Opera and Choral Events

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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Week of December 30, 2010-January 6, 2011

2011

This week on WSBE: 36.2 - WSBE Learn
  (RI Cox Cable 808) (RI Fios 478) (In Massachusetts, Comcast 294)


Saturday, January 1 -- 8:00pm, Sunday, January 2, 3 am; Monday, January 3, 12 am

Roméo et Juliette

A production of "Roméo et Juliette," starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna as the star-crossed lovers. Placido Domingo conducts the orchestra and chorus for the opera. Tybalt: Marc Heller. Paris: Louis Otey. Capulet: Charles Taylor.
duration: 180 min
Synopsis:  http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=136




Happy New Year!!
Giuseppe Verdi statue - Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

January 2, 8 pm, Giuseppe Verdi's 
AIDA
streaming from San Francisco KDFC 
http://www.kdfc.com/pages/5805657.php
Click on LISTEN LIVE 

Synopsis: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=3


        
The grandest of grand operas, a brilliant balance of spectacular pageantry and emotional intimacy, returns to San Francisco Opera for the first time in nearly a decade. A bitter love triangle plays itself out against a backdrop of war and cultural oppression in this compelling tale of conflicting loyalties and forbidden passion.
Marcello Giordani and Micaela Carosi

Music Director Nicola Luisotti, the Company’s "ideal new maestro" (The New York Times), leads the first of two extraordinary casts in an "eye-popping production" (Houston Chronicle) created by legendary British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes.
The September cast features soprano Micaela Carosi, "a noble, full-hearted diva of considerable power" (The Times of London) in the title role, along with Marcello Giordani, "arguably the greatest leading tenor of his generation" (Opera News) and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick, who is "unequaled in major Verdi roles" (Washington Post). Baritone Marco Vratogna, whose “striking infusion of vocal power and theatrical electricity” as Iago (San Francisco Chronicle) thrilled San Francisco audiences in 2009’sOtello, sings Amonasro. Bass Hao Jiang Tian sings Ramfis, returning to San Francisco Opera after his triumphant debut as Chang the Coffin Maker in The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2008).
The November cast is led by Michele Capalbo, "a world-class Aida, passionate, subtle and vocally satisfying" (Opera News); tenor Carlo Ventre, a riveting performer who projects "unalloyed passion" (Washington Post); baritone Quinn Kelsey, who "boasts a rare and welcome gift, an enormous vocal sound that he deploys with the lightness of an acrobat" (San Francisco Chronicle); and bass Eric Owens who sang to sold-out crowds as Porgy in Porgy and Bess (2009).

OPERA ON THE INTERNET WITH 
DAVE D'AGUANNO



December 31, 2010: What better way to ring in the New Year than to catch the Met's free LIVE performance at 7 o'clock of Verdi's "La Traviata" starring Marina Poplavskaya, a.k.a. Elisabeth in the recent "Don Carlo" HD-transmission? Well, if you're not an opera fanatic, you just MIGHT have other plans, I guess.

The Met is also offering a free LIVE performance on Monday night at 8 p.m. of Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West" with Deborah Voigt & others in the cast who are expected to appear in the January 8, 2011 LIVE HD-transmission.

For these 2 LIVE Met Opera performances, just go to www.metopera.org & click on "Watch & Listen" which will then direct you to their free player.

This Saturday, January 1, 2011, most radio stations on the internet will be airing the Met's LIVE broadcast at 1 o'clock of Debussy's "Pelleas & Melisande." One point of interest may lie in the fact that the singer taking the role of Melisande -- Magdalena Kozena -- is married to the man who will be conducting the opera: Sir Simon Rattle.

The Dutch station Radio 4 is one of the few remaining stations that won't be broadcasting from the Met this Saturday. Instead, they'll be bringing us the November 20, 2010 performance of Handel's "Alcina" from the Vienna State Opera.
(www.radio4.nl/)

Happy Listening -- & HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!


DAVE
And on WGBH
SPECIAL TONIGHT, WEDNESDAY, 12/29, ON WGBH 2:*

Tavis Smiley Reports   
Dudamel: Conducting a Life
A profile of 29-year-old L.A. Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel, whose passion for music was fostered by El Sistema, an intensive music-education program in his native Venezuela. The report also examines El Sistema-like programs in the U.S.

Tavis Smiley

Gustavo Dudamel


*Wednesday
12/29/10 8:00 PM
WGBH 2/HD
Thursday
12/30/10 1:00 AM
WGBH 2/HD
Friday
12/31/10 5:00 AM
WGBH 44
Friday
12/31/10 1:30 PM
WGBH 44
For a preview:
http://www.wgbh.org/programs/Tavis-Smiley-9/episodes/Dudamel-Conducting-a-Life-preview-22843


Tonight and this weekend:
Juan Diego Florez



Great Performances spotlights the October 7 opening night concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music Director Gustavo Dudamel featuring renowned Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Actress Eva Mendes hosts the broadcast.The program will air Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings); Thursday, 12/30/10 1:00 AM WGBH 44; Thursday, 12/30/10 1:30 PM, WGBH 44.


Other classical music on WGBH for New Year's  (Not opera)

Dec. 30, 2010

 
A Lincoln Center Special: New Year's Eve with Lang LangA Lincoln Center Special: New Year's Eve with Lang Lang
Friday, Dec. 31, 8:30pm, WGBH 2
Live from Lincoln Center rings in the new year with the New York Philharmonic in an all-Tchaikovsky program, featuring pianist Lang Lang.
New Year's Day from ViennaNew Year's Day from Vienna
Saturday, Jan. 1, 11am and Sunday, Jan. 2, 3pm, 99.5 All Classical
Saturday, Jan. 1, 8pm, WGBH 2

Join host Cathy Fuller for a festive entry into 2011 with the annual celebration concert by the Vienna Philharmonic, featuring the waltzes, marches, and gallops of the Strauss family, and much more. This year's conductor is Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst.
Live from Fraser: Imani WindsLive from Fraser: Imani Winds 
Thursday, Dec. 30, 7pm, 99.5 All Classical
The Grammy-nominated Imani Winds performs Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin, a new piece by Jason Moran, and music by ensemble member Valerie Coleman.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Week of December 23-29, 2010

This week on WSBE:



LA BOHEME

Saturday, December 25 -- 8:00pm; Sunday, December 26, 3 am; Monday, December 26, 12 am
36.2 - WSBE Learn
La Bohème
A production of Puccini's "La Bohème," about a doomed love affair between poet Rodolfo (Ramón Vargas) and seamstress Mimi (Angela Gheorghiu ) in 1830s Paris. Marcello: Ludovic Tézier. Musetta: Ainhoa Arteta. Schaunard: Quinn Kelsey.
DURATION: 150 MIN



OPERA ON THE INTERNET WITH 
DAVE D'AGUANNO


This Saturday (Dec. 25), the Met will be reviving one of their radio broadcasts from over 30 years ago, namely the December 2, 1978 performance of Smetana's "Bartered Bride" with Teresa Stratas in the title role, more than ably supported by tenors Nicolai Gedda & Jon Vickers. That's on WRTI (among other stations.)
(www.wrti.org/)

If you missed last week's Flemish performance of Rossini's "Semiramide" & wish you hadn't, you might want to tune in to French Radio for a performance of this same opera (but with different soloists) that was given on November 26 of this year in Montpellier.
(http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/accueil/)

Beethoven's "Fidelio" gets an airing on Dutch Radio 4 in a recent performance from the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.
(www.radio4.nl/)

Over at London's Royal Opera House, a recent performance of Wagner's "Tannhauser" can be heard on BBC Radio 3.
(www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/)

And for something off the beaten track, Swedish Radio will be broadcasting (from Stockholm) an opera by one of their native composers as Wilhelm Peterson-Berger's 1909 Wagnerian-inspired "Arnljot" gets its chance to be heard on internet radio.
(http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)

Happy listening! -- And Happy Holidays !!!


DAVE
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And on WGBH...

Juan Diego Florez



Gustavo Dudamel
Great Performances spotlights the October 7 opening night concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music Director Gustavo Dudamel featuring renowned Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Actress Eva Mendes hosts the broadcast. The program will air Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings); Thursday, 12/30/10 1:00 AM WGBH 44; Thursday, 12/30/10 1:30 PM, WGBH 44.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Week of December 16-23, 2010


This week on WSBE:
The Audition, directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, looks at the intense pressures young opera singers face as they struggle to succeed in one of the most difficult professions in the performing arts. The feature-length documentary takes you behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the Met stage–and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. The film covers the dramatic week leading up to the finals of the 2007 auditions, focusing on three very different tenor contestants: Michael Fabiano, a fiery 22-year-old grappling with his inner demons; Alek Shrader, a 25-year-old with movie-star looks who attempts to sing nine high Cs in the fiendishly difficult aria that made Pavarotti a star; and Ryan Smith, who at the age of 30, and with little formal training, is pursuing his dream of an operatic career.
The Audition is both a suspenseful competition narrative and a revealing backstage look at what it takes to make it as an opera singer.
theaudition1.jpg

Saturday, December 18 -- 8:00pm; Sunday,December 19 ---3:00am; Monday, December 20 -- 12:00am

WSBE 36.2 =WSBE Learn (RI Cox Cable 808) (RI Fios 478) (In Massachusetts, Comcast 294)
The Audition
A documentary about the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, in which contestants compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. The competition is seen through the eyes of three hopefuls.
DURATION: 120 MIN


This coming Saturday (December 18) marks the beginning of New York's Metropolitan Opera's broadcast season, launching the present series at 12:30 p.m. with a LIVE broadcast of Verdi's "Don Carlo" with virtually the same cast that performed so wonderfully in last Saturday's HD-transmission. The broadcast can be heard on WRTI, as well as many other radio stations.
(www.wrti.org/)
Other recent opera performances that are being broadcast this Saturday include the following:
Handel's "Alcina" as performed by the Vienna State Opera on November 20, 2010. (http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/accueil/)
Rossini's "Semiramide" -- a performance by the Flemish Opera in Antwerp, from earlier this month. (http://radio.klara.be/radio/10_home.php)
And, last but certainly not least: Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" in a recent performance from Malmo (Sweden). (http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)
Please check www.operacast.com on Saturday morning for exact times.
Happy Listening!


DAVE

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Week of December 9-16, 2010

 This week: Live in HD in a theater near you
   Scroll past the weekly listings for FAQ on the Met HD Program


Roberto Alagna is
DON CARLO


Verdi's drama about a Spanish prince whose father steals his beloved, told against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition.

MARINA POPLAVSKAYA as Elizabeth


Some reviews:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/arts/music/24carlo.html 
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-27/heretics-fry-alagna-shines-in-don-carlo-manuela-hoelterhoff.html
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/reviews/11-2010/don-carlo_32325.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112306731.html


Synopsis:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=4
Approximate running time 4 hrs. 30 min. Intermission times
12:30 pm performances: At approximately 2:10 pm and 3:20 pm 
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NO OPERA ON TELEVISION THIS WEEK...SIGH!
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OPERA ON THE INTERNET WITH 
DAVE D'AGUANNO
Not going to see Verdi's "Don Carlo" LIVE from the Met this Saturday at your nearest opera-friendly movie theatre?

If such is the case, you can still thrill to the sound of opera via internet radio, possibly by kicking things off with a live performance from Amsterdam of Wagner's "Parsifal." It's a matinee performance, meaning you'll be listening to it in the morning here in R.I. (Check the Radio 4 website for the scheduled time.)
(www.radio4.nl/)

If "Parsifal" seems too short an opera for you, you can always check out Berlioz's monumental "Les Troyens" which is being broadcast on German radio at 1 o'clock. The 2 parts of the opera were performed on 2 separate evenings in Berlin this past week.
(www.dradio.de/dkultur/)

Also at 1, CBC Radio has a performance of Britten's "Death in Venice" from last month. It's a Canadian Opera production.
(www.cbc.ca/radio2/)

Yet another monumental work -- Handel's "Serse" (that's "Xerxes" to most of us, I guess) -- is being broadcast on WRTI at 1 p.m. in a performance from this past April in Houston.
(www.wrti.org/)

A LIVE broadcast by the Vienna State Opera of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" can be heard on ORF at 1:30. 
(http://oe1.orf.at/)

And for all of us Anna Netrebko fans, Swedish Radio is bringing us one of her performances from last January of Massenet's "Manon" (another Vienna State Opera production).
(http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)

Enjoy!

DAVE

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Week of December 2-9, 2010


OPERA ON THE INTERNET WITH DAVE D'AGUANNO

If OBSCURE OPERAS are your cup of tea, you'll probably go ecstatic over this coming Saturday's internet radio lineup:

At 1 p.m., German radio is bringing us the November 28, 2010 performance of Reznicek's "Benzin" as performed in Chemnitz. Those of us "of a certain age" would actually be familiar with the music of Reznicek, as music from another one of his operas ("Donna Diana") was once used as part of the theme song of "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon." (!!!)
(www.dradio.de/dkultur/)

If a totally unfamiliar opera like "Benzin" doesn't interest you, you might try listening to the recent performance in Rome of Luigi Cherubini's 1791 opera "Lodoiska" starring Nathalie Manfrino, a.k.a. Roberto Alagna's sister-in-law.
(www.radio4.nl/)

In a similar vein, Meyerbeer's "Emma di Resburgo" comes to us via ORF at 1:30 in a concert performance from Vienna.
(http://oe1.orf.at/)

One might think one is on more familiar territory with French Radio's broadcast of "Otello" (also at 1:30) -- but this is NOT the popular Verdi opera, but the earlier one by Rossini, in a performance from Lyons (11/11/10).
(http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/accueil/)

Perhaps of more interest to most opera fans: the BBC is broadcasting Cilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur" (from London's Royal Opera House), featuring the interesting pairing of Angela Gheorghiu (Alagna's ex-wife) & tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
(www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/)

Of primarily ARCHIVAL interest:
Verdi's "Il Trovatore" on Swedish Radio (at 2 o'clock) in a New York Metropolitan Opera broadcast of February 27, 1960, starring Carlo Bergonzi, Antonietta Stella, Giulietta Simionato, & Ettore Bastianini. (Wow!)
(http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)

Then on Monday, December 6, a PREVIEW of what the upcoming HD-transmission of Puccini's "Fanciulla del West" might sound like, as the Met gives us a free LIVE audio stream of that opera, with Deborah Voigt as Minnie.
(www.metopera.org)


Happy Listening!

DAVE



The San Francisco Opera on KDFC




KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Opera, with a full-length production, recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House, on the first Sunday of every month at 8pm. Dianne Nicolini hosts. 
http://www.kdfc.com/The-San-Francisco-Opera-on-KDFC/5805657
Patricia Racette as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust
Read an interview with Racette about her role in Faust.
http://www.musicalcriticism.com/interviews/racette-0610.shtml
John Relyea, here shown as  Mephistopheles in Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, plays  Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust... he'd better be careful, he's going to get typecast!


Sunday, December 05, 2010 at 8:00 PM on KDFC Faust by Charles Gounod
Patricia Racette, Daniela Mack, Catherine Cook, Stefano Secco, Brian Mulligan, Austin Kness and John Relyea. Directed by Jose Maria Condemi. Conducted by Maurizio Benini. Recorded Summer 2010, War Memorial Opera House.

To listen: 
1) Go to http://www.kdfc.com/The-San-Francisco-Opera-on-KDFC/5805657
2) Look in the column on the right: Click on 
     Listen Live
     Sounds of the Season
(Do not go to the next link which directs you to KDFC HD2 Classical--it's nice but will not have the opera..)


My home town

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OH NO! NO OPERA ON 
TELEVISION THIS WEEK!!