Opera News articles from December 2002

Opera News archives from December 2002

Changing seasons. (Viewpoint).(Editorial)
December 1, 2002... For most people, December means the return of winter and the prospect of holiday gatherings. For many opera-lovers, the month is welcome because it brings the ChevronTexaco-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network back to the airwaves....

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2002... CORRECTION: In "Voice of Distinction" (Oct.), Anne Sofie von Otter's husband, Benny Fredriksson, is incorrectly identified. This error was made during editing and is not the fault of the author. We extend our apologies to Ms. von Otter and Mr....

Opera watch.(upcoming events, awards, debuts)
December 1, 2002... 1. A red-letter night in the Berlioz bicentennial year will be December 5, when SUSAN GRAHAM sings Les Nuits d'Ete at Carnegie Hall with DONALD RUNNICLES and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. For tickets to the program, which will also include...

On the beat: Forza-ready Guleghina likes it loud; Daniels, from Baroque to Harold Arlen; Sills's new role as Madame Chairwoman; Bartoli's triumphal march.(Maria Guleghina)(David Daniels)(Beverly Sills)(Cecilia Bartoli)
December 1, 2002... "Sometimes, critics come for performance and don't know what is good or what is bad," says MARIA GULEGHINA, "and sometimes they say, `No, no, no! Is too loud!' What does that mean--`too loud'? An opera singer should be loud. Too many times,...

Letter from Dresden.(Semper Opera House )(August flood causes evacuation)
December 1, 2002... The Saxon State Opera Dresden Semperoper has long been something of an icon in Germany's operatic life. Dresden's musical history is rich, with great names such as Heinrich Schutz, Carl Maria von Weber and the two Richards, Wagner and Strauss,...

Sound bites.(Isabel Bayrakdarian)
December 1, 2002... Isabel Bayrakdarian, who makes her Met debut this month as Catherine in the company premiere of A View from the Bridge, started singing in church--the Armenian church, that is. Born in Lebanon, to Armenian parents, and raised in Canada,...

Tosca escapes! Had Tosca evaded Scarpia's clutches, what might she have thrown into her satchel for the trip to Civitavecchia?
December 1, 2002... Floria Tosca will be traveling light--and incognito--so let's start with a pair of diva-worthy sunglasses ($210, Prada, 45 East 57th Street, www.prada.com) and a smart leather tote bag ($1,255, also from Prada) big enough for a few crime-scene...

The poetry of risk: whether he's performing in the rarefied air of Salzburg or the daring world of modern dance, Simon Keenlyside make a bold artistic statement.(opera singer)(Interview)
December 1, 2002... "Oh, God," Simon Keenlyside mutters from the driver's seat of his rented car, as he makes a turn against a light near Salzburg's Grosses Festspielhaus, "they'll be after me now. You've probably noticed there are lots of rules here. If you...

Sempre Fidelio: Beethoven's only opera had a difficult birth--and it's been both vexing and thrilling audiences ever since.
December 1, 2002... Already in 1827, only months after the composer died, came the first hints of equivocation, the first faint tones of defensiveness that have followed Beethoven's masterwork, Fidelio, down to the present day. In his brief biography, Johann Aloys...

A team with a view: William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein build bridges from cabaret to grand opera.(musical collaboration between composer, librettist )
December 1, 2002... Like many good American stories, this one starts in Paris, where the young Seattle-born composer William Bolcom was studying composition at the Conservatoire with Darius Milhaud. One day, the eminent French composer told Bolcom that he had...

Bridge player: as Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge, Kim Josephson has the best role of his career.(Interview)
December 1, 2002... Few new American operas have been treated to the kind of advance publicity heaped on A View from the Bridge prior to its world premiere, at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1999. Too often, the end results fail to justify all the shouting, but A View...

A question of identity: in the late 1940s and early '50s, a proud new generation of singers demonstrated the contribution of Jewish people to the American way of life.
December 1, 2002... Imagine opening the program of a Metropolitan Opera Rigoletto in the early 1950s and seeing Moishe Millstein as the hunchback, Roberta Peterman as his daughter, and Pinky Perelmuth as the Duke. Robert Merrill, Roberta Peters and Jan Peerce sang...

Are unschooled audiences changing the face of Opera? Matthew Gurewitsch talks to four top general managers and finds out how the public's musical illiteracy affects what reaches the stage.
December 1, 2002... A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, they say, and ignorance is bliss. Given the sharp decline of arts education in American public schools in recent decades, opera companies across the land have no choice but to test the truth of those...

The return of Nicholas Maw: when his first two operas earned him modest fame and even more modest fortune, he turned his back on the art form. But this month, the composer comes to Covent Garden in grand style with the world premiere of his new work, Sophie's Choice.(Interview)
December 1, 2002... A true heir to the legacy of Benjamin Britten, Nicholas Maw, born in 1935 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, is a prodigious composer whose music resists easy categorization. From the beginning, he has been unafraid to present music that celebrates...

Opera News quiz. (Metropolitan Opera).
December 1, 2002... This season, OPERA NEWS adds a new regular feature to our broadcast-page section. Our mini-quiz--with one question relating to each of this month's ChevronTexaco-Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts--gives you a chance to test your...

Fidelio. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... BROADCAST OF DECEMBER 7, 2002 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO-METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. Music by Ludwig van Beethoven Text by Josef von Sonnleithner, with revisions by Stephan von...

Il Trovatore. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... BROADCAST OF DECEMBER 14, 2002 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO-METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. Music by Giuseppe Verdi Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano IL TROVATORE THE CAST (in...

The casts.
December 1, 2002... Soprano Waltraud Meier (Leonore) was Munich's Sieglinde in Walkure before coming to the Met, where she bowed in 1988 as Fricka in Rheingold. The Wurzburg, Germany native sings concerts in Munich, Graz and Copenhagen before returning to opera...

Elektra. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... BROADCAST OF DECEMBER 21, 2002 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO-METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. Music by Richard Strauss Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal ELEKTRA THE CAST (in...

A View From the Bridge. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... BROADCAST OF DECEMBER 28, 2002 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO-METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. Music by William Bolcom Libretto by Arnold Weinstein and Arthur Miller, based on the play...

ChevronTexaco-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network: 2002-2003 season.(Directory)
December 1, 2002... CHEVRONTEXACO-METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK: 2002-2003 SEASON STATION AM FM ALABAMA Birmingham WBHM 90.3 Gadsden ...

Elf-help for home theater. (Sight And Sound).(Buyers Guide)
December 1, 2002... Dear Santa, The last time I wrote, I asked you for a home theater, and you brought me one with a fine cardboard stage and curtains, and puppets of the Three Little Pigs and the Wolf. But that was a long time ago. Nowadays there's a...

Audra McDonald Happy Songs. (Recordings).(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... Audra McDonald [] "HAPPY SONGS" Songs by Arlen, Rodgers, Berlin, Gershwin, Eaton, Leonhart, LaChiusa et al. Sperling; cond. Nonesuch 79645 Whatever Audra McDonald is--singer, performer, actress, recording star, on a concert platform,...

Gluck: Alceste.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Von Otter; Groves, Henschel; English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir, Gardiner. Text and translation. Philips 470 293-2 This Alceste follows, for the most part, Gluck's 1776 reworking of the score for Paris. Conductor John Eliot...

Verdi: Falstaff (in English).(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Kenny, Gritton, de Pont Davies, Coote; Shore, Holland, Banks; English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Daniel. English text. Chandos CHAN 3079 I can think of no singer who gives me greater pleasure than Andrew Shore. His star turns...

Rossini: L'Equivoco Stravagante (The Curious Misunderstanding).(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] P. Petrova; Schmunck, Vinco, di Felice; Czech Chamber Soloists and Chorus, Zedda. Text. Naxos 8.660087-88 It didn't take long for Rossini to find his voice. Verdi stumbled through Oberto and Un Giorno di Regno before hitting his stride...

Vivaldi: Catone in Utica.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Faraon, Cangemi, Bertini; Edwards, Laszczkowski, Jaroussky; La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Malgoire. Text and translations. Dynamic CDS 403/1-2 (Qualiton, dist.) Vivaldi gave his all to Catone in Utica, a gruesome tale of...

Porpora: Arianna in Nasso.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Fabbricini, Pinti, Di Micco; Paparizou, Stamboglis; Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona, Carraro. Text and translation. Bongiovanni GB 2250-2 (Qualiton, dist.) Arianna in Nasso (1733) was the first work Nicolo Porpora composed for London's...

Handel: Apollo e Dafne.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Pasichnyk; Pomakov; European Union Baroque Orchestra, Goodman. Text and translation. Naxos 8555712 One of the prizes Olga Pasichnyk and Robert Pomakov received as winners of the 2000 Queen Elizabeth of Belgium singing competition was a...

Chabrier Musique Adorable.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] "MUSIQUE ADORABLE!" Songs by Emmanuel Chabrier. Lott; Burden, Varcoe; Johnson, piano, others. Notes, texts and translations. Hyperion CDA 67133/4 It seems churlish to take the role of French-language snob when so many French people...

Placido Domingo Sacred Songs.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] "SACRED SONGS" by Mascagni, Bach/Gounod, Stolzel, Franck, Alvarez, Rustichelli, Domingo Jr., Handel, Rossini et al. With Sissel. Orchestra and Chorus Sinfonico di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Viotti. Deutsche Grammophon 471575 This early-fall...

Anne Sofie von Otter Sings Offenbach.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] "SINGS OFFENBACH" Arias, ensembles and orchestral pieces. With Leger, d'Oustrac, Grapperon, Henry, Keek, Naouri, Ragon; Les Musiciens du Louvre (Grenoble), Minkowski. Text and translations. DG 471501 Following Marc Minkowski's...

Mario Frangoulis Sometimes I Dream.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] "SOMETIMES I DREAM" Songs by Rota, Wood, Frangoulis, Hayward, Cano, Piovani et al. Texts and translations. Odyssey SK 89805 Handsome Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis, a successful recording artist for Sony Classical in Greece, makes his bid...

Annette Betanski A Birthday Hansel.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] "A BIRTHDAY HANSEL" Songs by Caplet, de Falla, Tournier, Saint-Saens, Spohr, Britten, Donizetti, Ravel, Reissiger, Rubbra. Miron, harp; et al. Texts and translations. Chandos 9843 What might seem, at first glance, an odd assortment of...

Michael Schade Of Ladies and Love.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] "OF LADLES AND LOVE" Songs of Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Ravel, Faure and R. Strauss. Martineau, piano. Texts and translations. Hyperion CDA67315 What a joy it is to listen to Michael Schade! This tenor of German-Canadian descent has...

Verdi: Simon Boccanegra.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Janowitz, Sjostedt; Wachter, Cossutta, Ghiaurov, Kerns, Jungwirth, Guggia; Orchestra and Chorus of the Vienna State Opera, Krips. No text. Myto 2 MCD 022.259 When one thinks of Josef Krips and the Vienna Opera, one doesn't automatically...

Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani (In German).(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Cunitz, Tegetthoff, Rosvaenge, Schlusnus, von Rohr; Orchestra and Chorus of the Hessischen Rudfunks, Schroder, 1951. No text. Myto 021.H062 (Qualiton, dist.) This German-language recording of Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, made in...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2002... Fritz Wunderlich sang the role of Andres in Wozzeck, not the Captain, as stated in September Recordings (p. 88). DECEMBER ON-LINE EDITION OF OPERA NEWS Duparc songs; British choral pieces; Janacek's Glagolitic Mass; Donizetti's La Zingara;...

Ridiculous! The Theatrical Life and Times of Charles Ludlam.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... by David Kaufman Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 472 pp. $29.95 It's difficult to know whether David Kaufman's well-researched account of the life and career of New York theater genius Charles Ludlam will appeal to those not fortunate...

Janacek.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... by Mirka Zemanova Northeastern University Press, 368 pp. $35 Mirka Zemanova, a London-based Czech musicologist, denies, in her introduction, that this English-language volume is a "standard life-and-works," but the lady protests too much....

New York City. (North America).(Dead Man Walking, Domingo gala and Il Trittico)(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... New York City Opera opened its fall 2002 season with a gripping new production of Puccini's Il Trittico, culminating in an exuberant, inventive Gianni Schicchi (seen Sept. 10). The company's star baritone, Mark Delavan, portrayed both Schicchi...

Cooperstown, NY. (North America).(Glimmerglass Opera)(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... Haydn's 1782 heroic-comic Orlando Paladino is based on episodes from Ludovico Ariosto's sixteenth-century epic, Orlando Furioso. That verse novel provided the storyline and many of the characters (crazy Roland/Orlando, literally "madly" in...

Washington, DC. (North America).(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... If you're going to spend another couple of doom-and-gloom hours with a bunch of vengeful, wrong-conclusion-jumping, murderous, suicidal Scots, it helps to have the kind of engaging vocalism, conducting and direction that Washington Opera served...

Portland, OR. (North America).(Il Trovatore)(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... Caruso is said to have said that all you need for Il Trovatore are the four greatest voices in the world. If only that were all! Caruso should've counted five voices (Ferrando needs a spectacular interpreter, too), and he neglected to mention...

Bayreuth. (International).(Tannhauser)(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... One expects to leave a new Bayreuth production with deeper insights and lots to think about. If judged on this precept, director/designer Philippe Arlaud's new production of Tannhauser did not succeed. Arlaud neither created individual...

Salzburg. (International).(Die Liebe der Danae)(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... Last summer, the Salzburg Festival mounted a new production of Richard Strauss's penultimate opera, Die Liebe der Danae, on the fiftieth anniversary of its premiere. To devotees of late Strauss, Danae is a seminal work. To many of the rest of...

Edinburgh. (International).(opera at the Edinburgh Festival)
December 1, 2002... Of course, there isn't any such thing as the Edinburgh Festival. It is rather a cornucopia of individual festivals--a festival of overlapping festivals, if you will--that practically submerges the picturesque Scottish capital from late July...

Verona. (International).(Aida)(Opera Review)
December 1, 2002... For his new production of Aida at the Arena di Verona (seen Aug. 22), Franco Zeffirelli actually invented a new character, defined in his program note as "a lofty spiritual creature" called Akmen (performed by ballerina Amaya Ugarteche),...

New York City. (Concerts And Recitals).(Concert Review)
December 1, 2002... The New York Philharmonic made a bid to return from the fringes of the city's cultural life with its first subscription concert of the season. On the Transmigration of Souls, a commissioned work by John Adams, received its premiere on September...

Chautauqua, NY. (Concerts And Recitals).(Concert Review)
December 1, 2002... Helen Donath, sixty-two, has been singing beautifully for forty years. The gracious, vital American soprano closed the Chautauqua Symphony season August 20 in fine vocal form, singing two composers closely associated with her career: Mozart and...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2002... Due to an editing error, a Spanish city was incorrectly identified in our October 2002 issue. A Coruna is in Galicia, not Catalonia. DECEMBER ON-LINE EDITION OF OPERA NEWS NORTH AMERICA: Los Angeles Opera opens season, with Domingo,...

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor.(Movie Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Moffo; Kozma, Fioravanti, P. Washington; Rome Symphony Orchestra, RAI Chorus, Cillario. VAI DVD 4211, 108 mins. 1971, color, subtitled For a satisfying Lucia di Lammermoor, all you really need are singers familiar with melodramatic...

Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame.(Movie Review)
December 1, 2002... [] Guleghina, Borodina, Filatova; Grigorian, Leiferkus, Gergalov; Kirov Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Gergiev, 1992. Philips DVD 070 434-9, 179 mins. The second version of this opera to appear on DVD is very different from the first, a 1992...

Obituaries.(Obituary)
December 1, 2002... WILLIAM WARFIELD, West Helena, AR, January 22, 1920--Chicago, IL, August 25, 2002 The bass-baritone was best known for his performances of Gershwin's Porgy, which he sang in several New York revivals, on an extensive U.S. State Department...

Dateline.(Calendar)
December 1, 2002... METROPOLITAN OPERA (Metropolitan Opera House, 212-362-6000; www.metopera.org) Dec. 2 Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti). Swenson; M. Alvarez, Michaels-Moore, Relyea; Summers, Joel/P. Mills, Frigerio, Squarciapino Dec. 3 Fidelio...

Welcome to opera world. (Coda).(Column)
December 1, 2002... Few are born opera-lovers. Most of us achieve opera-love--gradually. We start with the encouragement of a loved one or with one spectacular performance. (Mine was Rossini's L'Assedio di Corinto, of all things, followed by a backstage meeting...