Opera-Loving Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan Of NYC Dies At Age 82

Cardinal Edward Egan listens to opera tenor Bryan Hymel
at the Waldorf-Astoria in October 2014

"Cardinal Edward M. Egan, a stern defender of Roman Catholic orthodoxy who presided over the New York Archdiocese for nine years in an era of troubled finances and changing demographics, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 82. Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said Cardinal Egan died of cardiac arrest at NYU Langone Medical Center. As archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009 — the spiritual head of a realm of 2.5 million parishioners, an archipelago of 400 churches and a majestic seat at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan — the cardinal was one of America’s most visible Catholic leaders, invoking prayers for justice when terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, and escorting Pope Benedict XVI on his historic visit to the city in April 2008. In February of 2009, the pope announced that Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee had been selected to replace Cardinal Egan in New York on April 15, concluding a reign that had not been popular with many Catholics but had come to grips with hard decisions on church finances and had walked the line of Catholic doctrine against winds of change. But a month before retiring, Cardinal Egan seemed to soften his stance on the centuries-old requirement of priestly celibacy by suggesting the church would someday have to consider allowing priests to marry. 'I think that it’s going to be discussed; it’s a perfectly legitimate discussion,' he said on the Albany radio station Talk 1300. He added: 'I think it has to be looked at. And I am not so sure it wouldn’t be a good idea to decide on the basis of geography and culture not to make an across-the-board determination.'" New York residents know that Cardinal Edward Egan was known for his strong Catholic faith, but few had the knowledge that it was his love of opera that carried on a tradition of bringing operatic talent of the highest level to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Annually at services for Christmas Eve Midnight Mass visitors can hear the likes of Susan Graham, Renée Fleming, Hei-Kyung Hong, James Valenti, Danielle de Niese, Carl Tanner, Joyce DiDonato, Stephen Costello, Ramón Vargas, Maureen O'Flynn, Marcello Giordani, and Michael Fabiano. In 2007/2008, the Archdiocese of New York celebrated its Bicentennial with many celebratory Masses and events. Edward Cardinal Egan hosted a much-heralded concert featuring various choirs and stars from the Metropolitan Opera. [Source, Source, Source] Read more biographical information about Cardinal Egan here.

Shirley Verrett And Henry Lewis Early Supporter Passes Away

Champion For Music: Sylvia Kunin, seen here in 2014, provided support for numerous in the classical world.

"In 1955, Sylvia Kunin founded the Young Musicians Foundation in Los Angeles that provided support and a showcase for budding classical-music talents — including conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, guitarist Christopher Parkening and soprano Shirley Verrett — long before they were world-famous....Kunin, 101, died Feb. 12 in a Seattle retirement community. She had had a recent fall and was in declining health, said her son, Barry Eben. The YMF is still going strong. Other musicians who got an early boost not only from the foundation but also from classical music television shows Kunin hosted beginning in the early 1950s include violinists Misha Dichter and Glenn Dicterow, conductors Lawrence Foster and Henry Lewis and cellist Nathaniel

Michael Tilson Thomas with Sylvia Kunin in earlier days

Rosen....'She was a very diminutive figure, but her energy was colossal,' Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, said in an interview this week. The YMF orchestra was his first, at 20, as music director. 'One minute she could be very charming, even flirtatious, and the next she would belt out, 'Oh, c'mon!' if she sensed any of the grandiosity that can come with classical music.' She was not just a fan of the music. Kunin was a piano prodigy who won

Early photo of Young Musicians Foundation with Shirley Verrett in the front center

competitions and studied with Artur Schnabel in prewar Europe. The fact that her career faltered helped fuel her drive to pave the way for others....In 1954 came her follow-up show, Debut, with musicians competing for $1,000 scholarships. To lead the show's orchestra, she hired Henry Lewis, a double-bass player in the Los Angeles Philharmonic who had long wanted to conduct but was not getting opportunities. 'The podium was a long way away for a little black kid growing up in Los Angeles,' he told The Times in 1985. Kunin gave Lewis, who went on to a long career conducting at the Metropolitan Opera and other venues, the chance. 'Sylvia was always interested in finding someone who had something special to say,' said Lewis, who died in

Conductor Henry Lewis with his then wife
opera singer Marilyn Horne

1996....She and her husband, actor Al Eben, moved to Hawaii, where he had a recurring role as the medical officer in the TV series Hawaii Five-0. While there she started a new TV program featuring student musicians, Musical Encounters, for distribution to schools and showings on public television. It continued when she and her husband returned to L.A. in 1975. After Al Eben died in 2003, she moved to Seattle to be closer to her son and his family. The production of Musical Encounters continued there and at the end of the last show, featuring a young soprano in 2012, surprise tributes from Thomas, Parkening and others were read. Kunin, then 99, stood and addressed the audience in a still-strong voice. 'I'm glad I was able to live this long,' she said. 'I really feel very lucky. You can't be luckier.'" [Source] Learn more about the YMF by clicking here. Watch a wonderful video of Sylvia Kunin from March 2014 about the creation of the Young Musicians Foundation.

Former San Diego Opera Campbell Lands Big Money Position

Former Opera Duo: Ian and Ann Campbell
during their tenure at San Diego Opera

"Word that Ann Spira Campbell, formerly number two at the San Diego Opera, has become the senior executive director for principal gifts at UCSD has tongues wagging among local rainmakers. The ex-wife of former opera honcho Ian Campbell grabbed the job early last month even as the California attorney general’s office continues to investigate the opera’s financial operations during the couple’s tenure. The pair departed the opera last year after the board, acting on Ian Campbell’s recommendation, voted to shut down. A shakeup ensued and a subsequent board reconstituted the organization, with the Campbells agreeing in July to take settlement packages, the terms of which were undisclosed. According to an advertisement for the job posted by the university in November, UCSD’s new hire 'will be responsible for the development of personalized stewardship and communication strategies, and overall results of a collaborative fundraising effort for prospective donors whose capacity to give to the University is a minimum of $1 million.' Adds the solicitation, 'This is an

Soprano Susan Neves

entrepreneurial, results-oriented environment that requires innovative thinking, initiative, focused action and collaborative communication. The ability to develop deep, trusting relationships with Advancement leadership is essential.' It will also be important to 'dispense appropriate disciplinary action when necessary,' says the notice. Local fat cats should be prepared for a call or two. According to the announcement, 'the Principal Gift strategy program is expected to grow as key staff members are aligned with this program for the success of UC San Diego’s forthcoming comprehensive campaign including the Health Sciences and central campus initiatives.' Amount of salary is not mentioned. Campbell’s ex-husband is reported to be currently living in New York City. Don Bauder reported in October that he was engaged to opera soprano Susan Neves (pronounced 'nevs')." [Source]

Eastern Bloc Hits Boston Opera Season With Two Big Works

Leos Janácek

"Boston has largely ignored one of the great opera composers of the 20th century: Leos Janácek. In 1985, Sarah Caldwell staged for her Opera Company of Boston one of Janácek’s masterpieces, The Makropoulos Case, a sinister yet mesmerizing story of a glamorous 300-year-old woman desperately trying to hang on to her life, starring one of the most glamorous and versatile sopranos of the century, Anja Silja. Couturier Fiandaca designed her costumes. The production was unforgettable and it got rave reviews. But it drew small audiences. In all my years of living in Boston, I’ve only seen one other staged production of a Janácek opera here — his heartbreaking animal fable The Cunning Little Vixen, in an imaginative and wonderfully performed student production at the Boston Conservatory two years ago — sung in the original Czech! Even the Met eventually discovered Janácek and has done several of his greatest operas. At the Boston Lyric Opera, our largest opera company, a plan to do a series of Janácek operas was scotched years ago by the previous administration. But BLO has now finally gotten

Karol Szymanowski

around to the Czech master. The third production of its 2014-2015 season will be the provincial romantic tragedy Kátya Kabanová (Shubert Theatre, March 13-22), one of the composer’s most beautiful and powerful scores, staged by Tim Albery and conducted by David Angus, the team responsible for BLO’s single most inspired production, Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Lighthouse, at the JFK Library in 2012."...."Another exciting opera from Eastern Europe, the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s 1926 King Roger, will have its Boston Symphony Orchestra debut at Symphony Hall, March 5-7. It will feature the Polish baritone and Metropolitan Opera star Mariusz Kwiecien, who has made a huge success in the title role from Paris to Santa Fe. Charles Dutoit conducts this luxuriously seductive and moving score, loosely based on Euripedes’s The Bacchae. It will be sung in Polish (as it should be), with English supertitles." [Source]

Maria Callas Inspires Renée Fleming Broadway Costumes By Krass

Click on the image to enlarge and see if you can
count all the images of Maria Callas.

Renée Fleming has begun rehearsals for her Broadway debut in the play Living on Love which begins previews on April 1 and opens April 20 at the Longacre Theatre in New York. "Living on Love tells the story of celebrated diva Raquel DeAngelis. When her husband, the fiery and egomaniacal Maestro Vito DeAngelis, becomes enamored with the lovely young lady hired to ghostwrite his long-delayed autobiography, Rachel retaliates by hiring her very own—and very handsome—ghostwriter to chronicle her life as an opera star. Sparks fly, silverware is thrown, and romance blossoms." Recently the production shared a photo on Instagram that shows the costume designs for Renée Fleming's character of Raquel. The designer, Michael Krass, has several images of Maria Callas (and even Lily Pons!) that serve as inspiration for the play's diva. [Source] Watch a new commercial for the play, as well as more production photos, after the jump.

Cast Finalized For Angela Gheorghiu "Werther" Debut In Vienna

Gheorghiu in Vienna rehearsal for Werther
(Phtoto: Facebook)

As Angela Gheorghiu prepares to take on the mezzo-soprano repertoire role of Charlotte at Wiener Staatsoper, the company has been busy scrambling to change tenors for the production. It can be announced the cast will appear as follows:

Charlotte: Angela Gheorghiu

Werther: Jean-Francois Borras

Albert: Ludovic Tézier

Le Bailli: Alfred Šramek

Sophie: Daniela Fally

Schmidt: Benedikt Kobel

Johann: Hans Peter Kammerer

The performances featuring Ms. Gheorghiu begin tomorrow, March 5, with further engagements on March 9 and 13. Tickets are available here. See more images from music rehearsals and stagings in Vienna by clicking here.

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.

Will Russia Charge Timofei Kulyabin With "Hooliganism" Over Wagner?

Dazed and Confused: A scene from the reportedly 'obscene' production

"Two men went on trial in Russia on Wednesday over their staging of Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser opera, which a senior Orthodox cleric complained was offensive to religious believers. Prosecutors said the modern-day staging, which fuelled [sic] anger among Orthodox Russians after it premiered in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk last December, 'desecrated' the image of Jesus Christ. A complaint by a senior cleric led to charges being filed against the head of Novosibirsk's State Opera and Ballet Theatre, Boris Mezdrich, and director, Timofei Kulyabin, who face fines of up to 200,000 rubles ($3,243) if found guilty. The original opera, considered one of Wagner's most controversial with its focus on sexuality and spirituality, was first performed in 1845. The hero, Tannhäuser, goes from frolicking with the goddess of love Venus, to seeking religious salvation from the Pope for his sexual excesses. Kulyabin's production shifts the action to the present day, with Tannhäuser a movie director making a film about Jesus visiting Venus's erotic grotto....'The question being decided now is whether we have religious censorship in our country,' Mezdrich said in court. The case comes three years after a probe against the Pussy Riot punks who were sentenced to two years for 'hooliganism', specifically offending believers, after a performance in a Moscow church. While the two men are currently charged with a civil misdemeanour, they still risk criminal charges on a new offence introduced by Russia in 2013 after the Pussy Riot case -- carrying out public acts that offend believers -- which carries a jail sentence of up to three years." [Source]

Anna Netrebko Triumphs More Verdi In Guadalajara Concert

As Anna Netrebko continues her tour of Mexico, she sang a concert with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco under conductor Marco Parisotto at the Teatro Diana on February 28, 2015. During the performance, the soprano offered Verdi arias from Macbeth and Luisa Miller. She also performed Puccini with tenor (and fiancé) Yusif Eyvazov. Adding arias like "Tu puniscimi, o Signore...A brani, a brani" continue to solidify her as the leading lyric-dramatic soprano of this generation. With a new recording of Verismo Arias for Deutsche Grammophon and talk of adding heavier roles into her repertoire (Aida, Adriana Lecouvreur, Norma, etc.), it is clear that Ms. Netrebko is serious about sharing her growing voice with the world. See more photos from the concert and press conference after the jump. [Source]

( Photos by Jorge Gómez/Jaime Martín/Enrique Vázquez)

Renée Fleming Joins Top American A-Listers For Charity Gala

View image | gettyimages.com

Renée Fleming joined high-ranking celebrities for a good cause last night in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The charity event, "SeriousFun Children's Network 2015 New York Gala: An Evening Of SeriousFun Celebrating the Legacy Of Paul Newman," included entertainers David Letterman, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Danny Devito, Carole King, Tom Hanks, Natalie Cole, and more. Learn more about the charity by clicking here. See more pictures after the jump.

San Franciso Opera Continues "First Kiss" Series With Stars

San Francisco has a second installment of their video series "First Opera Kiss," asking singers to recall their inaugural stage smooch. This round includes Diana Damrau, Ailyn Pérez, Ellie Dehn, Mary Dunleavy, Simon O'Neill, Nadine Sierra, and Karen Slack. Click here for the first set of videos. Watch the new videos after the jump. 

Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House At Center Of Lawsuit

"After A North Philadelphia church that owned the historic Metropolitan Opera House began a partnership with developer Eric Blumenfeld, the pastor had a hard time finding him to discuss the planned $10 million renovation. According to a lawsuit filed Feb. 5 in Common Pleas Court, the Rev. Mark Hatcher, pastor of the Holy Ghost Headquarters Revival Center at the Met Inc., 'was reduced to chasing down his 'partner' on the street to secure a face-to-face meeting with him.' On another occasion, the suit says, Hatcher 'visited Blumenfeld's offices to discuss the project's progress [or lack thereof], and Blumenfeld literally ran out the back door upon realizing Reverend Hatcher's approach.' The suit claims that 'Blumenfeld misled the Church into relinquishing title to and giving him [Blumenfeld] a controlling interest in the Met.' The massive structure, on Broad Street near Poplar, was built for Oscar Hammerstein in 1908 in the Classic Revival architectural style and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The church bought the Met for $250,000 in 1997. It is now worth more than $20.9 million, according to city records, which show that Blumenfeld gained control of the title in February 2013 for $1." [Source]

Soprano Lucine Amara Celebrates 90th Birthday Today

Lucine Amara in the title role of Aida

Lucine Amara turns 90-years old today. She began her career as a chorister with the San Francisco Opera. After starting out as a contralto, she switched to soprano and by 1946 was making her debut at the War Memorial Auditorium. The biggest part of her career was on the East coast at The Metropolitan Opera where she sang from 1950-1991 in 748 performances. She debuted as the Celestial Voice in Verdi's Don Carlo with a cast that included Jussi Björling, Delia Rigal, Robert Merrill, Fedora Barbieri, Cesare Siepi, and Jerome Hines. Her roles at the beginning of her career in New York tended to be mostly comprimario: First Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Ines (Il Trovatore), Wellgunde (Götterdämmerung), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Priestess (Aida), Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto), Frasquita (Carmen), Serving Woman (Elektra), Leaders of the People (Alceste), Flower Maiden (Parsifal), Annina (La Traviata). Rare exceptions in the first two years of performing at the MET were the roles of Nedda in I Pagliacci and Micaela in Carmen. By 1953 she was singing Mimì in La Bohème under the baton of Alberto Erede. She would go on to sing Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Desdemona (Otello), Antonia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Leonora (La Forza del Destino), Liù (Turandot), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos), Marguerite (Faust), Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes), Luisa (Luisa Miller), Maddalena (Andrea Chénier),  Alice Ford (Falstaff), Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), Elsa (Lohengrin), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera), and the title roles in Aida and Tosca. Her final roles at the MET were Mother Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Gertrude (Hänsel und Gretel), and Madelon (Andrea Chénier). [Source] Be sure to visit the birthday tribute page for more photos and audio clips. More images after the jump.

The MET Uses More Art To Secure $30 Million Credit Line

L'Ete as seen in this 2008 photo for Vogue, featuring
Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth at the Metropolitan
 Opera, shot by Annie Leibovitz.

"The Metropolitan Opera Association Inc., as part of an agreement to renew a crucial $30 million credit line, pledged more of the artwork that adorns its home in New York's Lincoln Center to lender Bank of America Corp. The nonprofit secured the credit line with two sculptures by the late French artist Aristide Maillol displayed at the opera house, including the 62-inch bronze L'Ete (Summer) and the 69-inch Venus Without Arms, according to a notice filed Feb. 18 with the New York Secretary of State. Bank of America agreed to extend the credit line on Feb. 6, according to the Met's financial statements. The Met had already pledged a pair of Marc Chagall murals to Bank of America before the credit line came up for renewal in August. Moody's Investors Service, in a Dec. 22 statement, cited the move as one reason for downgrading $100 million of the opera house's bonds, saying the pledge of the murals to the bank was 'effectively subordinating the interests of unsecured bondholders.' Ranked as the nation's largest performing-arts organization, the Met had a $21.9 million loss during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2014, as salaries paid to performers and production costs outstripped box-office receipts, contributions and revenue from high-definition broadcasts, an innovation by general manager Peter Gelb." [Source]

Kevin Puts Gives Cinematic Scope To New Opera In Minnesota

Cast Your Votes: Composer Kevin Puts

"Like the kid who won baseball’s Triple Crown in his rookie season, Kevin Puts returns to Minnesota Opera with the eyes and ears of the music world upon him. His first opera, Silent Night, won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for music, and his sophomore attempt, The Manchurian Candidate, launches its world premiere at Ordway Center on Saturday. He has again teamed with librettist Mark Campbell, and early listens in workshops and rehearsals justify an optimism and curiosity about this new work. Dale Johnson, the opera’s artistic director, told a gathering of cast, designers and staff that he believed that The Manchurian Candidate is 'the best thing we’ve ever done.' Kevin Newbury, who is directing the staging, added that he believed that Minnesota Opera was 'looking toward the future' with this new piece. 'Our goal is for audiences to say, ‘I’ve never seen anything like that,’' Newbury said. And Tomer Zvulun, director of the Atlanta Opera, upped the ante in a recent conversation about Puts. 'He is the composer of our generation,' said Zvulun, who directed the European premiere of Silent Night at the Wexford Festival. 'He understands with a witty partner in crime [Campbell] that we live in a generation that expects strong, fast stories.' No wonder Puts, a modest and polite gentleman, admits in understatement, 'There is a lot more pressure and expectation now.' The composer of his generation still has to work for a living. He was just finishing two long days of

Anna Netrebko Visits PBS Studios During Three Tenors Fundraiser

Soprano Anna Netrebko stopped by the PBS studios during her performances of Iolanta at The Metropolitan Opera to talk about the three tenors: Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and Luciano Pavarotti. She also discussed her thoughts on open-air stadium concerts; being a child of the theater; what helps her create characters; and advice that she is definitely not sharing with young singers. Watch the video after the jump.