Leitung: Asher Fisch
Inszenierung, Bühne, Kostüme und Lichtkonzept: Jürgen Rose

Composer Paola Prestini Collaborates With Artist Ali Hossaini

2011-12-17T07:26:00.000-05:00

"It takes a lot of dough—and probably, even, a village—to get an opera off the ground. That's why composer Paola Prestini held a small get together slash fund-raiser at the Ethan Cohen Fine Arts space in TriBeCa in support of her in-progress composition, Oceanic Verses. Performances of the multimedia opera, which is based in Italy and explores the lives of a sailor, a mother, a scholar and a soldier, are slated to begin in Massachusetts in May, with a stop in Manhattan in June. Ms. Prestini, a 36-year-old Italian composer who splits her time between the Upper West Side and San Francisco, said she needed $60,000 to pay for the production, and was hoping to raise $25,000 of that from the evening at Mr. Cohen's gallery. The event included a performance by Phillip Glass, a friend and mentor of Ms. Prestini, as well as an excerpt from Oceanic Verses by Helga Davis. The crowd included composers, musicians and artists, including Heidi Rodewald, Mickey Strauss, Diane Volk and the Klezmer clarinetist David Kracauer. Hanging at the gallery were works by the American artist Ali Hossaini, including video segments and 3-D photographs. Mr. Hossaini and Mr. Cohen said that 3-D glasses weren't imperative to enjoying the show, but they helped. Mr. Hossaini is also contributing visuals to Ms. Prestini's opera though he hadn't decided yet if they should be in 3-D. Should he decide that they are, Ms. Prestini believed that hers would be the first opera that incorporated said technology."
"Prestini received a commission from the Carnegie Foundation, and it has been performed as a work-in-progress at the New York City Opera and The Kitchen. It premieres at the Kennedy Center in 2012 before moving to New York City and the Barbican Theater in London." [Source, Source]

Get Your Bake On! Check Out MET Gingerbread Contest

2011-12-17T07:03:00.000-05:00

Celebrate the season and the Met’s holiday presentation ofHansel and Gretel, by baking your favorite opera characters! Enter here.
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS:
(1) Bake up a batch of gingerbread cookies and decorate them as your favorite opera characters.
(2) Upload a photo of your best cookie creation.
(3) Get all your friends to vote! The gingerbread character with the most votes will win a prize from the Met!
WIN A SWEET PRIZE:
Most Votes >> 4 prime orchestra tickets to any Met production in the Spring 2012 (exclusions apply)
DON’T FORGET TO SET THE TIMER!
• Enter by 11:59 PM EST on Saturday, January 7
• Vote from 12:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 1 until 11:59 PM EST on Saturday, January 7
• Winner selection is Monday, January 9

Some fun entries so far:

A Pyromaniacal Laura Dern Channels Königin der Nacht

2011-12-16T14:48:00.000-05:00

From the season finale (part 1) of HBO's hit new show Englightened, the lead character Amy, played by Laura Dern, has just tapped into her company's mainframe email system (she's not happy at her job...) when a fantasy dream sequence begins underscored by "Der Hölle Rache" (Hell's Vengeance) from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) sung by the Königin der Nacht (Queen of the Night).

Méphistophélès Celebrates the Holidays with Bulgari

2011-12-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

Perched on the balcony between the ties and sunglasses, René Pape appeared last night at the famous jewelry-maker Bulgari on 5th Avenue in New York City to perform a set of Christmas songs for an audience that included opera soprano Jessye Norman and rock star Fred Schneider (of B52's fame). He was accompanied by Brian Zeger who is the Head of Vocal Studies at the Juilliard School of Music as well as the Executive Director of the Lindemann Program at the Metropolitan Opera. He might want to watch his back, there is a newfound groupie that might be waiting at the stage door of his next Faust performance! All photos (more after the jump) by Billy Farrell Agency and can be purchased here.

Buried (MP3) Treasure: Yvonne Kenny

2011-12-15T12:03:00.000-05:00

Palm Beach Opera Displays Financial and Artistic Success

2011-12-13T23:13:00.000-05:00

Founded in 1961 as the "Civic Opera of the Palm Beaches," the Palm Beach Opera is a professional opera company performing at the Kravits Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida. For years the jet-set have been traveling from large cities across the country to reach this haven for the rich in an area known

Daniel Biaggi: Captain of the high C's

mostly for its golfing and yachting during the winter months. West Palm Beach is technically a municipality (the oldest in South Florida) with a population that inches toward 100,000 residents and its slightly more exclusive neighbor, Palm Beach, has only 30,000 residents during peak vacation season. Opera can be a tough sell in these parts, especially since Florida Grand Opera is operating a mere 67 miles south in Miami and the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts to movie theater as part of their "Live in HD" series. In the beginning, the company performed one production annually and by the mid-1990s four fully staged operas were taking place each season. Artistically, Palm Beach Opera hit its stride during the directorship of its Principal Conductor Anton Guadagno from 1984 to 2002. The new millennium brought corporate scandals and plummeting stock portfolios for many supporters of the opera. The company had no choice but to

James Valenti: Star tenor and
West Palm Beach resident.

make bold choices for leadership in order to succeed and flourish in the coming decade. After Maestro Guadagno passed away in August 2002, the company brought Bruno Aprea in as the Artistic Director & Principal Conductor beginning in 2005 and appointed Daniel Biaggi as the new General Director in 2008. As Palm Beach Opera celebrates its 50th Anniversary this season by opening with Madama Butterfly on December 16, 2011, it is clear the artistic and financial vision of the company is beginning to pay off. Although they reduced the budget from $6.5 million to $4.7 million, trimmed full-time staff to ten positions and now present three fully staged operas with one concert performance a season (Beethoven's Symphony #9 and Verdi's Requiem were recent choices), the quality of singing has skyrocketed. In addition to meeting the expectations of audiences aurally skilled in houses like the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera, the company has to provide A-list singers alongside budding young talent that fits the budget. Recent seasons have seen veterans Ruth Ann Swenson and Dolora Zajick, as well as newcomers Angela Meade, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Nadine Sierra, James Valenti and Nicole Cabell.

Metropolitan Opera soprano Ruth Ann Swenson
at a post-performance dinner

Now that the company has found its footing, they hope to expand beyond the typical Italian and French repertoire into 20th-century works (especially American pieces) and Baroque. For more about the cast and performance dates of Madama Butterfly at the Palm Beach Opera, click here. And if you are in the neighborhood on January 20 and 22, the company will present two Golden Jubilee concerts featuring scenes from La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, La Bohème, Carmen, Aïda, among others and will be hosted by the baritone Sherrill Milnes. The concerts will be lead by conductors Julius Rudel and Bruno Aprea with singers Angela Brown, Ruth Ann Swenson, Denyce Graves-Montgomery, Brandon Jovanovich and many more.[Source, Source, Source]

"Aida" Royal Opera House (1968): High Camp AND High Quality

2011-12-13T15:58:00.000-05:00

Is "30 Rock's" Liz Lemon the Ninth Valkyrie Sister?

2011-12-13T13:33:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock and is played by Tina Fey. The character's ringtone on her cell phone was The Ride of the Valkyries in several episodes. No word on whether Liz Lemon was going for the Bugs Bunny aspect or perhaps it was simply the influence of fellow actor (and opera lover) Alec Baldwin that made the decision for the ringtone.

"The Ride of the Valkyries (German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren) is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen. The main theme of the Ride, the leitmotif labelled Walkürenritt, was first written down by the composer on 23 July 1851. The preliminary draft for the Ride was composed in 1854 as part of the composition of the entire opera, which was fully orchestrated by the end of the first quarter of 1856. Together with the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, the Ride of the Valkyries is one of Wagner's best-known pieces. In the opera house, the Ride, which takes around eight minutes, begins in the prelude to the Act, building up successive layers of accompaniment until the curtain rises to reveal a mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyrie sisters of Brünnhilde have
gathered in preparation for the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla. As they are joined by the other four, the familiar tune is carried by the orchestra, while, above it, the Valkyries greet each other and sing their battle-cry. Apart from the song of the Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold, it is the only ensemble piece in the first three operas of Wagner's Ring cycle. Outside the opera house, it is usually heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes. In Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja "chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddess Freyja's afterlife field Fólkvangr), the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin. There, the deceased warriors become einherjar. When the einherjar are not preparing for the events of Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them mead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens, and sometimes connected to swans or horses. The Ride of The Valkyries is frequently used in filmmaking and television productions. In the earliest days of Hollywood, the original score for D. W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation (1915), compiled by Joseph Carl Breil and Griffith, used the music in the climactic scene of the third act, when 'The former enemies of North and South are united again in defense of their Aryan birthright' against liberated former black slaves after the end of the American Civil War. The beleaguered white group are rescued by the Ku Klux Klan to the sound of the music. More recent examples include its usage in Chuck Jones's 1957 animated short What's Opera, Doc? and the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, where the 1/9 Air Cavalry regiment plays the piece of music on helicopter-mounted loudspeakers during their assault on a Vietnamese village." [Source, Source]

Anna Netrebko Does Russian Vogue Magazine in Style

2011-12-13T09:17:00.000-05:00

Trench by Jean Paul Gaultier and gloves by Georges Morand. (Photo: Peter Rigaud)

Thanks to Intermezzo for leading the way to the current spread of Anna Netrebko in the Russian edition of Vogue. The soprano sports the styles of Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermès, Prada, Christian Louboutin, Chopard, Dior Homme and more! Check out the full article here.