Opera News articles from July 2002

Opera News archives from July 2002

Russian gold. (Viewpoint).(opera)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... It is fair to say that, after oil, opera is probably Russia's most successful export. Russian singers are the mainstay of companies across Europe and the U.S. One Russian company --the Kirov--earns buckets of foreign exchange thanks largely to...

Opera watch.
July 1, 2002... 1. KARITA MATTILA's summer 2002 calendar is packed with North American dates. This month finds her at the Festival International de Lanaudiere, Quebec (July 27, 30), with August engagements set for the Ravinia Festival (3, 7), Tanglewood (10,...

On the beat: Cura scores with a CD of Latin love songs; Bergonzi feted by the MOG; daredevil diva Flanigan steps in for Voigt.
July 1, 2002... The term "crossover," useless as it is, seems with us to stay, and I'm afraid it's bound to be applied to JOSE CURA's new CD, Boleros. But Cura's disc really doesn't deserve to be consigned to that misbegotten genre, for the simple reason that...

Sound bites.(Danil Shtoda)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Daniil Shtoda is only twenty-five, but he made his Mariinsky Theatre debut twelve years ago. It was just before his voice broke, and he was singing the role of the Tsar's young son Fyodor in Boris Godunov. "It was the last thing I did before I...

Marina Fortuna: the meaty Verdi soprano roles have been a string of good-luck charms for Marina Mescheriakova.
July 1, 2002... Russian singers used to be exotic rarities in the irrational world of opera. That, at least, was the sad case in the bad old days of iron curtains and cultural isolation. Cognoscenti collected recordings, of course, in quest of authentic...

Key player: Larissa Gergieva is more than the sister of Russia's most famous conductor. She's one of her country's driving forces in the development of young talent.
July 1, 2002... Roughly a decade ago, when the pianist Larissa Gergieva first started showing up as the accompanist on recitals of singers associated with St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, audiences instantly suspected a family connection to Valery Gergiev,...

Portraits of St. Petersburg.
July 1, 2002... THE FONTANKA CANAL, WHICH CIRCLES THE CENTER OF ST. PETERSBURG, ABOVE; A GILDED GRIFFIN ON THE BANKOVSKY BRIDGE, AT THE GRIBOEDOVA CANAL, INSET [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FROM TOP: ST. PETERSBURG ROOFTOPS, WITH THE DOMED CATHEDRAL OF ST....

The duelists: Jorg Von Uthmann looks at a cold war that continues to heat up: the turbulent, centuries-long rivalry between the Bolshoi and the Kirov.
July 1, 2002... Rivalry in opera never has been limited to the love triangles on the stage. Handel had a close call when his fellow composer Johann Mattheson waited for him at the stage door of the Hamburg opera house and attacked him with a sword....

The low down: Vladimir Ognovenko is one of the most arresting basses on the scene today. So why is it so hard for him to land a leading role in the U.S.?
July 1, 2002... Most of us have had nights at the opera when we were blown away by the unexpected--a Rigoletto that sent us home raving about the Maddalena or the Sparafucile, a Meistersinger that made us fall in love wit We underline the artist's name in...

From Russia con amore: the sound of Verdi, Russian style.
July 1, 2002... Italian opera, far from being unknown in Russia, intermittently made up a significant portion of the repertoire of the court and public theaters for nearly two centuries. So the Russians recent explosion, singing Italian roles on Western...

Giorgio, Tozzi. (Reunion).(Interview)
July 1, 2002... It was October 17, 1963, and the Metropolitan Opera had mustered a stellar new production of Massenet's Manon. Anna Moffo infused the title role with her special brand of glamour; Nicolai Gedda ennobled the sensitive platitudes of her lover,...

Table for one: the delicious history of one of New York's most famous restaurants, the Russian Tea Room.
July 1, 2002... The fact that it stood slightly to the left of Carnegie Hall, as the ads said, didn't make the Russian Tea Room leftist. If anything, it was rightist, as in Tsarist, and it never felt righter than when you were in the festive green salon in a...

Machover: resurrection: Tod Machover's Resurrection transforms a classic Russian novel into a powerful new American opera. (Theatrical Impact).
July 1, 2002... * DiDonato, Marcinko; S. Hendricks, Very, Travis, Belcher, Parker, Holloway; Houston Grand Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Summers. English text. Albany Records, TROY 495/496 (2) Resurrection, Tod Machover's stab at "traditional" opera, was a...

Handel: Hercules. (Opera and Oratorio).
July 1, 2002... * Dawson, von Otter; D. Daniels, R. Croft, Saks; Les Musiciens du Louvre, Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski. Text and translations. Archiv 469 532-2 (3) Marc Minkowski and his excellent Les Musiciens du Louvre, together with the...

Lewin: Burning Bright. (Opera and Oratorio).
July 1, 2002... * Overholt; Eckert, Velta, Altman; New Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, Milanov. Albany Records TROY 469/71 (3) Frank Lewin saw John Steinbeck's 1950 play Burning Bright in its New Haven tryout. A high-minded attempt to create a modern myth...

Verdi: Aida (in English). (Opera and Oratorio).
July 1, 2002... * Eaglen, Plowright; O'Neil, Yurisich, Miles; Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Parry. Text (English version by Edmund Tracey). Chandos CHAN 3074 (2) For all that a gaudy staging of Aida can still pack them in as well as any...

Malipiero: I Capricci di Callot. (Opera and Oratorio).
July 1, 2002... * Winter, Kjellevold, Muller, Ulrich, Valentin, Sabrowski; Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, Marschik. Text and translations. CPO 999 830-2 (2) The highly prolific Italian composer Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973) wrote nearly thirty operas...

Anqela Gheorqhiu: "Live from Covent Garden". (Recital).
July 1, 2002... Arias by Handel, Mozart, Massenet, Charpentier, Puccini, Cilea, Bellini, Brediceanu, F. Loewe. Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Marin. Texts and translations. EMI Classics 57264 Angela Gheorghiu is a star. Just in case...

Stephen Roberts: "Vaughan Williams: an Anthology of Songs". (Recital).
July 1, 2002... With Vignoles, piano. Texts. Global Music Network GMN.com 0110 (GMN.com, dist.) This is a diverse, intelligently planned program, with the familiar Songs of Travel and "Linden Lea" buttressing the lesser-known Four Poems of Fredegond Shove...

Soile Isokoski: "Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder; Orchestral Songs". (Recital).
July 1, 2002... Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Janowski. Texts and translations. Ondine ODE 982-2 Strauss must have had a singer like Soile Isokoski in mind when he wrote the high-flying filigree of "Sausle, liebe Myrte." The voice is firm throughout...

"America the Beautiful: Great Voices in Patriotic Song (1905-50)". (Historical).
July 1, 2002... With Eames, Farrar, Lo. Lehmann, Homer, Alda; Caruso, McCormack, Thibault, Warren et al. No texts. Romophone 87002-2 (Empire Music, dist.) In the tense, troubling months since September 11, our nation has drawn strength from a renewed,...

Donizetti: L'Elisir d'Amore. (Historical).
July 1, 2002... * Scotto; Bergonzi, Taddei, Cava; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gavazzeni. Living Stage LS 4035129 (Qualiton, dist.) This is an unusually serious Elisir. That's not to say that this 1967 live performance scants the work's bountiful comedy....

Montemezzi: L'Amore dei Tre Re. (Historical).
July 1, 2002... * Petrella; Berdini, Capecchi, Bruscantini, Bertocci; Orchestra Lirica e Coro di Milano della RAI, Basile. Italian text. WarnerFonit 8573 87487-2 (Empire Music, dist.) This remarkable opera was introduced at La Scala in 1913 and brought to...

Mahler: Kindertotenlieder; Symphony No. 9. (Historical).
July 1, 2002... * Baker; Scottish National Orchestra, Horenstein (Kindertotenlieder); London Symphony Orchestra, Horenstein (Symphony No. 9). Notes, no texts or translation. BBC Legends BBCL 4075-2 (Koch, dist.) Admirers of Janet Baker's expertly balanced...

Listening room.(opera singers share what sound recordings they are currently listening to)(Brief Article)(Column)
July 1, 2002... OPERA NEWS offers another installment of a semiregular column that peers into the private collections of some of the music business's brightest lights. RODNEY GILFRY, baritone I am listening to two recordings of Doktor Faust. Dietrich...

New recordings of Die Schone Mullerin. (July Online Edition of Opera News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... New recordings of Die Schone Mullerin, the St. John Passion and Portugal's Lo Spazzacamino; historic recording of Egk oratorio with Fritz Wunderlich; great divas from the Netherlands; Julius Patzak is remembered.

New York City. (North America).(operas)
July 1, 2002... Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Sly, one of the novelties of the 1927 season at La Scala, had a distinguished premiere there, with Aureliano Pertile and Mercedes Llopart in principal roles, Arturo Toscanini conducting and Giovacchino Forzano, who wrote...

Seattle. (North America).(Salome)
July 1, 2002... Seattle Opera's first production specifically designed for the Mercer Arts Arena--the company's temporary home until the new house is completed, in 2003 (it is hoped)--was Strauss's Salome. The set was semiabstract, the costumes were...

Costa Mesa, CA. (North America).(Dead Man Walking)
July 1, 2002... Ecstatically acclaimed--in some quarters, at least--at its San Francisco Opera premiere, in 2000, Dead Man Walking has already grown new legs. A wholly new production of the Jake Heggie/Terrence McNally heartstring-tugger, introduced by Opera...

Sarasota. (North America).(Le Trouvere, Cosi Fan Tutte)
July 1, 2002... As part of artistic director Victor DeRenzi's ongoing twenty-four-year traversal of Verdi's complete oeuvre, Sarasota Opera this season offered a genuine repertoire curio with Le Trouvere, the rarely performed French version of Il Trovatore....

Baltimore. (North America).(Otello)
July 1, 2002... Baltimore Opera's new production of Verdi's Otello turned out to be a mixed bag, vocally and theatrically. On March 16 at the Lyric Opera House, Jon Fredric West did valiant work in the title role. He delivered "Esultate!" in firm, ringing...

Washington, D.C. (North America).(Un Ballo in Maschera)
July 1, 2002... Strong casting, mostly effective conducting and a strikingly handsome set served Verdi and Un Ballo in Maschera well in the Washington Opera's performance March 30 at the Kennedy Center. In this production, set in Boston, there were lots of...

Munich. (International).(Das Rheingold)
July 1, 2002... The house lights continued to dim moments before the orchestral prelude to Wagner's Das Rheingold (Feb. 24, the first night of a new production), until both auditorium and orchestra pit were plunged into total darkness for much of the prelude,...

Paris. (International).(Macbeth)
July 1, 2002... The revival of Phyllida Lloyd's 1999 production of Verdi's Macbeth, with its baton-wielding, voodoo-like witches, brought one of the best evenings of Italian singing the Opera National has heard this season. Leading the cast at the Bastille was...

London. (International).(La Vestale, La Sonnambula)
July 1, 2002... Revivals of early-nineteenth-century works preoccupied both London houses recently. Bellini's touching pastoral La Sonnambula came to Covent Garden (March 16) in a co-production with Vienna by Marco Arturo Marelli that replaced a traditional...

Rio De Janeiro. (International).(Turandot)
July 1, 2002... Rio's Theatro Municipal opened its opera season in April 2002 with a high-spirited, entertaining production of Puccini's Turandot that, although clumsy at times, still offered moments of rare charm. But the production also suffered from...

North America: Lang's The Difficulty of Crossing a Field bows at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater. (July Online Edition of Opera News).
July 1, 2002... Lang's The Difficulty of Crossing a Field bows at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater; Tosca in San Diego; Die Zauberflote in Los Angeles. Morris is Boris in Miami; Tannhauser is heard in West Palm Beach; Ariadne auf Naxos and Lucia...

International: Parsifal is Abbado's farewell as music director of Salzburg's Easter Festival. (July Online Edition of Opera News).
July 1, 2002... Parsifal is Abbado's farewell as music director of Salzburg's Easter Festival. Opera Australia unveils a new Cav/Pag in Melbourne. In Paris, Gardiner conducts Oberon, Christie conducts Il Ritorno d'Ulisse. In Venice, Viotti conducts Galouzine's...

Concerts and recitals. (July Online Edition of Opera News).
July 1, 2002... Springtime is sing-time in New York: Gheorghiu and Alagna concertize at the Met; Lincoln Center's Handel tribute continues, with Jacobs leading an Easter Jephtha; New York Festival of Song souvenirs; Flanigan joins Collegiate Chorale for...

Kurt Weill on Stage: From Berlin to Broadway.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... by Foster Hirsch Alfred A. Knopf, 416 pp. $35 Early in this survey of Kurt Weill's stage works, Foster Hirsch, a professor of theater at Brooklyn College, CUNY, notes that show-folk prefer "the American Weill" and academics "the German...

Adams: El Nino. (Video).
July 1, 2002... * Upshaw, Hunt Lieberson; Wi. White; Theatre of Voices, London Voices, Matrise de Paris Children's Choir, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Nagano. Production, Sellars. Arthaus Musik DVD 100 221 The recent Nonesuch CD recording of El...

Orbituaries.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
July 1, 2002... MAKIKO NARUMI, Amori-Shi Japan, January 14, 1969--April 30, 2002 The mezzo was diagnosed with cancer shortly after singing Mme. de Croissy in the April 2001 Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Juilliard Opera Center, where she had been a...

Dateline.
July 1, 2002... ASH LAWN-HIGHLAND OPERA (Boxwood Gardens, Charlottesville, VA, 434-293-4500; http://monticello.avenue.orq) July 6 La 55aviata (Verdi). Also 7, 31, Aug. 7, 9, 14, 18 July 27 La Cenerentola (Rossini). Also 28, Aug. 2, 4, 11, 16 ASPEN...

The first coming. (Coda).(1950 performance of Romeo and Juliet)(Brief Article)(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2002... It was 7:15 P.M. on April 16, 1959. Impresario Sol Hurok, resplendent in his rakish black fedora, stood in his accustomed spot between the lobby and the auditorium of the Metropolitan Opera House. It was the old Met on Thirty-ninth Street and...