Opera News articles from June 2004

Opera News archives from June 2004

Undiscovered country.(Viewpoint)(Column)
June 1, 2004... When Miss Lillian Bayard Norton of Farmington, Maine--better known as Lillian Nordica--was chosen to sing Elsa in the first Bayreuth performances of Lohengrin, in 1894, it was something of a scandal. An American girl cast in a starring role at...

Opera watch.(Column)
June 1, 2004... 1. On March 21, contralto MEREDITH ARWADY, mezzo-soprano CLAUDIA HUCKLE and soprano LAQUITA MITCHELL were announced as winners at the 2004 Grand Finals concert of THE METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COUNCIL. In celebration of the Council's fiftieth...

Beverly sills was nursing a broken ankle, and Brenda Lewis was in bed with a bad cold.(On the Beat)(Column)
June 1, 2004... BEVERLY SILLS was nursing a broken ankle, and BRENDA LEWIS was in bed with a bad cold. Still, plenty of distinguished New York City Opera alumni were on hand for a cocktail party to celebrate the company's sixtieth anniversary, held on April 8...

The most talked-about debut at this summer's Santa Fe Opera festival will be that of Alan Gilbert, the new (actually, first ever) music director.(On the Beat)(Column)
June 1, 2004... The most talked-about debut at this summer's Santa Fe Opera festival will be that of ALAN GILBERT, the new (actually, first ever) music director. Gilbert has a long association with the company, having been the orchestra's assistant...

Dramatist.(On the Beat)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Dramatist (Last Sunday in June) JONATHAN TOLINS is at work on a new play, The Forgotten Woman, about an overweight soprano singing Ariadne auf Naxos. Tolins claims that any resemblance to the recent media blitz involving DEBORAH VOIGT is purely...

Corrections.(On the Beat)(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2004... CORRECTIONS: In my profile of Regine Crespin in the May issue of OPERA NEWS, I incorrectly listed the soprano's birth-date as 1923. It is 1927. Also: her second bout with cancer occurred in 1984, not 1994.

Grazie, Luciano!(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... More than 1,200 colleagues and fans paid tribute to Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera Guild's Annual Membership Luncheon on March 8, 2004, at the Waldorf-Astoria Carol Vaness Ruth Ann Swenson Anna Moffo Dwayne Croft...

Sound bites.
June 1, 2004... Brandon Jovanovich has watched his career as a tenor take off internationally over the past two years, but it never would have happened if he'd stayed where he started--as a bass. When he gave up a football scholarship for voice studies at...

Breaking silence.(Singer's Diary)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... By the 1980s, Gregory Kunde was at the forefront of a new generation of promising bel canto specialists. The tenor from Kankakee, Illinois, sang Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini in London, Montreal, Milan and Zurich, tossing off effulgent high Fs...

Act two: once considered the thinking man's soubrette, Dawn Upshaw has confounded expectations by becoming one of the music world's most serious and committed theater artists.(Interview)(Biography)
June 1, 2004... Margarita Xirgu--actress, muse and lover of Federico Garcia Lorca--is about to go onstage for what may well be her final performance. As played by Dawn Upshaw in the premiere of Osvaldo Golijow's opera Ainadamar last summer at the Tanglewood...

Keeping time at Tanglewood: Seiji Ozawa's legacy at the country's most prestigious summer classical-music festival.(Biography)
June 1, 2004... He stayed too long. On that matter, at least, there is general agreement. By the time Seiji Ozawa stepped down as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2002, he had held the position for almost thirty years. It was an even longer...

Views from the Berkshires.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Beautiful scenery, great music and great theater have brought visitors to the hills of western Massachusetts for more than sixty summers. Above, and opposite page: Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra: left: Serge...

Music in the constitution state: year round, Connecticut is steeped in music--perhaps more so than any other state in the union. Patricia Reilly sizes up some of the standout attractions.
June 1, 2004... There's an old song about Connecticut, that goes like this: "I think there must be a place in the soul all made of tunes of long ago; I hear the organ on the Main Street corner, Aunt Sarah humming Gospels; Summer evenings, The village cornet...

Northern lily: she was born in Farmington, Maine, and known as the Yankee Diva. But the recorded legacy of American soprano Lillian Nordica only hints at her greatness.(Biography)
June 1, 2004... "There are plenty of singers with voice and talent equal to mine. But I have worked." This down-to-earth self-evaluation by soprano Lillian Nordica could well serve to sum up her career--perhaps her entire life. Lillian Norton, born in...

Marin's maxims: Marin Alsop, one of a handful of successful female conductors today, takes on John Adams's Nixon in China at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.(Interview)
June 1, 2004... OPERA NEWS: You're known for being a champion of John Adams's music. What was the first work of his that you ever encountered? MARIN ALSOP: I think the first piece I ever conducted was Short Ride in a Fast Machine, which I was drawn to...

Summer landscape: Opera News's guide to the top U.S. summer festivals.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... ARKANSAS * OPERA IN THE OZARKS AT INSPIRATION POINT (Inspiration Point Fine Arts Center, Eureka Springs, 479-253-8595; www.opera.org) The highlight of this year's festival is the American premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara's 1990...

Alpine abundance: Judith Malafronte climbs ev'ry mountain of Switzerland's Verbier Festival.
June 1, 2004... Martin Engstroem admits that when he launched a music festival during the slow summer months in the posh ski resort town of Verbier, Switzerland, in 1994, one of the attractions was that "it was a dead end--there was one road up, and the same...

New York City.(North America)(Salome, Sweeney Todd)(Opera Review)(Theater Review)
June 1, 2004... The Metropolitan Opera unveiled its fifth production of Richard Strauss's Salome on March 15, and it was a torrid Ides indeed, thanks mainly to the sight and sound of Karita Mattila in the title role. This is not to say that the Finnish...

Houston.(North America - The End of the Affair by Jake Heggie)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... The End of the Affair opens beautifully. Lush, almost Straussian chords accompany the lovemaking of its protagonists, Sarah and Maurice--one could almost hear the opening-night audience issue a collective sigh of satisfaction. And the new opera...

St. Paul.(North America)(Theater Review)
June 1, 2004... Is Stephen Sondheim's Passion an opera? It was first presented on Broadway, at the Plymouth Theater, in 1994, and was one of the most eagerly-awaited Broadway musicals of its decade. Like most Broadway musicals--and like Carmen and Die...

Vienna, Va.(North America)(Volpone)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... A crafty, not terribly well-liked fellow, feigning a fatal illness, prepares a new last will and testament; assorted leeches vie shamelessly for the lion's share of his inheritance; a tenor breaks out into periodic rhapsodies over one of...

London.(International)(The Rhinegold, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... After the inevitable delays that always seem to attend rebuilding projects these days, English National Opera has returned to its home, the glamorously refurbished London Coliseum, and begun its season. The theater itself, opened in 1904 as the...

Zurich.(International)(Radamisto)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... Though highly praised by such eminent authorities as Winton Dean and Paul Henry Lang, Handel's opera seria Radamisto (1720) has fared rather lamely in modern times. Handel's first opera for the new London Royal Academy of Music, Radamisto was a...

Stockholm.(International)(Tristan und Isolde)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... It has been twenty-seven years since Tristan und Isolde was last heard at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. Back then, the Isolde was Sweden's internationally celebrated Birgit Nilsson. This time it was Sweden's internationally celebrated Nina...

Budapest.(International - Eva Marton stars in Jenufa)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... Few singers could ignite the passions of an audience the way Eva Marton did in the 1980s with her Turandot, Salome, Tosca or Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten. Now just past sixty, Marton showed that her fire is still blazing as Kostelnicka in...

Bologna.(International)(La Fille du Regiment)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... Juan Diego Florez's triumphant performances of La Fille du Regiment at the Teatro Comunale (his Italian debut in this opera) demonstrated definitively that he is no less at ease in Donizetti than in Rossini. The role of Tonio offers him quite...

Madrid.(International)(Opera Review)
June 1, 2004... The Teatro Real in Madrid has completed its most ambitious project since the theater reopened in 1999. In the course of three years, it has presented director Willy Decker's take on Der Ring des Nibelungen, a coproduction with Dresden's...

June online edition of Opera News.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... NORTH AMERICA: NYCO offers Mourning Becomes Electra and Figaro; the Met revives Nabucco; Chamber Wagner from Eos Orchestra; Ballo at Carnegie Hall; Paulus premiere in NYC; Les Arts Florissants in Manhattan; ASO's Hindemith; Eaglen in Sheng's...

Deborah Voigt "Obsessions".(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... Deborah Voigt "OBSESSIONS" Arias by Wagner and Richard Strauss. Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Armstrong. Texts and translations. EMI 724355768124 "Obsessions" makes sense as a CD title only if you consider the mental...

Haydn: Die Schopfung.(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... HAYDN: Die Schopfung Roschmann; Schade, Gerharer; Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Concentus Musicus Wien, Harnoncourt. Libretto. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 82876 58340 2 (2) Nikolaus Harnoncourt's new recording of Haydn's 1798 oratorio--superior...

Pacius: Die Loreley.(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... PACIUS: Die Loreley Isokoski, Rantanen; Sirkia, Hauptmann, Lehtipuu, Kataja; Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Dominante Choir, Vanska. BIS-CD 1393-1394 Certainly one of the least-known and more curious opera efforts, Die Loreley is a Finnish...

Anne Sofie von Otter.(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... Anne Sofie von Otter "WATERCOLOURS: SWEDISH SONGS" Songs by Larsson, Alfven, Nystroem, Rangstrom, Nordqvist, de Frumerie, Linde, Aulin. Forsberg, piano. Texts and translations. Deutsche Grammophone B0001857-02 When singing Bach and...

Alan Opie.(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... Alan Opie "GREAT OPERATIC ARIAS" Scenes and arias by Donizetti, Leoncavallo, Rossini, Verdi, in English translation; London Philharmonic, Philharmonia and English National Opera orchestras, Parry, Bellini. Texts. Chandos CHAN 3085 In...

Felicity Lott.(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... Felicity Lott "CHAUSSON RAVEL DUPARC" Songs with orchestra. Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, A. Jordan. Texts and translations. AEon 0314 In this splendid program of French melodies by Chausson, Ravel and Duparc, Felicity Lott's singing...

Jose Calleja.(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... Joseph Calleja "TENOR ARIAS" by Verdi, Donizetti, Cilea, Puccini. Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Chailly. Texts and translations. Decca 4752502 Joseph Calleja, a young Maltese tenor, lays claim to the repertoire niche...

Robert Merrill.(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... Robert Merrill "RECITAL" Arias by Giordano, Leoncavallo and Verdi. New Symphony Orchestra, Edward Downes. Decca 475 396-2 Renata Tebaldi and Franco Corelli "GREAT OPERA DUETS" Duets by Ponchielli, Puccini, Verdi and Zandonai....

Beethoven: Fidelio.(Video Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... BEETHOVEN: Fidelio Mattila, Welch-Babidge; Heppner, Polenzani, Pape, Struckmann, Lloyd; Metropolitan Opera, Levine. Production: Flimm. DG DVD B0001417-09, subtitled, 123 mins. The past few years have seen a fascinating change in James...

Britten: Peter Grimes.(Video Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... BRITTEN: Peter Grimes Cairns, Orton, Howard; Langridge, Opie, Greenan, Poulton, Byles; ENO/BBC Atherton, 1994. Production: Albery. Kultur DVD D2902, 145 mins. The sea interludes play gloriously over seascapes, painted, animated and...

Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte.(Video Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... MOZART: Cosi Fan Tutte Rochmann, Kammerloher, Bruera; Gura, Muller-Brachmann, Trekel; Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper, Staatskapelle Berlin, Barenboim. Production: Dorrie. TDK DVD 20 5223 9 DVUS-OPCFT (Naxos, dist.), subtitled, 179 mins. ...

The Art of Joan Sutherland.(Video Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... The Art of Joan Sutherland Sutherland; Conrad; CBC Orchestra, Bonynge (Dec. 11, 1963 telecast). Sutherland; Bonynge, piano (Feb. 12, 1969 telecast). VAI DVD 4254, 110 mins. Joan Sutherland can astonish but also perplex. She does both...

Classic Archive: Teresa Berganza.(Video Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... Classic Archive: Teresa Berganza Songs of Falla, Montsalvatge, Obradors, Guridi, Schubert, R. Strauss, Schumann, Wolf; arias of Donizetti, Mozart, Rossini, J. Strauss. With Ludwig; Patzak, Fischer-Dieskau, Hotter; Moore, Lavilla, pianists;...

Obituaries.(Obituary)
June 1, 2004... DENIS STEVENS, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, March 2, 1922--London, April 1, 2004 Musicologist, conductor, BBC radio producer and early-music specialist, Stevens was founder-conductor of the Ambrosian Singers (1952) and the Accademia...

Ever After: the Last Years of Musical Theater and Beyond.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Ever After: The Last Years of Musical. Theater and Beyond by Barry Singer Applause, 320 pp. $26. 95 Even most diehard lovers of the American musical would probably be hard-pressed to argue that the last twenty-five years have shown off the...

Online edition.(Books)
June 1, 2004... ONLINE EDITION: Music and the Making of a New South; Remembering Folies; Antonio's Wife mixes opera fact and fiction.

One-click opera.(Sight and Sound)
June 1, 2004... Online music is no longer the unchallenged territory of the teenybopper. A few years ago, the internet earned a reputation as a playground for teenagers and college students furtively swapping pop-music contraband from computer to computer. Now...

Dateline.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... METROPOLITAN OPERA (Parks concerts, 212-362-6000; www.metopera.org) June 15 Nabucco (Verdi). Manhattan: Central Park, North Great Lawn. A. Gruber, W. White; Delavan, Aceto, Zhang; Colaneri June 16 Madama Butterfly (Puccini). Manhattan:...

Andreas Mitisek brings Strauss jewel to Long Beach: Long Beach Opera's Vienna-born general director conducts the company premiere of Die Schweigsame Frau on June 13 and 19.(Hot Ticket)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... Mitisek, whose previous Strauss performances for LBO included a startling modern-dress Elektra in 2001, takes a chance on the composer's little-known comedy. OPERA NEWS: Why bring The Silent Woman to Long Beach Opera? ANDREAS MITISEK:...