HAPPY
FOURTH OF JULY!!
WSBE: (Comcast 294, Cox 808, Full Channel 109,
and Verizon 478)
SATYAGRAHA
Great Performances at the Met
|
Saturday, July 6 -- 8:00pm; Sunday, July 7 -- 3:00am; Monday, July 8-- 12:00am
SATYAGRAHA
A performance of Philip Glass' "Satyagraha," about the early years of Mahatma Gandhi (Richard Croft). The production costars Rachelle Durkin, Alfred Walker and Kim Josephson; and features large-scale puppetry and sets made of corrugated metal.
DURATION: 180 minutes
DETAILS: [CC] [STEREO]
GENRE: PARENTS PICKS
Satyagraha's American Roots~
An Exploration of H.D. Thoreau's Influence on M.K. Gandhi:
This morning, when I heard the shocking news about the
domestic violence that led Romanian soprano and superstar Angela Gheorghiu to file
for divorce against her equally well-known husband, tenor Roberto Alagna, I did
the only thing I could do: I cleaned the refrigerator. Heartsick, my opera blog deadline
looming, I simply couldn’t find the wherewithal to sit and write such a tragic account
of my favorite singers.
Naturally, I hope it isn’t true but that's probably just denial.
Women who have loved and been abused by their partners often conceal that abuse
as much to protect him as out of self-doubt. She asks herself, "Is it my fault? Did I bring it on?
When he is not angry, he is so loving…I know he loves me." Then he hits her
again. Also, there is the embarrassment of admitting to one’s family and
friends that the man for whom one has proclaimed one’s love and perhaps
sacrificed for, has assaulted and battered her.
I cannot imagine how Angela Gheorghiu, a proud and
often imperious diva, faces the eyes of the world to admit that she has
suffered this pain and humiliation. I wonder how often she has cancelled
performances not because, as everyone thought, she was capricious but because
she had bruises and/or was so demoralized that she could not mount the towering
performances on the opera stage that have placed her at the top of her
profession.
As for her batterer, whose singing I have loved and
whose performances have thrilled me, I can say only one thing: Only THUGS beat the women they claim to love.
Thugs. There is no excuse for hitting a woman. Never. Period. It is astounding to think that Alagna felt so privileged, so protected by his maleness from public opinion that he would risk his international reputation by abusing his wife with impunity.
It is true that several high-profile male stars have been accused of abuse and even rape and survived: French actor Gerard Depardieu who once boasted that he participated in his first rape at the age of nine and that it was absolutely normal; American screen star William Hurt who was accused by his lover and co-star in "Children of a Lesser God," Marlee Matlin, of physical abuse; director Roman Polanski who fled to Europe and lived there in exile after he raped a minor in Hollywood; Scotsman Sean Connery of 007 fame whose ex-wife actress Diane Cliento broke a 40-year silence in 2006 to confirm that Connery had beaten her unconscious. Connery himself casually told Playboy
in 1965: “I don't think there is anything particularly wrong about hitting a
woman - although I don’t recommend doing it in the same way that you’d hit a
man. An open-handed
slap is justified, if all other alternatives fail and there has been plenty of
warning. If a woman is a bitch, or hysterical, or bloody-minded continually,
then I’d do it.”
Not the way you'd hit a man? What civilized society believes that it's fine to hit other men? I doubt very much that most of the fans of these stars even know that their idols were sexual criminals.The public has a short memory.
What if Gheorghiu's accusations are exaggerations or even a lies? Testing that proposition is tricky: Women have been accused of lying by their violent husbands for time immemorial. There is unlikely to be a trial to prove or disprove Gheorghiu's allegations unless Alagna sues her for
defamation. In that case, the truth is an absolute defense. If there are witnesses, as she
claims there are, then his goose is cooked. Even lacking proof of the allegations, opera fans have long memories. Decades after Maria Callas' death, they are still arguing about the effect of her weight fluctuations on her voice. No one is going to forget that Alagna abused one of our divas. How will opera managers such as Peter Gelb deal with the publicity? How will other sopranos feel about performing with him, especially in operas such as Carmen where he portrays a lover who goes from being love-struck to scorned to murderous?
I know I am not alone when I say that never again will
I be able to watch him sing or even listen to my favorite recordings of him
without distaste. Even if he were to win in a court of law--the traditional protector of male prerogative--his reputation is tainted. Instead of passion, to my sorrow, I will hear a man who instead of using
his physical prowess to protect the woman he claims to love, used that power to
beat her into submission.
I hope that Angela Gheorghiu will be able to love
again, to live in peace, and that the man she chooses will treat her with the simple respect
every woman deserves.
♫♫♫
from The Independent (U.K.)
Opera's 'dream
couple' in domestic violence claim: Soprano Angel Gheorghiu says tenor husband
subjected her to years of beatings
Opera's 'dream
couple' in domestic violence claim: Soprano Angel Gheorghiu says tenor husband
subjected her to years of beatings
The world’s most
celebrated female opera singer, Angela Gheorghiu, has been the victim of
domestic violence in her marriage to the tenor Roberto Alagna, she has claimed.
In an interview
with The Independent, the soprano alleged that Alagna would assault her in
front of her family and his. The startling revelation will stun opera-goers
around the world, as the pair - who recently divorced - were seen for years as
opera’s glamour couple.
Alagna is
internationally famous in his own right as one of the world’s leading tenors.
Gheorghiu, hugely popular in Britain, is set to star in a production of
Puccini’s La Rondine at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on Friday.
When Gheorghiu
married the French-Sicilian tenor Alagna in 1996, their romance was the hottest
topic in the opera world. They sang together across the globe, as well as
making many recordings. It was a stormy partnership from the start, with tales
of high-profile tantrums and cancellations rife. But romanticism for a long
time eclipsed all else: Gheorghiu and Alagna were dubbed the Posh and Becks of
opera.
All that is now
over. Earlier this year Gheorghiu went to Romania to get a divorce. “I was very
kind with Roberto on this matter, because otherwise in France [where he lives]
it would be a big problem for him,” she said. “In Romania I wanted it to be in
the quickest way possible: you sign a few papers and it was ciao, arrivederci.
Because I really wanted not to continue to have a relationship with this kind
of person.
“There are things
in life you accept from your man, but I did not want to continue to live with
the idea that your man is violent. Basta! I said everything, I did everything,
until the last moment: I said to myself it is not true, I cannot accept it. OK,
now I accept – so, basta. A person like that will never, ever change.”
She continued: “He
was actually violent - and in front of my family, and his family also. I lived
through that. It’s the most black page of my life. I said for years that I
cannot believe it, it will be fine – you say that all the time. But it’s like a
malady. Even if you are the most angry person, to stand and give a clap on your
wife, it’s impossible – and to do this in front of your father and your brother
and they say not a word? This is my life.”
She added: “At
first, when you are young and more energetic, you feel very bad. Crying and
singing, singing and crying: maybe I cry more than I sing. And it was possible
for me to sing. One day I said: I cannot sing. I was so tired – from screaming
and crying, I was kaput completely. The first solution for me was not to sing
together any more.”
When they initially
became a couple, she says, after the death from cancer of Alagna’s first wife,
she saw only what she wanted to see. “People of course told me, even colleagues
around me, ‘Be careful’. But I really wanted to be with Roberto. I divorced my
first husband for him. When you are in love, you are completely blind. And you
don’t know, and you don’t want to know.”
She added: “I am
different now. The day I accept that I must divorce Roberto, I was sure that
the real me would be out. I cannot pretend. I was pretending too much and I
suffered too much. Basta. Now it’s time to be really honest.”
When contacted by
The Independent Marinella Alagna, Roberto Alagna’s sister and agent, declined
to comment on the allegations, adding: “We do not have time for idiocy such as
this.”
FACT FILE
Angela Gheorghiu,
47, from Adjud, Romania
Soprano
Education: National
University of Music Bucharest
Professional debut:
Cluj-Napoca Romanian National Opera, 1990
International
debut: Royal Opera House, 1992
Awards include:
Female Artist of the Year at the Classic Brit Awards, 2001, 2010; Officier de
l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; Star of Romania
Roberto Alagna, 50,
from Seine-Saint-Denis, France
Tenor
Education: Largely
self-taught, started singing in cabarets
Professional debut:
Glyndebourne Opera touring company in 1988 after winning the Luciano Pavarotti
Voice Competition.
Awards include:
Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, 1995; Knight of
the French Legion of Honour, 2008
♫♫♫
Commentary from The Independent (U.K.)
Allegations of domestic violence will change not just
Roberto Alagna's but Angela Gheorghiu’s image forever
Angela Gheorghiu is
everyone’s idea of the superstar
opera singer: a hugely gifted soprano with electric stage presence, who also
happens to be beautiful, full of star quality and something of a diva to boot.
On that last point, stories have been swapped among
opera-goers for years of delightfully divaesque moments, like asking for hair
and make-up for a radio interview or talking about herself in the third person.
But her radiance and talent always ensured excitement
when she was performing, with the gods full of Angela devotees ready to throw
flowers on stage as she took one of her many curtain calls.
Now her image is for ever changed. Not only has she
revealed a history of suffering domestic violence, but it was, she alleges, at
the hands of an opera star no less celebrated than she, the renowned tenor
Roberto Alagna.
The news will be a lot to take in for fans of the
couple, whose massive popularity extends far beyond these shores – to Italy,
Germany, France, America and Japan.
Everyone will no doubt be concerned for her physical
and emotional wellbeing. But there will also be other, less obvious damage to
take into account. When those pictures emerged of Nigella Lawson and her
husband Charles Saatchi, her brand suffered. The domestic goddess who exuded
contentment and control was no longer.
Gheorghiu has always been the epitome not just of
talent, but also of poise and style. Alagna – a romantic tenor who exudes charm
and sexual allure – will surely suffer. With this interview Gheorghiu has
revealed herself as a figure deserving of sympathy for the traumas she relates.
The talk at Covent Garden on Friday, when Gheorghiu stars in a new production,
will not just be about the performance.
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
OPERA ON THE INTERNET
WITH
DAVE D' AGUANNO
What some opera fans might consider "big
news" this weekend would probably be the re-broadcast on BBC Radio 3 of a
performance (originally given by the BBC in 1976) of Wagner's early opera
"Rienzi." What makes this particular performance so noteworthy is the
fact that the score is performed absolutely COMPLETE, including additional
music that was orchestrated from sketches left behind by the composer. So,
anyone who may have thought that "Die Gotterdammerung" was long will
be in for a surprise when they discover that this particular version of
"Rienzi" actually clocks in at about 4 hours and 40 minutes !!! (Yes, and they include the 45-minute ballet
sequence which is hardly ever performed these days). To hardly anyone's
surprise, I happen to have this very performance on CD and have listened to it
at least once (that I can recall). I personally will give it a big Thumbs Up;
other listeners might either doze off or tune in to a different station after
the first half-hour or so. On a side-note: While this particular opera (as well
as many other operas by Wagner) may certainly be considered quite lengthy,
Gabriel von Wayditch's opera "The Heretics" actually takes 1st place
as the longest opera ever written -- requiring a total of 8 and 1/2 hours to perform
-- and the composer died before he could even FINISH it !!!
(www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/)
Another relatively long opera comes to us this
Saturday via French Radio when Handel's "Imeneo" (from 1740) receives
a rare broadcast, as it was recently given a concert performance in London on
May 29 of this year.
(http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/accueil/)
In a much lighter vein, there's a typically zany but
melodic score by Offenbach on ORF's schedule: "Barbe-Bleue"
("Bluebeard"), as performed in Graz this past June 13. I suppose that
I don't need to mention that Offenbach's treatment of the tale is quite
different from Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" written a few decades
later.
(http://oe1.orf.at/)
Moving into the early part of the 20th century,
listeners get another chance to hear Schreker's dramatic but lush
"Schatzgraber" (loosely translated as "The
Treasure-Hunter"), as performed last September by the Netherlands Opera
(Amsterdam).
(http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)
First heard in San Francisco in the fall of 1998,
Andre Previn's 1st opera "A Streetcar Named Desire" comes to us on
NPR as another in its series of Lyric Opera of Chicago broadcasts from its
2012/2013 season. And yes, that's soprano Renee Fleming singing the part of
Blanche Dubois!
(www.wrti.org/)
This coming Friday's performance of Verdi's "Il
Trovatore" will be streamed LIVE at 1 p.m. (??) from the Bavarian State
Opera (Munich).
As in the past, the video will be available only at
the time of the performance, and English subtitles will (probably) be
available.
http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/866-ZmxhZz0xJmw9ZW4-~Staatsoper~bso_aktuell~aktuelles.html
The link above has a video/trailer if you'd like to
check it out.
As far as I know, this is the first production of
"Trovatore" that tenor Jonas Kaufmann has ever sung in.
(He's scheduled to appear later this year in Verdi's
"La Forza del Destino" -- also a first for him, also from Munich, and
also to be offered as a LIVE stream, online)
Enjoy! -- & Have a happy Fourth of July !!!
DAVE
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
Backstage
at San Francisco Opera > July 2013 > Becoming Antonia:
5 Questions with
Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay last delighted San Francisco audiences in the
title role of 2009's Lucia di Lammermoor and this summer she's back, but not in
one of her signature roles. The soprano has appeared as Olympia is Offenbach's
The Tales of Hoffmann many times, but for this Laurent Pelly production, she
decided to mix things up and sing a role she has always wanted to sing, the
tragic role of Antonia. In today's blog post, Natalie Dessay answers our 5
questions. You performed in this production when it premiered in Barcelona
earlier this year.
What do you think of Laurent Pelly and Chantal Thomas’ production of The Tales of Hoffmann?
What do you think of Laurent Pelly and Chantal Thomas’ production of The Tales of Hoffmann?
The look of the production is inspired by Belgian painter
Leon Spilliaert. The visuals are evocative of a black and white silent film--like
the old expressionist films of the 1920’s. In my opinion this vision works very
well for Hoffmann because it emphasizes the strange poetry and the fantastic
aspects of the story.
Normally you are known for singing the coloratura role of
Olympia. What is it like to sing the very different role of Antonia?
I am very happy singing Antonia. I always wanted to sing
this role when I was young and I personally think it is the most beautiful role
among all the ladies. It is a powerful experience for a singer to embody a
character who is dying because of her singing. I think it is great because that
truly is our life.
How do you prepare yourself for a role?
I prepare the music thoroughly to the point that I can be
free and not to have to deal with it as much as possible. This way I can be
free to focus on the acting. I try to prepare myself physically so that I don’t
even have to think anymore about singing and I can be entirely available for
the acting.
The documentary film “Becoming Traviata” is playing in
theaters around the Bay Area. What can people planning to see the film expect?
They will have a window into what real operatic acting can
be with an opera director. They will see just how deep and interesting it can
be. Of course opera is not about singing. Singing is the excuse to play the
role and to share the emotions and feelings of the character with the audience.
Do you enjoy San Francisco? Any plans for your days off?
I love this city…it is a beautiful city. A little chilly
though! I love Pacific Heights, the area where I live when I am here. My
favorite thing is to discover the Pacific Ocean. And I always like the feeling
of freedom that I have in this city on the sea.
Posted: 7/2/2013 2:36:37 PM by Natalie Dessay (Antonia, The
Tales of Hoffmann)
http://sfopera.com/About/Backstage-at-San-Francisco-Opera/July-2013/7804.aspx
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
BEVERLY SILLS
YAHRZEIT FOR
BEVERLY SILLS
Jewish opera singer
Beverly Sills was one of the few leading bel canto stylists in her heyday. Sills'
signature roles included Lucia di Lammermoor, Manon, The Barber of Seville, La
Traviata, and Roberto Devereux. She died on July 2, 2007 of complications
from lung cancer.
Subscribe to the
free Jspace.com newsletter for a chance to win an iPad mini:
http://bit.ly/JSPACEFREEIPADMINI
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
2013 Summer encores of
Live in HD Broadcasts ARE HERE
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/summer-hd-encores.aspx
Click here for theater locations and tickets:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/summer/us
next wednesday
July 10, 2013
Click here for theater locations and tickets:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/summer/us
next wednesday
July 10, 2013
Armida
US: July 10, 2013, 7 pm (local time) This mythical story of a sorceress who enthralls men in her island prison has inspired operatic settings by a multitude of composers, including Gluck, Haydn, and Dvořák. Renée Fleming stars in the title role of Rossini’s version, opposite no fewer than five tenors. Director Mary Zimmerman describes the work as “a buried treasure, a box of jewels.” Armida is a fanciful and magical tale with “an epic, enchanted quality and a tremendous visual element.”
Conductor: Riccardo Frizza; Production: Mary Zimmerman; Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, John Osborn, Barry Banks, Kobie van RensburgApproximate Running Time 3:05
Original transmission: Saturday, May 1, 2010
Cast sheet and synopsis:
2013-14 Live in HD
Season Preview
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
Opera in
English? Sorry, I'll need that in writing
Watching Deborah
Warner's marvellously haunting production of Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice
at the English National Opera, it was evident that there were no surtitles.
Although ENO's productions are all sung in English, the company has used
surtitles for some years now. It appears that Ms Warner, specifically requested
that there be none for her production. Nearby, at the Royal Opera House,
another Benjamin Britten opera, Gloriana, is currently playing. That does have
surtitles. As it happens, at Death in Venice I could hear every word that was
sung and there really wasn't a need for surtitles. Nevertheless, this is
getting mighty confusing. The ENO sings in English yet needs to put the words
up on a screen. The same composer is given surtitles for one opera but not for
another just down the road. A surtitle policy, presumably carefully considered
and deemed necessary for audiences, is changed at the request of one director.
Are surtitles for operas in English necessary or not? I wish they'd make up their
minds.
from The Independent (U.K.)
Summer production of
"Elixir of Love"
Thursday, August 1, 5:30pm
@Blithewold Mansion and Gardens, Bristol, RI
$30 General admission and $25 for Blithewold Members
♫♫♫
Thursday, August 8, 7:30pm
Saturday, August 10, 7:30pm
@ Ocean State Theater,1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI 02886
$35 and $60
For additional information on our exciting opera season,
to purchase tickets, or to contribute to the Annual Appeal, contact:
Opera Providence
585 Elmgrove Avenue
Providence RI 02906
401-331-6060
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
The Met radio broadcast season is
over for now...
check this space the first week
of December.
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
NO OPERA ON WGBH TV
THIS WEEK!
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