Early Reviews Mixed For Patricia Racette As Nedda At MET

Tears of a Clown: Patricia Racette as Nedda with Marcelo Álvarez as Canio at the MET

Yesterday, the new David McVicar's production of Pagliacci by Leoncavallo had its opening night at the Metropolitan Opera. Critics didn't all agree on Patricia Racette's performance:

"Patricia Racette as the doomed Nedda gives one of her finest performances in recent memory, finding focus and honey in her middle range. She wholly inhabits her role, playing the wanton scamp 'Colombina' with aplomb, but earnestly yearning to be free of her life with Canio. Even in the midst of her infidelity, she commands sympathy in her duet with Lucas Meachem, who brought a warm, smooth baritone to the role of Silvio." [Source]

"But as Nedda, the luminous Patricia Racette is an optimist in spite of everything, her bright soprano spinning buoyantly in her duet with the orchestral birds in 'Stridono lassù.' Still, Ms. Racette is ready to switch into play-acting whenever she must." [Source]

"Patricia Racette delivers a fine performance as Nedda in Pagliacci, fiery in her aria 'Stridono lassu' and sultry in her love scenes with Silvio, making out on the running board of the truck." [Source]

"The soprano Patricia Racette may have a slight hard-edged quality in her full-voiced top notes these days. Still, as Canio’s wife, Nedda, who has become involved with the villager Silvio, she sang with beguiling feistiness, sizable sound and great character. She looked charming and captured the suffocating young woman’s restlessness." [Source]

"Patricia Racette as Nedda, the floozy with a heart of tarnished gold, acts, reacts, shimmies and swishes with such virtuosic glee that one wants to disregard some patchy vocalism." [Source]

"He has persuaded some of the singers to match his elegance, especially Patricia Racette, whose sultry Nedda in Pagliacci is the second-best reason to buy tickets. Equipped with a sumptuous black wig and a deluxe soprano in its prime, she toggles between heavy passion and light mockery. In the duet with her lover, Silvio, Racette’s voice rides the orchestra’s warm currents in long, legato glides, making the physical craving she inspires in men seem like an acoustical phenomenon." [Source]

"Joining them was Patricia Racette, who played Nedda like a has been hooker, and sounded like an over-the-hill soprano." [Source]

"In Pag, Patricia Racette's ever-widening vibrato (recalling late-period Maria Callas) meant that redemption for this Cav/Pag skeptic wasn't in the cards, even though David McVicar's production is perfectly respectable at worst and full of impressive, dramatically-relevant theatrical flourishes at best." [Source]

L.A. Opera Goes For Broke Reviving "Ghosts Of Versailles"

Patti Lupone makes an entrance

It is reported that Tony Award-winning Broadway director Darko Tresnjak researched for over a year, including a trip to Petit Trianon, before staging the opera Ghosts of Versailles at L.A. Opera which opens this evening. Sets and costumes are estimated at $1 million, but other expenses would not be discussed including fees for over 80 dancers, singers and acrobatic artists. Even composer, John Corigliano, was flown from New York to Los Angeles for rehearsals because there are so many new notations in the score. Not to mention the luxury casting of Broadway superstar Patti Lupone in the exotic role of Samira that gets 10 minutes of stage time. A planned Met revival five years ago was called off for budgetary reasons. "A good part of the money for Ghosts is coming from a gift from the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. Gordon Getty, one of the sons of billionaire J. Paul Getty, is a composer in his own right as well as an opera fan. His representatives didn't respond to requests for comment. Ghosts has seldom been seen in its full grandeur since it debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in

Patricia Racette and Christopher Maltman

New York in 1991. In that staging, Corigliano called for two orchestras — one in the pit and one onstage — but he later reduced it to a single orchestra and made cuts for a 1995 staging at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The composer also approved a scaled-down chamber version that has been staged at smaller companies. L.A. Opera's production, which opens Feb. 7, features the fullest version of the score that currently exists — not quite as long as the Met premiere but substantially the same work, featuring a full orchestra, according to company leaders." [Source] Tickets for the production are available here. See more beautiful photos after the jump and a complete gallery of 79 photos from the production by clicking here. To learn more about the opera, Ghosts of Versailles, go here.

Elizabeth DeShong Returns To SFO For New "Madama Butterfly"

"San Francisco Opera audiences have twice had the opportunity to enjoy the rich mezzo-soprano of Elizabeth DeShong: first in her company debut as the Page in Salome in 2009, and more recently in the trouser role of Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia in 2011. The native of central Pennsylvania currently lives near her husband’s family in Akron, Ohio, though, like many singers in great demand, most of her year is spent on the road. Currently, she is in town for her third role with SFO, as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, which she will sing opposite Patricia Racette’s Cio-Cio San June 15–July 9. Earlier this year, she sang the role with the Metropolitan Opera, garnering stellar reviews such as this one in The New York Times: 'The mezzo Elizabeth DeShong was outstanding as Butterfly’s servant Suzuki. With her deeply resonant low register, she created a character who is tragically prescient about the unfolding disaster.'" Read the full interview that covers a range of topics including why she identifies as a mezzo-soprano rather than contralto; keeping the flexibility in the voice without getting pegged as a Rossini-only artist; how to avoid focusing on gender in pants roles; an in-depth analysis of Suzuki's character; and if Verdi's Amneris is a role she will take on down the road. [Source] For more about Elizabeth DeShong, click here. A colorful image of the Jun Kaneko production of Madama Butterfly, that will be performed at the San Francisco Opera, is after the jump.

San Francisco Opera "Show Boat" Cast Garners Excellent Reviews

Morris Robinson lets loose with his booming voice for the role of Joe at the War Memorial Opera House.

"A couple of highlights: There's granite-voiced bass Morris Robinson, as the stevedore Joe, pacing himself through 'Ol' Man River,' aligning with the show's African-American chorus to build this iconic number -- part spiritual, part dirge -- into a majestic cry for justice. There's actor and comic Bill Irwin, as Cap'n Andy Hawks, who is all fluid motion and spark-plug energy: clowning, moon-walking or floating like Fred Astaire. His face is plastic. He is pure expression and heart -- an unforgettable performance. Not that Show Boat is light fare. What it is is an intensely American hybrid, celebrating vaudeville, jazz, opera, spirituals and popular song. It addresses distinctly American themes: racism against African-Americans and opposition to inter-racial marriage, especially. These themes play out aboard the Cotton Blossom, a floating theater -- a showboat with its own troupe, led by Cap'n Andy. His daughter, Magnolia Hawks (soprano Heidi Stober, perfect as the ingenue), is the story's pivot. We follow her through her ill-fated marriage to gambler Gaylord Ravenal (baritone Michael Todd Simpson) in the 1880s, and then through single motherhood and her resolute fashioning of a career in the 1920s New York theater. A subplot involves Magnolia's best friend, Julie La Verne (soprano Patricia Racette), who is bi-racial and has been 'passing' for

Diana Damrau Live At Le Poisson Rouge March 27 In NYC

Following on the heels of a night of Russian exoticism featuring Anna Netrebko, soprano Diana Damrau will perform at Le Poisson Rouge on March 24, 2014 at 7:30 PM. No word on whether the theme will be Bavarian. Purchase tickets by clicking here. During March, the coloratura is in town singing La Sonnambula at the Metropolitan Opera and a concert at Carnegie Hall with Zubin Mehta. The little New York City village hot spot Le Poisson Rouge is becoming a regular hangout for stars of the MET. In addition to the most recent concert that also featured Ildar Abdrazakov and Anita Rachvelishvili, past performers have included Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Kathleen Kim, and Patricia Racette. To learn more about Diana Damrau, visit her website by clicking here.

American Studies: Dorothy Kirsten And Patricia Racette

Two American divas that forged careers singing the same celebrated roles of Violetta in La traviata, Madame Lidoine in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Mimì in La bohème, Micaëla in Carmen, Nedda in Pagliacci, and the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut. Both also fearlessly crossed over into more popular idioms of vocal music without compromising their vocal integrity. With itineraries that spanned the globe, both sopranos were primarily based in America with a special affinity for the San Francisco Opera. Ms. Racette will even be venturing into one of the roles that Ms. Kirsten is best-remembered (thanks to a riveting pirate recording): Minnie in La Fanciulla del West. Read more about the many similarities between the two sopranos, and listen to more audio clips, after the jump.

Vissi d'arte" from Tosca (Puccini) as sung by Dorothy Kirsten


Vissi d'arte" from Tosca (Puccini) as sung by Patricia Racette

What Smells Like A Dozen Famous Sopranos And Is Red All Over?

One King's Lane is currently running an auction of Metropolitan Opera memorabilia. Perhaps the most interesting item among the lot is a costume worn by a curious collection of divas that have sung the role of Elizabeth of Valois with the company over the last three decades, beginning with its original wearer Renata Scotto. A nice bargain of operatic history for only $4,999US and Halloween is just around the corner! 

A full image of the dress after the jump and be sure to check the tags at the end of this post to see the list of singers to wear the garment.

Click on the image to enlarge. You will see a detail of the tags sewn into the costume that designate some of the singers who wore it over the years. You can see sopranos wearing it here and here. Also watch the dress in action here.

Is Patricia Racette Singing Music Of Linda Ronstadt A Possibility?

Prior to the announcement of Great Voices Sings John Denver, web viewers were treated to a glimpse into the recording studio for this project via YouTube. As you watch one opera star after another "crossing over" to the pop art form, one stands strongly out from the rest: Patricia Racette. There is something about the placement of her voice and the inflection she projects that is reminiscent of a young Linda Ronstadt. So why not forget John Denver and delve deeper into a female artist's song catalog that is ripe for a rich-voiced diva? Recently, Ms. Racette released a CD of a live cabaret concert titled Diva on Detour that showcased her non-operatic abilities. Would it be too much of a stretch to hear her apply that smoky chest voice to covers of such

Opera glove ready: Linda Ronstadt

ballads as "Blue Bayou," "You're No Good," "That'll Be The Day," "When Will I Be Loved," or "Faithless Love?" As for Linda Ronstadt, it wouldn't be hard to imagine having an opera singer cover her greatest hits, after all she's a fan of great divas: "Of Maria Callas, Ronstadt says, 'There's no one in her league. That's it. Period. I learn more....about singing rock n roll from listening to Maria Callas records than I ever would from listening to pop music for a month of Sundays....She's the greatest chick singer ever.' She admires Callas for her musicianship and her attempts to push 20th-century singing, particularly opera, back into the Bel canto 'natural style of singing'." Plus Ms. Racette and Ms. Ronstadt have both sung the role of Mimi in La Bohème, so maybe it is fate. Only time will tell. [Source] 

Supreme Court Copyright Decision Shouldn't Affect Classics

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.

MET Sirius XM Radio Tonight: "Tosca"

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.

Patricia Racette Sings Cabaret at the Winspear Opera House

"Last night afforded opera fans the last chance to see a Dallas Opera presentation until 2012 — well, sort of. Soprano Pat Racette, who was supposed to portray Katya Kabonova this month before the production was canceled, still managed to play the Winspear in a special 70-minute cabaret set. ('In honor of Janacek, I have translated all the lyrics into Czech,' she joked.) Although she said she wouldn’t be singing opera, just classics, she couldn’t resist the chance to turn on the pipes big-time for “La Vie en Rose,” which was met with thunderous applause. For those who sniff at the overblown style of opera, Racette could probably make a convert of ya. She was jokey and easy-going onstage with a torch singer’s facility. She also was refreshingly open. She someone from the audience yelled out, 'Is Beth here?,' Racette didn’t hesitate to give shout-outs to her wife, mezzo Beth Clayton, and her in-laws, who were all in the hall. She even played around a bit with Gershwin, changing the lyric 'I got my man' to 'I got my gal' for one verse. The set, consisted of several medleys and three encores, ran the gamut from Piaf to the novelty song “To Keep My Love Alive,” all met with warmth by the audience, populated with season subscribers. The worst thing about the evening? Being reminded that we would not get to see her do Katya. Here’s to hoping the TDO adds her back into the mix in a season real soon." [Source]

"Vocally, Racette was stellar. She easily moves from her chest voice to her diva range without a break. In fact, the change of register is barely noticeable unless she decides to make a point of it for effect. She can carry the chest voice way up into the top of a tenor's range and teeters on basso profundo territory for the bottom notes. It is really quite remarkable and as rare a vocal ability as Yma Sumac's stratospheric high C above high C, but not nearly as painful to hear. The voice is rich and creamy from top to bottom and has a mellow, as opposed to strident, spinto sound that makes her ideal for Puccini's distraught heroines such as Tosca and Butterfly. It is little wonder that she is singing both of these roles at the Met this season. When she put down the microphone and sang "La Vie en Rose" in her operatic voice, she stunned the audience." [Source]

Patricia Racette Takes Tosca to Center Field in Washington, D.C.

"Join Washington National Opera for the fourth-annual Opera in the Outfield, a free, live opera broadcast of Puccini's Tosca on Thursday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. (gates open at 5:30 p.m.). Arrive early to the ballpark to enjoy entertainment and activities including:
- Performances by community youth groups including the Greenbelt S.I.T.Y. Stars double-dutch team of Greenbelt, MD, the award-winning Yorktown High School Marching Band from Arlington, VA, and the DC-based Taratibu Pan-African Step Team.
- A screening of the Warner Bros. cartoon "What's Opera, Doc?," starring Bugs Bunny and his nemesis Elmer Fudd.
- Chances to win prizes, including a VIP suite for a Nationals Game and tickets to Kennedy Center performances.
Register now for a reserved seating section at the park and be automatically entered to win a full season subscription for two to Washington National Opera's 2011-2012 season! No purchase (or seating pass request) necessary to win. A purchase or reservation will not increase your chances of winning. For more information on the giveaway, please visit the Opera in the Outfield Registration Giveaway Official Rules page. By entering the giveaway you agree that you have reviewed the full contest rules and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions." [Source]

Details after the jump.

Australia's 2011 Helpmann Award-Winners Announced

"The annual Helpmann Awards® recognise distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in the many disciplines of Australia's vibrant live performance sectors, including musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre. The Helpmann Awards also incorporates the JC Williamson Award for outstanding contribution to the Australian live performance industry. The Helpmann Awards®, named in honour of Sir Robert Helpmann and to commemorate his memory and achievements, were established in 2001 by Live Performance Australia (LPA) to recognise, celebrate and promote our live performance industry, similar to the Tony Awards on Broadway and the Olivier Awards in London. The principal objective of LPA in establishing the Awards is to nationally and internationally serve and promote the Australian live performance industry by:
- recognising distinguished artistic achievement and excellence
- ensuring the Awards are administered and produced with integrity
- ensuring the Awards are celebrated by the industry and the Australian community
- ensuring the Awards are the most prestigious awards in the industry and the highlight of each Season." [Source]

Nominees this season included (pictured above left to right): Rinat Shaham, Rachel Durkin, Emma Matthews and Patricia Racette. A complete list of this year's nominees (and winners) by category is after the jump.

Racette and Terfel Team Up Again for "Tosca" at Ravinia Festival

Maestro Conlon leads Racette and Licitra
(Photo: Patrick Gipson/Ravinia Festival)

"The trio of leads included two-thirds of the spring Metropolitan Opera cast from the Luc Bondy production that continues to stoke controversy in opera circles. At the core was a gripping, seething portrayal of the loathsome Scarpia by Bryn Terfel. The Welsh bass-baritone assumed a more static stage presence than the other cast members, yet he effortlessly commanded the full attention of a captivated audience with malevolent, coiled-spring intensity. His depiction of the sadistic police chief evolved from calm, confident brutality to wounded, vengeful fury, all evinced without bellowing or bombast. Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra has been well received at the Met and elsewhere for his idiomatic, dulcet-toned Cavaradossi. In this reading there was a hint of grain in a few top notes, as well as scenes in which he seemed needlessly risk-averse. On the whole his warm and ardent portrayal earned hearty and well-deserved kudos from his grateful admirers. Soprano Patricia Racette has also scored triumphs with leading companies in the title role, and her absorbing performance Saturday affirmed her status as a leading Tosca of our time. She wasn’t as vocally dazzling as some who have personified the celebrated singer and jealous lover, but she brought an honest dignity to a role often overwrought by helpless despair." [Source]

Patricia Racette Excels in Title Role of Iphigénie For WNO

Racette in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at Washington National Opera (Photo: Scott Suchman)

"Without any daringly ornamented arias or anything extraneous that might divert attention from the story's dramatic continuity, a Gluck opera will succeed only with talented singing actors and compelling direction. There are almost none of the tried-and-true operatic clichés to fall back on, not even a romantic intrigue: the central relationship here is of brother and sister, who do not even recognize one another until the end. In the title role, soprano Patricia Racette was riveting, the searing strength of her voice underscoring the still intensity of her stage presence. This was certainly what one expected of Racette, after such satisfying turns here as Jenůfa in 2007 and Ellen Orford in 2009, but her bold and electrifying performance far exceeded my hopes. After some tentative notes at the top of her range in the first hour or so, Racette hit her stride, singing with lyrical abandon in the Act IV aria 'Je t'implore et je tremble.'" [Source]

More production photos after the jump.

"The Turn of the Screw" Gets a Scrubdown For L.A. Opera

Patricia Racette stars in 1950s update
(Photo: Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times)

"Michael Kepler Meo, an impressively confident boy soprano with an eloquent musicality and a becoming stage manner, was a vulnerable Miles. Britten's score and Myfanwy Piper’s libretto suggest a boy who is more a threat, but this Miles was the modern innocent abused and wounded, seeking comfort. That played into Racette's Governess, whose hysteria proved compelling theater, if on the all-purpose side. She seemed the sort who could have been done in by just about anything. Both she and Ann Murray (Mrs. Grose) have large voices, and although they enunciated the English text admirably, they also produced a vibrato-rich blend in ensemble passages that undid them. Ashley Emerson was a striking Flora, the little angel who isn’t such a little angel. William Burden was a suave Quint and also sang the prologue with polish if without the curious edge characteristic of Britten tenors. Tamara Wilson's Miss Jessel was more a spook, coming across as having just been dredged from the lake. An odder, angrier, more mysterious Turn of the Screw can leave an audience too shaken to applaud. Saturday was a night to cheer the cleverness of a director and designer and the devotion of singers, a virtuoso instrumental ensemble and Conlon's engaged conducting." [Source]

Headline FAIL of Operatic Proportions

As seen on the Dallas Voice website earlier today:

Hopefully someone will see the error of their ways and apologize to Pat Racette and Beth Clayton in the process. [Source]