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Turandot
Great Performances at the Met
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Saturday, February 23 -- 8:00pm; Sunday, February 24 -- 3:00am; Monday, February 25 -- 12:00am
Turandot
The Puccini opera "Turandot," about a ruthless Chinese princess (Maria Guleghina) who falls for an unknown prince (Marcello Giordani).
DURATION: 150 MIN
DETAILS: [CC] [STEREO]
GENRE: PARENTS PICKS
Rosie’s Corner
On the Met's new Rigoletto~
Theater requires that we suspend disbelief;
opera, more so. Audiences are asked to believe all sorts of wacky and
improbable things for the three to four hours that we watch an opera: That a
bandit in California named Ramirez sings in Italian (Girl of the Golden West);
that the Spanish spitfire Carmen and her hotheaded corporal Don Jose sing in
French (Carmen). That a French army troop raises an infant as their own
daughter (La Fille du Regiment). We watch as the mortally-wounded Gilda rises from her deathbed long
enough to implore her father to forgive the priapic duke who betrayed her
(Rigoletto); and as buxom, gorgeous sopranos portray tubercular heroines Mimi
(La Boheme) and Violetta (La Traviata) as they die of consumption. In the
newest Met production of Madame Butterfly, traditional Japanese puppets were
used for Butterfly’s child, as well as in an expressive pas de deux.
Alice Coot as Hansel; Philip Langridge as the
witch; and Christine Schäfer as Gretel
Adult women—a mezzo and a soprano—portray
Hansel and Gretel, and in a recent Met production of the opera, a tenor in drag
portrayed the evil witch. Mezzos routinely show up as princes, while
countertenors (who sound like Mickey Mouse to me) play kings in baroque
operas. Rodelinda, one of my favorite baroque operas in which Renee Fleming is
the queen, is marred only by her countertenor king. Modern opera, with its minimalism and at times, atonality,
can be painful to watch though I have actually only ever walked out of one:
Satyagraha, which, after two acts, made me feel like someone was drilling a
hole in my head.
We won't even get into what opera does to history. As a professional historian, watching the Met's Maria Stuarda with its contrived love triangle of Maria Stuarda, Elizabeth I, and the Duke of Leicester, and its portrayal of the "poor" doomed queen had me humming "She had it coming" by the time they finally beheaded the eponymous royal lady. A sweet and misunderstood angel she wasn't! Don't get me started on Verdi's Nabucco!
We won't even get into what opera does to history. As a professional historian, watching the Met's Maria Stuarda with its contrived love triangle of Maria Stuarda, Elizabeth I, and the Duke of Leicester, and its portrayal of the "poor" doomed queen had me humming "She had it coming" by the time they finally beheaded the eponymous royal lady. A sweet and misunderstood angel she wasn't! Don't get me started on Verdi's Nabucco!
To maintain their freshness for performers and
audiences alike, opera companies are always looking for ways to present their
works. Sometimes, it works; other times, not so much. An opera can be
modernized to become a dazzling new production or achieve notoriety as so much
Euro-trash. It IS a big challenge. The great 19th century operas have been performed thousands of times by hundreds of companies. Die-hard opera fans have seen them performed many times by different singers: How do we keep opera alive?
I was very suspicious about the Met’s new
Rigoletto, relocating it from the
16th century to 1960, moving the setting to a Las Vegas Casino and making the Duke
of Mantua a member of the “Rat Pack.” What could be tackier? I like Frank
Sinatra's singing when I mentally block out the tuxedos, the mob and the womanizing but I
never liked the whole Rat Pack phenomenon; it has always symbolized a decadence
and depravity that I disdained. But when I started thinking about Rigoletto, it
was precisely that debauchery and dissolution that had always made me uneasy
when I had seen it. The Duke’s palace in Rigoletto is a
male-dominated world where women are whores; orgies abound, while virgins
and Madonnas are in mortal danger. Rigoletto protected his daughter
fanatically because, working in the Duke’s world and rubbing shoulders with its
venality and sleaze, he knew better than anyone what sharks lurked in those
waters.
I must admit that once I allowed myself to
consider the possibility, I took to it; such an update could really work. I
went to see Rigoletto with eagerness which was rewarded when the lights
dropped. While I would have passed on the Arab sheik, the rest did not disappoint. One thing critics had hardly mentioned in all the previews and early buzz about the new production was the sheer excellence of the
performances. From the causal and light-hearted immortality of Piotr Beczala’s
Duke; to Diana Damrau’s sweet-faced innocence and breath-taking Caro Nome
(which rivals Monserrat Caballe’s for the best one I have ever heard); to
Stefan Kocan's malevolent assassin Sparafucile; to Zeljko Lucic’s heart-broken
Rigoletto, all were wonderful. Lucic, in particular, has a huge voice. One gets
the feeling that if he were singing standing next to you, you’d hear the
windows in the next room rattling. Having seen many Rigolettos in my time, I
wish to declare that Lucic now owns the part.
If you skipped the Met’s new Rigoletto, I
would urge you to see the encore which airs on Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at
6:30. If I didn’t have a choral rehearsal that evening, I would see it again.
As it is, I will look forward to the summer encore. This Rigoletto is not to be
missed.
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OPERA ON THE INTERNET
WITH
DAVE D' AGUANNO
On most internet radio stations this coming Saturday (Feb. 23),
you'll be able to hear the LIVE matinee performance from the Met of Bizet's
"Carmen." Plus, just in case listening to "Carmen" only
once a week is simply not enough for some of you, you can also listen in on
next Tuesday (Feb. 26) at 7:55 p.m. when the Met will be offering another LIVE
broadcast of this opera, this time on their FREE live audio-stream.
In fact, the Met is offering another opera on their FREE live
audio-stream: On Friday evening (Feb. 22) at 6:55 p.m., you can hear a LIVE
performance of Verdi's "Don Carlo" featuring tenor Ramon Vargas in
the title role, with soprano Barbara Frittoli & baritone Dimitri
Hvorostovsky also in the cast!
Also, on the schedule for Saturday, you might want to check out a
performance to be broadcast on ORF (Austria) of Handel's 3-act opera from 1720
-- "Radamisto" -- the performance in question having taken place just
last month in Vienna.
Moving forward into the bel canto era, there's Donizetti's "La
Favorite" which you can listen to on French Radio. This is a February 7,
2013 performance (sung in French) from Paris and starring mezzo-soprano Alice
Coote as Leonor.
Verdi enthusiasts, beside having the opportunity to hear "Don
Carlo" on Friday night, can tune into the Belgian station Klara on
Saturday afternoon, when a performance of his early opera "Nabucco"
can be heard, as recently presented by the Flemish Opera.
Enjoy!
DAVE
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The Met radio broadcast,
The Met radio broadcast,
February 23, 2013 @ 12:30pm
George Bizet's
CARMEN
broadcasts on Harvard Radio, 95.3 in the Boston area or live-streaming online at http://www.whrb.org
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Music of Pärt
and Schubert
Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 8 PM
Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul,
Providence, RI
30 Fenner Street - Providence, RI 02903
EDWARD MARKWARD
Musical Director
With the Fusion Works Dance Company, Deb
Munier, Artistic Director and the Brown University Chorus, Bradley Naylor,
Conductor
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| Arvo Pärt |
Arvo Pärt – Te Deum
Franz Schubert- Mass No. 3 in B-Flat Major
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| Franz Schubert |
Soloists in the Schubert will be the winners of the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra’s 5th Annual Vocal Competition
Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra
141 Phenix Ave.
Cranston, RI 02920
(401) 521-5670
Email: info@ricco.org
Spring is coming!
Some interesting articles
'Parsifal' Premieres At Metropolitan Opera: Striking
Production Takes Big Risks
(See 10 Hottest Opera Stars slide show following this
article)
Dark Nights of the Soul in the Kingdom of the Holy
Grail: ‘Parsifal’ at the Metropolitan Opera
Parsifal: Bloody great!
‘Parsifal’ Glows in New Met Show With Star Tenor:
Review
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-18/-parsifal-glows-in-new-met-show-with-star-tenor-review.html
Met Opera: A Modern New 'Parsifal' for the 21st
Century
Met premieres Francois Girard’s striking new
‘Parsifal’ with glorious cast, superb conducting
Striking new look for 'Parsifal' at Met in NYC
"The Secret Garden" is opening soon at the
San Francisco Opera; Meet the cast
'Powder Her Face' Opens NY City Opera Season
Exclusive Interview with Piotr Beczala
“Senza trucco!...” PIOTR BECZALA
Gustavo Dudamel & Israel: Conductor Gets
Questioned At Airport
Metropolitan Opera Review: Las Vegas 'Rigoletto' Hits
The Jackpot With Insightful Production, Great Singing
10 Great Movies Inspired by Operas
Met’s Technology to Get With the Program
Which opera should I see first?
More than your sense of hearing is at play in the concert
hall
http://www.kdfc.com/More-than-your-sense-of-hearing-is-at-play-in-the-concert-hall/9300524?pid=66964
Want to get Met Opera Tweets?
Do you want to join the Met Opera Facebook page?
Tenor Bocelli says 'contaminated' by temptation of
money
What kind of piano do you have at home?
Cellist's Bow is Damaged in Airport Mishap
Woman Claims to Have Song Stuck in Head For Three
Years
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Click the link if you'd like to watch a complete
performance from last month of Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" (from
Brussels).
I believe that the video will be available for viewing
for the next few weeks.
(Dutch or French subtitles are optional)
This recent La Scala performance of Verdi's
"Nabucco" can be seen here (with Italian subtitles):
The soprano singing Abigaille is the same one who sang
Aida in the recent HD-transmission from the Met.
Aside from that, I've read here & there that the
rest of the cast was pretty abysmal!!!
You can see for yourself, I guess, if you feel so
inclined!
San Francisco Opera
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Boston Lyric Opera Signature Series
in Partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts
Program: Mozart's Women
Passion, deep affection, and stifled creativity were the source of some of the complex emotional ambiguities between Mozart and the women in his life.
Mother (Anna Maria), Sister (Nannerl), Wife (Constanze), and Lover (Aloysia) all come alive on the Signature Series stage. Anecdotes, letters, diaries, and music reveal the diverse paths their lives took as they dealt with Mozart’s nearly inhuman genius and all-too-human character.
About the Signature Series
Boston Lyric Opera presents the Signature Series in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). These provocative preludes employ a variety of art forms such as fine art, literature, and music through performance and multimedia to highlight themes in the operas of the season.
Location: MFA, Remis Auditorium
Date: Sunday, February 24, 2013
Time: 2:00pm with reception* at 3:00 pm
$18 – BLO subscribers, MFA members, seniors and students
$22 – Non-Members
*Add $50 for reception with BLO presenters and performers at Bravo Restaurant
To purchase tickets visit the MFA’s website at mfa.org, or contact Development Associate Heather Coulter at hcoulter@blo.org or 617.542.4912 x229. For more information about BLO’s Signature Series collaboration with the MFA, visit blo.org.
Tickets to Mozart's Così Fan Tutte are still available!
Call BLO Audience Services at (617) 542-6772 to buy yours today.
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Now playing at the Avon (Providence) and the Jane Pickens Theater (Newport):
Not opera but a movie about elderly opera singers--
Quartet
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| Tom Courtenay and Maggie Smith |
Lifelong friends Wilf and Reggie, together with former colleague Cissy, are residents of Beecham House, a home for retired opera singers. Every year on Giuseppe Verdi's birthday, the residents unite to give a concert to raise funds for their home. But when Jean Horton, a former grande dame of the opera fallen on hard times, also Reggie's ex-wife, moves into the home to everyone's surprise, the plans for this year's concert start to unravel. As old grudges threaten to undermine past glories and theatrical temperaments play havoc with the rehearsal schedule, it becomes apparent that having four of the finest singers in English operatic history under one roof offers no guarantee that the show will go on.
Director: Dustin Hoffman
Running time: 98 minutes
Screenplay: Ronald Harwood
Cinematography: John de Borman
From: connieirby@charter.net
via Pam Elizabeth
Subject: FW: CASA VERDI
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:05:32 -0500
For those of you have seen or will see the film QUARTET which is
very enjoyable, here is the original 60 MINUTES’ piece about the opera singers
who retired to Casa Verdi in Milan. The
movie is set in England with a wonderful cast, many are actual retired singers/musicians
as you’ll see in credits. This piece
takes 14 minutes so wait and play it when you have time to relax and
enjoy. Watch to the end to see the scene
of the ‘scourge of the hallways’ singing with the diva. I’ve always loved this piece Morley Safer did
and so glad that Dustin Hoffman produced and directed the film based on it.
Connie
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Not opera but something to distract us from winter in New England...
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro!
(39 slides)
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| http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/carnival-2013-in-brazil/100458/ |
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NO OPERA ON WGBH TV
THIS WEEK!
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