Saturday, February 06, 2010

Live Offerings - Saturday, February 6, 2009

Somewhat slimmer pickings than usual. The biggest curiosity will probably bed Placido Domingo singing the title role in Simon Boccanegra (usually tackled by baritones). Also two different performances of Verdi's Macbeth, and from La Scala, a live performance of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust. Here's the complete lineup:

  • DR P2 - From Geneva, Mozart's Don Giovanni, with Pietro Spangnoli, José Fardilha, Diana Damrau, Serena Farnocchia and Christoph Strehl, conducted by Kenneth Montgomery.
  • Metropolitan Opera Broadcast (on numerous stations)- Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, with Placido Domingo, Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordano, James Morris, Nicola Alaimo and Richard Bernstein, conducted by James Levine.
  • Radio 4 Netherlands - Handel's Ariodante, with Ann Hallenberg, Karina Gauvin, Maarten Engeltjes, Jaël Azzaretti and Krystian Adam, conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli.
  • Radio Clasica de Espana - From Ukrainian National Opera in Kiev, Lysenko's Taras Bulba, with T. Shtonda, A. Pozniak, P. Priymak, P. Priymak, Y. Orlov, S. Godlevska, T. Kuzminova, O. Gourets, V. Kolybabiuk, S. Skochelias, V. Dudar, A. Goniukov, D. Gryshyn, O. Boyko, M. Gubchuk and O. Vostriakov, conducted by V. Kozhukhar.
  • KBIA2 - NPR World of Opera: From Washington National Opera, Puccini's La Boheme, with Adriana Damato, Vittorio Grigolo, Nicole Cabell, Paolo Pecchioli, Hyung Yun and Trevor Scheunemann, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.
  • Radio Tre (RAI) - From La Scala in MIlan, Schumann's Szenen aus Goethes Faust, with Michael Volle, Dorothea Röschmann, Dimitri Ivashchenko, Steve Davislim, Irena Bespalovaite, Adina Aaron, Elena Zhidkova, Maria Radner and Jacheui Kwon, conducted by Pinchas Steinberg.
  • Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - From Glyndebourne, Dvorak's Rusalka, with Ana Maria Martinez, Brandon Jovanovich, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Mikhail Schelomianski, Larissa Diadkova, Natasha Jouhl, Barbara Senator, Elodie Méchain, Diana Axentii, Alasdair Elliott and John Mackenzie, conducted by Jirí Behlohlávek.
  • Espace 2 - From the Vienna State Opera, a December 7, 2009 performance of Verdi's Macbeth, with Simon Keenlyside, Erika Sunnegardh, Stefan Kocan, Dimitri Pittas, Gergely Nemety, Donna Ellen and Alfred Sramek, conducted by Guillermo Garcia Calvo.
  • Klara - From Vlaamse Opera, Bernstein's Candide, with Michael Spyres, Jane Archibald, Graham Valentine, Thomas Oliemans, Andrew Ashwin, Katarina Bradic, Karan Armstrong, Keith Lewis, Adrian Fischer, Gijs Van der Linden, Milcho Borovinov and Thorsten Buettner, conducted by Yannis Pouspourikas.
  • HR2 Kultur - A November 1, 2009 performance of Act 2 of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, with Waltraud Meier, John Mac Master, Michelle Breedt, Franz Josef Selig and Kurwenal Michael Vier, conducted by Daniel Harding.
  • WDAV - NPR World of Opera (on a one week delay): From Bastille Opera in Paris, Verdi's Macbeth, with Dimitris Tiliakos, Violeta Urmana, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Stefano Secco, Alberto Nigro and Letitia Singleton, conducted by Teodor Currentzis.
  • ABC Classic FM (Australia) & Concert FM (New Zealand) - Another chance to hear the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Bizet's Carmen, with Elina Garanca, Barbara Frittoli, Roberto Alagna, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Earle Patriarco, Keith Jameson, Keith Miller, Trevor Scheunemann, Elizabeth Caballero and Sandra Piques Eddy, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
. . . And don't forget the live videocast of the Indiana University Lucia di Lammermoor tonightat 8:00PM EST.

Happy listening . . . .

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Live Offerings, Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year! The highlights for this afternoon include two different performances of Verdi's Macbeth from the same December run in Vienna, with Simon Keenlyside; a Meistersinger from the Liceu in Barcelona, with Robert Dean Smith and Véronique Gens; Hansel und Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera, with Miah Persson and Angelika Kirchschlager; from Opéra Bastille in Paris, Giordano's Andréa Chenier, with Marcelo Alvarez. Here's the lineup:

  • Deutschlandradio Kultur & DR P2 - From the Vienna State Opera, a December 7th performance of Verdi's Macbeth, with Simon Keenlyside, Erika Sunnegardh, Stefan Kocán and Dimitri Pittas, conducted by Guillermo García Calvo.
  • HR2 Kultur - From Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, a March 23, 2009 performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger, with Albert Dohmen, Reinhard Hagen, Bo Skovhus, Robert Dean Smith, Norbert Ernst, Véronique Gens and Stella Grigorian, conducted by Sebastian Weigle.
  • Metropolitan Opera (on numerous stations) - Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, with Miah Persson, Angelika Kirchschlager, Rosalind Plowright, Dwayne Croft, Philip Langridge, Jennifer Johnson and Erin Morley, conducted by Fabio Luis.
  • Radio 4 Netherlands - Chabrier's L'Etoile, with Jean Paul Fouchecourt, conducted by Jean-Yves Ossonce.
  • Dwojka Polskie Radio - From the Vienna State Opera, a June 2009 performance of Gounod's Faust, with Soile Isokoski, Zoryana Kushpler, Roxana Constantinescu, Piotr Beczala, Kwangchul Youn, Boaz Daniel and Hans Peter Kammerer, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
  • France Musique - From Opéra Bastille in Paris, a December 18 performance of Giordano's Andréa Chenier, with Marcelo Alvarez, Sergei Murzaev, Micaela Carosi, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Stefania Toczyska, Maria José Montiel, André Heyboer, Igor Gnidii, Antoine Garcin, David Bizic, Carlo Bosi, Bruno Lazzaretti, Ugo Rabec and Guillaume Antoine, conducted by Daniel Oren.
  • KBIA2 & KOHM - NPR World of Opera: From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tchaikovsky's The Tsarina's Slippers, with Olga Guryakova, Vsevolod Grivnov, Larissa Diadkova, Vladimir Matorin, Sergei Leiferkuss, Maxim Mikhailov, Vyacheslav Voynarovsky, Alexander Vassiliev and John Upperton, conducted by Alexander Polianichko.
  • MDR Figaro - From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, an August 23, 2009 performance of Verdi's Don Carlo, with Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, Sonia Ganassi, Ferruccio Furlanetto and John Tomlinson, conducted by Semyon Bychkov.
  • Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) - From Teatro Comunale in Bologna, an August 9, 2009 performance of Rossini's Zelmira, with Kate Aldrich, Juan Diego Florez, Marinna Pizzolato, Alex Esposito, Mirco Palazzi and Gregory Kunde, conducted by Roberto Abbado.
  • Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - From Czech radio archives, a 1964 performance of Dvorak's Jacobin, with Richard Novák, Jindr(ich Jindrák, Antonín Švorc, Milada Šubrtová, Karel Berman, Oldr(ich Spisar, Antonín Votava and Helena Tattermuschová, Marie Ovc(ac(íková, conducted by Jan Hus Tichý.
  • Klara - From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, with Changhan Lim, Juan Diego Florez, Pietro Spagnoli, Joyce DiDonato, Alessandro Corbelli, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Jennifer Rhys-Davies, Bryan Secombe, Christopher Lackner and Andrew Macnair, conducted by Antonio Pappano.

Happy listening.....

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Live Offerings - Saturday, October 24, 2009

Reruns seem to be the order of the day. Most of the available "live" offerings have appeared elsewhere in previous weeks. Exceptions include a Budapest Rheingold from Bartok Radio, BBC 3's Carmen, yesterday's Lady Macbeth from Mtensk from the Vienna State Opera (being carried by three stations), the San Francisco Opera Don Giovanni, France Musique's Die Tote Stadt from Opera Bastille, and last, but certainly not least, the live La Traviata from Seattle Opera later on this evening (Charles Taylor's Germont pere will be worth a listen...).

Here's the complete lineup:

  • Sveriges Radio P2 - From Stadshallen in Göttingen, a May 13, 2008 performance of Handel's Acis and Galatea, with Christoph Prégardien, Julia Kleiter, Wolf Matthias Friedrich and Michael Slattery, condcuted by Nicholas McGegan
  • BBC Radio 3 - From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Bizet's Carmen, with Elina Garanca, Roberto Alagna, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Liping Zhang, Changhan Lim, Henry Waddington, Eri Nakamura, Louise Innes, Adrian Clarke and Vincent Ordonneau, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
  • CBC Two - From Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mozart's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, with Matthew Polenzani, Erin Wall, Aleksandra Kurzak, Steve Davislim and Andrea Silvestrelli, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
  • Deutschlandradio Kultur - From the Vienna State Opera, Gounod's Faust, with Piotr Beczala, Kwangchul Youn, Soile Isokoski, Boaz Daniel, Hans Peter Kammerer, Roxana Constantinescu and Zoryana Kushpler, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
  • DR P2, Radio Clasica de Espana & Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) - From the Vienna State Opera, an October 23 performance of Shastakovich's Lady Macbeth from Mtensk, with Kurt Rydl, Marian Talaba, Angela Denoke, Misha Didyk, Donna Ellen and Michael Roider, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher.
  • Dwojke Polskie Radio - From the 2009 Glyndebourne Festival, Dvorak's Rusalka, with Ana Maria Martinez, Brandon Jovanovich, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Misza Szelomian'ski, Larissa Diadkova, Diana Axentii and Alasdair Elliott, conducted by Jirí Belohlávek.
  • Espace Musique - From the Vienna State Opera, Strauss's Die Schweigsame Frau, with Kurt Rydel, Janina Baechle, Adrian Eröd, Michael Schade, Jane Archibald, Caroline Weinborne, Michaela Selinger, Clemens Unterreiner, Janusz Monarcham and Walter Fink.
  • RTP Antena 2 - From Teatro da Música in Amsterdam, a June 7, 2008 performance of Messiaen Saint Francois d'Assise, with Camilla Tilling, Hubert Delamboye, Rom Randle, Donald Kaascg, Rod Gilfry, Henk Neven, Arman Arapian, Jan Willen Baljet and André Morsch, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher.
  • WETA - From the Grand Theater in Geneva, Verdi's Il Trovatore, with Tatiana Serjan, Irina Mishura, Zoran Todorovich, George Petean and Burak Bilgili, conducted by Evelino Pido.
  • WFMT Opera Series (on numerous stations) - From San Francisco Opera, Mozart's Don Giovanni, with Mariusz Kwiecien, Oren Gradus, Elza van den Heever, Twyla Robinson, Charles Castronovo, Claudia Mahnke, Luca Pisaroni and Kristinn Sigmundsson, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • WQXR - From San Francisco Opera, Korngold's Die Tote Stadt, with Torsten Kerl,
  • Marie/Marietta: Emily Magee, Lucas Meachem, Katharine Tier, Ji Young Yang,: Daniela Mack, Alek Shrader, Andrew Bidlack, Bryan Ketron and Ben Bongers, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • NPR World of Opera - From the 2009 Aix en Provence Festival, Mozart's The Magic Flute, with Marlis Petersen, Magnus Staveland, Anna-Kristiina Kaapola, Daniel Schmutzhard, Sunhae Im, Marcos Fink and Kurt Azesberger, conducted by Rene Jacobs.
  • XLNC1 - From San Francisco Opera, Verdi's La Traviata, with Anna Netrebko, Charles Castronovo, Dwayne Croft, Leeann Sandel-Pantaleo, Renee Tatum, Andrew Bidlack, Dale Travis, Austin Kness and Kenneth Kellogg, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • Bartok Radio - From Budapest, a June 11 performance of Wagner's Das Rheingold, with Johan Reuter, Oskar Hillebrandt, Fekete Attila, Christian Franz, Hartmut Welker, Michael Roider, Thomas Jesatko, Ain Anger, Németh Judit, Herczenik Anna, Kovács Annamária, Korondi Anna, Fodor Gabriella and Schöck Atala, conducted by Stephen D´Agostino.
  • France Musique - From Opéra Bastille in Paris, Korngold's Die Tote Stadt, with Robert Dean Smith, Ricarda Merbeth, Stéphane Degout, Doris Lamprecht and Elisa Cenni, conducted by Pinchas Steinberg.
  • NRK Klassisk & NRK P2 - From the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Haydn's Orlando Paladino, with Henriette Bonde-Hansen, Joan Martin-Roya, Marcel Reijans, Kenneth Tarver, Peter Gijsbertsen, Sharon Rostorf-Zamir Jörg Schneider, Elena Monti, Martijn Cornet, conducted by Alessandro De Marchi.
  • Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - From Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila, with Torsten Kerl, Marianna Tarasova, Micho Borovinov, Nikola Mijailovic, Thorsten Büttner, Onno Pels, Gijs Van der Linden and Tijl Faveyts, conducted by Tomáš Netopil.
  • Klara - From Vienna, a January 25 concert performance of Vivaldi's Ercole su'l Termodonte, with Vivica Genaux, Roberta Invernizzi, Emanuela Galli, Stefanie Iranyi, Carlo Allemano, Romina Basso, Philippe Jaroussky and Philippo Adami, conducted by Fabio Biondi.
  • Radio Tre - From Teatro la Fenice (or possibly Teatro Malibran??) in Venice, an October 9 performance of Handel's Agrippina, with Lorenzo Regazzo, Ann Hallenberg, Florin Cezar Ouatu, Veronica Cangemi, Xavier Sabata, Ugo Guagliardo, Milena Storti and Roberto Abbondanza, conducted by Fabio Biondi.
  • Lyric FM - Carlo Pedrotti's opera Tutti in maschera (Everyone in Masks) from last year's Wexford Festival Opera. Bass-baritone Enrico Marabelli heads the cast.
  • WDAV - NPR World of Opera (on a one-week delay): From Washington National Opera, Handel's Tamerlano, with Placido Domingo, David Daniels, Sarah Coburn, Patricia Bardon, Claudio Huckle and Andrew Foster Williams, conducted by William Lacey.
  • Concert FM (New Zealand) - From Opéra Bastille in Paris, Szymanowsky's King Roger, with Mariusz Kwiecien, Eric Cutler, Olga Pasichnyk, Stefan Margita, Wojtek Smilek and Jadwiga Rappé, conducted by Kazushi Ono.
  • KING - Live from Seattle Opera, Verdi's La Traviata, with Nuccia Focile, Dimitri Pittas and Charles Taylor, conducted by Brian Garman.
  • ABC Classic FM - From the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov, with Alexei Tanovitski, Irina Mataeva, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Nikolay Gassiev, Yuri Vorobyev, Pavel Shmulevich, Mikhaol Vishnyak, Varvara Solovyeva, Ludmila Kanunnikova and Olga Legkova, conducted by Valery Gergiev.

Happy listening . . . .

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Live Offerings, Saturday, October 17, 2009

Several interesting offerings this afternoon, in particular:

  • WFMT Opera Series (on numerous stations) - From San Francisco Opera, Verdi's La Traviata, with Anna Netrebko, Charles Castronovo and Dwayne Croft, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • BBC Radio 3 - From Covent Garden, Verdi's Don Carlo, with Jonas Kaufmann, Simon Keenlyside, Marina Poplavskaya, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Marianne Cornetti and John Tomlinson, conducted by Semyon Bychkov.
  • Deutschlandradio Kultur & DR P2: From the 2009 Glyndebourne Festival, Dvorak's Russalka, with Ana Maria Martinez, Brandon Jovanovich, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Mischa Schelomianski and Larissa Diadkova, conducted by Jirí Belohlávek.
  • Klara - From the Vienna State Opera, a June performance of Gounod's Faust, with Piotr Beczala, Kwangchul Youn, Boaz Daniel and Soile Isokoski, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
  • Latvia Radio Klasika - From Geneva's Grand Theatre, Berlioz's Damnation of Faust, with Elena Garancia and Paul Groves, conducted by John Nelson.
  • Sveriges P2 - The historic 1947 Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, with Jussi Björling, Bidú Sayão, Nicola Moscona, John Brownlee, Thomas Hayward and Mimi Benzell, conducted by Emil Cooper.
  • NPR World of Opera - Yet another chance to hear the Washington National Opera performance of Handel's Tamerlano, with Placido Domingo, David Daniels, Sarah Coburn, Patricia Bardon, Claudio Huckle and Andrew Foster Williams, conducted by William Lacey.

Happy listening . . . .

Labels: , , , , ,

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Live Offerings, Saturday, October 10, 2009

The big news in radio in these parts has been the conversion of WQXR here in New York City - this week WQXR, which had previously been a commercial station owned by the New York Times, became a public radio station, owned and managed by WNYC. We were curious what would happen to their Saturday afternoon opera programming. In the coming weeks (before the start of the MEt season) they will be picking up the WFMT series, but first they will be inaugurating their new regime with this past summer's Bayreuth Festival Meistersinger.

Here's the rest of the live lineup:

  • BBC Radio 3 - From the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia, with Pietro Spagnoli, Juan Diego Florez, Joyce DiDonato, Alessandro Corbelli, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Jennifer Rhys-Davies, Changhn Lim, Bryan Secombe, Christopher Lachner, conducted by Antonio Pappano. On the opening night of this run, Di Donato fell and broke her leg but soldiered on to finish the performance. She performed the rest of the run in a wheelchair. Read her own account of the whole experience in her blog.
  • CBC Two - From Chicago Lyric Opera, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, with Patricia Racette, Frank Lopardo, James Westman and Katherine Goeldner, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
  • Deutschlandradio Kultur - From the Festivalul George Enescu at Opera Nationala in Bukarest, an August 30 performance of Enescu's Oedipe, with Mihai Lazar, Oana Andra, Franck Ferrari, Crina Zancu, Ionut Pascu, Horia Sandu, Vicentiu Taranu, Adriana Alexandru, Pompeiu Harasteanu, Valentin Racoveanu and Ecaterina Tutu, conducted by Oleg Caetani.
  • DR P2 & Klara - From the 2009 Rossini Festival in Pesaro, an August 9 performance of Rossini's Zelmira, with Kate Aldrich, Marianna Pizzolato, Alex Esposito, Juan Diego Flórez and Mirco Palazzi, conducted by Roberto Abbado.
  • Espace Musique & Latvia Klasika Radio - From Chorégies d’Orange 2009, Verdi's La Traviata, with Patrizia Ciofi, Laura Brioli, Christine Labadens, Vittorio Grigolo, Marzio Giossi, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Jean-Marie Delpas, Armando Noguera and Nicolas Courjat, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung.
  • KBYU - From Utah Opera, a 2008 performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, with Barbara Shirvis, Scott Piper, Jon Kolbet, Andrew Oakden, Kirsten Gunlogson, Brent Turner, Dominick Chenes, Tyler Oliphant, Christopher Clayton and Rachel Willis-Sørensen, conducted by Joseph Mechavich.
  • Radio Clasica de Espana - From Teatro Real de Madrid, Berg's Lulu, with A. Eichenholz, J. Larmore, H. Shipp, G. Siegel, R. González, I. Mentxaka and M. J. Suárez, conducted by E. Inbal.
  • WETA - From Washington National Opera, Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, with Renee Fleming, Vittorio Grigolo, Kate Aldrich, Ruggero Raimondi, Oleksandr Pushniak, Girgory Soloviov, Jose Ortega, Yingxi Zhang and David B. Morris, conducted by Placido Domingo.
  • WFMT Opera Series (on numerous stations) - From San Francisco Opera, Puccini's Tosca, with Adrianne Pieczonka, Carlo Ventre, Lado Ataneli, Jordan Bisch, Dale Travis, Matthew O’Neill, Austin Kness and Kenneth Kellogg, conducted by Marco Armiliato.
  • NPR World of Opera - From Drottningholm Court Theatre, Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea, with Ingelina Bohlin, Charlotte Hellekand, Matilda Paulsson, Christopher Ainslie, Lars Arvidson and Malin Christensson, conducted by Mark Tatlow.
  • XLNC1 - From San Francisco Opera, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, with Joyce DiDonato, Soile Isokoski, Miah Persson, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Jochen Schmeckenbecher and Robert McPherson, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • Dwojke Polskie Radio - From Netherlands Opera, Cavalli's Ercole amante, with Veronica Cangemi, Anna Bonitatibus, Anna Maria Panzarella, Wilke te Brummelstroete, Johannette Zomer, Mark Tucker, Jeremy Ovenden, Luca Pisaroni and Umberto Chiummo, conducted by Ivor Bolton.
  • Bartok Radio - From the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, an historic broadcast of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, with Douglas Robinson, Nicolai Gedda, Jules Bastin, Robert Massard, Roger Soyer, Derek Blackwell, Robert Lloyd, Raimund Herincx, Hugues Cuénod, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Jane Berbié and Janine Reiss, conducted by Colin Davis.
  • France Musique - From La Scala in Milan, a July 6 performance of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, with David Daniels, Rosemary Joshua, Daniel Okulitch, Natasha Petrinsky, Gordon Gietz, David Adam Moore, Deanne Meek, Erin Wall, Matthew Rose, Andrew Shore, Christopher Gillett, Graeme Dandy, Adrian Thompson and Simon Butteriss, conducted by Andrew Davis.
  • NRK Klassisk & NRK P2 - An historic Metropolitan Opera broadcast: from February 21, 1959, Verdi's Macbeth, with Leonie Rysanek, Leonard Warren, Carlo Bergonzi, Jerome Hines, William Olvis, Carlotta Ordassy, Harold Sternberg, Gerhard Pechner and Osie Hawkins, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf.
  • Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) - From Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, a May 23, 2008 performance of Rossini's Tancredi, with Bernarda Fink, Rosemary Joshua, Lawrence Brownlee, Anna Chierichetti, Federico Sacchi and Elena Belfiore, conducted by René Jacobs.
  • Sveriges Radio P2 - From Kungliga Operan in Stockholm, Handel's Xerxes, with Katarina Karnéus, Matilda Paulsson, Katarina Leoson, Malin Byström, Ailish Tynan, Lars Arvidson and Mark Stone, conducted by Andreas Stoehr.
  • Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - Auber's Fra Diavolo, Sumi Jo, Doris Lamprecht, Kenneth Tarver, Marc Molomo, Antonio Figueroa, Vincent Pavesi, Thomas Dolié and Thomas Morris, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire.
  • Espace 2 & Radio Slovenia Tretji - From l'Opéra National de Paris, a February 21 performance of Gounod's Mireille, with Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo, Franck Ferrari, Sylvie Brunet, Alain Vernhes, Nicolas Cavallier, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Amel Brahim Djelloul, Sébastien Droy and Ugo Rabec, conducted by Marc Minkowski.
  • Radio Tre (RAI) - From the 2009 Glyndeboune Festival, Dvorák's Russalka, with Mischa Schelomianski, Ana Maria Martinez,, Larissa Diadkova, Brandon Jovanovich, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Natasha Jouhl, Barbara Senator, Elodie Mechain, Alasdair Elliott, Diana Axentii, Alasdair Elliott, conducted by Jirì Belohlàvek.
  • WDAV - NPR World of Opera, on a one week delay: from the Vienna State Opera, Tchaikovsky's Eugen Onegin, with Simon Keenlyside, Tamar Iveri, Ramon Vargas, Ain Anger, Nadia Krasteva and Aura Twarowska, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
  • Concert FM (New Zealand) - From the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Haydn's Orlando Paladino, with Pietro Spagnoli, Marcel Reijans, Kenneth Tarver, Peter Gijsbertsen, Laura Cherici, Nikolay Borchev, Elena Monti and Martijn Cornet, conducted by Alessandro De Marchi.
  • KING - From San Francisco Opera, Korngold's Die Tode Stadt, with Torsten Kerl, Emily Magee, Lucas Meachem, Katharine Tier, Ji Young Yang, Daniela Mack, Alek Shrader Andrew Bidlack, Bryan Ketron and Ben Bongers, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • ABC Classic FM (Australaia) - From Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse, Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, with Philippe Talbot, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Allyson McHardy, Stéphane Degout, Françoise Masset, Jennifer Holloway, Bruno Calucci, Jaël Azzaretti, François Lis, Jérôme Varnier, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro and Aurélia Legay, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm.

Happy listening . . . .

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Live Offerings, Saturday, October 3, 2009 -- Part I

Offerings for this afternoon:

  • BBC 3 - From Glyndebourne, Dvorak's Rusalka, starring Ana Maria Martinez, with Jiri Belohlavek conducting.
  • Espace Musique- We can catch another Rusalka with notables Richard Paul Fink and Irina Mishura included in the cast.
  • RTP Antena 2- And we can catch another Jirí Belohlávek performance, as he conducts Smetana's Bartered Bride.
  • WETA- And yet another Jirí Belohlávek performance, this time Janacek's Jenufa.
  • Cesky Rozhlas 3 - Vltava- William Christie conducts Monteverdi's Orfeo.
  • DR P2 - We hear Gounod's Mireille, with Inva Mula and Charles Castronovo, Marc Minkowski conducting.
  • Radio Clasica de Espana - More Gounod, as we hear his Faust, starring Piotr Beczala and Soile Isokoski.
  • WFMT Opera Series (on numerous staions) is carrying the San Francisco Opera Der Rosenkavalier, with Joyce DiDonato, Soile Isokoski, Miah Persson, Kristinn Sigmundsson and Jochen Schmeckenbecher, conducted by Donald Runnicles
  • WUOT - Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, starring Simon Keenlyside, Tamar Iveri and Ramon Vargas.
  • XLNC1 - Puccini's La Boheme, starring Angela Gheorghiu, Piotr Beczala and Quinn Kelsey.

More to come!

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Live Offerings - Saturday, September 12, 2009

The summer festival season comes to an official end with the Last Night of the Proms - and half of all the radio stations we list seem to be carrying it. But there are a few other items of interest to hear this afternoon: From Pesaro, Rossini's La Scala di Seta with Ann Malavasi, a repeat of this summer's Bayreuth Festival Tristan und Isolde with Robert Dean Smith, and from Dortmund Verdi's I Due Foscari with Francisco Casanova. Here's the complete lineup:
  • Dr P2 - From the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, an August 10 performance of Rossini's La Scala di Seta, with Anna Malavasi, Olga Peretyatko, Paolo Bordogna, Carlo Lepore and José Manuel Zapata, conducted by Claudio Scimone.
  • CBC Two - From the Canadian Opera Company, a February performance of Dvorak's Russalka, with Julie Makerov, Michael Schade, Richard Paul Fink, Irina Mishura and Joni Henson, conducted by John Keenan.
  • Deutschlandradio Kultur - From Schloss Weikersheim, and August 1 performance of Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, with Sebastian Pilgrim, Viktoria Varga, Patrick Ruyters, Dorothee Schlemm, Artur Grywatzik, Camille Butcher, Martin Platz, Gae¨l Mercier and Glenn Desmedt, conducted by Peter Kuhn.
  • Espace Musique - From Festival international d'opéra baroque de Beaune 2009, Handel's Ariodante, with Ann Hallenberg, Karina Gauvin, Maarten Engeltjes, Jaël Azzaretti, Kristian Adam and Sergio Foresti, conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli.
  • Latvia Radio Klasika - From the 2009 Bayreuth Festival, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.
  • Radio 4 Nertherlands - From Netherlands Opera, Halévy's La Juive, with Angeles Blancas Gulin, Dennis O'Neill, John Osborn and Annick Massis, conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
  • WETA - From the Grand Theatre in Geneva, Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, with Marc Laho, Nicolas Cavallier, Stella Doufexis, Patricia Petibon, Rachel Harnisch, Maria Riccarda Wesseling, Francisco Vas, Bernard Deletre, Gilles Cachemaille and Eric Huchet, conducted by Patrick Davin.
  • WFMT Opera Series (on numerous stations) - From San Francisco Opera, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, with Samuel Ramey, Dimitry Vsevolod Grivnov, John Uhlenhopp, Vladimir Ognovenko, Vitalij Kowaljow, Andrew Bidlack, Ji Young Yang, Jack Gorlin, Catherine Cook, Daveda Karanas, Matthew O’Neill, Nicolai Janitzky, Kenneth Kellogg and Valery Portnov, conducted by Vassily Sinaisky.
  • NPR World of Opera - From Washington National Opera, Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, with Renee Fleming, Vittorio Grigolo, Kate Aldrich, Ruggero Raimondi, Oleksandr Pushniak, Girgory Soloviov, Jose Ortega, Yingxi Zhang and David B. Morris, conducted by Placido Domingo.
  • XLNC1 - From San Francisco Opera, Mozart's Idomeneo, with Kurt Streit, Alice Coote, Genia Kühmeier, Iano Tamar, Alek Shrader, Robert MacNeil, Kenneth Kellogg, Mary Finch, Natasha Ramirez Leland, Chester Pidduck and David Kekuewa, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - Handel's Partenope, with Christine Schäfer, Kurt Streit, David Daniels, Patricia Bardonová, Florian Boesch and Matthias Rexroth, conducted by Christophe Rousset.
  • NRK Klassisk & NRK P2 - From Dortmund, a performance from earlier this summer of Verdi's I Due Foscari, with Renato Bruson, Francisco Casanova, Monan Feubel, Alexander Teliga, Viktor Sawaley and Francisca Devos, conducted by Carlo Montanaro.
  • Bayern 4 Klassik, BBC Radio 3, Catalunya Musica, DR P2, Dwojke Polskie Radio, France Musique, KBYU, Klassikaraadio, KUSC, MDR Figaro, Musiq3, NDR Kultur, Radio Clasica de Espana, Radio Oesterreich International (RAI), Radio Tre (RAI), RBB Kulturradio, RTP Antena 2, Sveriges Radio P2, WCLV, WDR3, WFMT and YLE Klassinen - Last Night of the Proms from the Royal Albert Hall in London, with Sarah Connolly conducted by David Robertson, featuring works by Knussen, Purcell, Haydn, Mahler, Villa-Lobos, Arnold, Ketelby, Gershwin, Piazzola, Handel, Arne, Parry and Elgar.
  • Klara - From the Aix en Provence Festival, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, with Magnus Staveland, Marlis Petersen, Anna-Kristiina Kaapola, Daniel Schmutzhard, Sunhae Im, Marcos Fink, Kurt Azesberger, Inga Kalna, Anna Grevelius, Isabelle Druet, Konstantin Wolff, Joachim Buhrmann, conducted by René Jacobs.
  • WDAV - NPR World of Opera (on a one-week delay) - From Washington National Opera, Janacek's Jenufa, with Patricia Racette, Catherine Malfitano, Kim Begley, Judith Christin, Raymond Very, Charles Robert Austin, Janice Meyerson, Leslie Mutchler, Elizabeth Andrews Roberts, Jeffrey Wells, Christina Martos and Madgalena Wor.
And later on this evening:
  • WQXR - From the Conceretgebouw, Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.
  • Concert FM (New Zealand) - From La Scala, Milan, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, with David Daniels, Rosemary Joshua, Emil Wolk, Daniel Okulitch, Natasha Petrinsky, Gordon Gietz, David Adam Moore, Deanne Meek, Erin Wall, Matthew Rose, Andrew Shore, Christopher Gillett, Graeme Danby, Adrian Thompson and Simon Butteriss, conducted by Andrew Davis.
Happy listening,

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Live Offerings - Saturday, April 18, 2009 - Part II

If you missed the start of the Met's Matinee Ring Cycle, you can catch it late this evening on Australian Radio (ABC Classic FM) .... Stephen Gould in Peter Grimes looks like a definite listening possibility .... From Radio Oesterreich International, an interesting-looking cast for Damnation of Faust .... Another chance to hear Rolando Villazon in magnificent form in a late March performance of Werther from Opera Bastille .... Here's the the lineup:

  • Espace 2 - From the Grand-Théâtre in Geneva, an April 9th performance of Britten's Peter Grimes, with Stephen Gould, Gabriele Fontana, Peter Sidhom, Carole Wilson, Julianne Gearhart & Laurence Misonne, Elizabeth Sikora, Michael Howard, Clive Bayley, Adrian Thompson, Daniel Belcher, Simon Kirkbride, Luke Clare-Wrigley and Dominique Dupraz, conducted by Donald Runnicles.
  • KBIA2 - NPR World of Opera: from Houston Grand Opera, Donizetti's Don Pasquale, with John Del Carlo, Heidi Stober, Norman Reinhardt and Brian Leerhuber, conducted by Patrick Summers.
  • MDR Figaro - A historic April 9, 1959 broadcast of Handels Poros, with Pietro Metastasio, Günther Leib, Philine Fischer, Margarethe Herzberg, Hellmuth Kaphahn, Werner Enders and Franz Stumpf, conducted by Horst Tanu-Margraf.
  • NRK Klassisk - a rebroadcast of Massenet's Werther from Opera Bastille in Paris, with Rolando Villazon, Susan Graham, Adriana Kucerova, Ludovic Tezier, Christian Jean, and Christian Treguier, conducted by Kent Nagano.
  • Radio Oesterreich International - From Wiener Konzerthaus, an April 2nd concert performance of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, with Olga Borodina, Ramón Vargas, Ildar Abdrazakov, Ante Jerkunica and Nina Bernsteiner, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
  • Sveriges Radio P2 - From Göteborg Opera, a February 27th performance of Carl Unander-Scharin's Sömnkliniken, with Ann-Christine Larsson, Mats Persson, Karl Rombo, Peter Loguin, Linus Flogell, Susanne Sundberg and Erika Andersson, conducted by Martin Andersson.
  • Klara - From the Vienna State Opera, a performance of Bizet's Carmen, with Vesselina Kasarova, José Cura, Ilderbrando d'Arcangelo, Genia Kühmeier, Janusz Monarcha, Ileana Tonca, Sophie Marilley, Hacik Bayvertian, Clemens Unterreiner and Benedikt Kobel, conducted by Asher Fisch.
  • Latvia Klasika Radio - From Vienna, a September 8, 2008 performance of Verdi's Stiffelio, with José Kura, Hui He and Anthony Michaels-Moore, conducted by Mihaels Halašs.
  • RBB Kulturradio - From Dresden, Handel's oratorio, Jeptha, with Markus Schäfer, Miriam Meyer, Britta Schwarz, Patrick Von Goethem, Gotthold Schwarz, Birte Kulawik, conducted by Matthias Grünert.
  • WDAV - NPR World of Opera (one week delayed): From Bavarian State Opera, Verdi's Macbeth, with Zeljko Lucic, Nadja Michael, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Dimitri Pittas and Fabrizio Mercurio, conducted by Nicola Luisotti.
  • Concert FM (New Zealand) - From the Metropolitan Opera in New York, a rebroadcast of Dvorak's Rusalka, with Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Stephanie Blythe, Aleksandrs Antonenko and Kristinn Sigmundsson, conducted by Jirí Belohlávek.
  • ABC CLassic FM (Australia) - From the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the start of the Matinee Ring Cycle, Wagner's Das Rheingold, with James Morris, Charles Taylor, Garrett Sorenson, Kim Begley, Yvonne Naef, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Jill Grove, Richard Paul Fink, Gerhard Siegel, Franz-Josef Selig, John Tomlinson, Lisette Oropesa, Kate Lindsey and Tamara Mumford, conducted by James Levine.

Happy listening . . . .

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Live Offerings - Saturday, April 4, 2009

Four main items of interest for this afternoon: the Met's L'Elisir d'Amore with Gheorghiu and Giordani; La Monnaie's La Grande Macabre, by Ligeti, with Chris Merritt; from NPR World of Opera comes a Mariinsky Theatre performanc of The Maid of Pskov, with an all-Russian cast, conducted by Gergiev; and from Dwojke Polskie Radio, a recent performance of Werther with Rolando Villazon (who will be returning to the Met's L'Elisir cast this coming week) and Susan Graham. Also, three Met broadcasts from earlier this season are airing again: Il Trovatore with Radvanovsky, Doctor Atomic with Gerald Finley, and Dvorak's Rusalka with Renée Fleming.

  • Radio 4 Netherlands, Musiq3 & Radio Tre (RAI) - From La Monnaie in Brussels, Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, with Chris Merritt, Frances Bourne, Ilse Eerens and Werner van Mechelen, conducted by Mark Wigglesworth.
  • Metropolitan Opera - Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, with Massimo Giordano, Angela Gheorghiu, Franco Vassallo, Ying Huang and Simone Alaimo, conducted by Maurizio Benini.
  • Dwojke Polskie Radio - From the Opera Bastille in Paris, a March 28th performance of Massenet's Werther, with Rolando Villazon, Alain Vernhes, Susan Graham, Adriana Kucerová, Ludovic Tézier, Christian Jean, Christian Tréguier, Vincent Delhoume and Letitia Singleton, conducted by Kent Nagano.
  • KBIA2 - NPR World of Opera: From Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov, with Alexei Taovitski, Irina Mataeva, Nikolai Gassiev, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Yuri Vorobyev, Mikhail Vishnyak and Varvara Solovyeva, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
  • MDR Figaro - From Thomaskirche in Leipzig, a March 21st performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, with Sally Matthews, Anna Zander, Martin Petzold, Stephan Genz and Egbert Junghanns, Georg Christoph Biller conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Thomanerchor Leipzig.
  • Klara - From Grand Théâtre in Geneva, a performance of von Weber's Der Freischütz, with Nikolai Schukoff, Alexander Puhrer, Peter Wimberger, Jaco Huijpen, Olga Pasichnyk, Ellie Dehn, Jean Lorrain, Rudolf Rosen, and Feodor Kuznetsov, conducted by John Nelson.
  • Latvia Radio Klasika - Another chance to hear the Metropolitan Opera's November 8, 2008 broadcast of Adams's Doctor Atomic, with Penny Woolcock, Gerald Finley, Sacha Cooke, Meredith Arwady, Richard Paul Fink, Eric Owens, Earle Patriarco, Roger Honeywell and Thomas Glenn, conducted by Alan Gilbert.
  • WDAV - NPR World of Opera (one week delayed): From Vienna State Opera, Verdi's Stiffelio, with Jose Cura, Hui He, Anthony Micheals-Moore, Gergely Nemeti, Goran Simic, Peter Jelosits and Elisabeth Marin, conducted by Nicola Luisotti.
  • Concert FM (New Zealand) - Another chance to hear the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Verdi's Il Trovatore, with Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
  • ABC Classic FM (Australia) - Another chance to hear the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Dvorak's Rusalka, with Renée Fleming, Aleksander Antonenko, Christine Goerke, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Stephanie Blythe, David Won, James Courtney and Kate Lindsey, conducted by Jirí Belohlávek.

Happy listening . . . .

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Mortal Longings

Sam Shirakawa attended the Opening Night of Rusalka on Monday night. Here's his squib:

Dvorak : Rusalka Season Premiere

Metropolitan Opera
9 March 2009

Why would an immortal want to shuffle onto this mortal coil? An answer is to be heard in Antonin Dvorak’s most famous opera Rusalka, now on the boards at the Metropolitan Opera.

Why, Love for a mortal, of course!

But renunciation on such a scale demands commensurate sacrifices. Once the beautiful water nymph Rusalka falls in love with a mortal prince, who has taken a dip in her pool, if you’ll pardon the expression, she must give up all her supernatural perks in order to join him in the earthly universe, as well as submit herself to being stricken mute.

As fairy tales would have it -- The Little Mermaid for example -- her beloved prince rejects her. Why any guy in a marrying frame of mind would snub a prospective spouse who can’t talk back or sass him is a mystery librettist Jaroslav Kvapil never solves. And the impediment also creates a problem for Dvorak because it prevents his lead character from uttering a peep for a significant portion of the opera.

But when Rusalka does speak, she sings gloriously, especially when she’s portrayed so movingly by Renée Fleming, who has also taken the role with success in the Met’s past two revivals of Otto Schenk’s delightful 1993 production. Now that she’s mistress of the part, the question is whether you like her interpretation. She’s not nearly as other-worldly as, say, Gabriella Beňačková, but you’re hard put to reject the passion she puts into a character, who gets the cold shoulder from the mortal to whom she is fatally attracted.

The object of Rusalka’s affections is taken by Aleksandrs Antonenko, making his Met debut. There’s no doubt that the young Latvian newcomer can interpret beefy parts, but the question is whether you like his voice. If you’re used to big-vibrato tenors from the former Eastern Bloc, Antonenko’s voice, despite an occasional squeeze at the top, will please you. If you’re accustomed to rapid-fire vibrato in your heavyweight tenors, you may find him an acquired taste -- though worth the required patience.

Stephanie Blythe drew audience appreciation for her humor-laced inflections as the witch with the right potion for what ails you. As the Foreign Princess, Christine Goerke effectively rendered a different kind of witch. Brenda Patterson made an impressive showing in her Met debut as one of Rusalka's playmates.

Apart from steering the performance with rhythmic incisiveness, Jiri Belohlávek inspired the Met Orchestra to produce waves of gorgeous sound.

Rusalka may be a fairy tale, but it speaks to every age. The Met’s revival also arrives at a moment in our history when it offers more than pretty music: The water nymph renounces her anxiety-free existence for an environment fraught with danger and damnation -- all for the sake of love. And what she ultimately gets is not love requited but its true and withering flip-side: indifference. Her story belongs to the long tradition of tale-telling that exposes the human soul alone, sliding into an alien societal conundrum, deprived of the assets and skills necessary for survival. Depressing maybe, if you care to view the tale as solely reflecting the maze of impecuniosity through which humankind willy-nilly is now groping. But it’s ultimately cathartic too, for unlike Rusalka, we are not, at least for the moment, alone.

Note: The Met's Rusalka has been performed whenever Schenk's Ring Cycle is mounted. Especially on matinee Saturdays. Are some or all of the sets by Gunther Schneider-Siemssen for both productions interchangeable? If yes, it's a shrewd move. Whodda guessed? And is Renée a standby for one of the Andrew Sisters in Walküre...?

©Sam H. Shirakawa

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,