Week of August 28 - September 4, 2014

This week on Rhode Island Public television,

WSBE:  (Comcast 294, Cox 808, Full Channel 109, and Verizon 478)

 Saturday, August 30, 8:00pm

Sunday, August 31, 3:00am

Monday, September 1, 12:00am

Great Performances at the Met

Cosi Fan Tutte

Così fan tutte

James Levine conducts Mozart's comic masterpiece "Cosi fan tutte," in which the fidelity of two sisters (Susanna Phillips, Isabel Leonard) is tested by their fiancés (Matthew Polenzani, Rodion Pogossov).

DURATION: 210 MIN

DETAILS: [CC] [STEREO]

GENRE: PARENTS PICKS

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From the Blogs

from WQXR~New York

TOP INFAMOUS CLASSICAL MUSIC PERFORMANCES ON THE SIMPSONS

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/top-5-infamous-classical-music-performances-simpsons/

Video: Violinist Inspires Elephants to Dance to Bach

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/video-violinist-inspires-elephant-dance-bach/?utm_source=local&utm_medium=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed

Three on female composers

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/how-to-talk-female-composer/?utm_source=local&utm_medium=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/her-music-emerging-female-composer-today/?utm_source=local&utm_medium=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/her-music-encore-presentation/?utm_source=local&utm_medium=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed

New York Violinist Found Slain in Summer Home

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/new-york-violinist-dies-shooting/?utm_source=local&utm_medium=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed

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from KDFC ~ San Francisco  

Rock Star 

Why do villains love classical music?

The Simpsons at the Hollywood Bowl!

http://www.kdfc.com/pages/15713030.php?

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2014-2015 Season Auditions

Dear Friends and Colleagues, The Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra invites you to join us for our 58th Season!  Under the direction of Edward Markward, we will perform three programs this season beginning with "Reflect & Rejoice" in November featuring Ottorino Respighi's Laud to the Nativity, Giovanni Gabrieli's Jubilate Deo and Beata es, virgo Maria, as well as John Rutter's Gloria.  Our March concert "Songs of Praise and Peace" will feature the winners of our 7th Annual Collegiate Vocal Competition as soloists and will include Maurice Duruflé's Four Motets on Gregorian Themes, W.A. Mozart's Vesperae solennes de confessore, k 339, Arvo Pärt's Festina lente and Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.  We will conclude our season with "Soli Deo gloria," J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor in May.  All concerts are performed at the beautiful Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence.  This season, we are excited to announce that we will also give a second performance of "Reflect & Rejoice" at St. Joseph's Church in Newport. Do you have choral experience?  RICCO is looking for experienced choristers for all parts.  If you think you would enjoy making music with us, please call or email us to schedule an appointment.  For your planning purposes, you will be asked to bring a simple prepared song, such as a hymn or aria. The audition will include range testing, pitch matching and sight singing. Join us for this wonderful season of music-making! When? Wednesday, September 3, 2014 Auditions will begin at 7:00pm.    Please contact us to schedule an individual audition time. Call us at (401) 521-5670 or email info@ricco.org  Where?  American Legion Hall 7 Legion Way Cranston, RI  Click Here for Directions  For more information, please visit our website, www.ricco.org. A NOTE FROM OUR MUSIC DIRECTOR Welcome all who are in pursuit of the enjoyment of great choral/orchestral masterpieces.  There is an inexplicable magic that happens at a concert of great music.  There is no explaining why we are changed; we only know that mysteriously we are, and that we are better for the experience.  If you would like to be part of an enterprise such as this, I invite you become part of the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra. I hope to see you on September 3. Warm regards, Edward Edward Markward, Music Director Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra

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Are you a teacher or former teacher? If so, we invite you to join Opera Club! Opera Club is a group of teachers that explore our season's operas and help create curriculum ideas for fellow educators to be published on the SF Opera Education website. Only two more Opera Clubs left - join us as we explore Rossini's Cinderella and Puccini's La Boheme. For information contact us at education@sfopera.com.

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OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE  D' AGUANNO

Rather slim pickings for opera-lovers this coming Saturday (August 30) on internet radio. In fact, there's nothing new on NPR, as the broadcast of Boito's "Mefistofele" from San Francisco (as reported in last week's entry) never took place. Instead, the station aired a performance of Puccini's "Tosca" by mistake, so it's THIS WEEK that you can actually hear the Boito opera, starring Ildar Abdrazakov as Mefistofele and soprano Patricia Racette in the dual roles of Margherita & Elena (as in Helen of Troy).

(www.wrti.org/)

On Rai Radio 3, there's a broadcast from Royal Albert Hall in London of "Salome" by Richard Strauss. The RAI website is skimpy on the details, so it's impossible for me to say whether this is a LIVE performance or not.
(www.radio3.rai.it/)

Those of you who may be looking for an obscure opera to listen to can rejoice in this Saturday's offering on ORF (Austria): It's an August 22 performance from Innsbruck of "L'Orontea" -- a 1656 work by composer Pietro Antonio Cesti.

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

Enjoy!

DAVE

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The Met

Saturday afternoon radio broadcast is

on hiatus until December

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WGBH Postpones its annual Labor Day Opera Bash!

WGBH's annual Labor Day Opera Bash is missing from its monthly printed schedule. A call to the station revealed that the reason for this omission is that WGBH has changed its fiscal year so that they will now be doing fund-raising during the Labor Day weekend. The Opera Bash has been postponed to a later date in the autumn, probably October or November. We will keep you posted on any developments. In the meantime, please write them a note, encouraging them to make sure they broadcast the opera bash and more opera in general. I'm told that every single letter is read and taken into consideration. This is a link to their website:

http://www.wgbh.org/about/contact.cfm

NO OPERA ON WGBH TV 

THIS WEEK!

Coming in September to WGBH: 

WGBH2    09/14/2014      12:00:00:00 Great Performances at the Met #806: Prince Igor 

Length:03:26:46:00

WGBH2    09/21/2014      12:30:00:00 Great Performances at the Met #807: La Boheme 

Length: 02:26:46:00

WGBH2    09/28/2014      12:30:00:00 Great Performances at the Met #808: Werther

Length: 02:26:46:00 

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Week of August 21 - August 28, 2014

This week on Rhode Island Public television,

WSBE:  (Comcast 294, Cox 808, Full Channel 109, and Verizon 478)

 Saturday, August 23, 8:00pm

Sunday, August 24, 3:00am

Monday, August 25, 12:00am

Great Performances at the Met

Rodelinda

Renée Fleming stars in the title role of Handel's "Rodelinda," a baroque opera about a queen and her assumed-dead husband (Andreas Scholl), and the usurper (Joseph Kaiser) who wants Rodelinda for his wife.

DURATION: 210 MIN

DETAILS: [CC] [STEREO]

GENRE: PARENTS PICKS
SYNOPSIS: =http://www.metopera.org/metopera/season/synopsis/rodelinda?customid=135

To hear, click:

Renée Fleming, Andreas Scholl - "Io t'abbraccio" (Rodelinda, Handel)

Licia Albanese died on Friday.

She was 105

July 22, 1909 - August 15, 2014

May flights of angels lead you on your way.

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-licia-albanese-20140820-story.html

Licia Albanese with Mario Lanza

To hear her sing Un Bel Di Vedremo from Madame Butterfly, click:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZINNVrgXec

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A last look at Robin Williams, this time at the Met

Part 1_ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2evBgJn1038

Part 2_ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wab0-PZgwQ

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In Surprise Finale at Metropolitan Opera’s Labor Talks, Both Sides Agree to Cuts

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/arts/music/in-met-opera-deal-both-sides-give.html

Metropolitan Opera Clears Last Hurdle in Labor Talks

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-labor-talks.html?_r=0

from Slipped Disc

BREAKING: MET SETTLES WITH STAGE UNIONS. ANOTHER SURRENDER

August 20, 2014 by norman lebrecht

http://slippedisc.com/2014/08/breaking-met-settles-with-stage-unions-another-surrender/

IATSE, the main stage union, has just announed the Local 1 has reached agreement with the Met. The terms are another humiliation for Peter Gelb.

He has been forced to accept ‘mandatory cost reductions from management and an independent monitor to track budget performance.’

Gelb has been trussed up hand and foot in these talks, left with no room for manouevre on future policy change – unless he gets the approval of the unions and the independent budget monitor.

What began as negotiation ended in total capitulation.

gelb

From the IATSE statenment

The tentative agreement we reached today – which includes mandatory cost reductions from management and an independent monitor to track budget performance– offers a way to get the Met on a track for success.

We look forward to presenting the details of the agreement to members of Local 1 for their decision on ratification.  And we’re committed to remaining at the bargaining table to conclude agreements for the other six I.A.T.S.E. local unions whose members make the magic happen at the Metropolitan Opera at every performance.

The Met’s version:

New York, NY (August 20, 2014) – The Metropolitan Opera announced tonight that a new labor agreement has been secured with IATSE Local One, the union representing the company’s stagehands. Final negotiations will take place tomorrow with eight smaller unions representing behind-the-scenes Met personnel. All are expected to reach agreements, preventing a potential labor crisis at the nation’s largest performing arts organization.

The new contract with Local One, subject to ratification, will provide the institution with savings comparable to those achieved through the recent agreements with Local 802 (which represents orchestra musicians and librarians) and AGMA (which represents chorus, principal singers, directors, and stage managers).

Pre-season rehearsals and preparations for the 2014-15 season will continue without interruption. The Met season will open as scheduled on September 22 with a new production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and continue with 221 performances of 26 operas in six new productions and 18 revivals.

- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2014/08/breaking-met-settles-with-stage-unions-another-surrender/#sthash.d7UTQk12.dpuf

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Are you a teacher or former teacher? If so, we invite you to join Opera Club! Opera Club is a group of teachers that explore our season's operas and help create curriculum ideas for fellow educators to be published on the SF Opera Education website. Only two more Opera Clubs left - join us as we explore Rossini's Cinderella and Puccini's La Boheme. For information contact us at education@sfopera.com.

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OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE  D' AGUANNO

As part of their series of radio broadcasts of performances from the San Francisco Opera's 2013/2014 season, NPR has scheduled Boito's "Mefistofele" for this coming Saturday (August 23). Bass Ildar Abdrazakov sings the title role in this performance from last September, while soprano Patricia Racette can be heard in the dual roles of Margherita & Elena. Both singers may be familiar to movie-goers who saw the recent HD-transmissions this past season from the Met of Puccini's "Tosca" (in which Ms Racette sang the title role) and of Borodin's "Prince Igor" (which starred Abdrazakov as Prince Igor).

(www.wrti.org/)

Although it's already been broadcast on a few other internet radio stations, this one is worth revisiting, IMO: It's the January 2, 2014 performance from Barcelona of Massenet's "Cendrillon" ("Cinderella") with mezzo Joyce Di Donato in the leading role -- a role which she performed in the HD-transmission of Rossini's quite different version of this same familiar fairy tale ("Cenerentola"). This time around, it can be heard on ORF (Austria).

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

Now, here's something of an oddity: Everyone reading this is, no doubt, familiar with the Christmas carol "Silent Night" by one Franz Xaver Gruber. Well, contemporary Austrian composer HK Gruber claims to be one of his descendants, and it's HIS latest opera which can be heard on German Radio. It was given its premiere in the Bregenz Festival this summer (on July 23) and is entitled "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" ("Tales from the Vienna Woods"). Oddly enough, Johann Strauss, Jr. composed a charming waltz by the same name back in the 1800s; however, Gruber's opera is based on a 1931 play which depicts rather brutal events which can be considered anything BUT charming. Might be worth checking out, if only to satisfy one's curiosity.

(www.dradio.de/dkultur/)

Enjoy!

DAVE

LATEST!

A video of the recent performance from Salzburg of "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss (with German subtitles) can be accessed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbINhbBwmGU

Thanks (once again) to Logan D. (whoever he/she is) who has also recently uploaded a performance from this summer's Bayreuth Festival of "Tannhauser" by Richard Wagner (with German subtitles) which can be accessed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtWNgwSMoGk   (Caution: Wacky production!)

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Anna Netrebko and son Tiago with fiancé

 Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov

En route to the engagement party?

So says Facebook!

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The Met

Saturday afternoon radio broadcast is

on hiatus until December

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

WGBH Postpones its annual Labor Day Opera Bash!

WGBH's annual Labor Day Opera Bash is missing from its monthly printed schedule. A call to the station revealed that the reason for this omission is that WGBH has changed its fiscal year so that they will now be doing fund-raising during the Labor Day weekend. The Opera Bash has been postponed to a later date in the autumn, probably October or November. We will keep you posted on any developments. In the meantime, please write them a note, encouraging them to make sure they broadcast the opera bash and more opera in general. I'm told that every single letter is read and taken into consideration. This is a link to their website:

http://www.wgbh.org/about/contact.cfm

NO OPERA ON WGBH TV 

THIS WEEK!

Coming in September to WGBH: 

WGBH2    09/14/2014      12:00:00:00 Great Performances at the Met #806: Prince Igor 

Length:03:26:46:00

WGBH2    09/21/2014      12:30:00:00 Great Performances at the Met #807: La Boheme 

Length: 02:26:46:00

WGBH2    09/28/2014      12:30:00:00 Great Performances at the Met #808: Werther

Length: 02:26:46:00 

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