Ojai Music Festival To Debut New Opera For 68th Season

"It's not unusual for the spirits of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to hover over an outdoor concert. At this year's 68th Ojai Music Festival, though, they will be appearing in corporeal form as characters in The Classical Style, an eagerly anticipated comic opera that is making its debut. It should make a fitting centrepiece, as innovation, creativity and new music have long been hallmarks of the four-day event, which takes place about 80 miles north-west of Los Angeles. Ojai is known for its setting among the citrus groves and the mountains, and for a strong spiritual tradition dating back to the 1920s when the community became a centre for Jiddu Krishnamurti, a philosopher, and his followers. Thomas Morris has been the artistic director of the festival for the past decade. Each year he chooses a different music director, and together they shape the programme. This year he turned to Jeremy Denk, a MacArthur Award-winning pianist and writer who also wrote the libretto for The Classical Style. (The score is the work of Steven Stucky, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.) Mr Morris says the festival has 'a history of eclectic choices' when it comes to musical directors.

Historical Music Man: Aaron Copland served as
one of the many music directors for the festival.

Contemporary music was already its focus by the 1950s, and in those early years directors included Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland and Lukas Foss. More recently Mr Morris has tapped Mark Morris, a choreographer, Dawn Upshaw, a soprano, and eighth blackbird, a chamber-music ensemble. At the same time, composers like Steve Reich, John Cage, John Adams and Thomas Adès have found Ojai a congenial place for American or West Coast premieres of their work. The common element, notes Mr Morris, is that 'the artists who come to Ojai are not only performers but also thinkers and innovators.' The theme behind this 68th festival had its roots in a conversation between Mr Denk and Mr Morris a few years ago. Mr Denk had an idea for a chamber opera based, rather curiously, on an award-winning book of criticism by Charles

Netrebko and Schrott Will Open Restaurant in Vienna

"Operndiva Anna Netrebko und Bassbariton Erwin Schrott wollen ein Restaurant eröffnen – und zwar in Wien, wie sie in einem Interview für die morgen erscheinende NEWS-Ausgabe bekannt geben. Die Stadt bleibt Lebensmittelpunkt, obwohl beide in der nächsten Saison keine Auftritte an der Staatsoper haben. Beide lassen auch hinsichtlich der Salzburger Festspiele, die sie in diesem Sommer nachhaltig mitgestalten, aufhorchen: Anna Netrebko singt dort zwar nächstes Jahr die Mimi in La Bohème, hat aber für die folgenden Jahre der Intendanz Alexander Pereira keine Anfrage. Schrott ist in dieser Ära überhaupt nicht gebucht. „Ja, das tut es" antworten beide einstimmig auf die Frage ob sie das schmerze. Am 6. August treten beide mit dem Tenor Jonas Kaufmann in der Wiener Stadthalle zu einem Galakonzert mit Arien, Duetten und sonstigem auf. Gelegenheit also, für länger Abschied zu nehmen."

NEWS: Stimmt es, dass Sie demnächst ein Restaurant eröffnen werden?
Netrebko: Wir dachten, dass es doch auch noch etwas anderes außerhalb der Oper geben muss. Das Restaurant machen wir aus Leidenschaft. Da geht es nicht ums Geschäft, denn ich weiß, wie schwierig es ist, ein Restaurant professionell zu führen. Aber wir kochen gern und lieben beide gutes Essen in guter Gesellschaft. Wir wollen etwas Neues entwickeln.

NEWS: Wird das Restaurant in Wien sein?
Netrebko: Ja, ich denke schon.
Schrott: Ja. Und dann übernehmen wir die Welt!

NEWS: Was wird auf der Speisekarte stehen? Churrasco oder Borschtsch?
Schrott: Darüber haben wir noch keine Entscheidung getroffen.

[Source]

See more photos of the couple, currently in Salzburg, after the jump.

While NYCO Runs Amok, the MET Performs in Central Park

"It has been four years since the Metropolitan Opera decided to stop presenting full operas in its summertime concerts in New York City’s parks, a decision that was difficult to understand, given the popularity of these free performances, and the likelihood that they were winning the company new listeners. Now, presumably, the Met’s high-definition opera screenings are expected to be its audience builders: It is presenting free screenings of 10 of them in its Met Summer HD Festival, at Lincoln Center from Aug. 27 to Sept. 5. But the Met also recognizes that it should maintain a presence in the parks with live music, and on Monday evening it opened this year’s installment of its Summer Recital Series with a program of arias and duets, with three young singers — Angela Meade, soprano; Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano; and Atalla Ayan, tenor — as part of Central Park SummerStage. The bass-baritone Eric Owens was on hand to introduce the program (and to sing Marcello’s offstage line in “O soave fanciulla,” from Puccini’s Bohème, from his seat in the audience)." [Source]

(Images left to right: Meade, Ayan, Cano. Photos by Hiroyuki Ito/New York Times)

Brevard Music Center Celebrates 75th Season This Month

"The Brevard Music Center, known widely for its lively summer festival and educational institute that features a distinguished artist faculty, will begin its anniversary season on June 24....Eighteen different orchestra programs, five opera productions, wind ensemble, chamber music, recitals, pre-performance lectures, as well as a number of free events will make up the packed season of festival performances...'As we approach our 75th Anniversary Season, I have been touched with the strong sense of tradition coupled with the commitment to continue to teach and inspire talented students in new and innovative ways,' says Margaret Ryan, President and CEO of Brevard Music Center. 'I’m really looking forward to seeing Brevard Music Center move into the future,' says Ryan, who took the helm as President and CEO in February. Ryan adds that BMC Artistic Director Keith Lockhart and some of the artist faculty often compare Brevard Music Center to the fictional village of Brigadoon. 'It’s that ‘magical place’ in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains that comes to life as students and faculty study, learn, and perform great music together,' she says....For more than 40 years, opera has been a major part of the Brevard Music Center, and the 75th Anniversary festival is no different. Brevard Music Center’s Janiec Opera Company will have performances at the Porter Center at Brevard College for this season." [Source]

Brevard Music Center will present La Traviata, Threepenny Opera, Alcina, L'Elisir d'Amore and an evening of opera's greatest hits. For more information and tickets, visit the Brevard Music Center website by clicking here.

Three Tenors (Domingo, Vargas, Cura) and A Soprano (Martínez)

Three of the world's most famous tenors will be taking part in the International Music Festival Český Krumlov this summer. The festival begins July 15th with Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas singing a concert of arias (Verdi, Donizetti, Cilea and Puccini) with the Symphony Orchestra under conductor Ondrej Lenárd in the Garden City Brewery. Called "Singer of Singers" by the Czech press, this event marks his first return to the Czech Republic in six years. Next up is Argentinean tenor José Cura performing one of his signature roles, Canio in I Pagliacci at the Revolving Auditorium on August 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10. The final gala concert will feature Spanish

Cura, Martínez, Vargas

tenor Plácido Domingo on August 20th with special guest soprano Ana María Martínez and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eugene Kohn at the City Parking P2 for an open-air concert. [Source, Source]