Week of November 6 - November 13, 2014

This week on Rhode Island Public television,

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

 Saturday, November 8, 8:00pm

Sunday, November 9, 3:00am

Monday, November 10, 12:00am

ERNANI

Angela Meade

Great Performances at the Met

Marcello Giordani

Ernani  

A production of Verdi's "Ernani," about a maiden (Angela Meade) who is romantically pursued by her uncle (Ferruccio Furlanetto), the Spanish king (Dmitri Hvorostovsky) and a bandit (Marcello Giordani).

DURATION: 150 MIN

DETAILS: [CC] [STEREO]

GENRE: PARENTS PICKS

SYNOPSIS: HTTP://WWW.METOPERAFAMILY.ORG/METOPERA/HISTORY/STORIES/SYNOPSIS.ASPX?CUSTOMID=202

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OPERA ON THE INTERNET 

WITH  

DAVE  D' AGUANNO

With nothing from the Met this Saturday (November 8) in the way of HD-transmissions ("The Barber of Seville" is waiting in the wings), it might be a good time to check out some of the broadcasts featured on internet radio. For example, in case you missed it the first time around, ORF is broadcasting the July 22, 2014 performance from Montpellier of Donizetti's "Caterina Cornaro." And for those of you who may be unfamiliar with this work, I can personally recommend it as being prime Donizetti, having been written around the same time as the far more popular "Don Pasquale."

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

More Donizetti comes to us on Saturday via NPR as his opera "Lucrezia Borgia" can be heard in a Caramoor Opera performance which took place this past July & stars rising soprano star Angela Meade in the title role.

(www.wrti.org/)

Although it's considered an oratorio rather than an opera, Handel's "Solomon" (from 1748) can be heard on French Radio in a performance that took place in Quebec on March 30 of this year.
(http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/accueil/)

Swedish Radio has a LIVE performance on its schedule, as Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" can be heard, coming to us direct from Stockholm.

(http://sverigesradio.se/p2/)

A couple of broadcasts scheduled for next Monday (November 10) are also worth mentioning, one of them being a LIVE performance on the Met's FREE audio-stream. The opera: "Lady Macbeth of Mtensk" by Shostakovich, which many people consider to be one of the greatest operas of the 20th century. Stalin, on the other hand, simply considered it scandalous & saw fit to walk out of one of its premiere performances back in the 1930s.

(www.metopera.org/)

Plus, BBC Radio 3 is broadcasting a series of operas by Richard Strauss, having offered us a rare opportunity this past Monday to hear "The Egyptian Helen." Next Monday, however, it's the composer's final opera -- "Capriccio" -- with soprano Renee Fleming as the Countess in a performance from London's Royal Opera House (January 2014).

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

Enjoy!

DAVE

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Dear Friends, Please allow me to share with you a few thoughts about the first concert of our 2014 - 2015 season, our 58th. The Chorale is busy preparing the exciting music of three diverse yet accessible composers: Giovanni Gabrieli, Ottorino Respighi and John Rutter. In this first newsletter I'd like to focus on the largest work on the program, Ottorino Respighi's Lauda per la Natività del Signore (Laud to the Nativity or Hymn of Praise for the Birth of Our Lord). Respighi, of course, is justly famous for his trilogy of tone poems depicting scenes of Rome: Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome and Roman Festivals. The Lauda per la Natività del Signore is a beautiful pastoral work that depicts the nativity of Jesus as the shepherds might have seen it. Respighi employs several archaic forms and devices: madrigals, Monteverdi-like arioso, some plainchant, and even a touch of fugue in the "Gloria" section. The work is scored rather intimately for six wind instruments, piano (4 hands), triangle, chorus and three soloists: Soprano (The Angel), Mezzo-soprano (Mary) and Tenor (Shepherd). It mainly takes the form of dialogue among the various characters, with the chorus portraying in turn angels and shepherds. Although somewhat operatic in style, by virtue of the extended use of the chorus, the work leans mainly in structure toward the cantata. Written in 1930, it is nearly singly responsible for the revitalization of choral writing in Italy. That being said, it is one of only two choral compositions by Respighi, the other being La Primavera (Spring). The Lauda is based on a text by Jacopone da Todi, a 13th-century Franciscan poet who was originally a successful practitioner of the law. Following a particularly tragic event in which his wife was killed, the devastated Jacopo abandoned his profession and his belongings, joined the Franciscan order after a decade of penance, and became a writer of laude (psalms), of which he composed some 200. We are very confident that you will enjoy this rare opportunity to hear this tuneful, intimate and sincere work. The title of our Christmas program is "Reflect and Rejoice," and Respighi's wonderful seasonal offering allows us to do both in one composition. In this and the ensuing newsletters we are privileged to introduce our soloists to you. Our soprano for this concert is lyric coloratura soprano Katrina Galka, who portrays the Angel in this her first appearance with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra. Katrina, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been recognized for her "fearless and courageous" performances and elegant musical interpretations. This fall, Katrina will join Portland Opera as a Resident Artist in its 50th Anniversary Season. She will perform the roles of Ida (Die Fledermaus), Frasquita (Carmen), and Adult Kim (Show Boat) while also covering Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Anne Trulove (The Rake's Progress). Returning to OperaTheatre of Saint Louis this past summer, she debuted the role of Papagena in Isaac Mizrahi's production of The Magic Flute and covered the role of Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Over the past year Katrina was a member of the Boston University Opera Institute. Ms. Galka recently completed her MM in vocal performance from Boston University. She earned her BM in vocal performance from Southern Methodist University. Ms. Galka has received additional training at the Coöperative Program, Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival, and at the Castleton Festival, where she trained under the baton of Lorin Maazel as a member of the C.A.T.S. Training Seminar. In our next newsletter, I will introduce our other esteemed soloists as well as share further thoughts about other music on this program. Additionally, I hope to share with you some thoughts by our singing members about what the RICCO experience means to them. We hope you will join us in kicking off the Rhode Island Holiday Season on November 29 at 7:30 PM at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter & Paul in Providence or on November 30 at 3:00 PM at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Newport. Cordially, Edward Edward Markward, Music Director   In this and the ensuing newsletters we are privileged to introduce our soloists to you.

The Met

Saturday afternoon radio broadcast 

resumes December 6.

Rossini's Il Barbiere Di Siviglia

December 6, 2014 12:00 pm ET

Mariotti; Leonard, Brownlee, Maltman, Muraro, Burchuladze

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