Opera News articles from September 1999

Opera News archives from September 1999

LETTERS.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 1999... INSIDE LA SCALA, PART I Albert Innaurato's "Inside La Scala: Temple of Music or Temple of Doom?" [July] was the best writing about Italy since Luigi Barzini's The Italians. Innaurato conveys with sensitivity and sharp humor the workings of...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
September 1, 1999... Part I of Albert Innaurato's article [July], "Inside La Scala: Temple of Music or Temple of Doom?," contained the following errors: * The names of two key members of La Scalds administration, Alberto Triola and Luca Targetti, were...

OPERAWATCH.
September 1, 1999... Pushkin's 200th birthday sparks celebrations, the Met opens with Cav/Pag, the Danes invade New York ALEXANDER PUSHKIN's 200th birthday is being celebrated throughout 1999. The Russian poet, playwright and novelist, whose works inspired...

ON THE BEAT.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Denyce Graves teams with Andrea Bocelli for Detroit Werther; early-music girl Lisa Saffer takes on Ariodante at NYCO "Oh, my God! is it time for our interview?" DENYCE GRAVES exclaims into her cell phone. "I'm here at the Saloon having...

SOUND BITES: David Walker.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... At first glance, David Walker may not look like most people's idea of an opera singer. Tall, lithe, with shoulder-length blond hair, Walker seems more like an Edward Burne-Jones painting come to life. Add to that his clear, refined countertenor...

HOT TICKETS.
September 1, 1999... As we count down to the new millennium, change is in the air--just look at the new American operas bursting onto the scene. From John Harbison's The Great Gatsby to William Bolcom's A View from the Bridge to Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy...

NINETY PROOF.(Elliott Carter's opera"What Next?")
September 1, 1999... The venerable Elliott Carter has composed his first opera, appropriately titled What Next? For more than half a century, American composer Elliott Carter (b. 1908) has been surprising and challenging audiences at home and abroad with a...

BLAME IT ON Paris.(San Francisco Opera's production of Gustave Charpentier's opera)
September 1, 1999... Montmartre comes to California when Louise, Gustave Charpentier's long-neglected tale of runaway romance, receives a brand-new production at San Francisco Opera this month Is Louise ready for a comeback? San Francisco Opera thinks so. The...

THE FAN CLUB.(appreciating opera)
September 1, 1999... Obsessive. Opinionated. Argumentative. Irrational. And sometimes downright rude. I fell in love with classically trained voices early in life. At age six or seven, I was cutting my teeth (and probably some of my auditory nerves) on the...

Opera on the Couch.(a psychotherapist's love for opera)
September 1, 1999... A psychotherapist listens to opera I'm a psychotherapist and an avid opera fan. Not long ago, a young woman came to me for therapy. She was struggling with some of life's basic problems, primarily with leaving home and finding her own true...

WHAT'S THE GREATEST VOICE YOU EVER HEARD?
September 1, 1999... What's the greatest voice you ever heard? Can you choose just one, or does your answer include a dozen names and countless conditions? OPERA NEWS asked a number of performers and singing connoisseurs to name the greatest voice they ever heard....

The Art of the Natural.(opera's natural voice)
September 1, 1999... STEPHEN HASTINGS examines the illusion of spontaneity in singing Opera has often been considered the most artificial of all entertainment, yet its primary expressive medium -- singing -- is perhaps the oldest and certainly the most natural...

MOZART, SCHIKANEDER et al.: Der Stein der Weisen (The Philosopher's Stone).(Review)
September 1, 1999... MOZART, SCHIKANEDER et al.: Der Stein der Weisen (The Philosopher's Stone) Lovat, Giering-De Haan, S. Baker; P. A. Kelly Deas, Streit, Trakas, A. Ewing; Boston Baroque orchestra and chorus, Pearlman. Text and translation. Telarc CD-80508...

MOZART: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail.(Review)
September 1, 1999... MOZART: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail Schafer, Petibon; Bostridge, Paton, A. Ewing, Low; Les Arts Florissants, Christie. Text and translations. Erato 3984-25490-2 (2) How can we play the same operas over and over again? Les Arts...

GLASS: the CIVIL warS.(Review)
September 1, 1999... GLASS: the CIVIL wars ACT V: The Rome Section. Radvanovsky, Graves; Sabbatini, Zhou, Morscheck; L. Anderson, R. Wilson (narrators). Morgan State University Choir, American Composers Orchestra, Davies. Libretto. Nonesuch 79487 Stage...

GOUNOD: Faust.(Review)
September 1, 1999... GOUNOD: Faust Plazas, Montague, Sar. Walker; Clarke, Miles, Magee; Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Parry. In English, with text. Chandos CHN CD 3014 (3) (Koch, dist.) At British companies, the Royal Opera excepted,...

MENOTTI: The Consul.(Review)
September 1, 1999... MENOTTI: The Consul Bullock, Kreitzer, Livengood, Manci, Wiper; Otey, Austin, Eckhoff, Murray; Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Hickox. Chandos CHAN 9706 (2) (Koch, dist.) Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul, which opened on Broadway in 1950,...

BLOW: Venus and Adonis.(Review)
September 1, 1999... BLOW: Venus and Adonis Joshua, Kiehr; Finley, Blaze, Josey Bowen, Brown; Clare College Chapel Choir, Brown; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Jacobs. Text and translations. Harmonia Mundi 901684 John Blow's Venus and Adonis...

MONCKTON and TALBOT: The Arcadians.(Review)
September 1, 1999... MONCKTON and TALBOT: The Arcadians S. Woods, Warchol, McKee; Neer, Dow, R. Stevenson; Ohio Light Opera, Thompson. English text. Newport Classic NPD 85665/2 (Allegro, dist.) The Arcadians, by critic-composer Lionel Monckton and...

Hei-Kyung Hong and Jennifer Larmore.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Hei-Kyung Hong and Jennifer Larmore "BELLEZZA VOCALE" Duets from operas by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Delibes, Offenbach, Humperdinck, Puccini and R. Strauss. Muncher Rundfunkorchester, Lopez-Cobos. Texts and...

Maria Cristina Kiehr.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Maria Cristina Kiehr "MONTEVERDI: PIANTO DELLA MADONNA" Motets for Solo Voice. Concerto Soave, Aymes. English and Latin librettos. Harmonia Mundi France HMC 901680 Claudio Monteverdi's solo motets exploit the expressive scope of the...

Charlotte Church.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Charlotte Church "VOICE OF AN ANGEL" Huelyn (harp & Celtic harp). Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Edwards. Texts and translations. Sony Classical SK 60957 Once you get past the hype, Charlotte Church ("the...

Nathan Gunn.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Nathan Gunn "AMERICAN ANTHEM: FROM RAGTIME TO ART SONG" Songs by Gorney, Ives, Copland, Rorem, Scheer, Musto et al. K. Murphy (piano). Texts and translations available from www.emiclassics.com. EMI 73160 Baritone Nathan Gunn selects an...

Katarina Karneus.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Katarina Karneus SONGS by R. Strauss, Mahler, Marx. Vignoles (piano). Texts and translations available from www.emiclassics.com. EMI 73163 The two most recent singers featured in EMI's Debut Series are mezzo-sopranos who have come to...

Michelle DeYoung.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Michelle DeYoung SONGS by Duparc, Wagner, Liszt, R. Strauss. K. Murphy (piano). Texts and translations available from www.emiclassics.com. EMI 73163 The two most recent singers featured in EMI's Debut Series are mezzo-sopranos who have...

Veronique Gens.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Veronique Gens "LUCREZIA" Three cantatas by Georg Frideric Handel. With Fernandez, Glodeanu (violins), Les Basses Reunies. Texts and translations. Virgin Veritas 45283 2 3 The three secular cantatas collected on this disc show the...

Eva Lind, Andrea Rost, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Thomas Hampson.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Eva Lind, Andrea Rost, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Thomas Hampson "A TRIBUTE TO OPERETTA" Selections from operettas by Franz Lehar. Budapest Philharmonic, Viotti. No texts or translations. Deutsche Grammophon 289 459 658-2 Even...

Angela Gheorghiu, Anne Sofie von Otter, Maxim Vengerov et al.
September 1, 1999... Angela Gheorghiu, Anne Sofie von Otter, Maxim Vengerov et al. "SIR GEORG SOLTI: A CELEBRATION" London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mehta, Rostropovich. Texts and translations. London 289 466 000-2 The purpose of this recording is two-fold:...

STRAUSS: Die Fledermaus.(Review)
September 1, 1999... STRAUSS: Die Fledermaus Eipperle, Beilke, Schilp; Marischka, Fidesser, Husch, Rex; Reichssender Frankfurt Orchestra, Rosbaud. 1936. Koch-Schwann 31648 (2) One way to observe the 1999 Johann Strauss centennial is by listening to this...

WAGNER: Lohengrin.(Review)
September 1, 1999... WAGNER: Lohengrin Rigo, Nemethy; Simandy, Jambor, Losonczy, Remenyi; Chorus and Orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera, Klemperer. 1948. Sung in Hungarian. Grammophono 2000 AB 78 886/88 (Allegro, dist.) After a severe illness that left...

Phyllis Curtin.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Phyllis Curtin "CANTIGAS Y CANCIONES OF LATIN AMERICA" Songs by Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, Fernandez, Galindo, Caturla et al. Edwards (piano). 1964. Translations only. Vanguard Classics SVC-114 (Allegro, dist.) Phyllis Curtin...

Sigrid Onegin.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Sigrid Onegin "VOLUME 1" Arias and lieder. No texts. Nimbus Prima Voce NI 7898 Though her natural timbre was that of a contralto, Stockholm-born Sigrid Onegin (1889-1943) easily assayed the principal mezzo-soprano roles. In the...

Pasquale Amato.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Pasquale Amato ARIAS. No texts. Nimbus Prima Voce NI 7897 Though her natural timbre was that of a contralto, Stockholm-born Sigrid Onegin (1889-1943) easily assayed the principal mezzo-soprano roles. In the opening Brindisi from...

NEW, EXPANDED RECORDINGS COVERAGE.(Web site reviews)(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Look for the following recording reviews, which appear exclusively in the September Online edition of OPERA NEWS: New recordings of Le Nozze di Figaro (Accent), The Chocolate Soldier and The Bayadere (Newport Classic); 1912 Romeo et Juliette,...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: PARIS.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Two new productions were offered at Opera National de Paris this spring -- Don Giovanni and Alcina. The former (seen June 5), unfortunately, was blighted by theater director Dominique Pitoiset's production; though his direction of the actors...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: LONDON.(Review)
September 1, 1999... The playwright Congreve -- best known for his brilliant comedy The Way oft he World (1701) -- wrote the libretto to Semele for the now largely forgotten English composer John Eccles in 1705-06, but Eccles' setting failed to make it to the...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: TURIN.(Review)
September 1, 1999... In one of her now rare opera performances, Renata Scotto appeared at the Teatro Regio in a double bill of Poulenc's La Voix Humaine and Menotti's The Medium. Both were composed during her lifetime (the former when she was already a rising...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: HELSINKI.(Review)
September 1, 1999... After a joyous Siegfried last year, Finnish National Opera completed its new Ring cycle in May with a Gotterdammerung that emphasized the opera's dark side. The new production, like those before it, was full of insights born of director Gotz...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SEVILLE.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Even with the king, the queen and a princess watching from the first row of the Grand Tier, Placido Domingo ruled in Seville's Teatro de la Maestranza at the May 4 premiere of a gorgeous new production of Le Cid. July marked the 900th...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.(L'Opera Francais de New York )(Review)
September 1, 1999... Through its eleven-year history, L'Opera Francais de New York (OFNY) has developed a formula that adroitly abets its mission to champion French opera among non-French listeners. The group's productions typically boast polished musical work, a...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: ATLANTA.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Atlanta Opera's Macbeth (seen May 2) proved intelligent and satisfying, despite less than ideal casting. It's a rare director who is able to overcome the insipid music Verdi wrote for the chorus of Witches, but Jay Lesenger pulled off this feat...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: CHICAGO.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Chicago Opera Theater concluded its twenty-fifth season with a joyous celebration of Leonard Bernstein. The musical revue, There Is a Garden: The Musical Genius of Leonard Bernstein, was newly created by soprano Angelina Reaux, who also...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SEATTLE.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Sustained applause and thirty-six curtain calls greeted the 1931 premiere of Deems Taylor's Peter Ibbetson at the Metropolitan Opera, which had commissioned the opera following the success of Taylor's earlier The King's Henchman. Yet after a...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: CINCINNATI.(Review)
September 1, 1999... The May Festival kicked off its season on the 13th with the American premiere of David Drew's adaptation of Kurt Weill's Die Propheten (The Prophets), from the composer's sprawling theatrical-Biblical epic Der Weg der Verheissung. Renamed The...

THE QUEEN OF SPADES.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... THE METROPOLITAN OPERA PRESENTS TELECAST OF SEPTEMBER 8, 1999, ON PBS AT 8 P.M.(ET)(*) Music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky, after the story by Alexander Pushkin THE CAST Gherman ...

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Autumn Journey; A Franz Schubert Recital.(Bruno Monsaingeon's )(Review)
September 1, 1999... Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Autumn Journey; A Franz Schubert Recital NVC Arts/Warner Music VHS 23031-3 (2), 3 hrs. 8 mins. At one point in Bruno Monsaingeon's 1995 documentary Dietrich FischerDieskau: Autumn Journey, the German baritone...

Maria Callas, Sacred Monster.(Review)
September 1, 1999... Maria Callas, Sacred Monster by Stelios Galatopoulos Simon & Schuster, 564 pp. $35 Does the world need another book about Maria Callas? Stelios Galatopoulos, the author of Callas La Divina (1966) and Callas, Prima Donna Assoluta (1976),...

OBITUARIES.(Obituary)
September 1, 1999... ANTHONY L. STIVANELLO, Venice, Italy, Oct. 18, 1907 -- New York City May 24, 1999 Anthony L. Stivanello, a stage director and costumer, worked for more than seventy years with scores of American and foreign opera companies. Born in Venice,...

WHEN THE MUSIC STARTS -- SHUT UP.(Brief Article)
September 1, 1999... Last spring, I was attending Susannah at the Metropolitan Opera House, seconds away from the moment in the opera that we all wait for: Susannah's "The trees on the mountain." Renee Fleming was in fine voice, and as she came wandering through...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY (2).
September 1, 1999... Jessye Norman is a woman who dares. In "How! Do! We! Do!," her new collaboration with dancer-choreographer Bill T. Jones (May 24, seen 27), the soprano matches the dancer movement for movement in a long opening sequence before she sings a note....