Opera News articles from May 2001

Opera News archives from May 2001

FESTIVAL ATMOSPHERE.(Germany)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... The Bayreuth Festival is 125 years old, and it seemed to us at OPERA NEWS that a century and a quarter of presenting the same ten operas to sold-out houses is a record deserving of observance. In "Bayreuth: Summer Pilgrimage" (page 22), Simon...

LETTERS.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2001... LOW RATINGS FOR "THE SOPRANOS" How sad for a critic of Richard Dyer's astuteness to fall into the trap of confusing recorded performance with opera-house reality ["The Sopranos," March]. Montserrat Caballe's appearances as Aida at the Met...

CORRECTION.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2001... In M. Lignana Rosenberg's record review of Cendrillon [April], the reference to Viardot's "hefty debts to, say, Gounod and Satie" should have read "to Gounod and Chopin."

OPERA WATCH.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... 1. LAUREN FLANIGAN, Queen Elizabeth I in NYCO's Roberto Devereux last fall, returns to Donizetti and Good Queen Bess on May 13, in Opera Orchestra of New York's Maria Stuarda at Carnegie Hall. Other spring engagements for Flanigan include...

ON THE BEAT.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Anne Sofie von Otter, Queen of Cool; Elizabeth Bishop in San Francisco and Ramon Vargas in Houston; Caballe faces Barcelona's men-only edict The question has been asked again and again over the past fifteen years, as "crossover" has become...

SOUND BITES: Zheng Cao.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... After tending to Cio-Cio-Sans in more than a half-dozen Madama Butterfly productions in the U.S. and Europe, Zheng Cao decided to"temporarily retire" Suzuki from her repertory a few years ago. "I loved singing her, but as an Asian-born singer,...

The Jones Boy.(Richard Jones, opera director, interview)(Interview)
May 1, 2001... MATT WOLF TALKS TO RICHARD JONES, THE FIREBRAND STAGE DIRECTOR WHO HASN'T WON ANY POPULARITY CONTESTS WITH BRITISH AUDIENCES Like any director, Richard Jones savors his triumphs: his 1995 Pelleas and Melisande, for instance, which began at...

BAYREUTH: SUMMER PILGRIMAGE.(Bayreuth Festival, Germany)
May 1, 2001... Wagner was a young man when he saw Bayreuth for the first time. Passing through on a journey from Prague to Nuremberg, he was struck by the small city "pleasantly illuminated in the evening sun." For decades, he remembered this moment. The...

BAYREUTH: WINTER RETREAT.(city in Germany where a major Wagnerian opera festival is held every year)
May 1, 2001... When I flew into Bayreuth on a wintry February evening, five months before the Wagner festival season, I tried to pretend to myself that I had never been there before, that I knew nothing whatever about the place -- that it was just another...

Inge Borkh.(opera singer, profile)
May 1, 2001... It is a popular conceit, when recalling the most recent Golden Age in opera, to claim that Maria Callas defined the concept of singing-actress for Western civilization, once and for all. She was, of course, a great practitioner. But she was...

A CLASSROOM WITH A VIEW.(Daniel Ferro creates a program for new singers in Tuscania, Italy)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... A unique voice program in the heart of Tuscan wine country Several decades ago, fresh from studies at the Juilliard School and armed with a Fulbright fellowship, Daniel Ferro discovered that Tuscany, so full of culture and history, could...

VOICES OF SUMMER.(opera concerts in Europe, calendars)
May 1, 2001... OPERA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS EUROPES TOP SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVALS It's a truth universally recognized since Pan first treated his flocks to airs on the pipe: music and green grass are an unbeatable combination, especially if, like Pan, you can...

CHICAGO ON THE AIR.(calendar of operas, radio)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... The national radio sponsor of Lyric Opera of Chicago is NUVEEN INVESTMENTS. CHICAGO RESIDENTS, PLEASE NOTE: IN THE CHICAGO AREA, THE BROADCAST OF MAY 26 WILL BEGIN ONE HOUR LATER, AT 1:30 P.M. (CT). THE QUEEN OF SPADES Music by Piotr...

"ANGELS HIDE THEIR FACES".(Review)
May 1, 2001... Dawn Upshaw [] "ANGELS HIDE THEIR FACES" Songs by Purcell; cantata BWV 199 by J. S. Bach, "Mein Herz schwimmt in Blut." With chamber ensemble. Texts and translations. Nonesuch 79605-2 Dawn Upshaw's previous Nonesuch recordings of...

PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas.(Review)
May 1, 2001... [] Dawson, Joshua, Kiehr, Bickley; Finley, Visse, Wallace, Blaze, Bowen; Clare College Chapel Choir, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Jacobs. Texts and translations. Harmonia Mundi HMC 901683 Dido and Aeneas, like Mozart's Die...

VERDI: Attila.(Review)
May 1, 2001... VERDI: Attila [] Fabbricini, Berti; Alaimo, Vassallo, Floris; Rinaldo Orchestra della Sardegna, Corale "L. Canepa," Stefanelli. Italian libretto only. Kicco Classic KC061 (2) (Qualiton, dist.) Verdi's somewhat neglected Attila may not...

HANDEL: Ariodante.(Review)
May 1, 2001... HANDEL: Ariodante [] Murray Rodgers, Kaufmann; Robson, Nilon, Chiummo, Anderson; Chor der Bayerische Staatsoper, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Bolton. Text and translations. Farao Classics B 108 030 (Empire, dist.) Any new recording of...

RICCITELLI: I Compagnacci.(Review)
May 1, 2001... RICCITELLI: I Compagnacci [] Laudi, Melac; Frusoni, Ariostini, Maurini, Tornincasa, De Angelis; Bellini Chorus, Riccitelli Orchestra of Teramo, Pirolli. Libretto and translation. Bongiovanni GB-2273 (Qualiton, dist.) Primo Riccitelli...

PETITGIRARD: Joseph Merrick dit Elephant Man.(Review)
May 1, 2001... PETITGIRARD:Joseph Merrick dit Elephant Man [] Stutzmann, Shafer, Devellereau, Koch; Breault, Rivenq, Courjal; Choeur Francais d'Opera, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Petitgirard. 1999. Text and translation. Le Chant du Monde LDC...

PICCINNI: Le Donne Vendicate.(Review)
May 1, 2001... PICCINNI: Le Donne Vendicate [] Calandra, Casucci; Sanso, Guarino; Collegium Musicum, Marrone. Text and translation. Bongiovanni GB 2282-2 (Qualiton, dist.) Niccolo Piccinni (1728-1800) was among the most celebrated composers of his...

IL TENERO MOMENTO.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Susan Graham [] "IL TENERO MOMENTO" Arias by Mozart and Gluck. Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Bicket. Texts, no translations. Erato 8573-85768-2 Susan Grahams restless intelligence has taken the lyric mezzo soprano in many...

HANDEL: ARIAS FROM RINALDO AND ORLANDO.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Ewa Podles [] "HANDEL: ARIAS FROM RINALDO AND ORLANDO" Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Orbelian. Texts and translations. Delos DE 3253 Introducing myself to this new CD while driving on the West Side Highway might have been a mistake, but...

ROMANCE.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Sergej Larin [] "ROMANCE" Western Poets in Russian Music, Volume II. Songs by Dargomyzhsky, Bortnyansky, Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Gliere, Rubinstein and others; Bekova, piano. Texts and translations. Chandos 9841 (Koch, dist.) Chandos is...

WOLF: GOETHE-LIEDER, MORIKE-LIEDER.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Barbara Hendricks [] "WOLF: GOETHE-LIEDER, MORIKE-LIEDER." Pontinen, piano. Texts and translations. EMI 56988-2 Hugo Wolf is not to be approached by the faint-hearted, from either side of the footlights (or the microphone), and Barbara...

BERLIN LIEDER.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Marilyn Horne and Robert White "BERLIN LIEDER" with Hyman, piano. Shell Castle SCCD1-02 (VAI, dist.) The title is misleading: Marilyn Horne and Robert White do not sing a syllable of German on this CD. It's a concert of the songs of...

WAGNER: The Valkyrie.(Review)
May 1, 2001... WAGNER: The Valkyrie (in English) [] Hunter, Curphey, Howard; Remedios, Bailey, Grant; English National Opera Orchestra, Goodall. English text. Chandos CHAN 3038 (4) (Koch, dist.) The Peter Moores Foundation, in addition to sponsoring...

BELLINI: La Straniera.(Review)
May 1, 2001... BELLINI: La Straniera [] Scotto, Zilio; Prior, Trimarchi, Andreolli, Mazzieri; Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice, Gracis. No text or translation. Opera d'Oro OPD 1261 (2) (Allegro, dist.) With the 1950s came the bel canto...

THE ANTHOLOGY OF HIS GREAT YEARS (1939-48).(Review)
May 1, 2001... Ferruccio Tagliavini [] "THE ANTHOLOGY OF HIS GREAT YEARS (1939-48)" Arias and scenes from L'Elisir d'Amore, La Sonnambula, Mignon, Rigoletto, Falstaff, Manon, La Boheme, Tosca, L'Arlesiana, I Quattro Rusteghi, L'Amico Fritz, I Pescatori...

SACRED SONGS.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Fritz Wunderlich [] "SACRED SONGS" Historical recordings (1956-58) of cantatas by Schutz, Telemann, Buxtehude, et al. Partial texts and translations. Hanssler Classic 93.025 If the vocal tracks were backed up by a period-instrument...

SHINE THROUGH MY DREAMS.(Review)
May 1, 2001... NOVELLO [] "SHINE THROUGH MY DREAMS" Songs, duets and ensembles from the works of Ivor Novello. With Ellis, Welch, Dickson, Gilbert, Lee, Dare, Jones, Elmes, Martin. (1935-49) Memoir CDMOIR 546 (Qualiton, dist.) Little-known in...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: CHICAGO.(Review)
May 1, 2001... To conclude his first season as music director of Lyric Opera, Andrew Davis conducted his first complete Wagner opera, Der Fliegende Hollander (Feb. 10). He'll need the experience: coming seasons have him scheduled to conduct, Parsifal and, by...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.(Review)
May 1, 2001... The Met revival of L'Italiana in Algeri (seen Feb. 2) captured the humor and color of Rossini's score, thanks to onstage teamwork and the crisp, pliable conducting of Bruno Campanella. For bel canto style, there was the pleasant, lyrical...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: ST. PETERSBURG.(Review)
May 1, 2001... "Sometimes it seems that Kitezh was not written by Rimsky-Korsakov but appeared anonymously as a divine message," says the director Dmitry Chernyakov in the program book of the Mariinsky Theater's new production of The Legend of the Invisible...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: AMSTERDAM.(Review)
May 1, 2001... A significant, recurring feature in productions by German director Alfred Kirchner is the lack, or at least the avoidance, of emotions. This was evident in two earlier productions for Netherlands Opera. A cynical Don Giovanni was saved by the...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: ZURICH.(Review)
May 1, 2001... No need to announce a special "Verdissimo festival" to commemorate the composer's death: in Zurich, Verdi is the man for all seasons, and the Opernhaus scheduled no fewer than ten different works from Nabucco to Falstaff, plus the inevitable...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MUNICH.(Review)
May 1, 2001... The Bavarian State Opera celebrated the centenary of Giuseppe Verdi's death by devoting the last two weeks of January to that composer's late works. As productions and casts of Aida, Don Carlo and Otello were familiar, interest centered around...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: LOS ANGELES.(Review)
May 1, 2001... "Figaro qua, Figaro la." The lines, of course, are from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, but "Figaro here, Figaro there" perfectly sums up the ubiquity of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro on West Coast stages in recent years. The work's...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: HOUSTON.(Review)
May 1, 2001... At his death, Borodin left Prince Igor as much a shambles as the twelfth-century Russian city of Putivl at the opera's end. Houston Grand Opera had its first go at the wreckage on January 26, offering a conflation credited to director Francesca...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: STUTTGART.(Review)
May 1, 2001... With Don Carlo (in its five-act "third edition" for Modena), Stuttgart paid anniversary tribute to Verdi on January 20 -- and a thoroughly Teutonic tribute it was, in marked contrast to the production opening the same night in Zurich (see...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SAN DIEGO.(Review)
May 1, 2001... For many months preceding Mozart's Die Zauberflote, the first fully staged production of San Diego Opera's 2000-01 season, promotional ballyhoo focused on the costumes of Zandra Rhodes, the pink-haired British fashion designer who helped put...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: FAIRFAX, VA.(Review)
May 1, 2001... Hell didn't look too frightful a place when it opened up for Don Giovanni at the end of Virginia Opera's production (Feb. 9) at the George Mason University Center for the Arts. The anti-hero was surrounded by what looked like a bevy of...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: PITTSBURGH.(Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
May 1, 2001... The Pittsburgh Symphony's "world premiere of the fully staged concert version" of Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire was a leaner, meaner version of the opera that had its premiere in San Francisco in 1998. Previn claims to have trimmed...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: HELSINKI.(Review)
May 1, 2001... A decade ago in OPERA NEWS, Patrick J. Smith reported on the successful premiere of John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer in Brussels. "There have been fine, even great, American operas, but never before one presented first with such critical...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: CARDIFF.(Welsh National Opera, Cardiff, Wales)(Review)
May 1, 2001... Welsh National Opera's new Le Nozze di Figaro was sung in Italian (Feb. 10), offering the agreeable possibility of engaging Italian singers in major roles. Outstanding among these was the Susanna of Nuccia Focile, an assumption memorable for...

CONCERTS AND RECITALS: NEW YORK CITY.(Avery Fisher Hall, New York, New York)(Review)
May 1, 2001... Leon Botstein and his American Symphony Orchestra, who gave us Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae a while back, came up with another blockbuster concert performance, Ernest Chausson's Le Roi Arthus, on February 4 at Avery Fisher Hall. Arthus (1903)...

TCHAIKOVSKY: Pique Dame.(Review)
May 1, 2001... TCHAIKOVSKY: Pique Dame [] Freni, Modl, Kasarova; Atlantov, Chernov, Leiferkus; Wiener Staatsoper Orchestra and Chorus, Ozawa, 1992. Bel Canto Society VHS BCS-0458 After many years as one of the leading producers of opera-themed...

MASSENET: Werther.(Review)
May 1, 2001... MASSENET:Werther [] Scotto, A. Peters; Kraus, Sardinero; Liceu Opera Orchestra, Guingal, 1987. Bel Canto Society VHS BCS-0457 After many years as one of the leading producers of opera-themed videotapes, Bel Canto Society remains a...

THE GLASS MOUNTAIN.(Review)
May 1, 2001... GLASS MOUNTAIN (film) [] Cortesa, Gray; Denison, Gobbi, 1948. Bel Canto Society VHS BCS-0538 After many years as one of the leading producers of opera-themed videotapes, Bel Canto Society remains a frustrating, often infuriating...

OBITUARIES.(Frances Bible, opera singer)
May 1, 2001... FRANCES BIBLE, January 26, 1919 -- January 29, 2001 Frances Bible was cheated by destiny. She never quite achieved the international recognition she deserved. Bible had it all -- a mellow, wide-ranging mezzo-soprano, an attractive...

SYMBOLS CRASH.(Review)
May 1, 2001... The use of symbols and allegories is as old as art itself. In Ovid's hands, it explained nature and humanity; in Augustine's, the will of God. In our own time, iconography and literary analysis have revealed levels of meaning that enrich our...