Week of February 2 - February 9, 2017

This week on Rhode Island Public television,

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

Now broadcasting two or three operas every weekend!

Saturday, February 4, 2017, 8:00 PM

Tristan und Isolde

The Season 11 premiere features Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," about the doomed love affair between a Celtic princess (Nina Stemme) and a knight (Stuart Skelton), who's the nephew of King Marke (René Pape), to whom she's betrothed.

Length: 270 minutes

Synopsis: http://www.metopera.org/discover/synposes-archive/tristan-und-isolde/

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Sunday, February 5, 2017, 3:00 AM

La Boheme

Puccini's "La Bohème," about a doomed love affair between poet Rodolfo (Vittorio Grigolo) and seamstress Mimi (Kristine Opolais) in Paris during the 1830s.

Length: 150 minutes

Synopsis: http://www.metopera.org/Discover/Synopses/La-Boheme/

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Monday, February 6, 2017, 12:00 AM

Otello

Verdi's "Otello," about a Moorish general (Aleksandrs Antonenko) who comes to suspect his wife (Sonya Yoncheva) of infidelity due to seeds of doubt sowed by a treacherous aide (Zeljko Lucic).

Length: 180 minutes

Synopsis: http://www.metopera.org/Discover/Synopses/Otello/

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News from Around the World of Music

Watch: This Toddler Hearing 'Moonlight' Sonata is All of Us Right Now

Friday, January 27, 2017

By James Bennett, II

This kid is all of us — at least when we listen to the music that really shakes us to our bones.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/watch-toddler-hearing-moonlight-sonata/

Rolando Villazon - Cielito Lindo / México Lindo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcOsEH3_1xk&feature=share

Cellist Tim Smedley plays Casals' 'The Song of the Birds'

Watch: Cellist Tim Smedley Uses His Music to Protest Tree Felling

Friday, January 27, 2017

By James Bennett, II

You've heard of tree-huggers, but this cellist is using the voice of his instrument to make a powerful statement.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/watch-cellist-tim-smedley-uses-his-music-protest-tree-felling/

Koji Kondo, the longtime composer of the 'Legend of Zelda' video game series.

'Zelda' Fans are Just as Excited about Music as Gameplay

Thursday, January 26, 2017

By James Bennett, II

A new trailer for the latest game in the long running "Legend of Zelda" series has fans reflecting on the music's enduring legacy.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/zelda-fans-are-just-excited-about-music-gameplay/

Loss of hearing doesn’t keep violinist from playing, loving music

http://www.kentucky.com/living/article124148559.html

Breaking News: Metropolitan Opera’s Decision To Discard Calixto Bieto’s ‘La Forza Del Destino’ Causes Backlash

http://operawire.com/breaking-news-metropolitan-operas-decision-to-discard-calixto-bietos-la-forza-del-destino-causes-backlash/

Evoking a Natural World Through Music

WQXR          Saturday, January 28, 2017

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/evoking-natural-world-through-music/

Review: Javier Camarena’s Days as Count Almaviva Are Numbered

By ZACHARY WOOLFE              JAN. 10, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/arts/music/il-barbiere-di-siviglia-metropolitan-opera.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

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Learning Words and Music from the Masters

Friday, January 27, 2017

By Fred Plotkin

Fred Plotkin shares that master classes are a great way to learn about the art of singing.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/learning-words-and-music-masters/

Singular Voices: George Michael

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

By Fred Plotkin

Pop singer George Michael passed away on Christmas Day. Fred Plotkin admired Michael's singing and the emotional connections with his audiences during performances.

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/singular-voices-george-michael/

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OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE D' AGUANNO

This coming Saturday (February 4), two operas by Mozart make their appearance on the internet, one of them being this past Sunday's performance of "Don Giovanni" which took place at the Vienna State Opera, featuring baritone Simon Keenlyside in the title role.

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

Written shortly afterwards, "La Clemenza di Tito" -- as performed this past November in Madrid -- can be heard on BBC Radio 3 & can be accessed for several days after the initial broadcast on Saturday.

(www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/)

One of Massenet's later works (actually written in the 20th century) -- "Don Quichotte" -- will receive a hearing on Radio 4 (the Netherlands) in a performance that took place on November 19, 2016, at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

(www.radio4.nl/)

Then there's Meyerbeer's grand opera "Les Huguenots" which the folks at German Radio deem too long to be broadcast all at once, and so they're splitting it up into 2 sections, one to be heard on Saturday and the 2nd half to be heard on Sunday. (Apparently the reason why the operas of Wagner don 't get split up this way is because they're -- ahem -- not really that long?) In any case, tenor Juan Diego Florez gets a chance to sing the role of Raoul in this one, the performance of this having taken place in Berlin this past November.

(www.dradio.de/dkultur/)

The Met, on the other hand, has another matinee performance on hand for us this Saturday, with a LIVE broadcast of Verdi's "Rigoletto" with baritone Zeljko Lucic taking on the title role.

(www.wrti.org/)

Fortunately, for many avid opera fans, there's yet another FREE live audio-stream being offered by the Met this week, with a LIVE broadcast tomorrow evening (Thursday) at 7:55 pm of Dvorak's "Rusalka" with soprano Kristine Opolais singing the title role. In a sense, this can be regarded as an audio preview of the upcoming HD-transmission of this opera (February 25).

(www.metopera.org/)

Enjoy!

DAVE

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The Met Saturday afternoon
 radio broadcast  

1 PM

Rigoletto

VERDI

Morandi; Peretyatko, Volkova, Costello, Lučić, Mastroni

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NO OPERA ON

WGBH THIS WEEK!

Steve Kerr is an American former professional basketball player and the current head coach of the Golden State Warriors