Week of April 28 - May 5, 2016

*all links are live

This Saturday

Live in HD

R. Strauss’s

ELEKTRA

The genius director Patrice Chéreau (From the House of the Dead) didn’t live to see his great Elektra production, previously presented in Aix and Milan, make it to the stage of the Met. But his overpowering vision lives on with soprano Nina Stemme—unmatched today in the heroic female roles of Strauss and Wagner—who portrays Elektra’s primal quest for vengeance for the murder of her father, Agamemnon. Legendary mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier is chilling as Elektra’s fearsome mother, Klytämnestra. Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka and bass-baritone Eric Owens are Elektra’s troubled siblings. Chéreau’s musical collaborator Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Strauss’s mighty take on Greek myth.

*at a theater near you  

This week on Rhode Island Public television,

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

Saturday, April 30, 2016, 8:00pm

Sunday, May 1, 2016 3:00am

Monday, May 2,  2016, 12:00am

Great Performances at the Met

MACBETH

Star soprano Anna Netrebko delivers her searing portrayal of Lady Macbeth, the mad and murderous mate of Zeljko Lucic's doomed Macbeth, for the first time at the Met. Adrian Noble's chilling production of Verdi's masterful adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy also stars Joseph Calleja as the noble Macduff and Rene Pape as Banquo. Fabio Luisi conducts.

Duration: 2 HRS 35 MIN

Synopsis: http://www.metopera.org/Discover/Synposes-Archive/Macbeth/

News from Around the World of Music

Marian Anderson to appear on five-dollar bill

Jay Gabler  -  April 20, 2016

Marian Anderson at home London Express/Getty Images

 The U.S. Treasury has announced new plans for American currency. Among the figures to be honored on the new currency is singer Marian Anderson, who will be featured on the five-dollar bill.

Abraham Lincoln will continue to appear on the front of the five-dollar bill; the reverse will "honor events at the Lincoln Memorial that helped to shape our history and our democracy and prominent individuals involved in those events, including Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr."

Anderson (1897-1993), an African-American contralto, was one of the most acclaimed singers in American history. Her repertoire ranged widely from opera arias and lieder to spirituals and popular songs. On April 9, 1939, she performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a live audience of 75,000 and millions more who listened via radio.

http://www.yourclassical.org/story/2016/04/20/marian-anderson-five-dollar-bill

Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial

https://youtu.be/mAONYTMf2pk

♫♫♫

Imagine being Lin-Manuel Miranda right now

By Peter Marks April 22, 2016

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/04/22/imagine-being-lin-manuel-miranda-right-now/?tid=sm_fb

Review: James Levine Opens Last Run as Metropolitan Opera Music Director

By CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM

APRIL 24, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/25/arts/music/review-james-levine-opens-last-run-as-metropolitan-opera-music-director.html

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

WQXR

A Supporting Artist Who Steals the Show

Monday, April 25, 2016

WQXR

By Fred Plotkin

Maria Zifchak, a mezzo-soprano who's shined in character roles on the Metropolitan Opera stage "is in a class all of her own," writes Fred Plotkin.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/supporting-artist-who-steals-show/ 

A Second 'Otello'? The Other Operas Inspired by Shakespeare

Friday, April 22, 2016

WQXR

By Merrin Lazyan

Certainly you've heard of Verdi's 'Otello' and Gounod's 'Roméo et Juliette', but check out these lesser-known operas based on the same source material.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/second-otello-other-operas-inspired-shakespeare/

A Verdian Season in New York

Thursday, April 21, 2016

By Fred Plotkin

Last week, New York experienced a flurry of events honoring the composer Giuseppe Verdi. Fred Plotkin, who attended them, considers the composer's legacy.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/verdian-season-new-york/

From right to left: August Ventura, Marino Tiezzi, Paolo Zoppi, Lorenzo Giovati, Antonio Giovati, Enzo Petrolini and Victor De Renzi.

♫♫♫♫♫

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Coming May 14-15, 2016

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE  D' AGUANNO

"Elektra" (by Richard Strauss) will receive its HD-transmission at local movie theatres this coming Saturday afternoon (April 30) with soprano Nina Stemme performing the title role. Ms Stemme, as many of you know, also sang the title role in Puccini's "Turandot" in an HD-transmission from the Met which took place earlier this season.

(www.wrti.org/)

Another "classic" German opera comes to us via French Radio this Saturday, this one being Wagner's "Die Meistersinger" in a performance which took place in Paris earlier this year (March 25).

(www.francemusique.fr/)

Opera-lovers who may want to get a head-start on their opera listening can tune in to Radio 3 (RAI) tomorrow (Thursday) for a LIVE broadcast from Florence of Tchaikovsky's final opera "Iolanta."

(www.radio3.rai.it/)

And those of you who may wish to extend your opera listening for the weekend have a chance to do so on Monday evening (May 2) when the Met offers yet another in its series of FREE live audio-streams. It's (once again) Verdi's "Otello" with the same cast that performed the work last Saturday.

(www.metopera.org/)

In the meantime, there's a FREE video of yesterday's performance from Avignon of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" (with French subtitles) available till October at this link:

(http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/festivals/operas-de-france/lucia-di-lammermoor-de-donizetti-a-l-opera-grand-avignon-238307)

Enjoy!

DAVE

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

The Met Saturday afternoon
 radio broadcast 

Saturday, April 30, 2016, 1:00 pm.   

Elektra

R. STRAUSS

Salonen; Stemme, Pieczonka, Meier, Ulrich, Owens

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

No opera on

WGBH this week!

Retired U.S. Rep. Barney Frank  (D.-MA)

----------------

Week of April 21 - 28, 2016

This week on Rhode Island Public television,

WSBE:  (Comcast 294, Cox 808, Full Channel 109, and Verizon 478) 
 *all links are live

Saturday, April 23, 2016, 8:00pm

Sunday, April 24, 2016 3:00am

Monday, April 25 2016, 12:00am

Great Performances at the Met

Le Nozze di Figaro

Le Nozze di Figaro

The Season 9 premiere features "Le Nozze di Figaro," Mozart's 1786 comic masterpiece, which has been updated to take place in 1930s-era Spain. It brings to life the upstairs-downstairs romantic complexities at an 18th-century manor house.

Duration: 210 min. 

News from Around the World of Music

Oh sad day--

James Levine retires from Met due to advancing Parkinson's  

http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/james-levine-retires-met-due-advancing-parkinsons#sthash.xzo4WN0n.dpuf

Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine Set to Retire from the Met

Thursday, April 14, 2016

WQXR

By Amanda Angel

After a 45-year career at the Metropolitan Opera, the legendary maestro will become the organization's music director emeritus.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/james-levine-set-retire-met/

♫♫♫

Opera heart-throb Kaufmann stood up by Gheorgiu mid-show

by Angus McPherson on April 19, 2016

http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/opera-heart-throb-jonas-kaufmann-stood-angela-gheorgiu#sthash.lbvDjj1f.dpuf

Montreal orchestra gives violin to homeless musician

by Megan Steller on April 15, 2016

http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/montreal-orchestra-gives-violin-homeless-musician#sthash.N7Ec0C55.dpuf

Javier Camarena: the tenor whose talent justifies a towering reputation

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/15/javier-camarena-tenor-towering-reputation?CMP=share_btn_fb

In Memoriam: 

Brian Asawa, 1966-2016

BY JANOS GEREBEN ,

April 19, 2016

https://www.sfcv.org/article/in-memoriam-brian-asawa-1966-2016#sthash.uJwYaAdP.dpuf

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

WQXR

'Les Fêtes Vénitiennes,' a Vaudevillian Spectacle from the Baroque

Monday, April 18, 2016

WQXR

By David Patrick Stearns

William Christie's Les Arts Florissants and director Robert Carson revive Campra's 18th-century opera-ballet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. David Patrick Stearns reviews it.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/les-fetes-venitiennes-vaudevillian-spectacle-baroque/

Swedish soprano Nina Stemme stars in the title role of 'Elektra.'

Salonen Reveals the Dramatic Core of Strauss's 'Elektra'

Friday, April 15, 2016

By David Patrick Stearns

The Met stages Patrice Chereau's acclaimed production of 'Elektra,' starring Nina Stemme in the title role. David Patrick Stearns reviews the opera.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/salonen-reveals-dramatic-core-strauss-elektra/

♫♫♫♫♫

Fred Plotkin

In this posting from the “Live in HD Fans” Facebook page, Fred Plotkin writes the rare review. Here he discusses Placido Domingo and Ferruccio Furlanetto in a recent production of Simon Boccanegra. As you know, there has been much controversy about Domingo's choice, in the waning years of his career, to perform baritone in addition to tenor roles. Most people don't know that he started his career as a baritone. At 75, he is still a commanding presence on the opera stage. Plotkin's review:

From Fred Plotkin_4/17/2016 “Live in HD Fans” (Facebook):

Many of you have asked me to post my observations following the season's final "Simon Boccanegra" at the Met this evening. Anyone who was there will not forget it. Ever. As you know, I do not write reviews. So my words are those of an experienced (to put it mildly) operagoer who happens to count this Verdi masterpiece among his favorite operas. It was an extraordinary night in the opera world (not just at the Met) in that it inevitably combined the timeless and the temporal. It was the first performance James Levine conducted since it was announced that he would relinquish the title of Music Director at the end of the season and move to Emeritus status. He and the orchestra were accorded huge ovations from start to finish, but what was most discernible tonight was the great wash of emotion surrounding him from the audience, the orchestra pit and the stage. Consummate genius-artist that he is, he held everyone and everything together, guiding a last-minute substitution in one role with his customary attentive warmth. While the ovations and curtain calls could and should have been much longer, they were longer than most these days at the Met and deeply heartfelt. Every member of the cast was in top form, though there were moments when emotion crept in that went beyond the powerful feelings that this opera already contains. At moments, it was hard for the performer and audience members who knew what was underpinning this evening to not be overwhelmed. Lianna Haroutounian was a warm and sympathetic Amelia, the one soaring female voice among five men. Joseph Calleja was white-hot vocally and dramatically, lifting the performance with his voice when things got too sad. Stephen Gaertner (Paolo) and the ever-reliable Richard Bernstein provided vocal and theatrical ballast as the conspirators. Ferruccio Furlanetto is a singer and actor of such extraordinary complexity and power. He simply has no equal. When other basses play Jacopo Fiesco, the character is often depicted as angry and bitter. Those attributes are only one element of Furlanetto's portrayal, which turns Fiesco into a huge moral force, a reservoir of memory with a sense of justice (more than revenge) who is the ultimate truth teller. Remarkable. And that is the adjective I would apply to Plácido Domingo in the title role. I have tired of hearing people complain that he is not a natural-born baritone. and that at 75 he is too old and self-indulgent. The performance he gave tonight would be unforgettable for someone seeing him for the first time or the 500th. His voice is wonderfully expressive in this towering dramatic part. To me it equals his Otello but is in a range that is more congenial (not ideal, but I really don't care) now and the acting and musicianship were fantastic. The cast took several group curtain calls in front of the Met's beautiful gold curtain (which we see too rarely nowadays) so that they could gesture to and applaud James Levine. Most audience members could not see the Maestro in his motorized chair in the orchestra pit, but seeing the faces of the six singers said everything. Domingo, at a certain point, made a sign of the cross and shed a tear. A reader just sent in this video of some of the curtain calls. Although sound and picture are a bit out of sync, you get the idea of how the artists communicated with Maestro Levine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i6tKwLBqYo&feature=youtu.be

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE  D' AGUANNO

The LIVE opera from the Met this coming Saturday (April 23) is none other than the one that launched this season's series of HD-transmissions: Verdi's "Otello." The same two leading men who appeared in the HD-transmission will be singing their roles again this Saturday, namely Aleksandrs Antonenko as Otello & Zeljko Lucic as Iago.

(www.wrti.org/)

More Verdi is on tap for us this Saturday as another one of his Shakespearean adaptations can be heard, with a performance from Naples of his final opera "Falstaff." This is a broadcast of the performance of March 20, 2016.

(www.radio3.rai.it/)

Yet another Verdi opera turns up on this Saturday's ORF schedule, with a LIVE performance from the Vienna State Opera of "Un Ballo in Maschera" featuring tenor Piotr Beczala and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in leading roles.

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

In addition, there are 2 FREE live audio-streams that the Met is offering within the next few days. First, on Friday evening, it's Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio" followed on Monday evening by Puccini's "La Boheme."

(www.metopera.org/)

Enjoy!

DAVE

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

The Met Saturday afternoon
 radio broadcast 

Saturday, April 23, 2016, 1:00 pm.   

Otello

VERDI

Fischer; Gerzmava, Antonenko, Dolgov, Lučić, Morris

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

No opera on

WGBH this week!

Aleksandrs Antonenko as Otello