Opera News articles from October 2003

Opera News archives from October 2003

Off the beaten track.(Viewpoint)
October 1, 2003... The business of recording classical vocal music has been through several Golden Ages--the advent of the LP; the glory days of sumptuously packaged full-length opera recordings; the sharp, sleek convenience of the CD. It is now in a period of...

In praise of Sherrill Milnes.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I opened the August issue of OPERA NEWS with great eagerness to read the article on Sherrill Milnes, only to be saddened and disgusted by Peter G. Davis's ill-considered and condescending carping at the expense of one of the most thrilling...

Tuned in.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... Bravo, Brian Kellow! I can only add my second to everything written in the August Coda and beg indulgence to add a few personal notes. Mr. Kellow's discussion of John Rockwell's convoluted New York Times article struck a nerve with me. I...

Opera watch.(Ben Heppner, Great Performances on Public Broadcasting Service, Deutsche Grammophon to issues DVDs)
October 1, 2003... 1. On October 1, at 6:15 P.M., BEN HEPPNER will be interviewed at Lincoln Center's Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse by Rudolph S. Rauch, as part of THE METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD LECTURE SERIES. Other October events will include a lecture by Bridget...

When choosing her opera subjects, Thea Musgrave often has exhibited a weakness for historical figures (Mary, Queen of Scots; Harriet, The Woman Called Moses; and Simon Bolivar), and with her new work, Pontalba, which bows on October 2 at New Orleans Opera, she runs true to form.(On The Beat)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... When choosing her opera subjects, THEA MUSGRAVE often has exhibited a weakness for historical figures (Mary, Queen of Scots; Harriet, The Woman Called Moses; and Simon Bolivar), and with her new work, Pontalba, which bows on October 2 at New...

This month at Detroit's Michigan Opera Theatre, Steven Mercurio leads a revival of Zack Brown's production of Un Ballo in Maschera.(On The Beat)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... This month at Detroit's Michigan Opera Theatre, STEVEN MERCURIO leads a revival of ZACK BROWN's production of Un Ballo in Maschera. While many conductors are quick to point out the Herculean challenges of whatever score they're working on at...

"I'm repeating myself!" exclaims Lisa Saffer in mock-euphoric tones.(On The Beat)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... "I'm repeating myself!" exclaims LISA SAFFER in mock-euphoric tones. "This is the most exciting thing in my life--I get to sing things more than once!" A case in point: Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera, which she performed last summer at England's...

In November, bass Mark S. Doss makes his Covent Garden debut as Amonasro, in Robert Wilson's Aida.(On The Beat)
October 1, 2003... In November, bass MARK S. DOSS makes his Covent Garden debut as Amonasro, in ROBERT WILSON's Aida. Doss feels that the bass repertory might benefit from having a wider range of interpreters alternating in the big roles. "I can think of times in...

Sound bites.(Ana Maria Martinez)
October 1, 2003... Ana Maria Martinez considers Mozart's Pamina "a good friend--she has been true blue for me." Martinez first sang the role in Giessen, Germany, in the 1994-95 season, and she stars in San Francisco Opera's Die Zauberflote this fall [Sept. 9-Oct....

Treasure hunt: Cecilia Bartoli ferrets out the forgotten geniuses of the opera world.(mezzo sopranos views on Antonio Salieri)(Interview)
October 1, 2003... He was asked to write the first opera ever performed at La Scala. He taught Beethoven the art of Italian word-setting. He was a central figure in the Academy Award-winning Milos Forman film Amadeus. Now Antonio Salieri is really going to hit...

Rediscovering Salieri.(Antonio Salieri)
October 1, 2003... Discovering a composer, becoming familiar with his music and then making the choice of what to perform is a process that always fills me with excitement. This is especially true when it concerns composers who are rarely or not at all performed...

La Forza di Licitra: Salvatore Licitra's last-minute Met debut in TOSCA made front-page headlines in 2002. What lies in store for the new tenor sensation?(Biography)
October 1, 2003... Salvatore Licitra is M.I.A. for his OPERA NEWS interview. Soon the word comes: "He's at Columbus Circle, and running!" A few minutes later, Licitra bounds breathlessly through the door at One Lincoln Plaza, all smiles and apologies. "We make...

Decline and fall: Greg Sandow ponders what's left of the classical-recording industry.(economic aspects and anlysis)
October 1, 2003... In 1959--when the classical-record business was in vibrant health--the Decca record company released the first studio recording ever made of Wagner's Das Rheingold. Nobody knew, back then, whether there was any market for recordings of Wagner's...

In plain English: British philanthropist Peter Moores spends millions of dollars to support performances and recordings of operas in his own language.
October 1, 2003... It doesn't take much to get Peter Moores going on the subject of opera in English. "Take Lucia di Lammermoor," he says. "You're used to listening to it in Italian, you know it by heart in Italian, and you have no fucking idea what the woman is...

Rara mediums: for twenty-five years, Opera Rara has built a catalogue of recordings by neglected bel canto masters such as Mayr, Mercadante and Pacini.(Company Profile)(Biography)
October 1, 2003... It must have seemed a crazy, idea at the time, and perhaps it still does. In London, in the early 1970s, two enthusiasts decided to present concerts of forgotten operas. They started simply, with a handful of singers and musicians performing...

Free radical: William R. Braun talks to conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, one of classical mavericks.(Interview)
October 1, 2003... Salzburg Festival 2002. The curtain has just fallen on a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, directed by Martin Kusej and conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In Austria, Don Giovanni is nearly as familiar as the national anthem, and a...

The Case of the Downloaded Diva: a hitherto unpublished fragment from the memoirs of John H. Watson, M.D. Transcribed by THEODORE DEACON and WILLIAM DUNLOP, with the generous assistance of Brian Bailey.(MP3 Web sites)
October 1, 2003... When I entered the room, Holmes, as is his wont nowadays, was seated at his computer. But he was also listening to an unfamiliar tenor voice. "What do you make of him, Watson?" "Apart from the obvious facts that he was born in the...

Beautiful-looking sound.(Sight And Sound)(DVD players)(Buyers Guide)
October 1, 2003... As any Boy Scout knows, it's good to be prepared. With more and more of the best contemporary classical-music performances appearing on DVD video, you may want to invest now in some extra equipment--the right DVD player and possibly an upgrade...

Rossini: The Thieving Magpie.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... ROSSINI: The Thieving Maqpie Cullagh, Jones, Bickley, Scales; Banks, Kale, Smythe, Purves, White; Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Parry. English text. Chandos CHAN 3097 (2) Strong casting, strong conducting and...

Schreker: Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... Henning, Mayer; Schopflin; Kiel Opera Choruses, Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, Windfuhr. Text and translation. CPO 999 958-2 (2) (Naxos, dist.) In March 1913, when Franz Schreker's "Mysterium" Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin (The Musical...

Handel: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... Piau, Mingardo; Naouri; Le Concert d'Astree, Hairn. Text and translation. Virgin Varitas CDC 45557 (2) The serenata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (actually a small one-act opera for three voices) was written in 1708, during the brief Neapolitan...

Dyson: Quo Vadis.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... Barker, Rigby; Langridge, Williams; Chamber Choir of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, Hickox. Texts. Chandos CHAN 10061(2) This nine-movement oratorio, composed just before and during...

Rossini/Niedermeyer: Robert Bruce.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Tamar, Balabanova; Rivenq, Edwards, Cicchetti, Chiarolla, Chikviladze, Naviglio; Bratislava Chamber Choir, Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia, Arrivabeni. Text and translation. Dynamic 421/1-2 (Qualiton, dist.) In 1844, at the age of...

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Bonney Fulgoni; Goerne, Winbergh: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chailly. Texts and translations. Decca B0000029-02 For a long time, it was customary to perform certain songs from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn cycle as duets. These...

Bach: St. Matthew Passion.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] York, Gooding, Kozena, Bickley; Padmore, Gilchrist, Harvey, Loges; Gabrieli Players, McCreesh. Text and translation. DG Archly 4742002 (2) Few musical concepts have been so championed and ridiculed by scholars and performers alike as...

Prokofiev: Scythian Suite; Alexander Nevsky.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Borodina; Kirov Orchestra and Chorus, Gergiev. Transliteration and translation. Philips 289 473 600-2 Gergiev conducting Prokofiev with the Kirov on Philips remains a potent combination. The latest evidence is a new recording of the...

Neil Shicoff.(Neil Shicoff Live)(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] "NEIL SHICOFF LIVE" With Chernov. Arias and duets by Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Gounod, Halevy, Puccini and Bizet. Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Luisi; Chaslin; Viotti. No text or translation. Orfeo C 561 031A (Qualiton, dist.) Neil...

Elizabeth Futral "Great Operatic Arias".(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... by Handel Donizetti, Rossini, Mozart, Bellini, Berlioz, Gounod, Delibes, Floyd, Offenbach. Philharmonia Orchestra, White. English texts. Chandos CHAN 3096 It must be pretty difficult these days to pitch a recording of "arias I like"...

Leif Ove Andsnes and Ian Bostridge.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... Texts and translations. EMI Classics 57509 This disc, part of an ongoing series of Schubert recordings by pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and tenor Ian Bostridge, kicks off with Andsnes's fascinating, virtuoso performance of the D-major sonata....

Leopold Stokowski.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Mussorgsky: Eleven scenes from Boris Godunov; Wagner: "Good Friday Spell," "symphonic synthesis" from Parsifal. With Rossi-Lemeni, Mason, Cauwet; San Francisco Symphony, Stokowski Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera Chorus, Stokowski....

Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Horne; Alva, Montarsolo, Dara, Rinaldi; La Scala, Abbado. 1975. Notes and synopsis but no libretto. Opera d'Oro 0PD-1382 (Allegro, dist.) It's too bad that the recorded sound here is uneven, with the voices often in the background and...

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Zareska; Christoff, Gedda, Bielecki, Borg; Russian Choir of Paris, French National Radio Orchestra, Dobrowen. 1952. No libretto. Pearl GEMS 0188 (3) (Koch, dist.) A generation of Westerners grew up with this performance as "the" Boris....

Janine Micheau.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Songs and arias by Debussy. Chabrier, Gounod, Thomas, Proch, Charpentier and Bizet. L'Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Bigot; L'Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire, Fournet, Desormiere, conds. No texts. Pearl GEM 0186...

Wagner: Die Meistersinqer von Nurnberg.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... Della Casa, Malaniuk; Hopf, Unger, Edelmann, Planzl, Bohme, Faulhaber; Bayreuth Festspiele, Knappertsbusch. 1952. No notes or libretto. Archipel ARPCD 0111-4 (Qualiton, dist.) In the summer of 1951, when the Bayreuth Festival reopened for...

Wolfgang Brendel.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... by Rossini, Mozart, Offenbach, Gounod, Wagner and Verdi. Chorus, Orchestra of the Munich Radio, Wallberg. 1981. No texts or translations. Orfeo C 177 021 A (Qualiton, dist.) Wolfgang Brendel made his Met debut as Mozart's Count Almaviva in...

Verdi: Otello.(Video Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Magee, Kammerloher; Franz, Alexeyev, Rugamer, Youn, Schmidt, Wolf, Staatskapelle Berlin, Barenboim. ArtHaus Musik DVD 100 347 (Naxos, dist.), 157 mins. Here we go again. People who live in glass houses--especially modern glass houses...

Monteverdi: II Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria.(Video Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Kasarova, Hartelius, Rey, Jankova, Kallisch; Henschel, Kaufmann, Schasching, Mayr, Zysset, Mohr, Oro, Daniluk, Scorsin, Scharinger, Bidzinski; Orchestra La Scintilla of the Opernhaus Zurich, Harnoncourt. ArtHaus Musik DVD 100 353 (Naxos,...

Bizet: Carmen.(Video Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Von Otter, Milne; Haddock, Naouri; Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Jordan. Spoken-text version. BBC/Opus Arte DVD OA 0868 D (Naxos, dist.), 220 mns. Director David McVicar declares, in an extra feature on this DVD, "This is the first...

Donizetti: La Fille du Regiment.(Video Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Devia, Podles; Kelly, Pratico, Borioli; Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Renzetti. TDK DVD DVUS OPLFDR (Naxos, dist.), 135 mins. In recent years, opera houses often have offered radically updated stagings paired with historically...

Regine Crespin.(Sound Recording Review)
October 1, 2003... [] Arias and songs by Berlioz, Schumann, Schubert, Faure, Roussel et al. Orchestre Philharmonique de l'ORTE Hartemann; Ivaldi, Reiss, piano. Bonus: Denise Duval, arias and songs by Poulenc. Poulenc, piano. EMI Classics/Classic Archive DVD DVA...

From around the world: New York City.(North America)(Kirov Opera Company)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... The Kirov's three-week, six-work visit to New York last July, in connection with St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary, brought enthusiastic though hardly overflow crowds to the Met. So many Russian immigrants attended that, following a few...

From around the world: St. Louis.(North America)(Opera Theatre of Saint Louis)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... Cast as the lovelorn "Older Woman" in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's American premiere production of Jonathan Dove's Flight (seen June 19), Myrna Paris bustled into the opera's airport-lounge setting in a screaming-green Chanel suit and firmly...

From around the world: Katonah, NY.(North America ... Elisabeth, ou la Fille de l'Exile receives its world premiere)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... For decades, the "Rossini renaissance" has hogged the headlines, the result of a high-profile critical edition, a charismatic crop of Rossini singers and the unassailable staying power of his comic operas, seemingly tailor-made for present-day...

From around the world: Annadale-on-Hudson, NY.(North America ... Janacek's Osud receives its American premiere)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... The centerpiece of" Bard Music Festival's exploration of the music and world of Leos Janacek was the American stage pre miere of Osud (July 25). Its conversation piece, however, was (hands down) the stunning if idiosyncratic Performing Arts...

From around the word: Vienna, VA.(North America)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... The more-or-less postmodern sets and costumes looked a little tired, but there was considerable musical urgency in Wolf Trap Opera's performance of La Clemenza di Tito June 28, starting with the crisply played overture (thankfully,...

From around the world: Cincninnati.(North America ... )(Norma and La Traviata )(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... Since the arrival of artistic director Nicholas Muni, Cincinnatians have become accustomed to unusual repertoire and updated productions. This year, however, Cincinnati borrowed Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of La Traviata, an...

From around the world: Glydebourne.(International)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... Back in the early 1930s, when John Christie was pondering adding a small opera house to his Sussex country estate, his heart was set on the performance of Wagner. He had it in mind to develop at Glyndebourne the unlikely proposition of an...

From around the world: Aix-en-Provence.(International)(Festival d'Aix-en-Provence)
October 1, 2003... This year's Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, normally one of the highlights of Europe's summer season, was the shortest and most dramatic season of its history. The drama, however, did not unfold in the courtyard of the Archbishop's palace or in the...

From around the world: Orange.(International ... Otello by Giuseppe Verdi)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... As at the other principal French summer music festivals, strike action by part-time theater workers cast a shadow over the 2003 Choregies d'Orange. The unions involved were reluctant to cancel this particular festival, believing that to do so...

From around the world: London.(International ... Franco Zeffirelli brings an innovative production of Pagliacci)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... The circus came to town when Franco Zeffirelli's all-singing, all-dancing spectacular Pagliacci, first seen in Rome in 1992, arrived at the Royal Opera House (July 10). It's been more than forty years since the company staged a new production...

From around the world: St. Petersburg.(International ... the Marrinsky Theatre's production of the Ring of the Nibelungen was the first in Russia in 100 years)(Opera Review)
October 1, 2003... The Mariinsky Theatre made good on its promise to stage Wagner's Ring cycle complete during the 2003 White Nights Festival, but in the process the company's capacity for hard work was tested far more than it could have expected. After the first...

Obituaries.(Walter Taussig)(Harold C. Schonberg)(John Schlesinger)(Obituary)
October 1, 2003... Walter Taussig, Vienna, February 9, 1908-New York, NY, July 31, 2003 A member of the music staff at the Metropolitan Opera since 1949, Taussig was the company's associate conductor at the time of his death. Taussig was a 1928 graduate of...

Houston Grand Opera radio broadcasts.(Calendar)
October 1, 2003... This year, four different broadcasters are presenting Houston Grand Opera performances, beginning October 18: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO'S WORLD OF OPERA, WQXR 96.3 FM'S SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE OPERA, THE EUROPEAN BROADCAST UNION and AUSTRALIAN...

Dateline.(Calendar)
October 1, 2003... METROPOLITAN OPERA (Metropolitan Opera House, 212-362-6000; www.metopera.org) Oct. 1 Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart). Rtischmann, Harteros, Karneus; J. Relyea, D. Croft; Levine, Miller/Guarino, Davison/Acheson Oct. 2 La Traviata (Verdi)....

Broadway babies.(CODA)(opera singers in musicals)(Interview)
October 1, 2003... After his opera-singing days had ended, the legendary bass Ezio Pinza became a Broadway matinee idol in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. We asked several major singers what their dream role would have been had they taken the other fork...