Opera News articles from August 1999

Opera News archives from August 1999

OPERA WATCH.(international opera stories include Saburo Teshigawara planning a production of Turandot for the Edinburgh Festival, while another production of Turandot will reopen the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; these and other stories are discussed)
August 1, 1999... Edinburgh fields an all-Asian Turandot, Aspen celebrates its fiftieth birthday, Behrens goes Biblical in Salzburg SABURO TESHIGAWARA, the award-winning dancer, choreographer and director, brings his vision of Turandot to the Edinburgh...

ON THE BEAT.(items include a brief interview with Frances Bible, and a new album by Valerie Capers, 'Wagner Takes the A Train'; these and other stories are discussed)
August 1, 1999... Frances Bible shines in long-awaited Baby Doe reissue; Valerie Capers crosses Wagner with Ellington; Carnegie Hall hosts an M-G-M tribute Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated CD reissue of the year is Deutsche Grammophon's classic 1959...

BLOOD SISTERS.(the works and career of Richard Strauss is discussed, in particular the two characters Salome and Elektra)
August 1, 1999... With Salome and Elektra, Strauss announced that a new breed of composer had arrived. MARTIN BERNHEIMER asks if these groundbreaking works have withstood the test of time Die Zeit, die ist ein sonderbar Ding.... As usual, the...

Salzburg Rose.(Angelika Kirchschlager discusses her career, including the fact that she was admitted to the Vienna Music Academy by only one vote)(Interview)
August 1, 1999... ANGELIKA KIRCHSCHLAGER HAD NOT PLANNED TO BE A SINGER; IN FACT, SHE HAD NEVER HAD A SINGING LESSON BEFORE SHE TOOK THE ENTRANCE EXAM -- "JUST FOR FUN" -- FOR THE VIENNA MUSIC ACADEMY. SHE GOT IN BY A SINGLE VOTE. "THERE WERE THIRTEEN TEACHERS,"...

SAWALLISCH on STRAUSS.(Wolfgang Sawallisch believes that Richard Strauss was the greatest opera composer of the 20th century)
August 1, 1999... Wolfgang Sawallisch, the London Times commented after a 1988 performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten, "has few if any peers" as an interpreter of Richard Strauss. Born and raised in Munich, where Strauss once reigned over the city's rich opera...

Modern Times.(the rediscovery and appreciation of the later operas of Richard Strauss)
August 1, 1999... RICHARD STRAUSS' LATER REFLECT THE DISUNITY OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE A central component of the resurgence of popularity in Richard Strauss' music has been the American discovery of the composer's later operas. In just two consecutive seasons,...

MOONLIGHT SERENADE.(the heroines of Richard Strauss operas)
August 1, 1999... No opera composer, not even Puccini, brings his heroines onstage with more flair than does Richard Strauss. Salome, the Marschallin, Ariadne, Arabella, the Countess in Capriccio--every entrance by these intriguing women is a carefully planned...

SEPTEMBER SONGS.(an appreciation of the works of Richard Strauss, in particular the 'Four Last Songs')
August 1, 1999... Brooks Peters recalls how he came under the enduring spell cast by Strauss' final masterpiece, Four Last Songs Has there ever been a more glorious farewell in the history of musical composition than the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss?...

Inside La Scala: TEMPLE OF MUSIC or TEMPLE OF DOOM?(a personal account of the organization a 'La Forza de Destino' production at La Scala)
August 1, 1999... In the conclusion of a two-part article, Albert Innaurato watches in amazement as the company puts La Forza del Destino onstage--against staggering odds. Do the company's travails foreshadow the death of opera as Italy has known it in this...

MOORE: The Ballad of Baby Doe.(Review)
August 1, 1999... MOORE:The Ballad of Baby Doe [] Sills, Bible, Krebs; Cassel, J. Hecht; New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Buckley. DG 289 465 148-2 Forty years after its first release, the 1959 Polydor recording of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of...

PUCCINI: IL TRITTICO.(Review)
August 1, 1999... PUCCINI: II Trittico [] Guleghina, Gallardo-Domas, Gheorghiu, Manca di Nissa, E Palmer; Shicoff, Alagna, Van Dam, P. Guelfi, Roni; London Voices. London Symphony Orchestra, Pappano. Texts and translations. EMI Classics 56587-2 (3) ...

MOZART: Mitridate, Re di Ponto.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Dessay, Piau, Le Corre, Bartoli; Sabbatini, Asawa, Florez; Les Talens Lyriques, Rousset. Text and translation. Decca 289 460 772-2 (3) The prestigious Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan commissioned Mitridate from the fourteen-year-old Mozart...

STRAUSS: Salome.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Nielsen, Silja; Goldberg, R. Hale; Danish National Radio Symphony, Schonwandt. Text and translation. Chandos CHN CD 9611 (Koch, dist.) What Richard Strauss looked for in his Salomes was an ability to mix girlish naivete with...

HANDEL: Serse.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Milne, J. Smith, J. Malafronte, Bickley; Asawa, Ely, Thomas; Hanover Band and Chorus, McGegan. Text and translation. BMG Conifer 75605-51312-2 Almost alone among baroque operas, Handel's Serse (Xerxes) has had a charmed life in...

GLUCK: Orfeo ed Euridice.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Rodrigo, De la Merced, Podles; Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid and Orquesta Sinjonica de Galicia, Maag. Text and translation. Arts 47536-2 (2) This Orfeo, recorded in performance in June 1998 in Spain, constitutes the 1889 Milan...

GOUVY: Electre.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Pollet, Eloir; Myers, Vanaud; La Psalette de Lorraine, Ensemble Vocal Ars Musica, Choeur de l'Opera de Nancy et de Lorraine, Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy, Cao. Libretto excerpts and translation. K617 092/2 (Qualiton, dist.) ...

DONIZETTI: Adelia.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Devia, Bonitatibus; Arevalo, Martinovic, Antonucci, Omaggio; Orchestra e coro del Teatro Carlo Felice, Neschling. Text and translation. BMG Ricordi RFCD 2029 (2) (Qualiton, dist.) Adelia bears the dubious distinction of being the only...

PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas; Pavan for 3 Violins and Continuo in G minor.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Van Evera, Lax, Orbaek; Parry, Andrews; Taverner Choir & Players, Parrott. Text and translations. Sony SK 62993 Andrew Parrott first recorded Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in 1981 for Chandos, and, like that earlier effort, this new release...

STRAUSS: Don Juan; Tod und Verklarung; Vier Letzte Lieder.(Review)
August 1, 1999... STRAUSS: Don Juan; Tod und Verklarung; Vier Letzte Lieder [] Voigt; New York Philharmonic, Masur. Texts and translations. Teldec 3984-25990-2 Deborah Voigt, the current Ariadne, Chrysothemis and Kaiserin of choice, reaffirms her...

MESSIAEN: Harawi (Song of Love and Death).(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Shelton; Constable (piano). Texts and translations. 1994. Koch International Classics 7292 Harawi is a liebestod like no other. One of three Messiaen works influenced by the Tristan legend (another is the vast Turangalila-symphonie),...

Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] "IN PARADISUM" Faure Requiem, op. 48; Durufle Requiem, op. 9. Coro e Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, M. Chung. Texts and translations. DG 289 459 365-2 Selections from these two Requiems, recorded in Rome in June...

FLOYD: The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Neway; Treigle; Orchestra and Chorus of the East Carolina School of Music, Rudel. Text. VAI 1172 In 1962, while Carlisle Floyd was busy putting the finishing touches on The Passion of Jonathan Wade, he was commissioned to write a...

Pierre Bernac.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] "THE ESSENTIAL PIERRE BERNAC" Songs and song cycles by Poulenc, Schumann, Faure, Debussy, Roussel, etc., with Poulenc, G. Moore et al., piano. No texts. Testament SBT 3161 (3) "The Essential Pierre Bernac" makes a fitting 100th-birthday...

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] "THE UNPUBLISHED RECORDINGS 1946-52" Arias and lieder by J. S. Bach, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Arne, Morley, Schubert, R. Strauss and Wolf. Various pianists, orchestras and conductors. Testament SBT-2172 (2) Here is a treasure trove of...

BROWN: Parade.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Carmello, Molaskey; B. Carver, Lackey, Bonds, Pappas; Lincoln Center Theater, Stern. Text. RCA Victor 09026-63378-2 The ambitous new musical Parade, first produced by Lincoln Center Theater in a limited engagement last winter, takes as...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.(Review)
August 1, 1999... It took more than four decades for Carlisle Floyd's Susannah to reach the Metropolitan Opera. An American classic of the post-World War II era, Susannah has been a familiar visitor on regional stages. It also has appeared at Lyric Opera of...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: PORTLAND, OR.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Angry letters to the editor of The Oregonian and demands for ticket refunds followed Portland Opera's first attempt at baroque opera. They had a point. Director Ken Cazan did Handel no service with an undignified, unfocused Giulio Cesare, set...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: KANSAS CITY.(Review)
August 1, 1999... For forty years, Lyric Opera of Kansas City was an everything-in-English company. But for its forty-first season, which opened last fall, new artistic director Ward Holmquist scheduled two operas in Italian, La Traviata and L'Italiana in...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: TULSA.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Poulenc wanted Dialogues des Carmelites to be sung in the language of the audience, and its first performance, at La Scala, was in Italian. Projected titles have changed the equation, however, and it was in French that Tulsa Opera honored the...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SEATTLE.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Forty-one years after its Met premiere, Barber's Vanessa arrived at Seattle Opera. A co-production with Dallas and Washington Operas, it was presented in the revised three-act version (1965), which omits the heroine's coloratura "skating" aria...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: TORONTO.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Canadian Opera Company spared little expense ($1.8 million Canadian) in producing The Golden Ass, a new opera by Winnipeg composer Randolph Peters to a libretto by the noted Canadian author/ lecturer/educator Robertson Davies, which opened on...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: BOSTON.
August 1, 1999... Boston Lyric Opera ended its season with its first Mozart production--a fine Le Nozze di Figaro. In this collaboration with Welsh National Opera (which provided the sets and costumes), BLO gathered some first-rate American singers, many of whom...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SAN JOSE, CA.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Opera San Jose's current season ended with a souffle, Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow (April 17-May 2). As with all souffles, a light touch is essential to prevent the whole thing from collapsing, and for the most part director Daniel Helfgot...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: BINGHAMTON, NY.
August 1, 1999... Tri-Cities Opera staged an enchanting Die Zauberflote in the Forum Theatre on March 14, using the Martin translation. Local bass-baritone Peter Sicilian, assuming a new role as stage director after the death last fall of founder/former artistic...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: PITTSBURGH.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Mildred Miller Posvar, who spent twenty-three busy years as a mezzo on the Met roster, has enjoyed a second act to her career, as founder/artistic director of Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Since 1978, she has brought affordable opera in English...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: WASHINGTON, D.C.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Washington Concert Opera's Linda di Chamounix at Lisner Auditorium, on May 2, gave convincing proof of the riches to be found in Donizetti rarities. General director Stephen Crout engaged Maureen O'Flynn for the title role. Effective changes of...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: LONDON.(Review)
August 1, 1999... On March 18, English National Opera brought forth a new staging -- the first professional production in the U.K. for more than forty years -- of Boito's Mefistofele. Not everyone takes to this wide-ranging, ambitious interpretation of Goethe's...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SALZBURG.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Wagner was the raison d'etre of the Salzburg Easter Festival when Herbert von Karajan founded it in the late 1960s. Much else has been seen since, but with Tristan und Isolde this year, artistic director Claudio Abbado returned to first...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MACAU.
August 1, 1999... Though Der Fliegende Hollander may seem a bizarre choice to open Macau's new Cultural Centre (March 21, 24, 27), on reflection it is appropriate, considering how the ocean has dominated the city's history. The tiny Portuguese enclave (some...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MOSCOW.(Review)
August 1, 1999... For its only new production of a full-length opera this season, the Bolshoi Theater chose a genuine rarity, even in Russia; Tchaikovsky's third opera, The Oprichnik, was last seen at the house in 1904, when it was conducted by Sergei...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.(Review)
August 1, 1999... Mahler is high in the polls these days, and New York this season was treated to his Das Lied von der Erde four times, including a chamber-orchestra version performed in September -- and that's not counting the cancellation of the Cleveland...

DONIZETTI: Anna Bolena.(Review)
August 1, 1999... [] Sutherland, Forst, Stubbs; Myers, Heppner, Morris, Saks; Canadian Opera Company, Bonynge. VAI VHS 69414, 157 mins., subtitled Anna Bolena was the final new role of Joan Sutherland's career. She sang it onstage in only a few other cities...

OBITUARIES.(Alton E. Peters, Metropolitan Opera Guild president)(Obituary)
August 1, 1999... ALTON E. PETERS 1935 - 1999 PRESIDENT OF THE METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD Alton E. Peters, the ninth president of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in New York City on May 30. He was sixty-four. Mr....

MADELAINE CHAMBERS.(soprano)(Obituary)
August 1, 1999... MADELAINE CHAMBERS, New lark City, October 16, 1926--Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1999 The soprano appeared with the Metropolitan and New York City Operas during the 1950s and '60s. She made her professional debut at the Teatro...

ANNAMARY DICKEY LAUE.(mezzo soprano)(Obituary)
August 1, 1999... ANNAMARY DICKEY LAUE, Decatur, Illinois, April 11, 1911--Tampa, Florida, June 1, 1999 Laue sang at the Met from 1939 until 1943, performing the role of Musetta many times, as well as supporting parts in Louise, Manon, Le Nozze di Figaro...

PAUL SACHER.(conductor)(Obituary)
August 1, 1999... PAUL SACHER, Basel, Switzerland, April 28, 1906--May 26, 1999 Although he spent little time performing opera repertory, Sacher was a force to be reckoned with as an orchestra conductor, proponent of contemporary music and arts patron. He...

DAVID ALEXANDER TERRY.(Santa Fe Opera administrator)(Obituary)
August 1, 1999... DAVID ALEXANDER TERRY, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 13, 1955--New lark City, April 12, 1999 Terry began his career as an apprentice in Santa Fe Opera's Apprentice Artists Program in 1959. He was active as a performer, composer and writer...

RICHARD STRAUSS: Man, Musician, Enigma.(Review)
August 1, 1999... RICHARD STRAUSS: Man, Musician, Enigma by Michael Kennedy Cambridge University Press, 468 pp. $34.95 Fifty years after his death, Richard Strauss remains one of the most puzzling composers of this or any century. How could an artist who in...