A Tenor For All Time: Plácido Domingo performing in Macau, China, at age 74. |
Monday, August 31, 2015
Tenor Plácido Domingo Thrills Chinese Audiences In Macau
Fernando Bustos Helps Early Music Festival End On High Note
Look Away: Fernando Bustos as Orfeo in the Twin Cities. |
Kyle Ketelsen Keeps Low Profile Home Life In Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Introverted-Extrovert: Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès in a 2013 production of Faust at Opernhaus Zürich is a far cry from his quiet life in Wisconsin. (Photo: Tanja Dorendorf) |
Ketelsen has been forging a path in the operatic world but it came to him as an unlikely profession. The Clinton, Iowa native grew up in a home where his mother found creative ways to expose her children to music—they all played instruments and the record player was often spinning the Beatles, Beach Boys and Neil Diamond. The young man had aspirations of flying
Anna Netrebko And Yusif Eyvasov In Lebanon: The Full Concert
Diva Adorned: Kaftan and turban-clad (also covered in Chopard jewels), Anna Netrebko makes first appearance in Lebanon. (Photo: Facebook) |
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Katia Ricciarelli Claims Gambling Keeps Her Calm & Serene
Opera Zenith: Katia Ricciarelli with Plácido Domingo in 1972 when they recorded duets together for RCA. |
Learn more about the diva's journey from poverty to performing on the great opera stages of the world by purchasing her book here. |
DG Will Release Rufus Wainwright Opera "Prima Donna"
The 2-CD set will be available September 11, 2015. Pre-order your copy here. |
Composer Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna was inspired by an interview he saw of Maria Callas. |
Wallis Giunta Profile: More Than A Queen Of The Night In Opera
Glamorama: Wallis Giunta captures a styling moment before a high-style photo shoot. (Photo: Facebook) |
Sydney Opera House Architect Reminisces About Construction
Australia's most famous building now is popular for architectural projection mapping on the iconic rooftop. |
Famous Builder: Architect John Zaat |
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Röschmann And Uchida Follow Up Carnegie Concert With Recording
In April 2014, Carnegie Hall presented a recital of two legendary interpreters: "The superstar team of soprano Dorothea Röschmann and pianist Mitsuko Uchida performs love songs by Schumann and Berg. Schumann’s great love for Clara Wieck is at the heart of this Liederkreis, songs he described in a letter to her as his 'most romantic music ever, with much of you in it.' His marriage to Clara might have inspired his song cycle Frauenliebe und -leben, a celebration of a woman’s devotion to her husband. Schumann’s piano mastery is evident throughout, as the instrument is given a more prominent role than ever before heard in the song literature. Berg offers a fevered view of love in his impassioned Seven Early Songs." [Source] Following the high praise for the performance in New York, Decca releases a full recording of the repertoire. International release date is set for October 2, 2015. See a complete track list for the recording, and watch a video of Dorothea Röschmann discuss working with Mitsuko Uchida, after the jump.
Julia Lezhneva Dominates Händel In Fall 2015 Release From Decca
As a follow-up to her Decca debut in 2013, Julia Lezhneva's next release will be an all-Händel disc that drops in October. Similar to the first disc, which featured motets of Händel, Mozart, Porpora, and Vivaldi, this new recording keeps the young Russian star focusing on Baroque. During 2014, the soprano toured with Il Giardino under the direction of Giovanni Antonini in a concert titled "Händel's Italy" that featured works written by the composer between 1706-1710 while in the country, including the operas Rodrigo and Agrippina as well as the oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, all of which are featured on the new release. Adding other works written during that time such as the sacred oratorio La Resurrezione, the psalm Dixit Dominus, the antiphon Salve Regina, and the secular cantata Apollo e Dafne, completes the experience of Händel's time in Italy. Like the first disc and the international tour, she is accompanied by one of the world’s leading early music ensembles, Il Giardino Armonico, conducted by Giovanni Antonini. See the full track list, as well as videos of Julia Lezhneva singing Händel, after the jump.
Five-Hour Porpora Opera Staged At Innsbruck Festival Of Early Music
Lengthy Drama: Rosmonda (Klara Ek), Arminio (David Hansen), and Segeste (Carlo Vincenzo Allemano) in Porpora's Il Germanico. |
Powder His Wig: David Hansen (second from left) as Arminio at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik. |
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Opera News Cover Revamp Resembles Vanity Fair Magazine
Opera News magazine has revealed a new cover layout with its September 2015 issue featuring soprano Diana Damrau. In an attempt to make the magazine more relevant to the popular masses, they may have taken a page out of Vanity Fair's typography handbook. Most notably is putting Ms. Damrau's given name in larger print while putting her surname in italics, which just inverts the concept VF uses. It's easy to compare with several other recent issues of VF and
almost feels like ON has lost its own unique identity. Even going back as far as 1990 when Madonna graced the VF cover with her pearls and plunging neckline like Ms. Damrau in the current ON issue. The Metropolitan Opera Guild publication has typically debuted a new wordmark every decade since its inception in 1936. The latest may be coming a bit early, but it might have something to do with the recent addition of publisher Diane Silberstein in May 2014. Perhaps the new look will help the magazine to gain attention on newstands for as long as it continues to remain in print before going strictly digital. Below are some of the most recent wordmarks over the last 20 years. Take an historical look back at the Opera News cover changes from the last 79 years, after the jump.
almost feels like ON has lost its own unique identity. Even going back as far as 1990 when Madonna graced the VF cover with her pearls and plunging neckline like Ms. Damrau in the current ON issue. The Metropolitan Opera Guild publication has typically debuted a new wordmark every decade since its inception in 1936. The latest may be coming a bit early, but it might have something to do with the recent addition of publisher Diane Silberstein in May 2014. Perhaps the new look will help the magazine to gain attention on newstands for as long as it continues to remain in print before going strictly digital. Below are some of the most recent wordmarks over the last 20 years. Take an historical look back at the Opera News cover changes from the last 79 years, after the jump.
Monday, August 17, 2015
Canadian Rock Singer Peaches Secretly Likes To Sing Opera
Rock Opera: Merrill Beth Nisker, aka Peaches, can bring operatic flair to the rock world. |
IT'S BEEN SIX YEARS SINCE YOUR LAST RECORD, I FEEL CREAM. WHY THE BREAK? I was tired of that cycle of making an album and touring for two years, and then doing it again. There's no life in between, and no chance to do anything else.
YOU SANG AN ITALIAN OPERA IN THE MEANTIME? Yes, and did my own version of Jesus Christ Superstar, called Peaches Christ Superstar. I was really pushing myself as a singer, and I didn't really want to have to change my attitude to music, just to pacify my guilty pleasure of singing opera. I had to find another way to do it. [Source]
"Merrill Beth Nisker (born 11 November 1968), better known by her stage name Peaches, is a Canadian electronic musician and performance artist who lives in Berlin, Germany. Her songs are noted for disregarding traditional gender norms, and for their use of sexually explicit lyrics. She plays her own instruments for her songs, programs her own electronic beats, and produces her own albums. Her songs have been featured in movies such as Mean Girls, Waiting..., Jackass Number Two, My Little Eye, Drive Angry, and Lost in Translation. Her music has also been featured on television shows such as Lost Girl, The L Word, Ugly Betty, South Park, 30 Rock, True Blood and has been used for the promotion of Dirt. Peaches performed guest vocals on Pink's album Try This, on the song "Oh My God", on the Chicks on Speed album 99 Cents, on the song "We Don't Play Guitars", on Christina Aguilera's 2010 album Bionic, on the song "My Girls" (which was produced and co-written with Le Tigre), and recently on Major Lazer's 2013 album Free the Universe on the song "Scare Me" featuring Timberlee." [Source]
Watch a live performance of the most famous song from Peaches, after the jump.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Legendary Lyric Soprano Kathleen Battle Celebrates Birthday
Anna Netrebko & Yusif Eyvazov Attend Domingo 40th Anniversary
Renée Fleming Has Given Berg To The World For 30 Years On Disc
Modern Medium: Renée Fleming performs with the Emerson String Quartet |
she partnered with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under the direction of James Levine to record "Lied der Lulu" from Lulu Suite and excerpts from Wozzeck for Sony Classical. The next installment of the 20th century composer came when Ms. Fleming collaborated with Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic for a live recording of the Sieben frühe Lieder in 2005. A decade later, she is releasing a new disc accompanied by the Emerson String Quartet: "This release unites on record for the first time Americas reigning star soprano Renée Fleming and its premier string quartet, The Emersons, to take us on a journey into the twilight world of Vienna in the 1920s and 30s in music imbued with late romanticism and burgeoning modernism. Berg's Lyric Suite is a work of intricate, complexity believed to have a secret
dedication and to outline a secret programme relating to Berg's affair with Franz Werfels sister (Werfel was married to Mahler s widow, Alma). Theodor Adorno called the work a latent opera and in its sixth and final movement, the Largo desolato, Berg introduces the soprano voice and quotes Wagner's Tristan motif to evoke his doomed, impossible love. This was still secessionist Vienna: a world of paintings by Klimt, psychoanalysis by Freud and a musical life where you could hear Bruno Walter conduct Mahler and Clemens Krauss lead the operas of Richard Strauss. Egon Welleszs highly expressive setting of Sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning was one of the last works he completed before leaving Austria ahead of the Anschluss in 1938. It is heard here in its original version for soprano and string quartet. Barrett-Browning was one of the most popular English poets of the Victoria era, although Wellesz turned to German translations by Rainer Maria Rilke for his setting. Renée Fleming is famed for her intense and luxurious (Evening Standard) performances of Richard Strauss and Korngold, Berg and Mahler. Her sumptuous sound is uniquely suited to this repertoire. As Edward Seckerson wrote of her fin de siècle recital at the Barbican in 2012: 'We were back in Viennas golden age and it seemed like that was where she had always belonged.'" The disc will be released internationally on September 11, 2015. Pre-order your copy here. [Source] See the full track list, watch a video of Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet performing Berg's Lyric Suite, and see more photos, after the jump.
In Session: Renée Fleming recording Alban Berg with the Emerson String Quartet |
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
"Mission: Impossible" Gets The (Vienna State) Opera Treatment
Critic Alex Ross brilliantly covers the classical music-infused sequences of the new Tom Cruise thriller Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. From opening scenes featuring Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro overture to extended excerpts of Puccini's Turandot. Although actors portray the opera roles of Turandot (America Olivo) and Caláf (Jesus Alvarez), the parts are sung here by Lise Lindstrom and Gregory Kunde under conductor Philippe Auguin (played by Nicholas Lupu in the film). Most of the action takes place at the Vienna State Opera. There's even a splash of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony thrown in for classical good measure. And it is probably no coincidence that the femme fatale of the film, played by Rebecca Ferguson, is named Ilsa Faust. Hélas, no Gounod is found in the film. Read the entire review by clicking here. Watch a clip of Lise Lindstrom singing the role of Turandot, after the jump.
Tom Cruise as the indestructible Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. |
Renée Fleming Previews The Set Of "Bel Canto" For LOC
Soprano Renée Fleming was the inspiration for Ann Patchett's diva in her novel Bel Canto. |
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Lauren Flanigan Will Lease $3.6 Million Harlem Mansion For Music
Headmistress: Soprano Lauren Flanigan |
The new Harlem location for Music & Mentoring House is in the center with the green stairs. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)