Opera News articles from April 2004

Opera News archives from April 2004

Completing the ring.(Viewpoint)(radio broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera)(Column)
April 1, 2004... The Metropolitan Opera's sixth season, in 1888-89, marked the first time the company took on the challenge of an integral staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen, with a roster of the era's most distinguished Wagner singers--several of them artists...

A letter from the editor.(Letters)(Editorial)
April 1, 2004... The February issue of OPERA NEWS contained an article by Leonard J. Leff titled "So Why Do the Grammys Matter?" When, upon publication, certain elements of the reporting within this article were challenged, OPERA NEWS conducted a review of it....

Atlanta speaks.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Why has OPERA NEWS allowed a long-dead controversy to be resurrected with anonymous sources and no investigation of the facts? I refer to the article "So Why Do the Grammys Matter?" by Leonard J. Left [in] the February 2004 OPERA NEWS. The...

Grammy Matters.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... "So Why Do the Grammys Matter," full of half-truths and generalities, repeating second--and third-hand information or comments from "outsiders" to the Grammy process, really does a disservice to your general readership. When one writes an...

Horne sonata.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... I was greatly offended by the following statement in Fred Plotkin's "Rhapsody for Home" [January]: "She treats everyone with utmost respect and kindness.... She treats presidents the same way--even Republican ones." Is this supposed to be a...

Profitable investment.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Possible reasons to cease sponsorship of the Met radio broadcasts came to light in the recent report on fourth-quarter earnings at ChevronTexaco. For that period, profits only doubled, with earnings reaching $1.7 billion. One can understand...

New York City Opera alumni luncheon.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... On April 30, 2004, at 12:30 P.M., at Tavern on the Green, at 68th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan, there will be a luncheon to celebrate the sixtieth year of New York City Opera. Alumni singers, orchestra members and staff are invited...

Met Ballet reunion.(Letters)
April 1, 2004... A small reunion of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet dancers from the 1940s took place in the Belmont Room of the opera house on October 19. We would like to enlist the help of OPERA NEWS in finding other dancers of that period. If anyone is...

Australia Post.(Opera Watch)(honors Joan Sutherland)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... 1. In January, JOAN SUTHERLAND was named the AUSTRALIAN LEGEND FOR 2004 by Australia Post, joining the select group of Australians who have been featured on a postage stamp to mark Australia Day. Previous Australian Legend honorees have...

On April 17, 20, 23 and 24 at 7:30 P.M., in Brooklyn's Harvey Theater, Bam will present Handel's rarely heard opera Siroe, in the U.S. premiere of a production staged by Jorge Lavelli and featuring the Venice Baroque Orchestra, under the direction of Andrea Marcon.(Opera Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... 2. On April 17, 20, 23 and 24 at 7:30 P.M., in Brooklyn's Harvey Theater, BAM will present Handel's rarely heard opera SIROE, in the U.S. premiere of a production staged by JORGE LAVELLI and featuring the Venice Baroque Orchestra, under the...

Dmitri Hvorostovsky will make his Los Angeles Opera debut in recital at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Sunday, April 18, at 7:30 P.M. Ivari Ilja will accompany the baritone in a program of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff songs.(Opera Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... 3. DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY will make his Los Angeles Opera debut in recital at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Sunday, April 18, at 7:30 P.M. IVARI ILJA will accompany the baritone in a program of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff songs. After recital...

On April 22, Manhattan's Dahesh Museum of Art will present biographer and historian Hugo Vickers in a discussion of Cecil Beaton's work at the Metropolitan Opera.(Opera Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... 4. On April 22, Manhattan's Dahesh Museum of Art will present biographer and historian HUGO VICKERS in a discussion of CECIL BEATON's work at the Metropolitan Opera. Vickers is the editor of The Unexpurgated Beaton, the best-seller featuring...

Angelika Kirchschlager and Seiji Ozawa were among the celebrities at the 2004 Vienna Philharmonic Ball, held at the Musikverein in Vienna on January 22, with Zubin Mehta on the podium for the opening ceremonies.(Opera Watch)
April 1, 2004... 5. ANGELIKA KIRCHSCHLAGER and SEIJI OZAWA were among the celebrities at the 2004 VIENNA PHILHARMONIC BALL, held at the Musikverein in Vienna on January 22, with ZUBIN MEHTA on the podium for the opening ceremonies. For information about dancing...

Sylvia McNair.(On the Beat)(opera singer switches to pop)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... In the June 2003 issue of OPERA NEWS, SYLVIA McNAIR discussed her decision to abandon opera and take up singing pop. This news did give me a momentary pang, since I am a great admirer of McNair's best work. (Her recording of Barber's Knoxville:...

Rene Pape's first solo recording doesn't go the usual big bass-hits route.(On the Beat)(recording of Mein Herz Brenn song cycle adapted from lyrics by heavy-metal rock band Rammstein)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... RENE PAPE's first solo recording doesn't go the usual big bass-hits route. Partly out of a desire to reach a new audience, Pape has recorded Mein Herz Brenn, a song cycle by TORSTEN RASCH adapted from lyrics by the German metal-band RAMMSTEIN....

In December, a peculiar legal case was reported in The New York Sun.(On the Beat)(New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera in dispute over rights to sets and costumes for opera The Mother of Us All)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... In December, a peculiar legal case was reported in The New York Sun. Four months later, it has received practically no additional press at all, although it continues to drag on with no immediate resolution in sight. Through its attorneys, New...

Wexford Festival Opera.(On the Beat)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Wexford Festival Opera, long one of Europe's most distinguished autumn festivals, recently announced a change of programming for its 2004 season, opening on October 14. Bellini's Adelson e Salvini will be replaced by Mercadante's La Vestale.

On February 10, I attended Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Don Carlo.(On the Beat)(Brief Article)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... On February 10, I attended Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Don Carlo. Most of the attention was focused on the molten Eboli of EWA PODLES, but there was also a happy surprise in the cast: as Elisabetta, ANGELA BROWN revealed...

Helen Donath.(On the Beat)(Brief Article)(Column)
April 1, 2004... Recently someone sent me a CD, produced by the distinguished German magazine Opernwelt, of live performances by the superb American soprano HELEN DONATH. Record books list Donath as being born in 1940, but you'd hardly believe it listening to...

In the fest lane.(Singer's Diary)(Interview)(Biography)
April 1, 2004... Imagine having a full-time job as an opera singer, performing great roles in a reputable house in return for a steady paycheck, benefits and some measure of job security. In Germany, it's a way of life. "Festing," from the word fist, meaning...

Letter from Venice.
April 1, 2004... The Gran Teatro La Fenice, a place of beauty and enchantment squeezed between calli (alleyways) and canals, burned down quickly on the dry, windy evening of January 29, 1996. Onlookers gazed in horror as the painted ceiling caved in over the...

Voice of darkness: Matti Salminen's life with the Ring.(Interview)
April 1, 2004... There is no more forceful image of unbridled evil in opera terms--an evil that need do nothing but exist and hope for the expiring wrigglings of its victim--than what Matti Salminen projects as Hagen at the conclusion of Act I, Scene 2 of...

The Ring comes to New York: the Met's first Wagner cycle left an indelible mark on the company's history.
April 1, 2004... The news from Europe was fascinating but confused. Richard Wagner was building his own opera house, a Festspielhaus, in a small town called--depending on which day you read The New Fork Times--Baireuth, Beyroot, Beirut. Bayreuth or Beirout,...

Lords of the Ring.
April 1, 2004... In the mid-1960's, it appeared that the Met's Rudolf Bing had scored a great coup by engaging Herbert von Karajan for a complete Ring cycle. Benjamin Ivry traces the dramatic dealings that followed. It all started with a simple phone...

All in the timing: Michael Tanner listens to the tempos of Wagner's Ring.(Critical Essay)
April 1, 2004... Richard Wagner was a great conductor--possibly the greatest ever, but he never conducted a full performance of any of his later works. There were two reasons for this curious lapse in his career. First, when he was involved at all with...

Sieglinde in Santa Barbara: in the late 1940s, Lotte Lehmann, the greatest Sieglinde of her day, took up residence at Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West. There she reigned for years as a committed--and often volatile--teacher.(Biography)
April 1, 2004... After her legendary farewell recital at Town Hall on February 16, 1951, Lotte Lehmann retired from singing. California beckoned her, as she had fallen in love with Santa Barbara on her first visit in 1932. She and her husband, Otto Krause (who...

Rhine journey: a serene river voyage sparks some suprising reflections on Germany's history.
April 1, 2004... It was a crisp afternoon in late September 2003, and we'd again left our ship to travel inland by bus to Nuremberg--birthplace of Albrecht Durer, setting of Wagner's Die Meistersinger, rallying ground for Adolf Hitler. On a busy street near the...

Die Walkure.(Radio Program Review)
April 1, 2004... BROADCAST OF APRIL 3, 2004 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 12:30 P.M. THE STORY ACT I. As a storm rages, Siegmund the Walsung, exhausted from his escape from...

Nabucco.(Radio Program Review)
April 1, 2004... BROADCAST OF APRIL 10, 2004 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. THE STORY ACT I. In the Temple of Solomon, the Israelites bewail their fate: Nabucco...

The casts.
April 1, 2004... BROADCAST SPOTLIGHT: ANDREA ORUBER (Abigaille, Nabucco) Guilty-pleasure movie: The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Hometown newspaper: The New York Times. All-time favorite singer: Janis Joplin. On my fantasy night off, I...

Siegfried.(Radio Program Review)
April 1, 2004... BROADCAST OF APRIL 17, 2004 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 12:00 P.M. THE STORY ACT I. Deep in the forest where the dragon Fafner guards the Nibelung treasure and...

Gotterdammerung.(Radio Program Review)
April 1, 2004... BROADCAST OF APRIL 24, 2004 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 12:00 P.M. THE STORY PROLOGUE. On the Valkyries' rock, three Norris weave the Rope of Destiny, recalling...

In review: from around the world: Chicago.(North America)(Lucia di Lammermoor)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... Lucia di Lammermoor reentered Lyric Opera of Chicago's repertory on January 24, in a revival of a rather plain production, made extraordinary by a dream team of singers: Marcelo Alvarez, in his Lyric debut as Edgardo, and the exquisite Natalie...

In review: from around the world: Seattle.(North America)(Carmen)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... James Robinson's imaginative direction of Seattle Opera's new Carmen (seen January 24) transformed the well-worn Shakespearean metaphor of the world-as-stage into the stuff of deeply moving tragedy. Act I appeared to be taking place in a square...

In review: from around the world: Houston.(North America)(Jenufa)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... David Alden intended his new Houston Grand Opera production of Janacek's Jenufa to be timeless, but the factory setting of its Act I, and the costumes throughout, suggested a coldly industrial 1930s. Alden's direction of Jenufa (seen January...

In review: from around the world: New York City.(North America)(Werther, Boris Godunov)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... Met revivals of Werther (this one seen at its second performance, Jan. 6) inevitably call to mind Franco Corelli, for whom the Rudolf Bing administration and set/costume designer Rudolf Heinrich created the current production in the 1970-71...

In review: from around the world: Los Angeles.(North America)(Orfeo ed Euridice)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... Sometimes less is simply less. For its fourth offering of the season, Los Angeles Opera unveiled a new production, directed by choreographer Lucinda Childs, of Gluck's bare-bones, rarely performed original 1762 Vienna version of his Orfeo ed...

In review: from around the world: Munich.(International)(Roberto Devereux)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... Bavarian State Opera's new Nationaltheater production of Donizetti's Roberto Devereux (seen January 19) was billed as the first-ever performance of the work in Munich, not traditionally a bastion of bel canto repertoire. Respected stage...

In review: from around the world: Berlin.(International)(Die Tote Stadt)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... If Berlin's opera devotees were asked to name the most thrilling, most memorable productions in any of the city's three houses during the last twenty-five years, hardly anyone would hesitate to include Gotz Friedrich's 1983 Deutsche Oper...

In review: from around the world: Stuttgart.(International)(The Makropulos Case)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... In its new Stuttgart production, unveiled on January 24, Leos Janacek's The Makropulos Case might have been retitled The Janacek Case--or should it have been The Opera of One Who Disappeared? In small letters, the program announced: "In Czech...

In review: from around the world: Innsbruck.(International)(Der Zigeunerbaron)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... Austria is having an operetta crisis, as companies scramble for ways to keep the repertory fresh: flat, traditional stagings are lambasted as too conservative; Regietheater intrusions are greeted with howls of scorn and derision. Brigitte...

In review: from around the world: Naples.(International)(Un Ballo in Maschera)(Opera Review)
April 1, 2004... There is a degree of poetic (or theatrical) justice in the fact that a Verdi opera whose performance at the Teatro di San Carlo was banned by the censors in 1858 finally ended up being staged there (before anywhere else in Italy) 146 years...

Entrance Arias: intelligently prepared and passionately delivered, the debut solo CD of tenor Rolando Villazon bodes well for both artist and audience.(Italian Opera Arias)(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... "ITALIAN OPERA ARIAS" Arias by Cilea, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni. Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Viotti. Virgin CDC 72435 45626 Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon has experienced a meteoric rise; only five years into his career, he has...

Beethoven: Christus am Olberge.(Brief Article)(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... Orgonasova; Domingo, Schmidt; Rundfunkchor Berlin, Deutsches, Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Nagano. Text and translations. Harmonia Mundi HMC 901802 Christus am Olberge, a.k.a. Christ on the Mount of Olives, is something of a curio:...

Meyerbeer: Les Huguenots.(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... Rancatore, Raspagliosi, Allegretta; Mok, Bronikowski, Grassi, Kang; Orchestra Internazionale D'Italia, Bratislava Chamber Choir, Palumbo. Text and translation. Dynamic CDS 422/1-3 (Qualiton, dist.) The case of Meyerbeer is one of the most...

Sullivan: The Grand Duke.(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... Wright, Ross, Rhodes; Knox, Wuehrmann, Christopher, Henderson, Woodward; Ohio Light Opera, Thompson. Text included. Albany Troy 631/632 (2) The Grand Duke is the bastard stepchild of the Gilbert & Sullivan canon--the operetta that both...

Ramon Vargas.(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... "BETWEEN FRIENDS" Duets and a trio by Bizet, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini. With Gauci, Kasarova, Lavarian; Gerello, Frontali, Lanza, Nucci; Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Sutej. Texts and translations. RCA Red Seal...

Marcello Giordani.(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... "SICILIA BELLA" Songs by Scarlatti, d'Astorga, Bellini, Donaudy, d'Asdia, Cali, Vancheri. Orchestra del Teatro Bellini, Mercurio. Texts and translations. VAI VAIA 1229 Marcello Giordani is such an appealing singer, with his authentic...

Isabel Bayrakdarian.(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... "AZULAO" Songs by Granados, Guastavino, Rodrigo, Obradors, de Falla, Montsalvatge, Villa-Lobos, Ovalle. Parker, piano, Cello Ensemble, Epperson, cello. Texts and translations. CBC records MVCD 1164 (Naxos, dist.) So many recital discs seem...

Vesselina Kasarova.(Sound Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... "BULGARIAN SOUL" Arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs by Krassimir Kyurkchiyski. Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Cosmic Voices from Bulgaria, Delibozov. Schweizer-Sekulinova, piano. Texts and translations. BMG Classics 74321 93658 2 This...

Mozart: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail.(Video Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... Mei, Ciofi; Trost, Montazeri, Rydl, John; Orchestra and Chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Mehta. TDK DVD DVUS OPEADS (Naxos, dist.), subtitled, 136 mins. Zubin Mehta often conducted the most famous Entfuhrung production in history,...

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro.(Video Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... Watson, Grist, Mathis, Bence, Aselford; Berry, Wixell, Kelemen, Thaw, Hirte, Pfeifle; Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Chorus, Bohm. TDK DVD ORF DVUS-CLOPNDF1-2 (Naxos, dist.), black and white, subtitled, 180 mins. Fleming,...

Puccini: Madama Butterfly.(Video Recording Review)
April 1, 2004... Kabaivanska, Jankovic: Antinori, Ferrara, Saccomani, Zacchillo, Brunelli; Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona, Arena. Kultur DVD D2103, 144 mins., color, subtitled Raina Kabaivanska possessed a full lyric instrument able to stretch...

Obituaries.(Obituary)
April 1, 2004... The executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall since September 2001, Harth died of an apparent heart attack. He was an innovative and energetic leader in the U.S. arts community who came to Carnegie after serving as executive director of...

Dateline.(Calendar)
April 1, 2004... METROPOLITAN OPERA (Metropolitan Opera House, 212-362-6000; www.metopera.org) Apr. 1 Rigoletto (Verdi). Makarina, Mishura; Burchinal, Vargas, Milling; M. Armiliato, Schenk/Thomas, Brown Apr. 2 Madama Butterfly (Puccini). Zhang,...

Adrianne Pieczonka as Sieglinde in Toronto: the Canadian-born soprano returns home for COC's Walkure.(Hot Ticket)(Brief Article)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... When Adrianne Pieczonka steps onstage at Canadian Opera Company on April 4, the occasion may have a special aura. The production is not only a personal homecoming for the Toronto-born soprano, who has spent the past fifteen years based in...