In Conversation: Lawrence Brownlee Interviews Denyce Graves

As part of his online interview series, Sit Down With LB, tenor Lawrence Brownlee has a Facebook LIVE conversation with the legendary mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. From their homes in Florida and New York, the discussion covers the gamut from hearing Leontyne Price the first time and knowing she wanted to become an opera singer to when she gave Samuel Ramey his wake-up call as a clerk working at the Omni Parker House! We also get to hear about her experience singing with Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti; learning to become a better cook; being friends with Ruth Bader-Ginsburg; admiring singers like Kathleen Battle and Elly Ameling; coping during quarantine life with a family; nurturing her life outside opera by spending time on the farm with horses, dogs and alpacas; and how teaching young singers has brought her a renewed sense of appreciation for the art form. You can see the full interview here.  Watch Denyce Graves sing the "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Carmen) and "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" (Samson et Dalila) after the jump.

Anna Netrebko Wears Exclusive Fendi Fur Cape For "Manon Lescaut"

Fresh from her stint at the closing ceremonies
of Sochi Olympics 2014, Anna Netrebko wraps
herself in a new role.

"Fendi has created an exclusive fur cape for Russian soprano Anna Netrebko for her lead role in a new production of Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini. Conducted by Riccardo Muti and directed by his daughter Chiara Muti, the opera in four acts will run at Rome's Teatro dell’Opera from Feb. 27 to March 8. The white Rex rabbit cape, which is lined in silk, has been manufactured by hand at Rome’s Fendi fur atelier in collaboration with the opera house’s dressmakers and costume designer Alessandro Lai." [Source]

Anna Netrebko Performed Olympic Anthem At Sochi Opening

Netrebko Does Russia Proud: Hitting all the high notes in a gown by Katya Kotova.

On the heels of American soprano Renée Fleming singing the National Anthem for the Super Bowl, Russian superstar Anna Netrebko sang the Olympic Anthem in Sochi for Vladimir Putin, 43,000 stadium spectators, and an estimated 3 billion television audience members. The Olympics have been in the news recently for the ballooning $50 billion price tag and it seems not all the construction is complete after seven years of preparation. No word on whether there will be more singing from the country's most beloved opera singer during her stay in Sochi before she travels back to Italy for the opening of Manon Lescaut with Riccardo Muti at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma on February 27. Photos from the performance here and a many more after the jump. As a side note, Google has created a doodle that seems like a statement about Russia's anti-gay law just in time for the Olympics:

(Translation: "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." –Olympic Charter)

Anna Netrebko Wears Irina Vitjaz Haute Couture Gowns

Suit of Armor: Wearing the Irena Vitjaz gown that she chose for the 2013
Salzburg Festival concert version of Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco.

Anna Netrebko is one of the most fashion-forward divas on, and off, the stage. Many of her latest gowns have been created by fellow Russian, designer Irena Vitjaz. Check out some photos after the jump that highlight more of these gorgeous dresses as Ms. Netrebko rubs shoulders with Riccardo Muti and Mikhail Baryshknikov.

Eric Owens and Riccardo Muti Perform For Young Chicago Inmates

In April 2013, bass-baritone Eric Owens, accompanied by Riccardo Muti, performed for inmates as part of the
 CSO's Citizen Musician program. The singer commented, "It's actually one of the proudest moments of my career!"
To learn more about Mr. Owens and his upcoming engagements, click here. (Photo: Facebook)

"The concert was part of a unique outreach that's the brainchild of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's musical director, the Italian-born Riccardo Muti, who attended the event at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center on Chicago's West Side. The concert included half a dozen of the orchestra's members. But the center-stage performers were some 10 inmates who participated in a weeklong musical workshop at the lockup. It culminated in the Sunday concert featuring compositions the inmates wrote in collaboration with the professionals. 'This is a wonderful beginning for you and for us,' Muti, 71, told the group after the 45-minute performance ended. 'You will join society with the sense of harmony you learned here.'....The Naples-born Muti has taken his act into prison before. He once performed Robert Schumann's 'Warum?' — which means 'why' in German — in a Milan prison. The work, he explained later, was his way of asking inmates what had brought them to such misfortune. Muti spoke philosophically to the detainees in Chicago after Sunday's concert and just before a dozen burly guards escorted the inmates-turned-musicians back to their holding cells. 'We will meet again in the future,' he said. He quickly added, 'Not here! But on the outside.' [Source]

Maestri Barenboim and Muti to Perform For Concerts With Pope

"Riccardo Muti will be conducting a concert in the Vatican in honor of Pope Benedict XVI. He's the second big-name maestro to be conducting for the pope this spring. La Scala opera house announced last week that Daniel Barenboim would conduct Beethoven's Ninth symphony when the pope visits Milan on June 1. According to a statement on his Web site Sunday, Muti will lead Rome's Teatro dell'Opera in selections from Vivaldi and Verdi in the May 11 concert, which is being offered to the pope by Italy's president in honor of the seventh anniversary of his election to the pontificate. Benedict is a classical music aficionado and himself plays the piano. It's not the first time Muti will conduct for a pope: He conducted selections of Verdi in 1983 when Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to attend a performance at La Scala. Muti left La Scala in 2005 amid bitter controversy over artistic and programming differences and is currently music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra." [Source]

Sondra Radvanovsky Sings at Birgit Nilsson Prize Ceremony

Riccardo Muti accepted his $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky sang "Tacea la notte placida" from Il Trovatore at the ceremony. Click here to watch the video. Two more images after the jump.

Patrick Reardon Gives a Perspective From the Chorus

Patrick Reardon, one of the many stories
in the Chicago Symphony Chorus

Carnegie Hall presented Verdi's Otello in concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Maestro Riccardo Muti on April 15. One of the members in the chorus was tenor Patrick Reardon. In an interview with the Litchfield County Times, the Connecticut-native gives an interesting insight into the world of one chorus member's life. Growing up in a musical household in New Hartford, his singing abilities were discovered at an early age as he performed in his local church choir. An avid sportsman, he continued to casually pursue his passion for music when he decided to attend the University of Connecticut and begin taking voice lessons. He is now studying to get his masters in music education. “I think we can’t start early enough....in instrumental work, the Suzuki method starts children as young as 3 and 4 years old on very small stringed instruments. They achieve phenomenal results when they get older, and are so much more advanced that their peers who start in the fourth or fifth grades.” As he continues his education, he gets his income from being a member of the Chicago Symphony

Riccardo Muti leads the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus at Carnegie Hall
(Photo: Joshua Bright/The New York Times)

Chorus and the St. James Cathedral Choir. Once finished with his education he hopes to teach four or five years at the high school level before he pursues a doctorate in conducting. Singing with the Chicago Symphony Chorus has one major perk besides the music for this 25-year old, he gets to perform with his his fiancée, Katherine Kahrmann, who is also in the Grammy Award-winning group. So the next time you're at a concert with orchestra, soloists and a famous conductor, remember there are more than 100 individual stories of the chorus members behind it all. [Source]

Congratulations Grammy Award Winners!

BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM

Verdi: Requiem

Riccardo Muti, conductor; Duain Wolfe, chorus master; Christopher Alder, producer; David Frost, Tom Lazarus & Christopher Willis, engineers/mixers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Borodina, Barbara Frittoli & Mario Zeffiri; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Chorus) [CSO Resound]

BEST OPERA RECORDING

Saariaho: L'Amour De Loin

Kent Nagano, conductor; Daniel Belcher, Ekaterina Lekhina & Marie-Ange Todorovitch; Martin Sauer, producer (Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Rundfunkchor Berlin) [Harmonia Mundi]

BEST CHORAL PERFORMANCE

Verdi: Requiem

Riccardo Muti, conductor; Duain Wolfe, chorus master (Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Borodina, Barbara Frittoli & Mario Zeffiri; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Chorus) [CSO Resound]

BEST CLASSICAL VOCAL PERFORMANCE

Sacrificium

Cecilia Bartoli (Giovanni Antonini; Il Giardino Armonico) [Decca]

BEST CLASSICAL CROSSOVER ALBUM

Tin, Christopher: Calling All Dawns

Lucas Richman, conductor (Sussan Deyhim, Lia, Kaori Omura, Dulce Pontes, Jia Ruhan, Aoi Tada & Frederica von Stade; Anonymous 4 & Soweto Gospel Choir; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) [Tin Works Publishing]

Riccardo Muti Rushed To Hospital After Fainting

(Photo: Russel Daniels)

Maestro Riccardo Muti momentarily lost consciousness and fell off the podium during a rehearsal with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is at an undisclosed hospital recovering and getting stitches for the cut he received upon falling on the stage. More tests are expected. Leonard Slatkin and Mitsuko Uschida will take over conducting duties. [Source]