Celebrating Kathleen Battle's 72nd Birthday With MET Streams

Kathleen Battle (center) is featured in the 1982 Metropolitan Opera production of Mozart's Così fan tutte with Maria Ewing (left) as Dorabella and Kiri Te Kanawa (right) as Fiordiligi (Photo: Winnie Klotz).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metropolitan Opera has been deep-diving into its video broadcast troves to stream the content out to users in hopes of fundraising and continued engagement. In honor of Kathleen Battle's birthday today (see our previous tribute here), we highlight the recently aired performance of L'Elisir d'Amore featuring her performance alongside Luciano Pavarotti (view here) and on August 22 they will present Il Barbiere di Siviglia with fellow artists Rockwell Blake and Leo Nucci (view here). Read the company's feature "Practically Perfect," written by photo editor Jonathan Tichler, on Ms. Battle here. More of the soprano's MET production photos after the jump.

Kathleen Battle with Luciano Pavarotti in L'Elisir d'Amore (Photo: Robert Cahen).

Alumni Deborah Voigt Returns To California State University - Fullerton

CSUF Star Alumni: The School of Music turned opera stars
like Deborah Voigt, Rodney Gilfrey, Charles Castranovo,
and most recently Renée Tatum.

"Opera star and alumna Deborah Voigt will offer a 7 p.m. master class Monday, June 8, at Clayes Performing Arts Center's Meng Concert Hall. Participating School of Music students include: Trinidad Cano, Juliet Kidwell, James Lesu'i, Megan Ralston, Amanda Salmen and Joslyn Sarshad. A brief Q&A session with the soprano will follow. Cal State Fullerton students, faculty and staff can stop by the School of Music office in the CPAC 220 Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a complimentary ticket. Tickets are also available for purchase online or at the door....After her June 8 master class at Cal State Fullerton, alumna Deborah Voigt will perform at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa June 11-13." [Source, Source]

French Bass-Baritone Sévag Tachdjian Presents Recital In Pakistan

Sévag Tachdjian performed works of Dvořák,
Ravel, Mahler, and Tosti, during the concert
in Islamabad. (Photo: Frédéric Broyer)

"An opera concert titled A musical journey through Europe was held at the German embassy auditorium on Monday evening. The concert, hosted by German Ambassador Dr Cyrill Nunn, featured performances by Sévag Tachdjian and Yukiko Tidten-Yoshikawa. The ambassador complimented the audience for braving the inclement weather, saying he had an advantage of living only a few metres away from the auditorium. Introducing the musicians, he said both are internationally active and had played in many operas. 'I hope you enjoy the music from different parts of Europe,' he added. 'The musical journey through Europe is a wonderful opportunity to show the range of poetical inspiration from where this music comes,' said Tachdjian, who is a French bass-baritone and vocalist of Armenian descent. He was accompanied Yukiko Tidten-Yoshikawa, who has been internationally-active as a concert pianist in Japan and Europe....'It is absolutely fabulous that we had the opportunity to listen to any form of opera in Pakistan and generally, I don’t like Mahler, but even that was an experience,' said Saira Khan, an audience member at the event. [Source] Watch a video of Sévag Tachdjian, singing Massenet's "Le Jongleur de Notre Dame," after the jump. Click here to learn more about Sévag Tachdjian.

Anna Netrebko Shimmers In Beaver Creek Recital For Colorado

For more information, and an additional photo, click here. (Photo: Zach Mahone)

Angel Blue Latest Soprano Recital Added To Opus Arte Series

Joy to the World: Soprano Angel Blue displays
vocal elegance in her debut recording
titled Joy Alone

"A protégé of Plácido Domingo, Angel Blue has enjoyed recent opera house triumphs in Valencia and at English National Opera. Followingher acclaimed Wigmore Hall recital last year, this new Rosenblatt Recital studio recording features songs by Strauss, Rachmaninov, a selection of zarzuelas, and Gershwin’s classic 'Summertime.' She is accompanied by the noted pianist Iain Burnside." [Source] "The young American soprano Angel Blue - hailed by Plácido Domingo as 'the next Leontyne Price' - displays exceptional artistic versatility on this, her first solo album. George Gershwin's 'Summertime,' which 'soars sweetly to angelic heights' (Financial Times), sets the scene for a wide-ranging rectial in which her luminous and pure tone comes to the fore, from Liszt, Rachmaninov and Strauss to rousing spirituals, songs by acclaimed American contemporaries Heggie and Adolphe, and intoxicating Spanish zarzuelas." [Source] Listen to excerpts from the recording after the jump.

Photo Flashback: Leona Mitchell, Renata Scotto, Virginia Zeani, Tito Capobianco

Power Quartet: Tito Capobianco, Leona Mitchell, Virginia Zeani, and Renata Scotto, post-recital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on February 22, 2014. Details of the evening are after the jump. (Photo: Venetian Arts Society/Facebook)

Angela Gheorghiu Will Travel To China For Arts Festival In October

Cover Girl Gheorghiu: China & Romania have a history
 of several decades of economic and cultural exchanges.
Read more about that history by clicking here.

"Organizers of the 16th China Shanghai International Arts Festival say there will be more original performances at this year's event. Scheduled to run from October 17th to November 16th, the festival will have 45 musical, dance and theatrical works, including 25 from abroad. Here's more about it. The opening show will be a four-act Chinese opera called The River Flows to the East, which looks at the history of Shanghai. It will star Chinese opera tenor Liao Changyong and soprano Huang Ying. Organizers say one-third of the performances this year will be originals and Shanghai premiers. During the art festival, world-famous art troupes such as the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic, the Orchestra de Paris and the National Ballet of the Netherlands will give performances. Meanwhile, original Chinese productions including Shaoxing Opera will also be staged. 'We want to use this opportunity to introduce the world of Chinese original operas and art performances, to expand the influence of Chinese culture around the globe,' said Liu Wenguo, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai International Arts Festival. The closing performance will be a co-production of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, by over 300 artists from the Bejart Ballet Lausanne, the Tokyo Ballet, the Shanghai Ballet and the Shanghai Opera House." [Source] The festival will also includes performers Kyung Wha Chung, Mischa Maisky, Paavo Jarvi, and Kent Nagano. October 30, 2014, will feature soprano Angela Gheorghiu in recital with accompanist Alexandru Petrovici. Details of the recital are after the jump.

Nuccia Focile To Sing Evening Concert At Llandeilo Fawr Festival

Sicilian Soprano: Nuccia Focile

"The vocal highlight of this year's Llandeilo Fawr festival will be a visit from one of the world's leading operatic sopranos. Opera lovers in Wales will know Nuccia Focile from her acclaimed portrayal of the tragic heroine, Violetta, in Welsh National Opera's sell-out production of Verdi's La Traviata, a few years back. Llandeilo Fawr has gained a justifiable reputation for the star quality of its vocal artists and Nuccia Focile will be the latest in a long line of world-class singers to have visited the festival. The list of leading roles which she has played is awesome and she has appeared at most of the world's leading opera houses, including the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Paris Opera, La Scala, Milan,and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Her many opera recordings have enjoyed immense critical acclaim and she has worked with some of the most admired conductors, including Sir Chatles Mackerras, Sir Colin Davies, Seji Osawa, James Levine and Antonio Pappano.

Piano Man: Gary Matthewman

She will be accompanied by a pianist who has received plaudits wherever he has performed. Garry [sic] Matthewman ranks among the finest of British piano accompanists, having appeared at Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Musikverein in Vienna as well as in Paris, Prague, Toronto and Sydney. He has also accompanied at the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and enjoys the distinction of having his disc of Schubert's Winterreise, with baritone Matthew Rose, feature as 'Recording of the Month' in Gramophone Magazine. Nuccia Focile will be at St. Teilo's Church, on Friday, July 18, at 7pm." [Source] The festival describes itself as "Beautiful Music Performed By Great Artists In An Idyllic Hill-Top Setting." For more information about the Llandeilo Fawr Festival, click here.

Lyric Opera Of Chicago Gets Acoustic Makeover On Stage

The proposed backdrop that could add recital capabilities to the cavernous opera house. 

"In the latest collaboration between the renowned Chicago architect Jeanne Gang and a Chicago-area arts institution, Gang and her firm, Studio Gang Architects, have designed a new acoustical shell for Lyric Opera the company will use for its concert performances at the Civic Opera House beginning in the fall, Lyric announced Wednesday. The dynamic, modular stage enclosure, to be unveiled at Lyric's 60th anniversary concert on Nov. 1, will be the first concert shell to be created by the architectural firm, although Gang and her partners have dealt with similar acoustical design issues in previous projects, she said. 'This is a unique project for us,' she said of the new concert shell, which Lyric plans to use for performances distinct from the operatic productions that constitute its main stage season. Lyric Opera officials have not disclosed the cost or funding sources for the project. Construction of the shell is scheduled to begin next week, followed by acoustical tests of the completed enclosure later in the summer. Their intention, officials said, is to replace Lyric's existing stage shell with a more efficient, more visually appealing enclosure that will improve the projection of acoustical sound in the cavernous, 3,500-seat Ardis Krainik Theater and relate, in a design sense, to the Art Deco style of the stage proscenium, with its receding perspective. 'We thought it would be far more interesting if there was something connected to the space, so it wouldn't look like it simply dropped in from outer space,' Gang said." [Source]

Renée Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky Take Selfie In L.A.

Ms. Fleming is in Los Angeles for Streetcar Named Desire and Mr. Hvorostovsky for a recital. (Photo: Facebook)

Isabel Leonard To Give Recital In Florida At Frost School Of Music

The mezzo-soprano relaxing for the camera. (Photo: Dario Acosta)

"Isabel Leonard is a glamorous young opera star, svelte and vivacious, whose career has rocketed into the stratosphere. But sometimes an opera star is just a mom. 'I’m trying to get the nanny and my son out of the house,' she said with a rueful laugh, apologizing for starting an interview a few minutes late. Based in Manhattan, Leonard and husband Teddy Tahu Rhodes well know the formidable challenge of corralling a toddler, namely their 3-year-old son, Teo. But in terms of her career trajectory, running late is not Leonard’s style. In September 2007, barely one year after earning her master’s degree from the Juilliard School, the mezzo-soprano made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Stephano, Romeo’s page in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. 'It’s hard to make a splash in a pants role in a long opera on a night when Anna Netrebko is singing,' wrote Washington Post critic Anne Midgette, 'but Ms. Leonard did.' Born in 1982, Leonard already has a jam-packed resume. In 2013 she won the Richard Tucker Award, a prestigious honor for promising young singers that carries a $30,000 prize and a concert appearance. In 2012, she starred as Miranda in the Met’s highly praised premiere of Thomas Ades’ 2004 opera based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest directed by Robert Lepage. She has appeared in opera houses stretching from Vienna to Santa Fe. Her mezzo is a powerful instrument with an astonishing range, dusky and worldly wise in its lowest register yet silvery and agile in high-flying coloratura passages. South Florida audiences will get to see what all the excitement is about when Leonard makes her local debut Sunday as part of the Sunday Afternoons of Music series in Coral Gables. Her recital with pianist Vlad Iftinca will be the final concert in Doreen Marx’s series, which is closing down after a 33-year run." [Source] Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard will perform with pianist Vlad Iftinca at 4 p.m. Sunday at Gusman Concert Hall, Frost School of Music, University of Miami, 1314 Miller Dr., Coral Gables. For more information visit http://sundaymusicals.org/sam.html. A copy of the recital is after the jump.

Anna Caterina Antonacci Brief Interview About Singing Career

Timed to coincide with a recital of Wagner, Berlioz, Resphighi, Tosti, Mascagni, Debussy, and Fauré, soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci gives an interview in which she discusses how she decided to become a singer; starting out as a Rossini specialist; the role she always longed to sing; whether she teaches or offers young singers advice; what her happiest performing experience has been in her career; and ends the interview with a funny anecdote of a staging mishap. Read the full interview here.

Agnes Baltsa Brings Greek Recital To The Vienna State Opera

"Da kommt sie: stolz, aufrecht, blondes Haar fließt in ihren Nacken. Über Jahrzehnte hat Agnes Baltsa das Publikum der Wiener Staatsoper verzückt, hat hier 25 Partien gegeben, vom Octavian über die Isabella und die Carmen bis zur Küsterin. Nun ist die kraftvolle Diva, die im nächsten Jahr ihren 70. Geburtstag feiert, für einmal auf die Bühne der Staatsoper zurückgekehrt, mit Liedern aus ihrer Heimat. In einer Zeit, in der Griechenland nicht gerade in der Komfortzone der Sympathierankings europäischer Nationen zu finden ist, ist das auf jeden Fall eine gute Sache." [Source]

Soprano Maralin Niska and Tenor John Stewart in 1970 Recital

The soprano Maralin Niska made her Metropolitan Opera debut March 17, 1970, as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. She went on to perform with the company for the next eight years in such diverse performances as Musetta in La Bohème, Elena in I Vespri Siciliani, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and the title roles in Tosca and Salome. Tenor John Stewart sang at the MET in only two roles, both during the 1972-73 season: Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. The above recordings are of the tenor and soprano singing "Già nella notte densa s'estingue ogni clamor" from Otello, ""Non la sospiri, la nostra casetta" from Tosca, and the final moments of "Vogliatemi bene" from Act 1 of Madama Butterfly. All recordings were taken from a 1970 joint recital in Lexington, Kentucky. Listen to Ms. Niska sing "Oh! quand je dors" (Liszt), "Le manoir de Rosemonde" (Duparc) and "Depuis le jour" (from Charpentier's Louise) and Joasquín Rodrigo's Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios (1. "¿Con qué la lavaré?"/2. "Vos me matásteis"/3. "¿De dónde venís, amore?"/4. "De los álamos vengo, madre") after the jump.

Springtime in Perth, Australia, For Jessye Norman Recital

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]

Karita Mattila Recital Program Complete For Carnegie Hall

Accompanied by pianist Martin Katz, Finnish soprano Karita Mattila will sing a recital program on December 10, 8PM, at Carnegie Hall in New York.

"The first half of the program is devoted entirely to the music of France, beginning with one of Francis Poulenc’s most beloved song cycles. Banalités is the tongue-in-cheek title concocted by avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire—the “banalities” of existence are anything but banal when turned into art. Poulenc’s cycle encompasses languorous boredom in a hotel room, the giddy whirl of Paris, tragic love, and Surrealist wordplay. French genius Claude Debussy was recovering from a serious case of Wagner addiction when he composed the Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire (Five Poems of Baudelaire). Set to texts by one of France’s greatest poets, these are among Debussy’s richest, most complex mélodies (19th-century French art song) that recall memories of bygone lovers, meditate on sensual pleasures and regret, and envision the afterlife. Born in Somero, Finland, Karita Mattila is among the world’s foremost proponents of music from her native country, including compositions by Aulis Sallinen—one of Finland’s most distinguished

Mattila with Katz in Helsinki

composers. Tonight, we hear a song cycle on four poems by Finnish poet Paavo Haavikko. During the heyday of radical music innovators like Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, composer Joseph Marx struggled to cling to his late Romantic origins. Presently, his gorgeous lieder are coming back into sight and sound; tonight, we hear five of his best songs in different moods." [Source] The full program listing is after the jump and you can read the full program notes by clicking here.

Tenor Alek Shrader to Make Kansas City Recital Debut

Alek Shrader singing at the MET in 2007

"Rising-star tenor Alek Shrader will sing a free Harriman-Jewell Series Discovery Concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, at the Folly Theater (300 W. 12th St.), in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Shrader and pianist Allen Perriello will make their Kansas City recital debut with a program of arias and songs by Bellini, Fauré, Liszt, Mozart, Nevin, Rossini, Stravinsky, Thomson, and Turina. The young American tenor, featured in the Metropolitan Opera’s documentary The Audition, has critics in a dither. 'Everything about this artist is natural and effortless, so different from just about everybody else,' reported San Francisco Classical Voice. The New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini wrote 'High C is Mr. Shrader’s money note, and the audience went wild after his full-voiced final one.' The Cleveland native is the

Jonas Kaufmann MET Recital to Air Live on Sirius XM Radio

It was just announced that the Jonas Kaufmann recital to be held at the Metropolitan Opera on Sunday, October 30 at 4 PM EST will be broadcast live over Sirius XM Radio.

"The star tenor, last seen at the Met as Siegmund in Die Walküre, makes his New York recital debut with a program of songs by Liszt, Mahler, Duparc, and Strauss." For ticket information click here and to watch a video of excerpts from a previous recital click here.

Anne Sofie von Otter To Sing Recital in Hong Kong

"Widely acclaimed as one of the world’s most accomplished singers both in opera house and concert hall, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter returns to Hong Kong after her highly praised début concert in 2008. The versatile singer has made a special reputation as a Lieder singer. Song repertoire she has recorded covers a wide spectrum, from Baroque to Mozart to the more standard repertoire of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Richard Strauss and Mahler, and to the less widely explored territories of Grieg, Weill, Korngold and Chaminade. Her recordings of Grieg’s songs and ‘Mots d’amour’, a collection of Chaminade mélodies won her the prestigious Gramophone Awards, which also named her as ‘Artist of the Year’ in 1996. Her coming Hong Kong recital has a very special Scandinavian flavour. Appearing with her long-time musical partner, the Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg, von Otter will perform a very specially conceived programme of works by Mahler, Liszt, Grieg, Sibelius, Schubert, Korngold and Weill." [Source]

Program for the recital is after the jump.

Kathleen Battle Sings Purcell in 1982 Canadian Recital Debut

"I attempt from love's sickness to fly"
"Sweeter than roses"
"Man is for the woman made"

Kathleen Battle's 1982 Canadian debut recital at Pollack Hall in Montreal.
Lawrence Skrobacs, pianist.