Week of October 21-28, 2010

Read my article on MyLatinoVoice.com,

My Love Affair With Opera

Click on the "Week of October 21-28, 2010" above to see a YouTube snipet of comic soprano Anna Russell singing on the claymation production of Hansel and Gretel.

On WSBE this week:
Hansel and Gretel

Christine Schäfer

Alice Coote

Hansel and Gretel. Metropolitan Opera 2007. Production: Richard Jones. Cast: Christine Schäfer (Gretel), Alice Coote (Hänsel), Philip Langridge (Witch), Alan Held (father), Rosalind Plowright (mother). Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski

Hansel and Gretel

Saturday, October 23 -- 8:00pm; Sunday, October 24 -- 3:00am; Monday, October 25 -- 12:00am

WSBE 36.2 is (RI Cox Cable 808) (RI Fios 478) (In Massachusetts, Comcast 294)

The second-season opener features the Engelbert Humperdinck opera "Hansel and Gretel," about two children (Alice Coote, Christine Schäfer) who meet a witch (Philip Langridge) in the woods.

DURATION: 120 MIN

Hansel and Gretel with Philip Langridge as the witch

Synopsis:  http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=205

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Alas, there is no opera on WGBH during the entire month of October! 

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OPERA ON THE INTERNET WITH DAVE D'AGUANNO

This coming Saturday, October 23, there are a few "goodies" in store for us on internet radio.

For example, coming to us LIVE from the Bavarian State Opera in Munich is a performance of Dvorak's "Rusalka" which can be heard on Swedish Radio at 1 o'clock.
(http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)

Alternatively, you could tune in to WRTI for a 2007 performance of Puccini's "La Rondine" from the San Francisco Opera. This one stars Angela Gheorghiu who also starred in the Met's relatively recent HD transmission of this same opera.
(www.wrti.org/)


Also at 1 is a rare opportunity to hear Steffani's "Niobe" (which greatly influenced Handel, by the way), coming to us via BBC Radio 3 in a performance last month from London's Royal Opera House.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/)

Then at 2 o'clock, Hindemith's strangely compelling opera "Cardillac" can be heard in an October 17 performance from the Vienna State Opera.
(http://oe1.at/)

A reminder, too, that at www.metopera.org, you can check out the Met's free LIVE audio stream. Coming up on Friday, October 29, at 8 p.m.: Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" with the same cast that will be showcased in cinemas on November 13.
Sounds exciting!

DAVE

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NPR Staff and Wires 

PLACIDO DOMINGO LEAVES THE WASHINGTON OPERA

Monday, September 27, 2010 at 6:56 PM

Placido Domingo performs during the dress rehearsal for Il Postino at the Los Angeles Opera on Sept. 21. The famed 69-year-old Spanish tenor announced Monday he will leave the Washington National Opera when his contract expires next year.

Matt Sayles | AP

Renowned opera singer Placido Domingo announced Monday he will leave the Washington National Opera when his contract expires next year. The famed 69-year-old Spanish tenor has been artistic director of the Washington National Opera since 1996 and general director since 2003.

The famed 69-year-old Spanish tenor has been artistic director of the Washington National Opera since 1996 and general director since 2003. The news comes a week after Domingo announced he will stay on as General Director of the Los Angeles Opera for another two years.

When Domingo became the Washington National Opera's artistic director, opera fans in the city were ecstatic.  He attracted world-class musicians to the nation's capital, started a Young Artist Program and popular, live simulcasts.

Domingo is known for keeping an extremely busy schedule, performing and conducting around the world as well as running the L.A. Opera.  Domingo will end his tenure with the Washington National Opera in June of next year.

In a letter to the opera's board obtained by The Washington Post, Domingo writes that the opera has been transformed into an internationally celebrated company. Still, he raised the possibility of a merger to sustain the opera in Washington.

"I think it is time for the company to go in new directions, including studying the possibility of a merger with the Kennedy Center," he wrote. "And you can rest assured that I will do everything I can to help during this, my last year as general director."

The opera has struggled financially in recent years as a stand-alone company.

Domingo is credited with raising the company's profile by bringing more big productions and international stars to Washington. He led the company's 2002 tour to Japan and created a young artists program to develop new talent.

"He will be missed, but all good things must come to an end," Washington National Opera President Kenneth Feinberg said in announcing Domingo's departure. "Placido's association with WNO was essential to the company's artistic development and helped it to gain recognition nationally and internationally."

Feinberg said the opera hopes to continue artistic collaborations with Domingo in the future.

Under his current contract, Domingo will return to Washington early next year to sing Iphigenie en Tauride and will conduct performances of Madama Butterfly and Don Pasquale.

Domingo is best known to popular music audiences for his "Three Tenors" performances with Jose Carreras and the late Luciano Pavarotti.

The Associated Press contributed to this report [Copyright 2010 National Public Radio]