Opera News articles from January 2003

Opera News archives from January 2003

Rare and well done. (Viewpoint).
January 1, 2003... Chevron Texaco's January broadcasts include two all-time hits, Carmen and Die Fledermaus, and two operas that aren't so popular as they deserve to be. The story may be the problem with Leos Janacek's Jenufa, which is receiving a new Met...

Opera watch.(performances, awards)
January 1, 2003... 1. Tenor SALVATORE LICITRA, whose last-minute Met debut as Cavaradossi made headlines last spring, returns to New York this month in a concert La Forza del Destino at Carnegie Hall with ROBERT BASS and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Remaining...

On the beat: Licia Albanese dons her kimono once more at her Foundation's annual gala; Denyce Graves goes for a Latin beat; the wonderful world of Walton at Yale.
January 1, 2003... Ever wonder where the hardcore opera fans went? One place you're sure to find them is at the annual LICIA ALBANESE-PUCCINI FOUNDATION gala concert. For one glorious afternoon each fall, this event turns Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall into a...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2003... In the October issue, we published "Dream Plays," in which we polled our regular record critics about what their ideal opera CD would be. When we asked readers to come up with their own "dream recordings," the response--received via e-mail and...

The Carmen kids: Tracy Turner spends sometime with the pint-size pros of the Met's children's chorus. (A Singer's Diary).
January 1, 2003... "Who would rather be here than any place else in the world?" From the thirty-six children of the onstage chorus for Carmen, thirty-six hands immediately fly into the air, and giggles and excited chatter briefly break out. It is the morning of...

Larissa explains it all: Mezzo Larissa Diadkova has been putting her distinctive imprint on Russian and Italian roles, large and small. Next month she makes her long-anticipated debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago, as Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera. David Shengold gets the low-down .(Larissa Diadkova)(Interview)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2003... Suddenly, mezzo Larissa Diadkova is everywhere: chortling through Mistress Quickly in Claudio Abbado's Falstaff at Salzburg and on disc, helping Renee Fleming introduce Rusalka to Paris last June, the only principal in EMI's nominally starry...

Dialogue on Carmelites I: the nun's story: William R. Braun examines the musical power of Blanche de la Force's spiritual journey.(Dialogues des Carmelites)
January 1, 2003... Blanche de la Force, the troubled woman at the center of Francis Poulenc's luminous operatic treatment of the Georges Bernanos screenplay Dialogues des Carmelites, is the only one of the five main characters who was not a historical figure. She...

Send in the clowns: in 1950, Jack Gilford was the first in a long line of star comedians who have played Frosch in the Met's Die Fledermaus. Eric Myers sizes up some of the comics who have given this old warhorse a much-needed jolt.
January 1, 2003... Popular it may be--probably the most popular of all operettas--but Johann Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus is a delicate brew that does not always travel well. An indifferent performance, a comedy-challenged cast, an unresponsive audience--all can...

Energy conductor: whether it's a new production--like this month's Met Jenufa--or a warmed-over revival, Vladimir Jurowski believes in bringing everything he's got to the podium, every time.
January 1, 2003... Ordinary musicians talk in sentences. Vladimir Jurowski, who returns to the Met this month to conduct Janacek's Jenufa, talks in paragraphs. According to British critic Andrew Clark, "Jurowski has a mind you can trust. Whatever he...

International style: after a string of triumphs at some of Europe's leading houses, Olivier Tambosi makes his Met debut directing the company's new Jenufa.
January 1, 2003... "We know that he liked to eavesdrop on people's conversations, even if he could not understand the words--the subtle melody of their speech would tell him more about the person than words could ever do," says Olivier Tambosi of Leos Janacek....

Reunion: Virginia Zeani.
January 1, 2003... In conversation with Virginia Zeani, the words that crop up most often are "faith" and "destiny." Both relate indelibly to her association with Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. The soprano created Blanche in the work's world premiere at...

Abduction on the orient express: the transcontinental journey of a Mozart masterpiece.(Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail)
January 1, 2003... The Turkish siege of Vienna, in the summer of 1683, was ultimately unsuccessful--and in fact marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire. But it left Europe fascinated with Middle Eastern exoticism, and a century and more later the...

Opera news quiz. (Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... This month's edition of our broadcast quiz, designed to test your knowledge of January's ChevronTexaco-Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, features small doses of horticultural and Hollywood trivia. 1: In the first Met performances of...

Dialogues des Carmelites. (Metropolitan Opera).
January 1, 2003... BROADCAST OF JANUARY 4, 2003 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO-METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. Music by Francis Poulenc Libretto after Georges Bernanos's dramatization of the novella by Gertrud von...

Die Fledermaus. (Metropolitan Opera).
January 1, 2003... BROADCAST OF JANUARY 11, 2003 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO--METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. Music by Johann Strauss, Jr. Libretto by Carl Haffner and Richard Genee Dialogue for this...

The casts.(opera singers)
January 1, 2003... Patricia Racette (Blanche) spent last fall in San Francisco as Lib in Turandot and Desdemona in Otello, then took part in the Richard Tucker gala at Avery Fisher Hall. The Manchester, New Hampshire-born soprano, first heard at the Met as...

Carmen. (Metropolitan Opera).
January 1, 2003... BROADCAST OF JANUARY 18, 2003 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO--METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1 P.M. Music by Georges Bizet Text by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy THE STORY ACT I. In a...

Jenufa. (Metropolitan Opera).
January 1, 2003... BROADCAST OF JANUARY 25, 2003 SPONSORED BY CHEVRONTEXACO OVER THE CHEVRONTEXACO-METROPILITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M. Music by Leos Janacek Libretto by the composer, after a play by Gabriela Preissova THE STORY ...

Leontyne Price. (Editor's Choice).(Rediscovered)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] "REDISCOVERED" Arias by Handel, Giordano, Puccini, Gershwin, Cilea; songs by Brahms, Poulenc, Barber, Hoiby; spirituals. With Garvey, piano. Texts and translations. RCA 63908 To those who know her repertoire, the program for Price's...

Weber: Der Freischutz. (Opera And Oratorio).(Carl Maria Von Weber)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Schnitzer, Stojkovic; Pregardien, Zeppenfeld; Capella Coloniensis des WDR and WDR Rundfunkchor Koln, Weil. Text and translation. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472 77536 2 The distinction of this Freischutz does not lie solely in its being a...

R. Strauss: Die Schweigsame Frau. (Opera And Oratorio).(Richard Strauss)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Sieden, Kilduff Runkel, Vermillion; Moll, Van der Walt, Schulte, Rauch, Kuhn, Hauptmann; Chor der Bayerischen Rundfunks, Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Steinberg. Text and translations. Koch 3-6581-2 Die Schweigsame Frau has always been one...

Wellesz: Die Bakchantinnen. (Opera And Oratorio).(Egon Wellesz)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Alexander, Barainsky; Mohr, Aschenbach, Burr, Stamm; Berlin Radio Choir, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Albrecht. German libretto only Orfeo C 136012 H (2) One is unlikely to see a staged production of Egon Wellesz's Die...

Bassani: La Morte Delusa. (Opera And Oratorio).(Giovanni Battista Bassani)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Galli, del Monaco; Jaroussky, Piolino, Sarragosse; La Fenice, Tubery. Text and translations. Opus 111 OP30332 9 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) While Giovanni Battista Bassani's oratorio La Morte Delusa is of dubious distinction musically, the...

J. C. Bach: La Clemenza di Scipione. (Opera And Oratorio).(Johann Christian Bach)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Perillo, Wolff; Waschinski, M. Schafer, Mammel; Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert, Max. Text and translations. CPO 999791-2 (2) (Naxos, dist.) Johann Christian Bach made his name in the one genre his famous father didn't...

Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony. (Choral And Song).(Ralph Vaughan Williams)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Goerke; Polegato; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Spano. English text. Telarc CD-80588 The single most striking moment of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 1 (A Sea Symphony), to poems of Walt Whitman, is the very opening: a...

Angelika Kirchschlager. (Recital).(Bach Arias)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] "BACH ARIAS" Venice Baroque Orchestra, Marcon. Texts and translations. Sony Classical SK 89924 Mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager brings her trademark combination of elegance and immediacy to this sublime collection of Bach arias....

Dmitri Hvorostovsky. (Recital).(I Met You, My Love)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] "I MET YOU, MY LOVE" Old Russian Romances. Style of Five, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Orbelian. Transliterated texts and translations. Delos 3289 Dmitri Hvorostovsky returns to the rich canon of Russian semiclassical song with a fine...

Bernarda Fink. (Recital).(Canciones Amatorias)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] "CANCIONES AMATORIAS" Songs by Granados, Rodrigo, Nin, Guastavino and Ginastera. Vignoles, piano. Texts and translations. Hyperion CDA67186 As pianist Roger Vignoles quips in the liner notes, Spanish music is not all "fan-and-fandango";...

Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni. (Recital).(The Heroines of Pietro Mascagni)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] "THE HEROINES OF PIETRO MASCAGNI" Arias by Mascagni. Orchestre National de Montpellier, Diemecke. No texts or translations. Naive AT 34111 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) Here is a comprehensive portrait of the Mascagni soprano, with excerpts...

Cecilia Bartoli. (Recital).(THE ART OF CECILIA BARTOLI)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] "THE ART OF CECILIA BARTOLI" Arias and scenes by Handel, Vivaldi, Gluck, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi; with Daniels, Terfel, Pavarotti; various choruses, orchestras and conductors. Decca 473380 This disc isn't really a recital...

Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice, Act II. (Historical).(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... GLUCK: Orfeo ed Euridice, Act II [] With works by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mignone, Fernandez. Merriman, Philips; Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra. Notes, no texts. Urania URN 22 214 (Qualiton, dist.) MOZART: Cosi Fan Tutte [] Schwarzkopf,...

Janet Baker. (Historical).(SCOTTISH FOLKSONG ARRANGEMENTS AND ENGLISH SONGS)(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] "SCOTTISH FOLKSONG ARRANGEMENTS AND ENGLISH SONGS" Songs by Haydn, Beethoven, Dowland, Campion, Purcell et al., with Malcolm, Isepp, Menuhin, Spencer et al. English texts. Testament SBT 1241 No matter how much the early-music movement...

Wagner: The Opera Collection, Georg Solti, conductor. (Historical).(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Tannhauser (Decca 470-810-2): Dernesch, Ludwig; Kollo, V. Braun, Sotin). Lohengrin (470 795-2): Norman, Randova; Nimsgern, Fischer-Dieskau, Sotin. Tristan und Isolde (470 814-2): Nilsson, Resnik; Uhl, Kozub, Kmentt, Klein, Krause,...

January on-line edition of Opera News.
January 1, 2003... Two historic performances of Falstaff; premiere of Aethelred the Unready; recitals by Roberta Invernizzi and Regina Jakobi. NORTH AMERICA: Rudel conducts Chicago Susannah; Harris, Hancock make Atlanta Figaro count; Vaness in Pittsburgh's...

Best of the year.(opera recordings and performances)
January 1, 2003... COMPLETE PLEASURES: Top ten full-length opera recordings we reviewed in 2002 were Carol Vaness and Neil Shicoff in the Verdi rarity Aroldo (Philips); Bianca e Falliero, with Rossinians Majella Cullagh and Jennifer Larmore neatly paced by David...

New York City. (North America).(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... Pressed for her views on a disappointing concert by the incomparable Giuditta Pasta, nineteenth-century diva Pauline Viardot likened Pastas performance to da Vinci's Last Supper: "a wreck of a picture," she said, but still "the greatest picture...

San Francisco. (North America).(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... For San Francisco Opera to undertake Olivier Messiaen's Saint Francois d'Assise--as the American stage premiere of an opera now nineteen years old--represented an act of faith several times over: above all, the faith of Pamela Rosenberg's new...

Chicago. (North America).(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... Lyric Opera opened its 2002-03 season with a visually lovely, musically respectable, dramatically inert new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (seen Oct. 11). Though the company has been pushing the...

Brooklyn, NY. (North America).(Next Wave Festival)(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... The history of Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival is already rich in important performances of Philip Glass's music, operatic and otherwise. Thus the premiere New York run of Galileo Galilei that opened this year's festival (seen...

Detroit. (North America).(Michigan Opera Theatre)(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... Michigan Opera Theatre opened its season with a huge new Il Trovatore production so stylistically eclectic, it seems to have everything any opera could want. Designers Dejan Miladinovic and Mileta Leskovac offered a succession of outsize,...

London. (International).(Royal Opera)(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... Royal Opera's incoming music director, Antonio Pappano, stepped into the Covent Garden pit on September 6 to warm applause to conduct his first new production. The vehicle was Ariadne auf Naxos--assuredly a tricky assignment for everyone...

Vienna. (International).(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... After Salzburg and Florence, Peter Steins much acclaimed production of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra reached the Vienna State Opera on October 14. More effective here than on the vast Salzburg stage, Stefan Mayer's modest sets (often only a plain...

Cardiff. (International).(Opera Review)
January 1, 2003... Back in 2000, Welsh National Opera became the first British company to stage a production by Catalan director Calixto Bieito, with a Cosi Fan Tutte that was not hugely liked. Next he was taken up by English National Opera, first with Don...

Newark, NJ. (Concerts And Recitals).(Concert Review)
January 1, 2003... Cecilia Bartoli has famously commented that, for her, "crossover" does not mean altering her repertory to suit her record company's or her audience's tastes, but rather having her audience cross over to her repertory. Bartoli goes all out in...

Memories and Commentaries.(Book Review)
January 1, 2003... Memories and Commentaries by Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft Faber and Faber, 286 pp. $30 An Improbable Life: Memoirs by Robert Craft Vanderbilt University Press, 560pp. $39.95 The lives of Igor Stravinsky and his personal ombudsman,...

Otto Kahn: Art, Money & Modern Time.(Book Review)
January 1, 2003... by Theresa M. Collins University of North Carolina Press, 392 pp. $34.95 Otto H. Kahn, legendary arts patron and chairman of the Metropolitan Opera Company's board of directors from 1908 to 1931, played a dizzying variety of roles in newly...

Handel: Tamerlano.(Sound Recording Review)
January 1, 2003... [] Norberg-Schulz, Bacelli, Bonitatibus; Pushee, Randle, Abete; English Concert, Pinnock. Arthaus Musik DVD 100 703, 323 mins. (Naxos, dist.) This performance from the Halle Handel Festival of 2001 took place at the Goethe Theater in Bad...

On TV. (Video).(American Masters: Juilliard)(Television Program Review)
January 1, 2003... ON TV: A new documentary, American Masters: Juilliard, airs on PBS this month (Jan. 29, two hours, check local listings). The program is broad in scope, giving a history of the institution, showing day-to-day life of current students and...

Dateline.(Calendar)
January 1, 2003... METROPOLITAN OPERA (Metropolitan Opera House, 212-362-6000; www.metopera.org) Jan. 1 Don Giovanni (Mozart). Frittoli, Vaness, Evans; Hvorostovsky, Schade, Sedov, Gradus, Halfvarson; Cambreling, Zeffirelli/Lawless, Zeffirelli/Anni & Nolan...

Nobody sleeps. (CODA).(Il Critico)
January 1, 2003... Not long ago, I attended Il Trittico, Puccini's wonderful trio of one-act operas, at New York City Opera. The set of Il Tabarro, which takes place on a barge in the Seine River, was merely claustrophobic but could be accepted for its suggestion...