Opera News articles from July 2001

Opera News archives from July 2001

CAST SYSTEM.(Opera News, overview)(Brief Article)(Column)
July 1, 2001... An odd thing about opera-lovers is the weight they give to who's singing rather than what's being sung. For longtime fans, this seems as natural as baby's teeth: the voice is why they go to the opera. But talk to people who have attended only...

OPERA WATCH.(Review)
July 1, 2001... 1. The Opera Comique is a principal location for writer/director SALLY POTTER's new Universal Focus film THE MAN WHO CRIED, the story of a refugee Russian Jewish girl who joins the chorus of a Parisian opera company in 1939. The Comique stage...

ON THE BEAT.(Ben Heppner signs recording contract; article including Metropopolitan Opera Guild's Luncheon)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Heppner signs recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon; MOG Annual Membership Luncheon gathers Verdi greats Recently, BEN HEPPNER signed a new, exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. One of the hottest items should be out this...

EXIT LINES.(Lotfi Mansouri resigns from San Francisco Opera)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... LOTFI MANSOURI STEPS DOWN AFTER FOURTEEN YEARS AS GENERAL DIRECTOR OF SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Half a century ago almost to the day, a twenty-one-year-old, dollar-a-gig super in an Otello in Los Angeles's cavernous Shrine Auditorium was so...

THE FIT LADY SINGS.
July 1, 2001... STEVEN BLIER wonders if opera casting has become a triumph of the visual over the vocal. A regional opera company is auditioning singers for a new production of La Traviata. At the end of the day, eight-by-ten glossies litter the long...

THE ROLE NOT TAKEN.
July 1, 2001... FORTY-TWO OPERA SINGERS GIVE THEIR VERSION OF DREAM CASTING It's said that someone asked Birgit Nilsson if she could sing Carmen. "I could," she replied, "but how?" Nilsson was one artist who always had a sense of herself and her...

The Match Game.(interviews with general director David Schiff)(Interview)
July 1, 2001... Seattle Opera general director Speight Jenkins answers questions from DAVID SCHIFF about the process of casting When it comes to apt casting decisions, for the past decade or so, the rest of the world often has found itself looking to...

TENOR SOLO.(Anthony Dean Griffey)
July 1, 2001... Anthony Dean Griffey has carved out a singular career playing opera's outsiders. This summer, he brings one of them -- Lennie in Of Mice and Men -- to the Bregenz Festival I first heard Anthony Dean Griffey sing in a chamber version of...

Letter from Paris.(opera houses)
July 1, 2001... Sipping an overpriced glass of champagne during the intermission of Rameau's Les Indes Galantes in the overwhelming formality of the Palais Garnier's foyer, you may think you have arrived in some sort of operatic heaven. The gilded grandeur and...

ZEMLINSKY: Der Traumgorge.(Review)
July 1, 2001... ZEMLINSKY: Der Traumgorge [] Racette, Martinez, Anthony, Karl; Kuebler, Schmidt, Volle; Opernchor der Hochschule fur Musik Koln, Gurzenich-Orchester/Kolner Philharmoniker, Conlon. Text and translations. EMI Classics 5 57087 2 (2) Alexander...

WEIR: A Night at the Chinese Opera.(Review)
July 1, 2001... OPERA AND ORATORIO WEIR: A Night at the Chinese Opera [] Grummet, Lynch, McCafferty; Chance, Robinson, Thompson, Thomas, Daymond, George; Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Parrott. English text only NMC D060 (2) (Qualiton, dist.) British...

MEYERBEER: Robert le Diable.(Review)
July 1, 2001... MEYERBEER: Robert le Diable [] Ciofi, Raspagliosi; Mok, Codeluppi, Surian; Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia, Bratislava Chamber Choir, R. Palumbo. Text and translation. Dynamic CDS 368/1-3 (Qualiton, dist.) Although it is customary these...

SCARLATTI: Sedecia, Re di Gerusalemme.(Review)
July 1, 2001... SCARLATTI: Sedecia, Re di Gerusalemme [] Perez, Capici, Frisani; Cecchetti, Vinco; Alessandro Stradella Consort, Velardi. Text and translations. Bongiovanni GB 2278/79-2 (Qualiton, dist.) In the first years of eighteenth-century Rome it was...

ABERT: Ekkehard.(Review)
July 1, 2001... ABERT: Ekkehard [] Van Ingen, Kelling, Fujimura; Kaufmann, Reiter, Gerhaher, Hempel, Bohm; Stuttgart Choristers, South German Radio Orchestra, Falk. German libretto only. Capriccio 60-080 (2) Among composers of late-Romantic German opera,...

MOZART: II Sogno di Scipione.(Review)
July 1, 2001... MOZART: II Sogno di Scipione [] Hartelius, Larsson, Brandes; Ford Workman, Ovenden; Choeur des musiciens du Louvre, Freiburger Barockorchester, von der Goltz. 2000. Text and translation. Naive E8813 (2) (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) This...

DONIZETTI: Maria Stuarda.(Review)
July 1, 2001... DONIZETTI: Maria Stuarda [] Gruberova, Oprisanu, Lucas; Arevalo, dal Monte, Bronikowski; Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Viotti. Text and translation. Nightingale Classics NC190209-2 (Koch, dist.) Sovereignty...

VERDI: Messa da Requiem.(Review)
July 1, 2001... VERDI: Messa da Requiem [] Fleming, Borodina; Bocelli, d'Arcangelo; Kirov Orchestra and Chorus, Gergiev. Text and translation. Philips 289 468 079-2 Giuseppe Verdi was not religious in the churchgoing sense; in letters written during the...

BEST LOVED HYMNS.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Choir of King's College, Cambridge [] "BEST LOVED HYMNS" Hymns and hymn arrangements. Cleobury, cond. Texts. EMI 7243 5 57026 2 3 Two new releases from noted British boy choirs testify to just how different such forces can sound in the...

BLUEBIRD: VOICES FROM HEAVEN.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Choir of New College, Oxford [] "BLUEBIRD: VOICES FROM HEAVEN" Anthems of Rutter, Stanford Tavener, Rossini, Messiaen. Higginbottom, cond. Decca 289 466 870-2 Two new releases from noted British boy choirs testify to just how different...

BRIGHT EYED JOY.(Review)
July 1, 2001... GORDON: Songs [] "BRIGHT EYED JOY" With Upshaw, McDonald, McCarthy, Blazer; de Haas, Guettel, Trakas; Gershon, Ellison, Sperling, Gordon, piano; Orchestra, Stern. Texts. Nonesuch 79626 With the notable exception of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who...

FAIREST ISLE.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Barbara Bonney [] "FAIREST ISLE" Songs and arias by Purcell, Dowland, Byrd, Campion, Jenkins, Morley. Heringman, lute; Phantasm viol quartet; Academy of Ancient Music, Hogwood. Decca 289 466132-2 Barbara Bonney faces an uphill battle in...

HANS WERNER HENZE.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Ian Bostridge [] "HANS WERNER HENZE" Sechs Gesange Aus dem Arabischen, Three Auden Songs. With Drake, piano. Texts and translations. EMI 5 57112 Ian Bostridge has a vocal presence and musicality that not only captivate audiences but...

THE SONGS OF ROBERT SCHUMANN, VOLUME 5.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Christopher Maltman [] "THE SONGS OF ROBERT SCHUMANN, VOLUME 5" Dichterliebe and other Heine settings. Johnson, piano. Texts and translations. Hyperion CDJ33105 Graham Johnson's Songs of Robert Schumann, now at its fifth volume, may not...

SONGS OF THE SEA.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Karita Mattila [] "SONGS OF THE SEA" Songs by Martenson, Broberg, Taube. Jyvaskyla Sinfonia, Niemi. Finnish/Swedish texts only. Ondine ODE-907 (Koch, dist.) Island Songs might be a more appropriate title for this CD. According to the brief...

THE ETERNAL FEMININE.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Susanne Mentzer [] "THE ETERNAL FEMININE" Songs by Libby Larsen, Lili Boulanger, Alma Mahler, Rebecca Clarke et al. Rutenberg, piano. Texts and translations. Koch International Classics 3-7506-2 The recent surge of interest in women...

40TH ANNIVERSARY RECITAL.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Luciano Pavarotti [] "40TH ANNIVERSARY RECITAL" Arias by Bononcini, Scarlatti, Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti and Cilea, songs by Beethoven, Bellini, Donizetti and Tosti. Magiera, piano. Decca 466 350-2 Anyone exposed to Luciano Pavarotti's...

O SWEET LOVE.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Daniel Taylor [] "O SWEET LOVE" Songs by Byrd and Dowland. Stubbs, Les Voix Humaines. ATMA ACD 2 2207 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) Three recitals by fine young countertenors, presenting traditional countertenor repertoire (as defined in the...

TRADITIONAL CELTIC MELODIES.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Matthew White [] "TRADITIONAL CELTIC MELODIES" The Skye Consort. ATMA ACD 2 2236 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) Three recitals by fine young countertenors, presenting traditional countertenor repertoire (as defined in the last fifty years or so,...

SALVE REGINA.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Robin Blaze [] "SALVE REGINA" Sacred music by Monteverdi and his Venetian Followers. Holman, The Parley of Instruments. Texts and translations. Hyperion CDA67225 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) Three recitals by fine young countertenors, presenting...

A TRIBUTE TO GIUSEPPE VERDI.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Fabio Armiliato [] "A TRIBUTE TO GIUSEPPE VERDI" Arias from Ernani, Macbeth, I Masnadieri, Simon Boccanegra, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Forza del Destino, Otello; Inno delle Nazioni. Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Choeur de l'Opera de Nice,...

PRAYERS.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Sumi Jo [] "PRAYERS" Arias, solos, songs by Bellini, Bernstein, Caccini, Donizetti, Faure, Gounod, Loewe, Schubert et al.; with Su. Graham; Gurzenich-Orchester/Kolner Philharmoniker, Conlon; Conlon, piano. Partial texts and translations. Erato...

LISTENING ROOM.(Francisco Casanova, Susan Graham, John Kander, musicians, music picks)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 1, 2001... Which CDs do musicians listen to for pleasure? OPERA NEWS offers a new semiregular column that peers into the private collections of some of the music business's brightest lights. FRANCISCO CASANOVA, tenor I am listening to studio...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.(Review)
July 1, 2001... The Gambler, written by Sergei Prokofiev in his mid-twenties (he later made some revisions), has the brashness and self-confidence of youth. The composer was unwilling to compromise with the conventions of opera, even of "modern" opera, and he...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: LONDON.(Review)
July 1, 2001... The seventy-fifth birthday of Hans Werner Henze was marked by the Royal Opera with a new production by Nikolaus Lehnhoff of Boulevard Solitude (March 20), an early work in the German composer's canon and his first full-length score. Given a...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: TAMPA.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Nearly one hundred people -- including a cast of two-dozen singers, large chorus, extras and production personnel -- crowded on the vast stage of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center at the conclusion of Anton Coppola's opera Sacco & Vanzetti;...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: TORONTO.(Canadian opera productions, Iron Road, Billy Budd, Idomeneo)(Brief Article)(Review)
July 1, 2001... Chan Ka Nin's Iron Road, produced by Tapestry New Opera Works (world premiere, Elgin Theatre, April 20), is an epic work that casts its action against a large historical backdrop. Within this turbulent saga of the building of the...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: WASHINGTON, DC.(opera productions, Don Carlos, Turandot)(Brief Article)(Review)
July 1, 2001... Don Carlo may not be entirely reliable as history, but it still delivers compelling lessons on patriotism vs. rebellion, church vs. state, love vs. lust. Those lessons hit home in Washington Opera's production March 22. Verdi's grandly scaled...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MIAMI.(Review)
July 1, 2001... With Deborah Voigt making her debut in the title role, and Renata Scotto directing for the first time an opera in which she often sang, Florida Grand Opera's much-anticipated production of Puccini's Tosca looked like a slam-dunk season-ending...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SAN DIEGO.(Review)
July 1, 2001... It's no wonder audiences love Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree. The composer's musical rhetoric is solidly chiseled from the early twentieth-century American grain, easily accessible and unthreatening. The story, set in a small Northern Georgia...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: PITTSBURGH.(Brief Article)(Review)
July 1, 2001... Sherrill Milnes was the star of and raison d'etre for Pittsburgh Opera's revival of Verdi's Falstaff(seen March 24 at the Benedum Center). At sixty-six and with a highly publicized vocal crisis behind him, the venerable American baritone...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MONTE CARLO.(Review)
July 1, 2001... One hardly associates Tchaikovsky with happy endings, but his last opera -- the fairy-tale-like Iolanta -- has one: the blind princess of the title regains her sight after discovering love. The hymn of praise that closes the work is not exactly...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MILWAUKEE.(Review)
July 1, 2001... What is there about the characters in the Almaviva household that makes us want to know more about them? Beaumarchais's play La Mere Coupable (set by Darius Milhaud in 1967) and, more recently, John Corigliano's opera, The Ghosts of Versailles,...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: BERKELEY, CA.(Review)
July 1, 2001... On March 23, Berkeley Opera launched a brief run of Le Nozze di Figaro, derived from The Flexible Figaro, an unpublished English-language performing edition by Sherwood Dudley, with translations by Miriam Ellis and Dudley. Mozart and Da...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: PORTLAND, OR.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites won new converts at its Portland Opera premiere (March 24). Sung in French, the work came across above all as extraordinarily beautiful. Marc Trautmann's understated, lyrical conducting and David...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: CHICAGO.(Review)
July 1, 2001... He's "the kind of fellow that fellow-men like" sings a narrator at the beginning and end of The Good Soldier Schweik, Robert Kurka's setting of Jaroslav Hasek's classic novel, Dobry Vojak Svejk (1922). And it would be hard to imagine a more...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SARASOTA.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Sarasota Opera is at the exact midpoint of an ambitious twenty-four-year project to perform all of Giuseppe Verdi's operas. In this hundredth anniversary of the composer's death, in addition to performing the Requiem and Stabat Mater, artistic...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: COSTA MESA.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Under artistic director and principal conductor John DeMain, Orange County's Opera Pacific has become a cultural force to be reckoned with in Southern California. However, the company's policy of double casting over a period of four or five...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: BARCELONA.(Review)
July 1, 2001... In Barcelona, an exuberant cast sparked the sleek Teatro Novedades production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music (Musica per a una nit d'estiu). The sonorous sibilants of the Catalan language sometimes made for a...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: LOS ANGELES.(Review)
July 1, 2001... CONCERTS AND RECITALS With "Oscar" opting this year for the much larger Shrine Auditorium, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilions most movie-star-encrusted event this spring was easily Los Angeles Opera's "Placido Domingo and Friends: Welcome...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: PARIS.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Much interest centered on the run of concert performances at the Chatelet of Verdi's Otello, featuring Jose Cura's first appearance in the title role in France. The orchestra spilled into the auditorium, while principal singers and the...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.(Review)
July 1, 2001... "Few operas have had a more complicated gestation than Donizetti's La Favorita," wrote Donizetti biographer William Ashbrook in his program note for Opera Orchestra of New York's concert performance at Carnegie Hall on March 7. The writer...

Bel Canto.(Review)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Bel Canto by Ann Patchett HarperCollins, 304 pp. $25 Ann Patchett's new novel is introduced by the passage from Die Zauberflote in which Tamino defines the object of his quest as "friendship and love," and these are the themes of this...

Fanny and Adelaide: The Lives of the Remarkable Kemble Sisters.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Fanny and Adelaide: The Lives of the Remarkable Kemble Sisters by Ann Blainey Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 339pp. $27.50 Fanny and Adelaide Kemble were born into the great theatrical dynasty of England's Regency era. Their aunt, Sarah (Kemble)...

Cecilia & Bryn at Glyndebourne.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Cecilia & Bryn at Glyndebourne [] Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel. Arias and duets by Mozart, Rossini, Haydn, Donizetti, Handel; London Phil., Chung. Chandos CHAN 30001 (DVD), 33001 (VHS) Breezily titled Cecilia & Bryn at Glyndebourne, this...

Classics on a Summer's Evening: A Gala Concert from Dresden.(Review)
July 1, 2001... Classics on a Summer's Evening: A Gala Concert from Dresden [] Gheorghiu; Alagna; Staatskapelle and Semper Oper chorus, Sinopoli. 1999. EMI Classics DVD 7243 4 92501 9 2 EMI Classics has released two new DVDs aimed at opera fans. Don't...

GERSHWIN: Porgy and Bess.(Review)
July 1, 2001... GERSHWIN: Porgy and Bess [] Haymon, Clarey, Simpson; White, Baker, Evans; London Philharmonic, Rattle. 1992. EMI Classics DVD 7243 4 92497 9 0 EMI Classics has released two new DVDs aimed at opera fans. Don't look for extras on these discs...

OBITUARIES.(Giuseppi Sinopoli; Robert Starer; Graziella Sciutti; John Ardoin; Ninette De Valois)(Obituary)
July 1, 2001... GIUSEPPE SINOPOLI, Venice, Italy, November 2, 1946 -- Berlin, Germany, April 21, 2001 The conductor/composer suffered a heart attack while conducting a performance of Aida at Deutsche Oper. He was pronounced dead early the next morning at...

CANCELLATION BLUES.(Natalie Dessay cancels performances)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... For fans of the dazzling French coloratura Natalie Dessay, the Met's spring season got off to a devastating start with the announcement that the soprano had canceled her entire run of Zerbinettas in Ariadne auf Naxos. I had heard Dessay's...