Opera News articles from August 2003

Opera News archives from August 2003

Sounding the depths. (Viewpoint).
August 1, 2003... Baritones are a vital cog in the workings of most opera plots; their role may require them to play a cad, a codger or a cuckold. For me, the sound of a well-nourished baritone voice promising vengeance or repining over a love lost to the tenor...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
August 1, 2003... The U.S stage premiere of The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh was given in Philadelphia, in February 1936, not at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in 1995, as stated in "The Kirov's Endless Summer" (June). Kitezh also was staged by Opera...

Opera watch.
August 1, 2003... 1. On Saturday, August 30, NPR'S WORLD OF OPERA will broadcast Houston Grand Opera's 2000 production of L'Elisir d'Amore, starring RAMON VARGAS as Nemorino and Ana Maria Martinez as Adina. Patrick Summers conducts. Check local listings for...

On the beat: Rorem becomes American Academy gold medalist; classical action bowling bonanza nears $65,000 mark; Murphy's Broadway romance.
August 1, 2003... On a rainy May 21, I made my way up to Harlem for the American Academy of Arts and Letters's annual Ceremonial. Unlike many other awards ceremonies, this one has managed to maintain an upright, dignified tone. Although the speeches may ramble...

Jubilant Sykes. (Sound Bites).(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Jubilant Sykes is his real name. His mother always told him that she'd like him to grow into it. But a couple of years ago, an aunt told him the real story: when he was born, by C-section, the doctor found something wrong, "an abnormality," in...

Reunion: Frank Guarrera.(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Frank Guarrera was an invaluable fixture--a canny singing-actor, an esteemed team player and a pillar of reliability--at the Metropolitan Opera during the golden age of baritones. He held his own for twenty-eight seasons, starting in 1948, when...

Trading up. (A Singer's Diary).(Voice teacher Daniel Ferro speaks.)(Interview)(Biography)
August 1, 2003... I first met the distinguished voice teacher Daniel Ferro thirty years ago. Alan Titus, who had given me my first job as a recital accompanist, brought me to his introductory lesson with Ferro. Alan had enjoyed successes at Juilliard as...

Thomas Hampson's Desert Island baritones: ask him about vintage singers, and Thomas Hampson will lead you into a long and fascinating discussion. Recently, George Hall sat down with America's leading baritone and got his critical take on a sampling of classic recordings. (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
August 1, 2003... I'm sitting with Thomas Hampson in the study of his apartment in a Jugendstil villa in a leafy Viennese suburb. The walls are lined with hundreds of scores, books, CDs and LPs, and a hi-fi system sits before us. Outside, a storm is raging--a...

Most valuable player: Ira Siff pays tribute Robert Merill, the Met's champion baritone.
August 1, 2003... "Momma discovered I could sing the moment I let out my first cry. To my mother, my delivery was a debut." So quips Robert Merrill in his often hilarious and touching 1965 memoir, Once More from the Beginning. Born Moishe Miller in 1917 (and...

Songs for low voice: Stephen Francis Vasta takes an up-close look at the virtues and vices of nine top lieder baritones.
August 1, 2003... Though its mainstream repertoire encompasses works intended for a number of different voice types, many listeners almost reflexively associate lieder performance with the baritone voice. The prominent achievements of twentieth-century artists...

Black sea baritone: Fred Cohn talks to Lado Ataneli, a genuine Verdian from deep in the heart of Tbilisi.
August 1, 2003... Bona fide Verdi baritones are a rare breed nowadays, but there's no question that Lado Ataneli fits the bill. In his first Met season this year, the thirty-eight-year-old Georgian took on two key roles, Germont and Nabucco, and demonstrated the...

Sound and fury: Sherrill Milnes was one of the most exciting natural talents of his generation. Yet in restrospect, argues Peter G. Davis, Milnes fell short of the artistic heights once expected of him.
August 1, 2003... THERE'S NOTHING MORE THRILLING for a young opera fan than an unexpected first encounter with a prodigiously gifted but relatively unknown vocal talent, a singer clearly on the verge of a big career. In the mid-1960s, I heard Sherrill Milnes for...

Broadway's boys: how do Brian Mitchell and Hugh Jackman stack up to old-timers such as Alfred Drake and Richard Kiley? Eric Myers compares some of Broadway's past powerhouses with the current crop.
August 1, 2003... When Alfred Drake strode onstage and burst into "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in Rodgers and Hammersteins Oklahoma! in 1943, a new kind of musical hero as born: recognizably American, approachable, yet commanding enough to claim his piece of...

The two that got away.(Howard Keel and Gordon MacRae would have been major stars on Broadway.)(Biography)
August 1, 2003... Had Hollywood not swooped down and snatched them up, Howard Keel and Gordon MacRae would have been major Broadway stars. Both were blessed with fine voices, good looks and acting talent, and both had the backing of Richard Rodgers and Oscar...

Voices of the silver screen.
August 1, 2003... SEVERAL OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY'S BEST "LEGIT" VOICES SPENT TIME SINGING IN MOVIES. HOW MANY OF THE FILMS PICTURED CAN YOU IDENTIFY? 1 RISE STEVENS AND NELSON EDDY [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 LANA TURNER AND EZIO PINZA 3...

Notes from the road: Thomas Allen in Prague.
August 1, 2003... "The great thing about Prague is that when the Germans fled at the end of the Second World War, they launched one artillery shell--there was no bombing, because the city was too far east. The one artillery shell that they launched, as a...

Is it better with a band? (Recordings).(Schubert Lieder with Orchestra)(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Quasthoff and Claudio Abbado collaborate on an illluminating program of orchestrated Schubert lieder. Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Quasthoff []"SCHUBERT LIEDER WITH ORCHESTRA" Chamber Orchestra of...

Ponchielli: La Gioconda. (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Urmana, d'Intino, Fiorillo; Domingo, Ataneli, Scandiuzzi; Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Children's Choir and Radio Symphony Orchestra, Viotti. Libretto and translations. EMI Classics 5 57451 2 When the now-classic Maria Callas stereo...

Puccini: Tosca. (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Cedolins; Bocelli, Guelfi, Bertocchi, Peirone, Barretta, d'Arcangelo, Ciccone; Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Mehta. Text and translation, plus enhanced CD with libretto and English translation. Decca B0000171-12 (2)...

Bizet: Carmen (in English). (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Bardon, Plazas; Gavin, Magee; Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, New London Children's Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Parry. Essays in translation and English libretto. Chandos 3091(2) The latest installment in the Peter Moores Foundation's...

Hindemith: Die Harmonie der Welt. (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Larson, Korovina, Breedt; Elsner, Worle, Le Roux, Burt, Kotchinian, Hagen; Berlin Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Janowski. Text and translations. Wergo WER 6652 2 A summation of the rich life and vast philosophies of...

Salieri: Falstaff. (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Haller, Faraon, Thebault; Pruvot, Edwards, Smith, Spogis; La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy, Les Chantres de la Chapelle, Malgoire. Text and translation. Dynamic CDS 405/1-2 (Qualiton, dist.) Don't look here for the genius of Verdi...

Pasatieri: the Seagull. (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Shoremount, Gough, Behan; Ayers, Worth, Alvarez de Toledo; Manhattan School of Music Opera Orchestra, chorus, Gilbert. Texts. Troy 579-580 Thomas Pasatieri has written seventeen operas in a frankly emotional, lyrical vernacular, rich in...

Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine. (Choral and Song).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Galli, Fernandez; Oro, Schofrin, Cecchetti, Del Pozo, Pollitzer, Garrigosa, Zanasi, Carnovich, Garcia; Ensemble Elyma, Garrido. Latin and French text only K617 136/2 (Qualiton, dist.) No conductor can approach Monteverdi's great Vespers...

Pergolesi: Marian Vespers. (Choral and Song).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Daneman, Kiss; Choir of New College, Oxford, Academy of Ancient Music, Higginbottom. Texts and translations. Erato 0927-46684-2 (2) When Giovanni Battista Pergolesi died, in 1736, at the age of twenty-six, he had been in the care of the...

Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini. (Historical).(Sound Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Zylis-Gara, Steiner; Bonisolli, Brendel, Thau, Sinimberghi Loomis Amis El Hage, Frascati; RAI Orchestra and Chorus, Rome, Ozawa. No libretto. Opera d'Oro OPD-1373 (Allegro, dist.) Strike one against this 1973 Italian Radio recording is...

August online edition of opera news. (Historical).(Brief Article)(Calendar)
August 1, 2003... Arvo Part's Passio; recitals by Nancy Armstrong and Christiane Iven; Renata Scotto in La Traviata; the music of Ezra Pound; a Mozart reconstruction; tributes to Valletti and Fischer-Dieskau; liturgical music by Schubert and Mendelssohn. ...

Mozart: Arias. (Video).(Video Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Bartoli; Concentus Musicus Wien, Harnoncourt. (With Symphony No. 38). Opus Arte BBC OA 0869 D (Naxos, dist.), 83 mins. (concert), 30 mins. (special features) The musical selections on this release are of such interest that it almost...

Donizetti: Maria Stuarda. (Video).(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Remigio, Ganassi, Rizzone; Calleja, Giossi, Zanellato; Fondazione Orchestra Stabile di Bergamo, Coro del Circuito Lirico Regionale Lombardo, Carminati, 2001. Dynamic DVD 33407N (Qualiton, dist.), 153 mins., subtitled Dynamic, an Italian...

Rossini: Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra. (Video).(Video Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Cuberli, Dessi; Blake, Savastano; Ch. and Orch. of the Teatro Regio di Torino, Ferro, 1985. Hardy Classic DVD HCD 4007 (VAI, dist.), 150 mins. Formerly obscure works of Rossini are now so often produced and recorded that it's easy to...

Verdi: I Due Foscari. (Video).(Video Recording Review)
August 1, 2003... [] Pendatchanska; La Scola, Nucci, Rigosa; Orchestra and Chorus of San Carlo, Naples, Santi. Optional subtitles, no extra features. TDK DVD DVUS-OPIDF (Naxos, dist.), 114 mins. Although it is a later opera than Nabucco or Ernani, somehow I...

From around the world: Vienna. (International).(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Deborah Voigt's first Isolde was one of the most highly anticipated performances of the 2002-03 season. Adding to the excitement, her assumption of the role of Wagner's Irish princess at the Vienna State Opera was the occasion for a new...

From around the world: Madrid. (International).(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... A century ago, nationalistic operas were in vogue--with each composer exalting the virtues of his own nation. One exception is Isaac Albeniz's Merlin, which opened at the Teatro Real on May 27 in what is believed to be its first complete...

From around the world: London. (International).(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... First staged by the Paris Opera in 1868, Ambroise Thomas's five-act Hamlet was a fairly regular visitor to the Covent Garden stage in the late-nineteenth century, when audiences could hear Charles Santley in the title role and (later) such...

From around the world: Paris. (International).(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... The Theatre des Champs-Elysees's new production of Rossini's La Cenerentola was directed by Irina Brook, daughter of the celebrated Peter Brook (seen May 16). Rossini's comic operas should always be fun, and Brook's production was full of witty...

From around the world: Munich. (International).(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Handelian opera has been a trademark of Peter Jonas's reign as Intendant at the Bavarian State Opera. The newest feather in the company's cap is a fully staged production of Saul an oratorio from 1738 (seen April 28). Full of dramatic...

From around the world: Milan. (International).(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Verdi's I Due Foscari may be based on Byron, but the emotional depth and range encompassed by its central character is more reminiscent of Shakespeare. The final scene in particular, in which the elderly Doge, who has just lost his only...

From around the world: St. Paul. (North America).(The Handmaid's Tale)(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Minnesota Opera's production of The Handmaid's Tale, the North American premiere of Poul Ruders's widely admired new opera, brought the horrors of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel disconcertingly dose to home. Heard in English, the original...

From around the world: Houston. (North America).(The Little Prince)(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Audiences here offered a warm greeting to The Little Prince, Rachel Portman's first opera and Houston Grand Opera's twenty-seventh world premiere (seen June 6). Inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic children's book, Portman worked with...

From around the world: Charleston, SC. (North America).(two operas at Spoleto Festival USA)
August 1, 2003... In a world where "ethnic cleansing" has become a familiar phrase and racial hatreds run high, Spoleto Festival USA couldn't have chosen more pertinent operas for its 2003 season than Delibes's Lakme and Handel's Tamerlano. Except for design...

From around the world: Chicago. (North America).(Chicago Opera Theater reviewed)(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Chicago Opera Theater completed its season with an ingenious coupling of Hans Krasa's Brundibar and Bohuslav Martinu's Comedy on the Bridge, two Czech composers' one-act operas born in response to the escalating power of the Third Reich. A...

From around the world: Seattle. (North America).(Seattle Opera's production of Fidelio)(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Fidelio is driven by Beethoven's passionate single-mindedness, with the music and drama hurtling forward at such a speed that one has no time to question the work's many flaws; the total experience can be a knockout. Gerard Schwarz, responsible...

From around the world: Sarasota. (North America).(Sarasota Opera presents Verdi's Macbeth)(Opera Review)
August 1, 2003... Sarasota Opera, under artistic director Victor DeRenzi, has made a name for itself by exploring Verdi's operas; a cycle, begun in 1989, is underway, due for completion in 2013. The company has staged such works as the U.S. premiere of the...

Daniel Barenboim: a Life in Music.(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... by Daniel Barenboim Arcade, 240 pp. $25.95 Onetime piano wunderkind, now renowned maestro, Daniel Barenboim has thoroughly revised his 1991 autobiography (of the same title). Though busy with the Chicago Symphony and Berlin's Staatsoper, he...

Placido Domingo: My Operatic Roles.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... by Helena Matheopoulos; foreword by Beverly Sills Baskerville Publishers, 319pp. $35 This latest addition to the Domingo bibliography was a nice idea: "a portrait of the artist in his own words, through his own portrayals of the various...

Rossini: a Life.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... by Gaia Servadio Carroll & Graf(Avalon), 256 pp. $26 "I have aimed to write a story, not an academic book," notes the author, "the story of Rossini's life entwined with the story of his time." Incentive called in December 2001, at a...

The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris 1917-1929.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... by Roger Nichols University of California Press, 288 pp. $34.95 Paris in the 1920s, for all its allure, was no operatic golden age. Debussy scholar Roger Nichols musters prodigious research to show us an Opera that functioned as something...

Book reviews on line.
August 1, 2003... Juilliard celebrates, with a picture book; Margaret Fisher's Ezra Pound's Radio Operas: The BBC Experiment; Richard Osborne's Rossini; a scholarly Opera On Stage; Siegfried Kracauer's Offenbach and the Paris of His Time; Thomas Schipperges's...

Obituaries.(Obituary)
August 1, 2003... JANET COLLINS, New Orleans, LA, March 2,1917--Fort Worth, TX, May 28, 2003 Beginning in 1951, Collins was a principal dancer for three seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, where her striking beauty and sharp technique enlivened ballerina...

Dateline.(opera and music calendar)(Calendar)
August 1, 2003... METROPOLITAN OPERA (Parks concerts, 212-362-6000; www.metopera.org) Aug. 26 Turandot (Puccini). Montclair, NJ: Brookdale Park. Urbanova, Hong; Kulko, Tian; Colaneri Aug. 27 Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti). Montclair, NJ: Brookdale...

Tuned out. (Coda).
August 1, 2003... My father is a wonderful man, but he's not too big on music appreciation. He would take Dinah Shore's recording of "Buttons and Bows" over Don Giovanni any day, and he once joked that he always drove as fast as possible past the Texaco gas...