Opera News articles from February 2003

Opera News archives from February 2003

Taking chances. (Viewpoint).(Les Troyens.)(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... Daniel Barenboim once turned a standard aphorism on its head when discussing the challenge modern music faces gaining a foothold in the symphonic repertory. "Contempt breeds unfamiliarity," he said, adding, "One simply has to have the patience...

Opera watch.(News briefs.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... 1. VESSELINA KASAROVA, fresh from a January run as Covent Gardens Cenerentola, is currently on a European recital tour, with stops scheduled in Dortmund, Germany (Feb. 9), Basel (15), Lisbon (18), Berlin (21) and Zurich (24). In March, the...

Last season, when Ben Heppner cracked a few times in an otherwise beautifully sung run of Met Meistersingers, opera groupies started burning up the chat rooms speculating that he had run aground vocally. (On The Beat).
February 1, 2003... Last season, when BEN HEPPNER cracked a few times in an otherwise beautifully sung run of Met Meistersingers, opera groupies started burning up the chat rooms speculating that he had run aground vocally. The rumors intensified when he was...

Washington Concert Opera, the enterprising presenting organization founded in 1986 by Stephen Crout, begins a fresh chapter with its new artistic director and conductor, Antony Walker. (On The Beat).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Washington Concert Opera, the enterprising presenting organization founded in 1986 by STEPHEN CROUT, begins a fresh chapter with its new artistic director and conductor, ANTONY WALKER. A veteran of three seasons as a staff conductor and chorus...

Last fall, it was announced that San Francisco Opera was falling short of its current season budget to the tune of $7.7 million. (On The Beat).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Last fall, it was announced that San Francisco Opera was falling short of its current season budget to the tune of $7.7 million. In her maiden season as the company's general director, PAMELA ROSENBERG has announced a number of belt-tightening...

This month, Harry Bicket makes his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago conducting Handel's Partenope. (On The Beat).
February 1, 2003... This month, HARRY BICKET makes his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago conducting Handel's Partenope. This production originally was performed at Glimmerglass Opera, and making it work on the expansive stage of the Lyric's theater may prove...

For years, Richard Owen has been leading a double life: federal court judge by day, opera composer by night. (On The Beat).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... For years, RICHARD OWEN has been leading a double life: federal court judge by day, opera composer by night. This month, he steps off the bench once again when the Manhattan School of Music presents his latest effort, Rain, based on the classic...

On November 17, the twenty-seventh annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala was held at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. (On The Beat).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... On November 17, the twenty-seventh annual RICHARD TUCKER MUSIC FOUNDATION GALA was held at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. This year's Richard Tucker Award-winner was JOYCE DIDONATO, who was showcased in the Norma trio (with CHRISTINE...

On November 13, the Manhattan School of Music hosted one of the most exciting master classes in years when Lauren Flanigan put seven of the school's young singers through their paces. (On The Beat).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... On November 13, the Manhattan School of Music hosted one of the most exciting master classes in years when LAUREN FLANIGAN put seven of the school's young singers through their paces. In his introduction, the Manhattan School's vice...

Gordon Gietz gravitates toward high-flying tenor roles--literally, in the case of Camille Raquin, the cuckolded husband and, later, vengeful ghost of Tobias Picker's Therese Raquin. (Sound Bites).
February 1, 2003... Gordon Gietz gravitates toward high-flying tenor roles--literally, in the case of Camille Raquin, the cuckolded husband and, later, vengeful ghost of Tobias Picker's Therese Raquin. For the world premiere in Dallas (in 2001), Gietz soared high...

Her brilliant career: Deborah Voigt returns to the Met this season as Cassandre in the company's new Les Troyens. She may well be the most important dramatic soprano to come along in years--but is opera stardom everything she fantasized it would be? (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
February 1, 2003... Deborah Voigt is doing her best to give the impression that she has nerves of steel. It is March 2002, and she is backstage in her dressing room at Avery Fisher Hall. In one hour she will step onstage and sing a concert of excerpts from Tristan...

Epic proportions: Dido and Aeneas had been the subject of many operas through the centuries. But in Les Troyens, Berlioz gave their legend a heroic grandeur it had never had before.(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... In January 1858, just before Berlioz completed work on Les Troyens, he gave a private reading of The Aeneid to Richard Wagner, who was then on a visit to Paris. Wagner was appalled by what he heard, and by Berlioz's "singularly dry and...

Blackout: Barry Singer looks at the bleak future of opera on public television.(Column)
February 1, 2003... Ask William Mason, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, about the future of opera on public television, and you get a one-word answer: The prospect is not a pretty one for full-length opera on PBS. Shadowed by ever-diminishing...

Unbroken line: what does II Pirata have to do with Tristan und Isolde? Will Crutchfield looks at the great impact Bellini had on Wagner.
February 1, 2003... One of the sharper snide remarks in John Culshaw's Ring Resounding--the record producer's entertaining and contentious 1967 account of the first studio recording of Wagner's Ring--concerns the importance of the music director and the likely...

Diva profiling.(Renee Fleming.)
February 1, 2003... Early last century, Geraldine Farrar was the Met's biggest soprano star. Today, the title belongs to Renee Fleming. In mounting II Pirata for Fleming, the Met continues a long tradition of exhuming rarities for its leading prima donnas: in...

No minor roles.(Kurt Moll.)(Interview)
February 1, 2003... Basses come and basses go. Kurt Moll endures. This month, the big man from Cologne with the big, warm personality and big, deep voice returns to the Metropolitan Opera just in time to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of his debut. New...

Face to face: Marquita Lister and Martina Arroyo.(Interview)
February 1, 2003... One of my most cherished operagoing memories is the sound of Martina Arroyo's beautiful voice, soaring above the full orchestra and chorus in the triumph scene of Aida all the way up to the Family Circle of the old Metropolitan Opera House,...

Opera news quiz. (Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts).
February 1, 2003... Take the plunge! Test your trivia powers on February's Chevron Texaco Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, which include a pair of Mozart favorites and a brace of repertory rarities (Answer on page 99) 1: Explain why Eleanor Steber's...

Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... DIE ENTFUHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) Belmonte tenor, PAUL GROVES Osmin bass, KURT MOLL Pedrillo tenor, BARRY BANKS Pasha Selim ...

Il Pirata. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... IL PIRATA THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) Goffredo bass, TIGRAN MARTIROSSIAN Gualtiero tenor, MARCELLO GIORDANI Itulbo tenor, GARRETT SORENSON Imogene soprano, RENEE FLEMING Adele ...

The Casts.(Interview)
February 1, 2003... BROADCAST SPOTLIGHT: LORRAINE HUNT LIEBERSON (Didon) Most recent book I really loved: The House at Otowi Bridge, by Peggy Pond Church--the story of Edith Warner, who lived for more than twenty years as a neighbor to the Indians of San...

Don Giovanni. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... DON GIOVANNI THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) Leporello bass, FERRUCCIO FURLANETTO Donna Anna soprano, SONDRA RADVANOVSKY Don Giovanni baritone, PETER MATTEI Commendatore bass, ERIC HALFVARSON Don...

Les Troyens. (Metropolitan Opera).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... LES TROYENS THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) PART I: La Prise de Troie Trojan Soldier baritone, BRIAN DAVIS Cassandre soprano, DEBORAH VOIGT Chorebe baritone, DWAYNE CROFT Andromaque ...

What becomes a legend most? DG's new compilation of a great soprano's greatest hits is cause for celebration. (Beverly Sills).(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... Arias by Thomas, Massenet, Charpentier, Donizetti, Bellini, Offenbach, Mozart, Heueberger, Lehar, Moore, Korngold, Strauss. Various costars, orchestras and conductors. DG 471766-2 Beverly Sills retired from singing just as the compact disc...

Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander.(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * Eaglen, Palmer; Struckmann, Holl, Seiffert, Villazon; chorus of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, Barenboim. Text, notes, translation. Teldec Classics 88063 Does the world need another Fliegende Hollander recording?...

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (in English).(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * Futral, C. Rice; Clarke, Opie, Rose, Wedd, Chaundy; Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Parry English text. Chandos CHN 3083 Listening to Lucia di Lammermoor in English translation reminds one of the origins of the story in...

Lehar: Tatjana.(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * Schellenberger, Fischer; Lippert, Mewes, Schubert; Berlin Radio Symphony and Chorus, M. Jurowski. Text and translation. CPO 999 762-2 (Naxos, dist.) CPO is to be congratulated for releasing a true oddity, a glistening recording of Franz...

Berkeley: Jane Eyre.(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... * Marsh, Wyn, B. Mills, Bauer-Jones; Slater; The Music Theatre Wales Ensemble, Rafferty. Texts and translations. Chandos CHN 9983 It has been filmed no fewer than fifteen times and was recently a Broadway musical. How could an opera of Jane...

Jonathan Lemalu.(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * "SONGS" by Brahms, Schubert, Faure, Finzi and others. Vignoles, piano. No texts or translations. EMI 75203 The concept behind EMI's "Debut" series is simple: give promising young artists a chance to make their first records, and sell the...

Ian Bostridge and Leif Ove Andsnes.(SCHUBERT: SONATA D. 959; FOUR LIEDER)(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * "SCHUBERT: SONATA D. 959; FOUR LIEDER" Texts and translations. EMI 57226 This is a well-planned program. It's enlightening to hear Schubert's lieder in the context of his instrumental music, just as attendees at the original...

Prokofiev: Story of a Real Man.(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * Deomidova, Leonova; Maslennikov, Kibkalo, Eizen; Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra, Ermler. 1961. Text and translation. Chandos CHN 10002 Based on a hackwork novel by Boris Polevoy, Prokofiev's Story of a Real Man, set in 1942,...

Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann.(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * Doria, Boue, Bovy, Revoil, Jobin, Amade, Bourdin, Cambon, Pernet, Musy Soix, Bourvil; Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera-Comique, Cluytens. No texts. Naxos 8.110214-15 (2) What a treat to have this authentic Comique version of Hoffmann...

Mandy Patinkin.(Sound Recording Review)
February 1, 2003... * "SINGS SONDHEIM" Ford, piano. Texts. Nonesuch 79690 This two-disc celebration of Stephen Sondheim was recorded live in concert in February 2002 at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia. Sondheim's work is a gift to singers, satisfying...

February on-line edition of Opera News.(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... A new Orfeo; recitals by Peckova, Lott, Kowalski and Anonymous 4; historical recordings of Handel, Humperdinck and Offenbach.

Record collecting: hobby or obsession?(Column)
February 1, 2003... Recently I presented a remembrance of the great soprano Frida Leider on my nationally syndicated radio program, The Vocal Scene. The concluding paragraph contained this statement: "Except for collectors, she is now unknown to the American...

From around the world: Washington, DC. (North America).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... With its psychologically astute, occasionally overripe libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti and its unabashedly romantic, brilliantly orchestrated, occasionally overheated score, Samuel Barber's Vanessa makes for a vivid night of music and theater....

From around the world: New York City. (North America).(Lucia di Lammermoor )(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... On paper, the Met's season premiere of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor looked like a strictly routine revival of Nicolas Joel's murky, unimaginative production, with several cast members returning from earlier runs. In the event, this Lucia far...

From around the world: Los Angeles. (North America).(Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk)(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... The hoodoos that have bedeviled Dmitri Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, almost since its premiere, performed double duty in Los Angeles this past October. As with the see-sawing fortunes of the composer himself, however, the final notes...

From around the world: Toronto. (North America).(Medee)(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... Opera Ateliers production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's only "tragedie en musique," Medee (1693), was its most ambitious to date and marked yet another stage in the evolution of the company's signature performance style. Of its earlier "period...

From around the world: Fairfax, VA. (North America).(Die Walkure)(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... Virginia Opera put together a thoughtfully sung, visually engaging production of Die Walkure (believed to be the state's first) to open its twenty-eighth season. At the George Mason University Center for the Arts (Oct. 11), the relative...

From around the world: Wexford. (International).
February 1, 2003... A pleasant, picturesque town on the Irish coast, Wexford attracts opera-lovers to its annual festival with works that bigger enterprises largely avoid. Last autumn's trio of rarities proved consistently worth-while. To open, there was Saverio...

From around the world: Paris. (International).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... The Chatelet opened its opera season with a double bill of Schoenberg's Erwartung and Poulenc's La Voix Humaine as an unabashed showpiece for Jessye Norman. This was an event of considerable media appeal, But after last season's disappointing...

From around the world: London. (International).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... On October 15, Royal Opera's new music director, Antonio Pappano, took the podium for Wozzeck. Keith Warner, a regular collaborator with Pappano in Brussels, staged Berg's Expressionist drama, with designs by Stefanos Lazaridis (sets) and...

From around the world: Tokyo. (International).(Opera Review)
February 1, 2003... Suntory Hall, named for the Japanese whiskey-maker, celebrated another beverage last October with Tea, a new opera by Tan Dun, commissioned for the hall's concert-opera series. A coproduction with Shanghai Grand Theatre (which held workshops...

Obituaries.(ELENA NIKOLAIDI)(LOWELL A. FARR)(MIA SLAVENSKA)(MARIANA PAUNOVA)(MARIANA PAUNOVA)
February 1, 2003... ELENA NIKOLAIDI, Izmir, Turkey, June 29, 1906--Santa Fe, NM, November 14, 2002 A dynamic recitalist, opera star and teacher, Nikolaidi trained at the Greek National Conservatory and counted Athens Lyric Theatre appearances as Dalila and...

The Extraordinary Operatic Adventures of Blanche Arral.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... by Blanche Arral, translated by Ira Glackens, edited by William R. Moran Amadeus Press, 352pp. $24.95 Nee Clara Lardinois, Blanche Arral was born in Liege in 1864, the youngest of seventeen children in a well-to-do Walloon family. She...

Tim Page on Music: Views and Reviews.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... by Tim Page, foreword by Anthony Tommasini Amadeus Press, 364pp. $24.95 There is a lovely picture on the back cover of Tim Page on Music that has the author at age three jauntily sitting by an old hi-fi, with various 78s on display. It...

Dateline.
February 1, 2003... METROPOLITAN OPERA (Metropolitan Opera House, 212-362-6000; www.metopera.org) Feb. 1m Die Entfuhrung am dem Serail (Mozart). BROADCAST: SEE PAGE 58 Feb. 1 Aida (Verdi). Papian, Zajick; Margison, Delavan, Lloyd, Peterson; M. Armiliato,...

The Phantom Menace? (Coda).(Column)
February 1, 2003... It was a disturbing article. According to the July 21 New York Times, Universal Classics, the parent company of Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and Philips, was suspending complete opera recordings in favor of DVDs. The report later turned out to be...