Week of October 27-November 3, 2011

The Met-HD SIMULCAST

Saturday, OCTOBER 29 at 12:55 pm

MARIUSZ KWIECIEN
is

DON GIOVANNI

Mariusz Kwiecien stars as Mozart's ultimate antihero*, bringing his "acclaimed interpretation of the title role" to the Met for the first time. Tony Award^®winner Michael Grandage's new production also featuresRamón Vargas, whose Don Ottavio was praised for "ringing high notes and elegantly spun coloratura" (New York Post), and Marina Rebeka, "a star" in her Met debut (Bloomberg). Barbara Frittoli "was most impressive as Donna Elvira" (The Star-Ledger), and Luca Pisaroni was a "dynamic Leporello" (The New York Times). Fabio Luisi "drew buoyant, nuanced and effortless playing from the orchestra and splendid singing from an impressive cast" (The New York Times).

                                    *Polite-speak for "serial rapist."

SYNOPSIS:  http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=14

This Saturday at 12:55pm ET, experience Mozart's masterpiece at your local movie theater. Look at the right column for directions to local HD simulcast. 

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At the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport
Sunday, OCTOBER 30 at 12:00 pm

Nabucco

FILM OVERVIEW

Synopsis: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=17

Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi
Directed by Enrico Castiglione Starring~

Nabucco: Juan Pons

Ismaele: Massimiliano Chiarolla
Zaccaria: Francesco E. D’Artegna
Abigaille: Chiara Taigi
Fenena: Eufemia Tufano
The High Priest of Baal: Angelo Nardinocchi
Abdallo: Luca Casalin 

Anna: Maria Cioppi

Chorus Master Bruno Tirotta

Symphony Orchestra of the Taormina Opera Festival

Sung in Italian with English subtitles
Running time: approximately 160 minutes

Juan Pons stars in Nabucco, live from the Teatro Antico, in Taormina, Italy. Since its construction in 7th century BC, audiences have feasted their eyes on the views of the Ionian Sea and Mt. Etna that provide a dramatic backdrop for this stunning arena stage.

About the Teatro Antico: The Teatro Antico in Taormina, also called the “Greek Theatre” is home to the Taormina Arte festival each summer.

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This week on WSBE, Rhode Island Public Television:

WSBE Learn 36.2= (RI Cox Cable 808) 

(RI Verizon Fios 478)

Thaïs 

Saturday, October 29 -- 8:00pm; Sunday, October 30 -- 3am; Monday, October 31 -- 12am

Thaïs

Soprano Renée Fleming stars in the title role of Jules Massenet's "Thaïs," about an Egyptian courtesan who causes the fall from grace of a monk (Thomas Hampson). Nicias: Michael Schade. Palémon: Alain Vernhes. La Charmeuse: Leah Partridge.

DURATION: 150 MIN

Synopsis: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=270

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OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE D'AGUANNO

This coming Saturday (October 29), if you don't plan on attending the Met's LIVE HD-transmission of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" at some of our nearby movie theatres, there's still some potentially exciting opera performances available, at least on internet radio.

Puccini's tragic masterpiece "Madame Butterfly" can be heard on NPR stations in a performance from Houston Grand Opera which took place in October of last year. Joseph Calleja sings the part of Pinkerton, while some of you may have seen him earlier this year in the Met's HD-transmission of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" or (even earlier) Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann."
(www.wrti.org/)

If Tchaikovsky's operas appeal to you, there's a performance that took place in Leeds earlier this month of one of his better-known works in this genre: "The Queen of Spades" which can be heard on BBC Radio 3.
(www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/)

Radio 4 (in the Netherlands) has a double-bill slated for this Saturday: Rimsky-Korsakov's final opera "Le Coq d'Or" (Bolshoi 6/19/11) and Janacek's "Katya Kabanova" (Vienna 6/17/11). Although both operas are in three acts, their combined playing times still don't approach the length of many Wagnerian works (for what it's worth).
(www.radio4.nl/)

And for the "Obscure Opera of the Week": German Radio is broadcasting a performance of "Das Unmoglichste von allem" by Anton Urspruch, a work that he wrote in 1897 and whose title can roughly be translated as "The Most Impossible of All."(That's a new one on me, too, folks!) The opera was performed last month in Dusseldorf, and an audio CD of it is being planned for future release --So, you may rest assured that, even if you miss hearing it this Saturday, you will have the opportunity to purchase the CD when it becomes available, as I'm sure many of you will be doing!!! 
(www.dradio.de/dkultur/)

Thanks to the Met's free LIVE audio-stream, you can get a head start on your opera listening by tuning in tomorrow night (Thursday) at 6 p.m. for Wagner's "Siegfried" featuring pretty much the same cast that will be appearing in the upcoming HD-transmission on November 5. There's also a broadcast of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" on Halloween evening (Mon.) starting at 7:30, again with the same cast that is scheduled to appear in this Saturday's telecast.
(www.metopera.org)

Enjoy!

DAVE

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NO OPERA ON WGBH TV THIS WEEK

...but at least there is a concert by

classical pianist LANG LANG!

Live at the Musikverein concert hall in Vienna,

10:00pm Saturday, October 29, WGBH 2

11:30am, Sunday, October 30m WGBH44

Week of October 20-October 27

This week on WSBE, Rhode Island Public Television:

WSBE Learn 36.2= (RI Cox Cable 808) 

(RI Verizon Fios 478)

SUSAN GRAHAM
in

The Damnation of Faust

Marcello Giordani as Faust

Saturday, October 22 -- 8:00pm, Sunday, October 23 -- 3:00am; Monday, October 24 -12:00am

The Damnation of Faust

A production of Hector Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust," in which the infamous Faust (Marcello Giordani) strikes a deal with the devil in order to save his beloved (Susan Graham).

Synopsis: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=254

DURATION: 150 MIn
For the introduction by susan graham, click on "Week of..." above...

John Relyea as Mephistopheles

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 'World Of Opera' Dumped By NPR Because Host Participated In Occupy DC Protest

BRETT ZONGKER   10/21/11 09:26 PM ET  

WASHINGTON -- NPR will no longer distribute the member station-produced program "World of Opera" to about 60 stations across the country because the show host helped organize an ongoing Washington protest, a network official said Friday evening.

Instead, North Carolina-based classical music station WDAV, which produces the show, said it will distribute the nationally syndicated program on its own beginning Nov. 11. The station said it plans to keep Lisa Simeone as host and has said her involvement in a political protest does not affect her job as a music program host.

NPR spokeswoman Dana Davis Rehm said the network disagrees with the station on the role of program hosts but respects its position.

"Our view is it's a potential conflict of interest for any journalist or any individual who plays a public role on behalf of NPR to take an active part in a political movement or advocacy campaign," she told The Associated Press. "Doing so has the potential to compromise our reputation as an organization that strives to be impartial and unbiased."

Rehm said any host with NPR attached to their title is a public figure representing the network as a whole. But she said "reasonable people can have different views about this." She said the negotiations with WDAV were civil and amicable.

NPR's ethics code states that "NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies" involving issues NPR covers. The code notes that some provisions may not apply to outside contributors. It uses a freelancer who primarily contributes arts coverage as an example.

Rehm said the network didn't need to cite the code in its decision to drop the show because its position on hosts' political activities was "even more fundamental."

Simeone, who lives in Baltimore, is a freelancer who has worked in radio and television for 25 years. She has hosted music shows and documentaries. She was fired Wednesday as the host of a radio documentary program, "Soundprint," because she helped organize an anti-war demonstration that also protested Wall Street and what participants call corporate greed.

"Soundprint" is heard on about 35 NPR affiliates and is produced by Maryland-based Soundprint Media Center Inc. Its president said the company had adopted NPR's code of ethics as its own.

"World of Opera" is the only radio show in the nation devoted to broadcasting full-length operas from around the world, according to WDAV.

The Davidson, N.C.-based station will use the same distribution process as NPR and hopes to retain all the stations that have aired the program, spokeswoman Lisa Gray said. The network is assisting with the change in distribution, and it won't affect the listener's experience.

"We think it's really important to classical music that we continue to produce the show and make it available," Gray told the AP. "That's our primary concern, that we continue to be able to provide this programming to listeners and stations across the country."

WDAV had previously said it has a different mission than NPR and seeks to provide arts and cultural programming nationally and internationally, rather than news.

NPR had previously produced and distributed "World of Opera" in house until January 2010 when production was shifted to WDAV. The show has been in production for more than 20 years. It has featured performances from U.S. opera companies including Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass and New York City Opera, as well as operas from Paris, Vienna and elsewhere.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/21/npr-dumping-opera-show-ov_n_1026121.html

______________________________

OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE D'AGUANNO

A nice mixture of styles and genres are on the opera schedules for this coming Saturday, October 22.

Gilbert & Sullivan fans will probably rejoice over the opportunity to hear "Ruddigore" on BBC Radio 3, in a performance from Leeds.

(www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/)

Verdi enthusiasts, as usual, get a chance to hear one of his popular works -- "Rigoletto" -- in a performance that took place on August 2 of this summer's Orange festival in France. Anyone who had the good fortune to see "Faust" at the Jane Pickens Theatre last month may want to check out what tenor Vittorio Grigolo sounds like in the role of the Duke in Verdi's work.

(http://radio.klara.be/radio/10_home.php)

Then there's the dramatic "Elektra" by Richard Strauss in a LIVE performance from Amsterdam.

(www.radio4.nl/)

Another 20th century work that seems to be well-liked, even by more conservative-minded listeners, is Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmelites" which comes to us in a LIVE performance from Stockholm.

(http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)

Not to be left out, there's even some Handel on tap this weekend, as ORF brings to the "airwaves" a performance from Vienna of "Serse."

(http://oe1.orf.at/)

Then -- practically on the heels, so to speak, of London's Royal Opera House production last season of Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tsar's Bride" -- CBC has a recent performance of this tragic opera in a performance by the Estonian Opera Company (Tallinn).

(www.cbc.ca/radio2/)

Plus -- in case "Elektra" is a little too intense for some folks -- there's a bit of Richard Strauss in a lighter vein, as NPR gives us a Houston Grand Opera performance of "Ariadne auf Naxos" (April 2011).

(www.wrti.org/)

Enjoy!

DAVE

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Ingvar Wixell, Swedish Baritone, Dies at 80

By ZACHARY WOOLFE

Published: October 19, 2011

Ingvar Wixell, a Swedish baritone whose intelligent, vivid performances in the Italian repertory made him a respected fixture on the world’s opera stages, died on Oct. 8 in Malmo, Sweden. He was 80.

Mr. Wixell was praised not just for his firm, grainy voice but also for his dramatic acuity, stage presence and sense of spontaneity. Reviewing his Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in 1973, Raymond Ericson wrote in The New York Times: “What gave Mr. Wixell’s singing its distinction was his awareness of the text. His clear enunciation and concern for words charged the vocal line with vitality.”

Ingvar Wixell was born on May 7, 1931, in Lulea, Sweden. He studied singing in Stockholm, where he made his debut in 1955 at the Swedish Royal Opera as Papageno in Mozart’s “Magic Flute.” In 1962 he sang Guglielmo in Mozart’s “Così Fan Tutte” at the Glyndebourne Festival and for his debut at the Deutsche Oper.

He made his American debut in San Francisco in 1967 as Belcore in Donizetti’s “Elisir d’Amore” and first appeared at Bayreuth in 1971 and at London’s Royal Opera House in 1972. In the six years after his Met debut as Rigoletto he sang 81 performances with the company. He ended his career in 2003 singing the music teacher in Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” at the Malmo Opera in Sweden.

While he was best known for his steady-toned, riveting portrayals of the major baritone roles of Verdi — among them Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Amonasro in “Aida” and Germont in “La Traviata” — he also sang Mozart parts like Don Giovanni and Count Almaviva in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” the title role in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” Scarpia in Puccini’s “Tosca” and Marcello in the same composer’s “Boheme.” He recorded many of his signature roles, several of them with the British conductor Colin Davis.

Mr. Wixell was not afraid to dip his toe in the pop arena, performing all the songs in the competition to choose Sweden’s entry in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest. The winning song was “Annorstädes Vals” (“Elsewhere Waltz”), which Mr. Wixell went on to perform — in English, as “Absent Friend” — at the international final in Naples, Italy. The song placed 10th.

In San Francisco he was a regular at La Traviata, a watering hole for artists at the opera there. Still on the restaurant’s menu is the dish that bears his name: salmone alla Wixell, baked in parchment with fresh tomatoes, black olives, pesto, garlic and white wine.

He is survived by his wife, Margareta, and two daughters, Marit and Jette.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/arts/music/ingvar-wixell-swedish-baritone-dies-at-80.html?src=recg

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Deaths we missed...

Death of opera singer Don Diego Jones still unsolved

By JANNA GAUB

DC Crime Examiner

Don Diego and Clarita Jones

August 4, 2010

Far too many crimes go unsolved. After a few days, leads dry up and the trail goes cold. The case of the murder of Don Diego Jones has been added to the legions of cold cases that now reside in the Metropolitan Police Department’s case files.

Jones was a social worker by day and an opera singer by night, singing in the chorus of the Washington National Opera. He was a family man, with a wife and infant foster children. On June 7, he woke as usual but complained of a toothache and called in sick to work. His wife left for work and he took the kids to the babysitter’s house. He then called his mother to wish her a happy birthday and told her he wanted to take her to lunch.

That was the last anyone saw or heard from Don Diego Jones.

He was found the next day in Fort Dupont Park. He had been shot several times and had no identification. A jogger found his body at approximately 4:40pm and called police.

From the beginning, things seemed out of place. He was found in a park where he had apparently never been. The park was four miles from his house, too far for him to have walked there himself.

The usual suspicion when men are found dead in parks is that it had something to do with drugs or sex, but there was nothing to indicate either was the case here. Jones had no arrest history and no record of drinking, doing drugs, or smoking. In the two months since his murder, neither the police nor the family has discovered anything to indicate a second life.

Don Jones’s wife, Charita Jones, is frustrated. The police have few leads and have said very little to the public regarding the singer’s death. What they have said has been contradictory, even regarding something as simple as where he was found.

The police and the family are left confused. No one has come forward with any information regarding Jones’s death, which has his wife stumped. “People don't just vanish for a day and a half and then reappear across town,” Charita Jones said in an interview with the Washington Post. “How is it possible he could have been out there for that long and no one have seen anything?”

Unfortunately, that is often the case with cold cases. As the hours drag into days, the days into weeks, and the weeks into months, new files cover the old ones. The unsolved cases join the ranks of the cold cases, waiting for new leads or a fresh pair of eyes to find something that was missed the first time around.

As time goes on, circumstances change. Many different possibilities lie ahead for a cold case investigator. Relationships sour or fade; a friend or family member of Jones’s killer may come forward with information months or years later. Forensic science is constantly progressing, so new techniques may be able to find something that the processes we have now might miss. DNA samples are constantly being added to databases as people are booked for various crimes or are investigated in connection to other crimes. An investigator can go back in a few years and possibly get a match to someone whose DNA is entered between now and then on an unrelated charge.

But in the meantime, Charita Jones and her infant foster children will remain in the dark. They will not know who killed Don Diego Jones or why he was the chosen victim. They are left only with the memory of the husband of 10 years who loved life and family and the stage and the hope that eventually his killer will be caught and justice will be served.

If you have any information in connection to the Jones killing, please contact the Metropolitan Police Department.

 Continue reading on Examiner.com Death of opera singer Don Diego Jones still unsolved - Washington DC Crime | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-washington-dc/death-of-opera-singer-don-diego-jones-still-unsolved#ixzz1bHGckq5s

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Italian Tenor Salvatore Licitra Dies at 43 After Crash

Monday, September 05, 2011 - 04:06 PM

By Brian Wise 

 Salvatore Licitra, tenor

   

Salvatore Licitra, a tenor who rose to fame as a last-second substitute for Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera, died on Monday in Catania, Sicily, nine days after being severely injured in a motorbike accident. He was 43.

Licitra's death was reported on his Web site, salvatorelicitra.com.

Licitra had been in a coma at Catania's Garibaldi Hospital since the Aug. 27 accident, in which he crashed his scooter into a wall near the town of Ragusa, apparently after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, according to reports in Italy’s Corriere della Sera and other newspapers. The Swiss-born singer was not wearing a helmet, while his 29-year-old Chinese girlfriend was protected by her helmet and suffered only light injuries.

The hospital in Catania where he underwent treatment confirmed that Licitra had been brain dead and his family gave permission to donate his organs, La Repubblica newspaper reported on its web site. He was to receive an award in Ragusa on Saturday.

On Twitter, the American baritone Thomas Hampson wrote, “Very sad to hear about the death of Salvatore Licitra. He was a wonderful colleague. We sang Ernani together in Zurich. RIP Salvatore.” Also on Twitter, tenor Joseph Calleja wrote, "I am gutted by the news of the passing of Salvatore Licitra. Absolutely gutted."

Licitra was born in Bern, Switzerland, to Sicilian parents, and grew up in Milan. A misguided teacher nearly ruined his voice, but his talent was reclaimed under the guidance of the tenor Carlo Bergonzi, who became his mentor. He sang chorus for a while, and then in 1998 made his solo debut in the role of Riccardo in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Regio in Verdi's own hometown of Parma. He was 30.

Soon followed his debut at La Scala in Milan, where in 2000 he sang in Tosca directed by Riccardo Muti. Within two years Licitra was a legend in his own time as a result of a classic "big break" story: In May 2002, with 30 minutes notice, he replaced Luciano Pavarotti in the tenor role in Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera. A couple of days earlier Pavarotti -- then 66 -- had warned the Met that he might be too flu-ridden to appear at what was to have been his farewell performance. The opera house looked around for an available tenor as insurance. Licitra agreed to stand by, was flown to New York on the Concorde and walked through one rehearsal.

Licitra was a sensation, overcoming the initial disappointment of an audience that had paid $1,500 a ticket to hear Pavarotti. He got several long ovations including a five-minute solo ovation at the very end. Although New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini expressed some caveats, most notably a lack of subtlety in Licitra's singing, he pronounced him "a genuine find, an exciting tenor with a big, dark-hued and muscular voice."

In the following Met seasons, Mr. Licitra sang in Verdi’s Forza del Destino and Un Ballo in Maschera, and Puccini’s Trittico and Turandot. He was to appear in the title role of Verdi’s Ernani in February but cancelled in July.

In 2007, Licitra was to star in the first half of the Met's double bill of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. But, again due to a last-minute casting change, he stepped in to the lead role in the second half as well. In an appearance on WNYC's Soundcheck afterward, Licitra reflected on his latest substitution. "It's interesting, its exciting, but I feel just a little bit strange," he said, with characteristic dry humor.

Licitra recorded a pair of albums for Sony, including a collection of duets with the Argentine tenor Marcelo Álvarez.

In addition to the Met and La Scala, he sang major roles at leading opera companies including the Vienna State Opera, Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper and Staatsoper Berlin, Arena di Verona, London’s Royal Opera, Paris Opera Bastille and the opera companies of Chicago, Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Licitra is survived by a brother and his parents.

http://www.wqxr.org/blogs/wqxr-blog/2011/sep/05/italian-tenor-salvatore-licitra-dies-43-after-crash/

NO OPERA ON WGBH TV THIS WEEK!

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