Buried (MP3) Treasure: Luciana Serra

As record labels explore the cost effectiveness of the MP3 format, many are digging deep into their archives to find recorded material to re-issue from previous CD incarnations or in some cases for the first time since their original LP release. Click on the Amazon widget to hear MP3 audio samples.

Passion of Bizet's Opera "Carmen" Strikes BalletMet in Ohio

David Ward and Adrienne Benz in Carmen (Photo: Fred Squillante/The Columbus Dispatch)

"Carmen, the great story of Spanish passion, will be performed by BalletMet Columbus starting Friday in the Riffe Center’s Capitol Theatre. Set in early 19th-century Spain, Carmen centers on a beautiful, strong-willed woman with a fiery temper and her lover, army corporal Don Jose, who gives his all to the affair. Soon, though, her love shifts to Escamillo, a bullfighter, and the scorned suitor stabs his beloved to death. French composer Georges Bizet wrote the music for the work, among the most popular in the operatic repertory. Italian choreographer Amedeo Amodio, whose adaptation of Carmen will be used by BalletMet, is one of several choreographers who have translated the opera into dance. The production will be the third version of Carmen that the company has performed and the first in 14 years...Amodio retains Bizet’s lush music, applying it to what he calls a “contemporary ballet” in which dancers wear pointe shoes, soft shoes and, sometimes, no shoes. His Carmen begins, literally, where the traditional opera ends, with the demise of the title character and the curtain falling. The curtain rises again, to reveal post-opera backstage bustle, including a male fan with flowers, a truck driver and a woman violinist from the orchestra." [Source]

David Pittsinger is Willing to Take the Risk on Every Performance

Pittsinger as Almaviva
(Photo: Cory Weaver/Portland Opera)

Bass-baritone David Pittsinger is currently singing the role of Count Almaviva in the Portland Opera production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. He gives an interview to David Stabler of The Oregonian in which he reveals how Broadway performances have helped him in opera: "Pittsinger, 48, lives in Connecticut with his wife and twin son and daughter. He has sung innumerable counts, as well as Figaros, but he's also a cross-singer to Broadway, having sung Emil de Becque in Lincoln Center Theater's celebrated revival of South Pacific, and in Portland on a national tour of the show last year. He loves Broadway's challenges, which are different from opera's, beginning with singing eight shows a week. Talk about risk: Last year, he pulled off something no other singer had done. On a Saturday afternoon, he sang de Becque in the Vivian Beaumont Theater, then walked next door to the Metropolitan Opera, where,

David as Emil de Becque in
Lincoln Center's South Pacific.

that night, he sang the role of the ghost in Hamlet. It was believed to be the first time a performer starred in a Broadway show and an opera in the same day, according to The New York Times. 'I can't begin to explain the honor and gratitude for being on two stages in one day,' he says. A comment from stage director Tito Capobianco helped. Capobianco worked with Pittsinger at Yale University and also has worked frequently with singers in Portland State University's opera program. Manage your fear, the director told him. 'If you fear the fear, it will be more the rule than the exception.' Before adding Broadway roles, Pittsinger used to hold back, vocally, to protect his voice. 'I never saved my voice in South Pacific. I invested everything every time onstage. I didn't feel like I was lying anymore. I became a truthful actor.' Another comment, from Tony-winning choreographer Tommy Tune, gave him more perspective. 'We live for long runs because every night, you have another chance to take another chance.'" [Source]

Family man: David Pittsinger with wife, soprano Patricia Schuman, and twins.

Robert Wilson's Imaginative "Pelléas et Mélisande" in Madrid

Camilla Tilling as Mélisande
(Photo: Javier del Real/Teatro Real)

"An exquisite production of the opera has come to Madrid's Teatro Real, and it conjures a universe all its own. The orchestra was crisp and precise Monday night, enchantingly supple under the direction of Sylvain Cambreling. Fluttering melodic figures, submerged in whole-tone scales and rippling intervals, escaped into the air only to evaporate into a limpid, Wagnerian fog, specked by floating dissonances. Most of the episodic action takes place off stage, leaving the crux of the drama to the imagination of director Robert Wilson, who manages brilliantly. Richly textured sounds suggest colors and shapes, contrasts of light and dark, and angular silhouettes. Floating forms are strewn across the stage: a hanging lantern with an exposed flame, a seat undulating in a wavy swirl. Moving black and white panes create a pulsating backdrop, and translucent scrims are employed to astounding effects, as when—in an early scene—one billows across the stage to evoke the sea. Soprano Camilla Tilling masterfully sang the enigmatic Mélisande, imbuing bright, shimmering tones with the skating lilt and sag of ennui. Her controlling husband Golaud, sung impeccably by baritone Laurent Naouri, responds with thick-noted alarm, while his wife drifts irresistibly toward the eccentric charms of Pelléas, rendered well by tenor Yann Beuron. Mélisande's restlessness with Golaud turns frolicsome, even transgressive, by Pelléas's side. Mr. Wilson evokes the psychological dimensions of this transformation through a stunning choreography of gestures." [Source] Watch a video highlighting the production and interviews with the cast by clicking here.

Eglise Gutiérrez Discusses Her Role in ROH "La Sonnambula"

Kettle Brand Potato Chips Throws Opera Twist Into Commercials

Two New Interviews with Soprano Nino Machaidze

A new interview in the Los Angeles Times discusses the soprano's love of the city, getting her first big gig when she was just 25-years old, the skills necessary for an opera singer, whether she was nervous for her Metropolitan Opera debut and this:
 "Whereas her onstage persona is intense and striking (she is often called the opera world's Angelina Jolie, a comparison that owes to her large dark eyes and naturally plump lips), offstage she's relaxed and informal. She says opera stars are not really famous offstage — which she claims is equally the case in Los Angeles as in opera-centric Milan, where she lives with her newlywed husband, baritone Guido Loconsolo. 'You know, the people who are really famous, that a normal person in a supermarket can recognize, in opera it's really only one or two people,' she says. 'Opera's beauty is recognized in the theater.'....In speaking candidly about her career ambitions, she sounds more like a girl picking out lollipops in a candy store than a world-class artist charting an international career. Asked about this carefree, un-self-conscious attitude, she says, 'You know, our job is so beautiful, but it's also so difficult because we are traveling, doing crazy things like: Do one performance in one city, and the day after do a concert in another city. I think if you take a job like this, and don't have attitude like, 'OK, let's do it,' you get crazy. So definitely this is my personality, I'm happy that — thank God — I'm like this.' [Source]

From a feature for the Radio Free Europe discussing topics such as singing in Prague, singing New Year's Eve with José Carreras, making a home in Italy, getting the role of Juliette at the Salzburg Festival that launched her career, dealing with the Russian-Georgian war back in 2008 and this:
Some people have referred to you as the Angelina Jolie of the opera world. Others say you are a new Anna Netrebko. How do you feel about these comparisons?
"The Angelina Jolie of the opera world" -- this always amuses me. And actually I take it as a compliment, because I think that Angelina Jolie is a very beautiful woman. So I just say thank you! Why not? But as for a "new Anna Netrebko" -- I always say that I am not a new Anna Netrebko. She is a great singer, and I admire Anna and her voice. But I am Nino Machaidze. And I keep repeating it: I am Nino Machaidze. [Source]

Judith Neuhoff Named Managing Director of Universal Venture

"Berlin/London - Mit Centre Stage Artist Management hat Universal Music eine eigene Künstleragentur ins Leben gerufen. Das Unternehmen hat seinen Sitz in Berlin und London. Centre Stage Artist Management hat es sich zum Ziel gemacht, klassischen Sängerinnen und Sängern einen "umfassenden und maßgeschneiderten Management-Service" zu bieten. Die neue Agentur arbeitet bereits mit Universal-Music-Künstlern wie Anna Netrebko und Rolando Villazón zusammen. Auch die Sopranistin Mojca Erdmann, Mezzosopran Ruxandra Donose, die Tenöre Joseph Calleja und Massimo Giordano sowie die Baritone Thomas Hampson und Roman Trekel gehören bereits zum Roster von Centre Stage Artist Management. Den Posten den Managing Director von Centre Stage hat Judith Neuhoff übernommen. Die Ernennung Neuhoffs zum Managing Director 'steht für eine neue Struktur und eine neue Identität des Unternehmens,' heißt es in der Pressemitteilung der Universal Music Group. Judith

Baritone David Krohn's Diary of Summer Adventures in Italy

Il ragazzo abbronzatura cavalca il treno a Roma!
(Photo courtesy of David Krohn)

"Last season, after singing my first Don Giovanni with the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, I decided to take a different approach to the typical summer training a singer my age might select. Digesting a five-hundred page score of complex Italian grammar and vocabulary like Giovanni made me realize how many gaps there were in my Italian training, and instead of taking years and years of language classes to compensate, but never completely learning what I needed to know, I opted to head to the source of opera itself, Italy. Where else would I truly obtain a sense of ease and comfort in this critical language? After finishing a couple of concerts with the Virginia Symphony with their Arts Festival, I dropped off my rental car at the local airport, checked in my big red suitcase, and

Castel Sant'Angelo
(originally The Mausoleum of Hadrian)

scanned my one-way ticket to Rome. While I was studying for my Master's degree at Juilliard, I was awarded a language study grant to learn German in Germany and Austria for a month, so I decided with my limited time there to sign up for a language school that met every morning from 7:00am to noon, at which time we were then dismissed to head out into Munich and explore the culture and live the language. To my frustration, I discovered that I was learning twice as much German outside of the classroom as I was while locked away inside, drilling grammar exercises on a white board with fellow English speakers. With that in

The Colosseum
(originally The Flavian Amphitheatre)

mind, I decided to do something different this time. I chose to go to Italy without the assistance of language schools at all; to get an apartment in Rome and live "as the Romans do," applying for work, getting haircuts, buying groceries, paying bills, taking the subways in the morning, reading the newspapers, watching TV -- in other words, complete and total immersion. Never having been to Italy in my entire life, I took a leap of faith and booked my first few nights at a bed-and-breakfast in a part of town which seemed conveniently central. I won't bore you in meticulous detail about all of the embarrassing moments in the airport and train station, where I asked for directions from official looking people with my jumbled grammar and limited vocabulary, gaining little more than confused looks, but I'll say that I somehow arrived in Piazza Crati hours later to meet my hosts at the B&B, neither of whom spoke more than a dozen words of English. And that's about how it went for the next few weeks. I

Teatro alla Scala
(originally New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala)

carried a notebook around with me everywhere, scribbling down new word after new word, feverishly studying my new vocabulary in coffee shops, testing them out in poorly constructed sentences with the patiently amused waitstaff. Before long, I had settled into an apartment in Vitinia, a blue-collar section of town vacant of any other English speakers, forcing me out of my comfort zone any time I closed the front door behind me and ventured out into this new world. I was a fifteen minute subway ride to the Colosseum, a half hour to the Vatican City, fifteen minutes to the beaches at Ostia. It was all there. I got a job teaching English to business executives near the Trevi Fountain, using my slowly growing command of Italian grammar to help explain the intricacies of our

The famous "Pini di Roma" (Pines of Rome)

own language to them. While I enjoyed every minute of working with my students, as soon as Friday afternoon arrived, I raced over to Termini Station, the central train station of Rome, a weekend bag packed and slung over my shoulder, to figure out to which Italian city I would travel for the weekend. First, it was to see the canals of Venice, where Otello played in my mind (the '76 Kleiber La Scala performance with Domingo, Freni, and Cappuccilli, of course). Then, I was off to Florence to walk along the River Arno, this time hearing

Steps to the Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli
on the highest summit of the Campidoglio.

Schicchi. Genoa brought thoughts of Simon Boccanegra, Modena brought thoughts of countless recordings of the great Pavarotti and Freni, and a special trip to Busseto to pay homage to the great Verdi's hometown brought dozens of the greatest operas ever written into mind. Trips to Milan, Pisa, Bologna, Orvieto, Parma, Cinque Terre, Naples, Pompeii, week after week of endless adventures, each opening up my knowledge of dialects and the rich tradition of Italian culture. After another month, I found myself conversing with strangers everywhere, making fewer and fewer mistakes, and expanding my vocabulary every day. I stood atop Castel Sant'Angelo, from which Tosca threw

Vernazza in the province of La Spezia, Liguria.
It is one of the five towns in the Cinque Terre region.

herself in Act III of her eponymous opera, visited Scarpia's Palazzo Farnese, and Lodovico's Ducal Palace of Venice. It was a world of opera. Everyone who heard that I was an opera singer insisted that I sing for them, something I normally resist doing, but Italy put up a much stronger fight than I could resist. No matter what I decided to sing for the locals, they insisted on joining in, always knowing the words perfectly, proving that the music was in their blood. One particular night, about a month and a half into my time there, I found myself cooking a thank-you dinner for

Lunch in Monterosso at Bar Giovanni
while hiking along the Italian Riviera.

my new Roman friends, consisting entirely of local dishes - Bucatini all'Amatriciana, Saltimbocca alla Romana, a radicchio dish "in agrodolce," complete with antipasti and dolci, when the gas on the oven went out. Without hesitation, I knocked on my neighbor Cosimo's door and asked him how I could reset the gas to my stove, preventing a dinner party disaster. Since all of the units in the building had a similar gas hookup, he gave me precise instructions of how to reset things and continue cooking. On the way back into the kitchen, I began to laugh, realizing I somehow knew the words for 'pilot light, knob, restart, gas, circuit breaker, burner, stovetop' in Italian. I can't tell you where I learned them, but it was starting to feel like my goals were being realized. The next month and a half in Italy were just as magical as the first. Some of the many highlights included a performance of Nabucco in the legendary outdoor arena of Verona, conducted by

Visiting Marco Corelli, only living
relative of the late Franco Corelli.

Maestro Julian Kovatchev, who will be conducting Madama Butterfly at Seattle Opera this coming May; taking a trip to Ancona to visit the hometown of Franco Corelli, my favorite singer of all time, and spending a couple of days with his family and friends; eating in Pavarotti's favorite restaurants of Modena; hearing Maestro Asher Fisch conduct an Aida at the famous Terme di Caracalla in Rome; hiking the Cinque Terre of Liguria, Italy's Riviera; afternoons on the beach with my Roman friends; salsa dancing all night outdoors in EUR, Mussolini's section of southern Rome; and more than anything, learning that opera and music is part of the national pride in Italy. It's not looked at as "weird" to be a singer, but exciting and honorable. Leaving Rome after over three months of living there was difficult." A special thank you to David Krohn for providing the complete transcript of his Italian journey as well as approving the use of his personal photos.

Barbara Bonney Has Second Career at LUNA DressDesign

Courtier Barbara Bonney

Last April 14, on her 55th birthday, soprano Barbara Bonney opened LUNA DressDesign at Schwarzstraße 21 in Salzburg, Austria. After 30 years of singing in opera and concerts, the New Jersey-native fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning her own boutique. The concept arose from the singer not being to find the right dress for a concert performance. The dresses are designed primarily by Bonney herself, but she has managed to bring the young designer Petra Storrs on board by selling her creations exclusively made for Austria in the boutique. Storrs was named by London's Independent newspaper as one of the top 15 designers that will shape the art scene and she has designed for Lady Gaga as well as Florence and the Machine. The fashion at LUNA DressDesign focuses on the uniqueness of each couture piece for the individual clients. Obviously due to the nature of Ms. Bonney's life

Soprano Maria Bengtsson
wears a LUNA creation.

experience, there is a strong focus on couture gowns for opera singers and concertgoers. Dresses are designed using exquisite fabrics that are of the highest quality and resilience. The motto of the boutique is: "Everyone is Different." The designers strive to have expressive evening wear that is not only one-of-a-kind, but also specially individual for the client. The concept for many of the dresses, ranging from evening wear to summer dresses, is in the style of 1950s & 1960s. For locals, there is a plethora of Landhausmode which updates the famous dirndl design worn by Bavarians and Austrians. Recently the boutique has expanded into creating nightgowns and ready-to-wear dresses. The boutique also sells vintage dresses by Escada, Armani and Valentino. Often donated by famous opera singers, profits from the sale of these designer gowns benefits the Barbara Bonney Foundation where the singer is a mentor, coach and consultant for the new generation of singers. Visit the LUNA DressDesign boutique online here. Barbara Bonney is concurrently Professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and Guest Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. [Source, Source, Source, Source] A full biography of Barbara Bonney and more photos of LUNA creations are after the jump.

Kicking Off Opera Week by Celebrating Fiat's Arrival in America

"What do automaker Fiat and opera have in common? To put it simply, both are Italian traditions that are growing in the U.S. This week is National Opera Week across the U.S., and we thought we would look at both the growth of opera and the reintroduction of Fiat in America together. Indeed, we drove the new Fiat 500C

In addition to owning a 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo,
a 2005 Porsche Cayenne SUV and 2002 BMW 540i
wagon, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky also purchased
a 1970 Fiat 500 (similar to the one in the bottom picture).

around the city of Detroit on our way to the storied Detroit Opera House. What do you know about opera in the U.S? How about the fact that it is one of the fastest growing cultural pastimes in the country, especially with people 25-45. Opera America, which organizes National Opera Week, counts 117 professional opera companies in 43 states its membership. It also serves 19 opera companies in Canada. But there are more than that in the two countries that just aren't members. The percentage of adults viewing or listening to opera via broadcast and recorded media remains higher than live attendance. In 2008, 11 million adults, or 4.9% of the population, viewed or listened to an opera broadcast or recording, according to the National Endowment of the Arts. The NEA also reported that in 2008, the last year data is available, 4.8 million adults (2.1% of the adult population) attended at least one opera performance. In that opera season, there were 1,990 performances of 414 full-staged productions. This week, dozens of opera companies will be holding activities and events to bring the public closer to the behind-the-scenes activity of opera companies. 'From behind-the-scenes tours to enlightening performance talks to Twitter contests and more, there is something for everyone during National Opera Week,' states Marc A. Scorca, president & CEO of OPERA America. 'National Opera Week draws attention to the creativity and dynamism that propels our field today. We are proud to highlight this depth of opera activity across the United States.' Opera is a curious cultural form as it divides so many people.

Marilyn Horne on The Odd Couple. Click the
image to launch a video of her performance.

Anyone who watched the TV series The Odd Couple knows that Felix Unger, played by Tony Randall, and Oscar, played by Jack Klugman, were on opposite sides of the opera divide. Oscar's hatred of opera, and then being subsequently dragged in to Felix's world and enjoying the singing was a recurring theme in the show. Randall brought opera stars onto the series ads guest stars: Martina Arroyo, Richard Fredricks and Marilyn Horne. Horne has credited that episode organized by Randall as introducing her and opera to a whole generation of people who otherwise would not have ever heard of either her or opera. Opera fans are so passionate, some in the industry call it 'The NFL of the Arts.' Opera fans argue and banter about who the best sopranos, baritones and tenors are like football fans argue about quarterbacks and teams. "My friends and I crazy when it comes to opera," says Elizabeth McPhereson, a software engineer who lives in San Francisco. "Two years ago, our opera club was four of us, and now it is 16, which is about where we want it to stay." Her club meets every two weeks to either go to an opera, or listen to a new recording at one of the members' houses, and, yes, argue and debate about the performances. Fiat can only hope at this point that it's Italian brand can enjoy the same sort of surge as opera. The company, which is now aligned with Chrysler, launched the Fiat 500, known in Europe and South America

Behold the Fiat 130 "Opera" from 1974.

as the Cinquecento, in the U.S. last Spring. The company is about to launch a performance version of the car, called the Fiat Abarth, followed by electric version next year. After that, there are expected to be larger, mid-sized Fiats, as well as the re-introduction of the Alfa-Romeo brand to showrooms carrying Fiats. Fiat, back in the 1970s, created a couple of special editions of its Fiat 130 sedan that was dubbed the "Opera." Beyond that, Fiat is a big financial supporter of opera in Italy." [Source] Build your own Fiat car model by visiting their official website here. Perhaps the "Bravo" edition is just the thing for a diva.

Maria Callas and Angela Gheorghiu in Duet for EMI

MET Sirius XM Radio Tonight: "Siegfried"

Listen to the Metropolitan Opera perform Wagner's Siegfried live tonight at 6:00 PM EST on Sirius XM radio. Intermission guests: Steven Osgood , Harry Bicket and Jay Hunter Morris.

"Madama Butterfly" Makes Appearance in George Clooney Film

George Clooney keeping his butterfly in shape.
Click image to enlarge the tattoo.

The American, a 2010 thriller starring George Clooney as an assasin, features a scene where his character has dinner with one of the local priests of Castel del Monte. What else would be playing in the background but Puccini? Specifically "Un bel di vedremo" from Madama Butterfly sung by Maria Callas. The choice most certainly has to do with the tattoo that Clooney's character has on his back of a butterfly. In fact the two female leads, one also an assassin and the other a prostitute, refer to him in the film as Mr. Butterfly. A synopsis and trailer for the film are after the jump.

Successful "Xerxes" Production Thrives at San Francisco Opera

Susan Graham (l) in the title role and Lisette Oropesa as Romilda in San Francisco (Photo: Cory Weaver)

"This seems to be San Francisco Opera’s season for premiering major operas of earlier centuries that it has heretofore overlooked. On the heels of its first mounting of Donizetti’s 1834 opera, Lucrezia Borgia, comes the first production of Handel’s 1738 opera Xerxes. Company General Manager David Gockley could not have assembled a finer cast, nor chosen a more consistently delightful production for an opera that SFO’s superb Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers considers one of Handel’s 'thorough masterpieces.' Director Michael Walling’s revival of Nicholas Hytner’s marvelous production, which won England’s Laurence Olivier Award in

David Daniels as Arsamenes (Photo: Cory Weaver)

1985 for 'Outstanding New Opera Production of the Year,' assigns Handel’s male castrato role of Xerxes to mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, and the female soprano role of Arsamenes (Xerxes’ brother) to countertenor David Daniels. It also brings to the fore the many camp elements of the convoluted plot, which seem right at home in David Fielding’s whimsical setting. The results seem ideal for Handel’s one and only operatic comedy....The cast and conducting are extraordinary. Graham, as gifted in Baroque coloratura as she is in Romantic lyricism, tosses off her many interpolated embellishments with the warm, seductive sound for which she is prized. Her instrument may not be ideally suited to Xerxes most furious outpourings — her smooth phrasing would ideally be more biting and brilliant — but her voice and artistic commitment sweep all before them. Daniels has an equally smooth, astoundingly fluent voice whose size is a fine match for Graham. As with many members of the cast, his embellishments bring out the craziness of the crazy libretto. Both stars invest their long-breathed, roller coaster lines with the surfeit of emotion essential to conveying their characters’ inner feelings." [Source]

Using eBay to Look Into Opera's Glorious Bygone Era

Bass Kurt Böhme takes in a quiet afternoon at the Salzburg Festival

Imagine the world's largest yard sale that carries every imaginable item you could ever dream of owning. This is eBay, a website best navigated when you know specifically what you want and then tactically go on the hunt for it. Sometimes, however, one can get sucked into what could only be described as "free association" shopping. You know when you go to look for that one special recording of an artist that is out of print and the next thing you know the search has led you to one of their colleague's latest cook books. Sometimes that can help you stumble upon a gold mine of memorabilia that is worthy of the best opera archive. Our past is often captured best through photographs and what better way to peak into an era that celebrated the grandiosity of opera on, as well as off, the stage than through the press photos that have been lying dormant in filing cabinets across the country for more than 50 years. Two specific sellers on ebay, rfleetjr and historicimages-store, specialize in such images that have often been gathered from either an opera company's file purging or an associated press trash bin. These press photos range from portraits to casual promotional materials. Some have editorial markings on them that actually lend to their historical charm. What better way to pay homage to the yesteryear of operatic history than to have one of these souvenirs hanging on your office wall or in the powder room for guests to comment. Take a look at what can be yours:

Regina Resnik in costume	Dorothy Kirsten in 1963 glamour shot
Austrian soprano Birgit Sarata	Lily Pons with dogs
Perry Como and Roberta Peters	Marian Anderson keeping warm