Opera and Choral Events

WINNER of 2012 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY'S BEST OF RHODE ISLAND AWARDS: Website for La Boheme Junkies

Your source for classical voice, opera, and choral events

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

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]

To hear, click:






Licia Albanese died on Friday.
She was 105

July 22, 1909 - August 15, 2014

May flights of angels lead you on your way.


Licia Albanese with Mario Lanza

To hear her sing Un Bel Di Vedremo from Madame Butterfly, click:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZINNVrgXec

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
























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


from Slipped Disc

BREAKING: MET SETTLES WITH STAGE UNIONS. ANOTHER SURRENDER

August 20, 2014 by norman lebrecht
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





 


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.


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).

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).

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.

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

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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:



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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