Watch Anja Harteros Record "O Patria Mia" For Warner Classics

"This magnificent recording of Aida, made in Rome, rises to all the musical and dramatic challenges presented by Verdi’s richly-coloured Egyptian epic. Antonio Pappano, once again proving his mastery of Italian opera, moves between sumptuous grandeur and touching intimacy. The responses of the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia are both immediate and vibrant, while the singers – Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Ludovic Tézier and Erwin Schrott – do justice to every facet of their roles." [Source] Watch Anja Harteros sing "O Patria Mia" from Aida, as well as more excerpts from the recording session along with interviews with the artists, after the jump.

"Aida" With Kaufmann And Harteros Gets 8-Month Lead Time Hype

Australian magazine Limelight discusses the most recent recording of Verdi's Aida for Warner Classics, featuring Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Ekaterina Semenchuk, and Erwin Schrott under the baton of Antonio Pappano, due in October 2015. Those lucky enough to be in Rome can attend a concert on February 27 of the opera with the cast. Tickets available here. "Over the past two decades the number of studio recordings produced by the world’s biggest record labels of grand operas has dwindled. However a new studio recording of Verdi’s epic masterpiece Aida being produced by Warner Classics and featuring an all star cast proves that the tradition of recording large scale operatic works in the studio is still alive. What’s more, the new recording, due for release in October this year, will boast an authentically Italian provenance with conductor Sir Antonio Pappano at the helm. Pappano, who since 2005 has been Music Director of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, featured on this new recording, is a seasoned hand with Verdi repertoire. This will be the conductor’s second studio recording of a Verdi opera, after his 2002 release of Il Trovatore. His Warner Classics catalogue also contains an award-winning Santa Cecilia version of Verdi’s monumental Requiem. Pappano has assembled an extraordinary cast of similarly experienced Verdi performers, although two notable leads will be making their Aida debuts. In the title role, German soprano and former Cardiff Singer of the World champion

Anja Harteros has firmly established her Verdi credentials having appeared in productions of La traviata, Il trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, La forza del destino, Don Carlo and Otello. This will however be her first time performing the role of the Ethopian princess. Starring opposite Harteros will be superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who is no stranger to Verdi’s heroic leads himself, although this too will be the tenor’s Aida debut in the role of the Egyptian warrior Radamès." [Source] Read the full article here. See an interview with Maestro Pappano, and a video of the recording session, after the jump.

Free Online Opera Courtesy of Bayerische Staatsoper in 2012

"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

Appreciating the Artistry of Soprano Anja Harteros

"Laudate Dominum" Vesperae Solennes de Confessore (Mozart)
"Come Scoglio" Così fan tutte (Mozart)
"È strano...Sempre libera" La Traviata (Verdi)
"Ebben, ne andrò lontana" La Wally (Catalani)
"D'Oreste ,d' Ajace" Idomeneo (Mozart)
"Pace, pace mio Dio" La Forza del Destino (Verdi)
"Tacea la notte placida" Il Trovatore (Verdi)
"Salce, salce" Otello (Verdi)
"Ave Maria" Otello (Verdi)
"Poveri fiori" Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea)
"Vissi d'arte" Tosca (Puccini)
"Euch Lüften, die mein Klagen" Lohengrin (Wagner)
"Ah! Mio cor" Alcina (Händel)
"Come in quest'ora bruna" Simon Boccanegra (Verdi)
"Dove sono" Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart)
"O mio babbino caro" Gianni Schicchi (Puccini)
"Abends, will ich schlafen geh'n" Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck) w/Elīna Garanča
"Quia respexit humilitatem" Magnificat (Bach)
"Frühling" Vier letzte lieder (R. Strauss)
"September" Vier letzte lieder (R. Strauss)
"Beim Sclafengehen" Vier letzte lieder (R. Strauss)
"Im Abendrot" Vier letzte lieder (R. Strauss)


BONUS:
Te Deum (Bruckner)
 

Royal Wedding Music, Part 2: Who Would Be Available To Sing?

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR ROYAL WEDDING SOLOIST
In a business where professionals are contracted out five years in advance, what singer could possible be free to sing for the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2011? Checking schedules of the top dozen front-runners for the job discloses that some could be a private jet ride away from the event:

Renée Fleming will have completed her last performance of Strauss's Capriccio at the Metropolitan Opera on April 23 and has a Strauss concert of orchestral songs and scenes from Arabella with the Berlin Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann.

Anna Netrebko sings the Pergolesi Stabat Mater on April 28 in Geneva, Switzerland, and again on May 2 in Toulouse, France.

Kate Royal makes her Metropolitan Opera debut the night of April 29 in Orfeo ed Euridice. The second performance of the run is May 4. There are only five performances of the Gluck opera.

Angela Gheorghiu has concerts on April 27 and May 1 at the National Concert Hall in Seoul, Korea.

Marina Poplavskaya is performing The Tsar's Bride of Rimsky-Korsakov at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden during the month of April and her penultimate performance in the run takes place at 7PM on April 29.

Anja Harteros Replaces Jonas Kaufmann

Reportage of New Year's Eve concerts will be complete with the update from Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Soprano Anja Harteros replaced indisposed tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

The program included "Pace, pace mio Dio" (La Forza del Destino), "Tacea la notte" (Il Trovatore), "Poveri Fiori" (Adriana Lecouvreur), "Ebben, ne andrò lontano" (La Wally), "Vissi, d'Arte" (Tosca) and "O mio babbino caro" (Gianni Schicchi).

For more information and photos, go to the Dich, teure Halle blog.

Händel Has Successful Return to Vienna

"Auf der Bühne hielt ein hochkarätiges Ensemble ein unwiderstehliches Plädoyer für Händel. Anja Harteros lotete hinreißend den Gefühlskosmos der Titelheldin aus, Vesselina Kasarova feierte in der Hosenrolle des Ruggiero ein fulminantes Comeback an der Wiener Staatsoper. Erstaunliches leistete der Wiener Sängerknabe Shintaro Nakajima als Oberto."