Opera News articles from September 2000

Opera News archives from September 2000

A BACKWARD GLANCE.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The first Met season that falls entirely in the new millennium opens this month, and for its first new production, the company has chosen Fidelio -- an opera whose heroine thwarts a dictator's plot to murder her husband. Sometimes, a...

LETTERS.
September 1, 2000... TWO ENGLISH DIRECTORS ?? Leighton Kerner's instructive, provocative "Right and Wrong Directions" [June] is as erudite and impeccable as is to be expected from that veteran music critic. However, he erroneously credits director Graham Vick...

OPERA WATCH.
September 1, 2000... Paris Operas Palais Gamier gets a facelift, van Dam returns to the Met stage as Golaud Despite the existence of the newer and larger Bastille Opera, for most people, the ornate PALAIS GARNIER on the Place de l'Opera is still the OPERA DE...

ON THE BEAT.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Terfel recovers from back surgery in time to open the Met season; Packard, star of Dead Man Walking, speaks out against the death penalty Knock wood for BRYN TERFEL when he opens the Met season as Don Giovanni on September 25. In November...

CORRECTION.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Eastern Connecticut State University sends students to performances at Hartford's Connecticut Opera, not Stamford's Connecticut Grand Opera, as I stated in my June column.

HAYDN'S HOMELAND.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... MARGARET SHAKESPEARE visits Burgenland's Haydn Festival While many hands have woven and rewoven the elaborate Viennese cultural tapestry, the musical heritage of neighboring Burgenland belongs incontrovertibly to one, the remarkable Franz...

SOUND BITES: John Relyea.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Alidoro, the Prince's tutor and Cinderella's fairy-godfather-by-default, isn't a central attraction in La Cenerentola. But John Relyea turned the challenge into a stellar calling card when he made his Met debut last season. He sang with rare...

Sound and Fury.(New York City Opera - off to a bad start with microphones/sound reinforcement)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Last season, New York City Opera announced its controversial "sound enhancement" system. After a year's worth of listening, MARTIN BERNHEIMER files a follow-up report It's called progress, or so they tell us. In 1948, Broadway was...

Margaret Whiting.(Interview)
September 1, 2000... Ask anyone in the pop-music world to name the nicest woman in show business, and you may be surprised by how many people answer "Margaret Whiting." The daughter of the great songwriter Richard Whiting ("`Till We Meet Again," "Louise," "Beyond...

SIGHT AND SOUND: THE WALKMAN -- TWENTY YEARS AND SHRINKING.(Evaluation)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... It changed the way we exercise, the way we travel and, in a very real sense, the way we listen to music. Twenty years ago, Sony introduced the Walkman[TM] -- a simple, palm-sized cassette player, complete with lightweight headphones -- and gave...

HOT TICKETS!(opera productions)
September 1, 2000... REBECCA PALLER PICKS THE BEST BETS FOR THE NEW SEASON Let's face it -- the aim of most staged opera productions is to breathe new life into old bones. So when a new opera is about to be born, hopes are naturally high that the new kid will...

QUANTUM LEAP.(Karita Mattila, opera singer)(Interview)
September 1, 2000... Once regarded as a pallid "Scandi-soprano," Karita Matilla has become one of the most arresting artists of our time "Excuse me," the stranger said. (Picture Cary Grant.) "Are you Karita Mattila?" As the lithe, long-stemmed platinum...

FAITH HEALER.(Dead Man Walking, opera)
September 1, 2000... SISTER HELEN PREJEAN'S BOOK DEAD MAN WALKING BECAME AN ACCLAIMED FILM IN 1995. NOW JAKE HEGGIE AND TERRENCE MCNALLY HAVE TURNED IT INTO AN OPERA FOR SAN FRANCISCO. The curtain opens on a lakeshore in Louisiana late at night. A teenaged...

CHAMPIONSHIP SEASONS.(world premieres by Houston Grand Opera)
September 1, 2000... Twenty-five world premieres in twenty-five years? In the past quarter-century, Houston Grand Opera has a record for producing new works that leaves all other American companies eating Texas dust "Is the first London performance, by English...

FACE TO FACE: Beverly Sills and Lauren Flanigan.(production of Roberto Devereux, opera)(Interview)
September 1, 2000... In 1970, Beverly Sills launched her famous "Three Queens Trilogy" at New York City Opera by singing Elizabeth I in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux. Now, NYCO has revived Devereux for powerhouse diva Lauren Flanigan. Recently the two sopranos...

BACH: Cantatas BWV 82, 158, 56.(Review)
September 1, 2000... BACH: Cantatas BWV 82,158, 56 [] Goerne; Salzburg Bach Chorus and Camerata Academica Salzburg, Norrington. Texts and translations. Decca 289 466570-2 The opening of Cantata BMV 82 (Ich habe genug), which leads off this all-Bach program,...

BRITTEN: Billy Budd.(Review)
September 1, 2000... BRITTEN: Billy Budd [] Keenlyside, Langridge, Tomlinson; London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Hickox. Chandos CHAN 9826 (3) The appearance of a fourth recording of Billy Budd shows how completely its reputation has changed since it fell...

MARTINU: Les Larmes du Couteau; Hlas Lesa.(Review)
September 1, 2000... MARTINU: Les Larmes du Couteau; Hlas Lesa [] Jonasova, Kaupova, Smidova; Brezina, Janal, Okenko, Harvanek; Chamber Choir, Prague Philharmonia, Belohlavek. Texts and translations. Supraphon 3386-2 631 (Qualiton, dist.) These world-premiere...

"SERENADE".(Review)
September 1, 2000... David Daniels [] "SERENADE" Songs of Beethoven, Schubert, Gluck, Cesti, Lotti, Gounod, Vaughan Williams, Poulenc and Purcell; Katz, piano. Texts and translations. Virgin Classics 7243 5 45400 2 8 What's that? You don't like countertenors?...

"AN DIE FERNE GELIEBTE".(Review)
September 1, 2000... Wolfgang Holzmair [] "AN DIE FERNE GELIEBTE" Song cycle by Beethoven, plus songs of Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn; I. Cooper, piano. Philips 454 475-2 What's that? You don't like countertenors? They sound unnatural, hooty, affected, a little...

"VERDI HEROINES".(Review)
September 1, 2000... Angela Gheorghiu [] "VERDI HEROINES" Arias from I Vespri Siciliani, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Aida, Il Trovatore, Un Ballo in Maschera, Simon Boccanegra, La Forza del Destino and Otello. Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Chailly. Texts...

"HANDEL".(Review)
September 1, 2000... Maria Bayo [] "HANDEL" Arias from Alcina, Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo and two cantatas (HWV 170 and 140); Capriccio Stravagante, Sempe. Texts and translations. Astree E8674 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) The predominant tone throughout this Handel...

"NUIT D'ETOILES".(Review)
September 1, 2000... Veronique Gens [] "NUIT D'ETOILES" Songs by Faure Debussy and Poulenc; Vignoles, piano. Texts and translations, Virgin 7243 5 45360 2 1 A thoroughly persuasive interpretation of the dazzling Poulenc cycle Banalites is the high point of...

"OPERA GALA".(Review)
September 1, 2000... Alessandra Marc [] "OPERA GALA" Arias and orchestral selections by Bellini Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Strauss and Barber, Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Litton. Delos DE 3240 Alessandra Marc is a soprano blessed with a voice of such...

"THE UNPUBLISHED EMI RECORDINGS, 1955-1958: BACH AND MOZART".(Review)
September 1, 2000... Elisabeth Schwarzkopf [] "THE UNPUBLISHED EMI RECORDINGS, 1955-1958: BACH AND MOZART" Cantatas and arias by J. S. Bach and Mozart; Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Ackermann and Dart. Texts and translations. Testament SBT 1178 (Harmonia Mundi,...

"HANDEL OPERA ARIAS AND OVERTURES 2".(Review)
September 1, 2000... Emma Kirkby [] "HANDEL OPERA ARIAS AND OVERTURES 2" Arias and instrumental pieces, 1729--41. Brandenburg Consort, Goodman. Texts and translations. Hyperion CDA67128 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.) These two discs, each a marvelous contribution to...

LACHIUSA: The Wild Party.(Review)
September 1, 2000... LACHIUSA: The Wild Party [] Collette, Kitt; Patinkin, Arias; Ellison. Text. Decca Broadway 012 159 003-2 Michael John LaChiusa is as prolific as he is innovative. This past season two of his shows made it to Broadway: Marie Christine and...

DOYLE, PORTER, GERSHWIN, KERN, BERLIN: Love's Labour's Lost.(Review)
September 1, 2000... DOYLE, PORTER, GERSHWIN, KERN, BERLIN: Love's Labour's Lost [] Silverstone, McElhone, Mortimer, Ejogo; Branagh, Lester, Lane, Spall, Nivola, Lillard; Shearman. No texts. Sony Classical SK89004 Kenneth Branagh conceived his current movie...

PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas.(Review)
September 1, 2000... PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas [] Baker, Clark, Sinclair; Herincx, Mitchinson; English Chamber Orchestra, A. Lewis. 1961. English libretto. Decca Legends 289-466-387 Previously available in another CD incarnation, Janet Baker's 1961 Dido and...

MASSENET: Werther.(Review)
September 1, 2000... MASSENET: Werther (in English) [] Baker, Roberts; Brecknock, Wheatley, Blackburn; English National Opera, Mackerras. 1977. English libretto. Chandos 3033 (2) Previously available in another CD incarnation, Janet Baker's 1961 Dido and...

STRAUSS: Die Fledermaus.(Review)
September 1, 2000... STRAUSS: Die Fledermaus [] Pfahl, A. Kern, Ruziczca; Volker, Henke, Domgraf-Fassbaender; Berlin State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Weigert. 1929 Plus Fledermaus Overture: Palace Theatre Orchestra, Tauber. No texts or translation. Pearl GEMM 0087...

WAGNER: Der Ring des Nibelungen.(Review)
September 1, 2000... WAGNER: Der Ring des Nibelungen [] Varnay, Brouwenstijn, von Milinkovic, Madeira; Windgassen, Kuen, Hotter, Greindl, Neidlinger, van Mill, Uhde, et al.; Chorus, Orchestra 1956 Bayreuth Festival, Knappertsbusch. Notes, no libretto. Music and...

WAGNER: Gotterdammerung.(Review)
September 1, 2000... WAGNER: Gotterdammerung [] Fuchs; Svanholm, Dalberg et al.; Chorus, Orchestra 1942 Bayreuth Festival, Elmendorff. Live performance. Notes, no libretto. Music and Arts CD-1058 (4) Wagnerians who have never understood why conductor Hans...

WAGNER: Der Ring des Nibelungen (excerpts).(Review)
September 1, 2000... WAGNER: Der Ring des Nibelungen (excerpts) [] Gottlieb, Klose, A. Konetzni; Kirchhoff, Weber, Hoffmann, et al.; Walter Straram Orchestra, von Hoesslin. 1930 Pathe Records. Notes, no libretto. Gebhardt Records JGCD 0016-3 (3) (Qualiton, dist.)...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: SAN FRANCISCO.
September 1, 2000... The most eagerly anticipated production of San Francisco Opera's summer season was Parsifal, in the Nikolaus Lehnhoff staging that began life as a joint project of English National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. While some fretted that...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: CHARLESTON, SC.(Spoleto Festival USA)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Opera has long been a main attraction at Spoleto Festival USA, which this year ran from May 26 to June 11. While dance, ballet, contemporary music and theater have come more to the fore since general director Nigel Redden took the reins in...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: DETROIT.(Michigan Opera Theater)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Michigan Opera Theatre closed out an exciting 1999-2000 season with a fine Peter Grimes. These performances marked the company's first production of a Britten opera, as well as Mark Baker's first appearances in the title role (seen June 7). The...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.
September 1, 2000... Perhaps if there was an award for audience behavior, it should have gone to those who packed Carnegie Hall on May 3 to hear the distinguished Carlo Bergonzi in his first-ever assumption of Verdi's Otello. In the weeks before the event, the...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: BARTLESVILLE, OK.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... On June 10, the OK Mozart Festival presented the world premiere of an "opera/musical comedy" commissioned by the festival, Ochelata's Wedding, by French composer Jean-Michel Damase, with a libretto by Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, authors of...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MUNICH.(Review)
September 1, 2000... A former general music director and intendant of Bavarian State Opera used to boast that of the nearly sixty different operas performed yearly at the National-theater, not one was composed by Vincenzo Bellini. Current intendant Peter Jonas has...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: ST. PETERSBURG.(Mariinsky Theater)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The Mariinsky Theater's return to Wagner, which began in earnest three years ago with Parsifal, reached a critical point on May 24, with a new production of Das Rheingold, the first part of a Ring cycle expected to be completed over the next...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: MILAN.(Review)
September 1, 2000... This year, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites was given its first production at La Scala since the 1957 world premiere (when it was performed in Italian). The May 27 performance, sung in French, was striking in many ways. Robert Carsen's...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: VIENNA.(Review)
September 1, 2000... For director/set designer Marco Arturo Marelli, the Masonic world in Die Zauberflote is out of kilter. In his sets for the new production at the State Opera, which he also directed (premiere June 1, seen 8), the temple was an exploded box of...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: LONDON.(Review)
September 1, 2000... Now in its tenth season, the BOC (a large British-based conglomerate) Covent Garden Festival offers three weeks of varied opera and musico-theatrical events each summer, ranging from opera and oratorio to musicals, all performed in venues in...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: LEEDS.(Review)
September 1, 2000... Given its premiere in April 1720, Radamisto was Handel's sixth London opera and his first written for the newly founded Royal Academy of Music -- a company set up to provide the British capital with Italian opera on a permanent basis. He...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NAGOYA.(Review)
September 1, 2000... Chushingura, better known in the West as The Loyal Forty-seven Ronin, is one of the most popular and beloved stories in Japan, told and retold with many embellishments in kabuki plays, puppet theater, numerous movies and TV serials. It is based...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: CINCINNATI.(Review)
September 1, 2000... The focus of this year's May Festival was on large-scale blockbusters, opening with Mahler's Eighth (Symphony of a Thousand) and continuing with Carl Orff's boisterous Carmina Burana and Schoenberg's broadly spun Wagnerian cantata Gurrelieder....

Leonard Warren, American Baritone.(Review)
September 1, 2000... Leonard Warren, American Baritone by Mary Jane Phillips-Matz Foreword by Tony Randall; discography and chronology by Barrett Crawford Amadeus Press, 471 pp. $39.95 This is the first published biography of America's greatest baritone....

OBITUARIES.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... ALAN HOVHANESS, Somerville, Massachusetts, March 8, 1911 -- Seattle, Washington, June 21, 2000 One of the most prolific American composers, Hovhaness produced a canon of roughly 500 works, including a number of operas (Spirit of the...

(M)TV OPERA.
September 1, 2000... It had to happen. There was simply no stopping it: televised opera is falling prey to the MTV influence. During the glory days of the late 1970s and early '80s, when Live from the Met began, it was possible to watch an opera telecast and...

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NEW YORK CITY.(Review)
September 1, 2000... Dawn Upshaw is still at the middle of her opera and art-song career -- if she's careful about what she sings, perhaps not even yet at that point. But there's also something else on the back burner: show biz, or maybe cabaret. Her little show,...