OperaBlog

Live Offerings - Saturday, February 6, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:33:00 +0000

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 . . . .

A Rocket to Mannheim

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:36:00 +0000

DIE FLEDERMAUS / ROBERTO DEVEREUX
National Theater, Mannheim

Why do you want to come all the way to Mannheim just to hear such an old production of Die Fledermaus? asked a lifelong Mannheimer and operagoer.

“Because I need some ear candy,” I replied.

Mannheim has supplied an estimable variety of ear candy to the world for well over three centuries. Most notably: Mozart visited the city four times and spent a total of 176 days here. Some of the venues where he made music are still functioning. The so-called Mannheim School made its home here. The Court Orchestra under Carlo Grua (1700-1773) won renown as one of Europe’s finest ensembles. In the last century, its opera house, first established in 1779, became a way station for such up-and-coming musicians and singers as Artur Bodansky, who led the German wing of the Metropolitan Opera from 1915 to his death in 1939, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Donald Runnicles, Jun Märkl, Adam Fischer; Inge Borkh, Diana Damrau, Franz Mazura, Jean Cox and Scott McAlister.

With such a formidable history that is continually in the making, performers in Mannheim have a lot to live up to, and they know it. Of the 30 odd performances I’ve heard here since 1990, only a few have been lackluster. (A couple of disasters -- yes -- but interesting catastrophes.)

During my most recent stay, I attended two consecutive performances at the National Theater: a production of Die Fledermaus, dating from 1978, and the premiere of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux in concert-format, apparently the first time ever that this opera has been performed professionally in Mannheim. So it came as a surprise to me, how lively and vital the 30 year-old production of Fledermaus came across, whereas the premiere of Devereux seemed somewhat phlegmatic in comparison.

I doubt that any Fledermaus can match the sparkle and fizzle that the Metropolitan Opera’s mounting nearly always manages to produce, but Mannheim comes close. Friedrich Meyer-Oertel clearly conceived his production with fun as the guiding principal, and the principals, bit-players and chorus at this performance were determined to play out this comedy of manners with mirth always in mind.

Particularly rewarding for me was to hear Eisenstein sung by a tenor, as Johann Strauss originally intended. I never heard Uwe Eikötter before, but I’d like to hear him again. He has precisely the right lilt in his voice as he tries to play a not-so good-natured trick on his wife. A mellow sweetness in the timbre suggests he might do well to attempt a more ambitious Fach than Melot, Monostatos and Pong -- parts he apparently regularly sings.

Cornelia Ptassek took a while to get inside Rosalinda, but by the time she got to her rousing Czardas in the second act, she turned into a spouse not to be trifled with.

I’m told that Diana Damrau made Adele into one of her signature roles during her stay in Mannheim, but Katharina Göres at this performance left little to long for. She has clean coloratura, a bright top and an attractive stage personality -- a package that could take her to stages far beyond Germany. Whether she has Damrau’s dramatic range and vocal allure, remains to be seen.

Edna Prochnik as Orlovsky was delightful to experience, not merely because she reveals an incipient vocal temperament that portends bigger roles. She is also a refreshing change from the counter-tenors that I’ve encountered too frequently in this role. Which brings to mind a suggestion for the idea-starved directors, whose da-duh productions of this wonderful work I’ve had to endure in the past couple of years: How about an Orlovsky performed by a counter-tenor in an evening gown?

The big surprise of the evening, though, was Wolfgang Neumann as Alfredo. Yes, the Wolfgang Neumann everybody who has survived his Siegfried and Tristan loves to hate! Rarely, have I experienced Alfredo so electrifyingly sung and non-acted! And on this occasion, he was even funny. Neumann sings his farewell this spring in Mannheim, but surely he has more than enough voice left to return for an occasional turn as Alfredo.

At this performance, Lars Møller, Thomas Jesatko and Uwe Schönbeck were cast as Dr. Falke, Frank and Frosch respectively. Møller eschewed the manipulative side of the role and made the most of the merry side of Eisenstein’s sidekick. Jesatko enlivened the party scene, and Schönbeck clearly had the audience in his bottle the moment he stepped on stage as the inebriated jailer. Oskar Pürgstaller’s Blind was a treat.

The linking entity between Fledermaus and Devereux was Alexander Kalajdzic on the podium. He is among the batch of younger conductors cutting their teeth on the international circuit. Currently, the Zagreb native is wrapping up his tour of duty as first Kappelmeister in Mannheim. Next season, he moves on to become Generalmusikdirector at Bielefeld’s opera house.

On Friday night he generated high voltage with his reading of Fledermaus. It became clear at the outset of the overture, that he has Strauss the Younger in his blood, and he communicated his affinity with this music with bodacious enthusiasm. On Saturday, though, his wattage sputtered: possibly because the house orchestra, still after nearly 300 years one of the finest in Europe, seemed disinterested during Devereux. Several back-stand violinists were leaning back in their seats throughout the evening, and the winds and brass generally lacked punch in the big ensemble passages. I would have expected this at Fledermaus. After all, it was the upteenth performance of an old production, but the musicians played like New Year’s Eve. Devereux was a premiere and a First for Mannheim. Yet, the orchestra sounded as though nobody wanted to go to the party.

The seeming lack of enthusiasm among the players seemed to infect the principals, all of whom were performing their respective roles for the first time. Ludmila Slepneva has sufficient power and technique to essay Elizabetta, but she seemed preoccupied with the notes rather than the music. And the notes to which she devoted such care were thrifty on ornamentation. Her voice on this occasion also had a tendency to spread at the top in some instances, while turning shrewish at others. Nonetheless she turned out an effective “Vive Ingrato” in the final scene. Comparisons with singers of the past who have scored in this role are admittedly silly. But Slepnova has formidable competition in this Fach from contemporaries such as Alexandrina Pendatchanska. There’s an Elisabetta!

Marie-Belle Sandis fared better as Sara, Elisabetta’s rival for the affections of Roberto Devereux. Hers is a dark mezzo that retains its warmth from top to bottom. She is not exactly suited for Sara, but she came closest to surmounting the lethargy around her.

Juhan Tralla in the eponymous role sounded the most energetic of the three principals, but it became apparent that he has yet to master his part. He has a pleasing and flexible lyric instrument that holds up under pressure, but he too seemed preoccupied with getting out the notes, rather than enlivening them.

The rest of the principal roles were capably rounded out by Thomas Berau (Nottingham), Mihail Mihylov (Raleigh) and Christoph Wittmann (Cecil).

Thinking back on these two performances and the marked contrast in effect, it occurs to me that Fledermaus is a German/Austrian work that was performed by German-speaking artists, whereas Devereux is an Italian work that was played out on this occasion with quite possibly no Italians onstage. Admittedly, most of the live performances of Devereux I’ve heard have been sung by non-Italians, but the Italianate stylistic panache was always there. At the same time, I failed to sense a Germanic or northern European approach to the music, as is palpable in numerous pirate recordings of Donizetti operas in German. Are we now in a New Age of an intra-national style of performing opera?

© Sam H. Shirakawa

Indiana University to Videocast Four Lucias

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:13:00 +0000

On Friday and Saturday evenings (8:00PM EST and 0100GMT) Indiana University will be airing a live videocast of its production of Lucia di Lammermoor. There will be two different performances broadcast on consecutive nights, each with a different cast.

And then, they will do it all over again next weekend - videocasting the final two performances.

So, altogether we will have four opportunities to see this production. Once the run is over, the University has told us that they will pick the best performance by each cast and make those two performances available as videos on demand.

Kudos to Indiana University's video team for making all four performances available.

Sat., Jan. 30, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:57:00 +0000

Two truly exciting offerings today -- among many:

Metropolitan Opera (on numerous stations) - About to start is a performance of Verdi's Stiffelio, with Julianna Di Giacomo, Jose Cura and Andrzej Dobber, with Placido Domingo conducting.
ESPACE 2 - From La Scala, a performance of Bizet's Carmen, with Anna Rachvelishvili, Jonas Kaufmann and Erwin Schrott, with Daniel Barenboim conducting.

Happy Listening!

Sat., Jan. 23, 2010 (B)

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:27:00 +0000

More offerings this afternoon include:

KBIA2 - NPR World of Opera: Verdi's Macbeth, with Dimitris Tiliakos (Macbeth); Violeta Urmana (Lady Macbeth); Ferruccio Furlanetto (Banco); Stefano Secco (Macduff).
Latvia Radio Klasika - Dvorak's Rusalka starring Ana Maria Martinez
MDR Figaro - Nicolai's Merry Wives, starring Franz Hawlata (Sir John Falstaf); Dietrich Henschel (Herr Fluth); Juliane Banse (Frau Fluth).
RADIO OESTERREICH INTERNATIONAL - A repeat of this season's sterling Richard Strauss Rosenkavalier, from the Met, with Susan Graham, Renee Fleming, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Christine Schäfer and Thomas Allen.
Radio Stephansdom - Wagner's Rheingold, starring John Bröcheler as Wotan.
Radio Tre - Verdi's Falstaff, starring veteran Renato Bruson in the title role.

Happy listening,

Sat., Jan. 23, 2010 (A)

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:09:00 +0000

Getting a late start today. Two or three things stand out from the crowd of live offerings this afternoon:

DR P2 - A performance of Chabrier's L'Etoile, with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, which is just starting.
Metropolitan Opera (on numerous stations) - Likewise, just starting, an archival b'cast of Barber's Vanessa, with Eleanor Steber, Nicolai Gedda, Rosalind Elias, Regina Resnik and Giorgio Tozzi.

More to come...............

Live Offerings - Saturday, January 16, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:08:00 +0000

Getting a late start today. Two or three things stand out from the crowd of live offerings this afternoon: The Met's new production of Carmen (also being shown in HD in move theaters today), with Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna, from Radio Clasica de Espana a live 1960 Bartered Bride with Irmgard Seefried and a wonderful ensemble cast, and from Sveriges Radio P2 a 1954 Signor Bruschino (Rossini) with Elisabeth Söderströmand Hugo Hasslo. Here's the complete lineup:

Sveriges Radio P2 - A live 1954 perfromance of Rossini's Signor Bruschino from Kungliga Opera, with Elisabeth Söderström, Eleonora Collin, Arne Hendriksen, Sture Ingebretzen, Sigvard Berg, Hugo Hasslo and Anders Näslund, conducted by Lamberto Gardelli.
BR Klassik - An October 10, 2008 performance of Schubert's Winterreise, with Christoph Prégardien and Ensemble Berlin.
Deutschlandradio Kultur - From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, a November 22, 2009 performance of Verdi's Don Carlo, with Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, Marianne Cornetti, Ferruccio Furlanetto, John Tomlinson, Robert Lloyd, Pumeza Matshikiza, Eri Nakamura and Robert Anthony Gardiner, conducted by Semyon Bychkov.
DR P2 - From the Vienna State Opera, a January 8th performance of Massenet's Manon, with Diana Damrau, Ramón Vargas, Markus Eiche and Dan Paul Dumitrescu, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
Metropolitan Opera (on numerous stations) - Bizet's Carmen, with Elina Garanca,
Roberto Alagna, Trevor Scheunemann, Barbara Frittoli, Mariusz Kwiecien, Earle Patriarco, Keith Jameson, Keith Miller, Elizabeth Caballero and Sandra Piques Eddy, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Radio Clasica de Espana - From the Vienna State Opera, a November 11, 1960 performance of Smetana's The Bartered Bride, with I. Seefried, W. Kmentt, H. Braun, H. Konetzni, M. Dickie, L. Weber, R. Anday, O. Czerwenka, L. Szemere, L. Maikl and H. Schweiger, conducted by B. Klobucar.
KBIA2 & KOHM - NPR World of Opera: From the Vienna State Opera, Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, with Kurt Rydl, Marian Talaba, Angela Denoke, Mischa Didyk and Donna Ellen, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher.
Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) - Another chance to hear the Metropoltian Opera's December 19th broadcast of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, with Joseph Calleja, Kathleen Kim, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Kate Lindsay, Alan Held, Alan Oke and Rodell Rosel, conducted byJames Levine.
Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava & WDAV - From Teatro alla Scala, a December 19th performance of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, with Roberta Invernizzi, Georg Nigl, Sara Mingardo, Luigi De Donato, Raffaella Milanesi, Giovanni B. Parodi and Furio Zanasi, conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini.
Espace 2 - From The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, a December 1, 2009 performance of Tchaikovsky's The Tsarina's Slippers, with Vsevolod Grivnov, Olga Guryakova, Larissa Diadkova, Maxim Mikhailov, Vladimir Matorin, Vyacheslav Voynarovsky, Alexander Vassiliev, John Upperton, Sergey Leiferkus, Jeremy White, Changhan Lim, conducted by Alexander Polyanicko.
HR2 Kultur - From Deutsche Oper Berlin, an April 9, 2009 performance of Respighi's Marie Victoire, with Marie de Lanjallay, Takesha Meshé Kizart, Maurice de Lanjallay, Markus Brück, Clorivière German Villar, Simon Simon Pauly and Cloteau Stephen Bronk, conducted by Michail Jurowski.
Radio Tre (RAI) - From Teatro Communale di Bologna, Strauss's Salome, with Robert Brubaker, Dalia Schächter, Nadja Michael, Mark S. Doss and Mark Milhofer and Nora Sourouzian, conducted by Nicola Luisotti.
ABC Classic FM (Australia) & Concert FM (New Zealand) - Another chance to hear the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Strauss's Elektra, with Susan Bullock, Deborah Voigt, Felicity Palmer, Alan Held and Wolfgang Schmidt, conducted by Fabio Luisi.

Happy listening,

Live Offerings - Saturday, January 9, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:02:00 +0000

Not to be missed: The Met broadcast of Der Rosenkavalier (G and I attended the Wednesday evening performance, and the cast was close to perfection, one of the all-time best performances of this opera either of us had seen). All four principles were wonderful, but Susan Graham's Octavian outshown them all.

There are other things to listen to this aftenoon, including a live live Manon from Vienna with Damrau and Vargas, so let's get right to them:

Deutschlandradio Kultur - From Mannheim a December 9th performance of Johann Christian Bach's Amadis des Gaules, with Maximilian Schmitt, Cornelia Ptassek, Marie-Belle Sandis, Anne-Theresa Albrecht, Antje Bitterlich and Katrin Wagner, conducted by Reinhard Goebel.

Metropolitan Opera (on numerous stations) - Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, with Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Christine Schäfer, Eric Cutler, Thomas Allen and Kristinn Sigmundsson, conducted by Edo de Waart.

Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - From Palais Garnier in Paris, Gounod's Mireille, with Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo, Franck Ferrari, Alain Vernhes, Sylvie Brunet, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Sébastien Droy, Nicolas Cavallier and Amel Brahim-Djelloul, conducted by Marc Minkowski.

KBIA2 & KOHM - NPR World of Opera: From La Sclal in Milan, Monteverdi's Orfeo, with Georg Nigi, Roberta Invernizzi, Sara Mindardo, Luigi De Donato, Raffaella Milanesi, Giovanni B. Parodi and Furio Zanasi, conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini.

Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) & Radio Tre (RAI) - From the Vienna State Opera, Massenet's Manon, with Diana Damrau, Ramón Vargas, Dan Paul Dumitrescu, Markus Eiche, Alexander Kaimbacher, Clemens Unterreiner, Simina Ivan, Sophie Marilley and Zoryana Kushpler, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.

Espace 2 - From Cologne, Mozart's Così fan tutte, with Iulia Isaev, Bernarda Fink, Marcel Reijans, Marcel Boone, Pietro Spagnoli, Graciela Oddone, conducted by René Jacobs.

Klara - From La Scala, the December 7th opening night performance of Bizet's Carmen, with Anita Rachvelishvili, Jonas Kaufmann, Erwin Schrott, Adriana Damato, Gabor Bretz, Mathias Hausmann, Michèle Losier, Adriana Kucerová, Gabriel Da Costa, Francis Dudziac, Rodolphe Briand and Carmine Maringola, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

WDAV - From NPR World of Opera (on a one week delay), a Royal Opera House, Covent Garden performance of Tchaikovsky's The Tsarina's Slippers, with Olga Guryakova, Vsevolod Grivnov, Larissa Diadkova, Vladimir Matorin, ergei Leiferkuss, Maxim Mikhailov, Vyacheslav Voynarovsky, Alexander Vassiliev and John Upperton, conducted by Alexander Polianichko.

Concert FM (New Zealand) & ABC Classic FM (Australia) - Now that the Antipodes have begun their run of the Met broadcasts, another chance to hear Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, with Joseph Calleja, Kathleen Kim, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Kate Lindsay, Alan Held, Alan Oke, Rodell Rosel, Michael Todd Simpson, Dean Peterson, Mark Schowalter and David Asch, conducted by James Levine.

Happy listening . . . .

Live Offerings, Saturday, January 2, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:09:00 +0000

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.....

Live Offerings - Saturday, December 19, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:11:00 +0000

The strongest, most interesting choice today is probably the Met Tales of Hoffmann broadcast, but there are other offerings worth a look as well. WWFM is re-airing the Bayreuth Meistersinger from this past summer; Deutschlandradio Kultur offers another chance to hear Klaus Florian Vogt in Korngold's Die Tode Stadt from Frankfurt; NPR World of Opera is airing Handel's Ariodante from this past summer's Beaune Baroque Opera Festival with Karina Gauvin; several stations are carrying a Geneva performance of Chabrier's L'Etoile with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt; Radio Tre and Radio Oesterreich International offer Tristan und Isolde from the Vienna State Opera with Robert Dean Smith and Violetta Urmana; and Czech Radio is airing Gounod's Faust with Piotr Beczala and Soile Isokoski (if one doesn't think of Kwangchul Youn as a liability...).

Now for the details:

Deutschlandradio Kultur - From Oper Frankfurt am Main, a November 22 performance of Korngold's Die Tote Stadt, with Klaus Florian Vogt, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Michael Nagy, Hedwig Fassbender, Anna Ryberg, Jenny Carlstedt, Julian Prégardien and Hans-Jürgen Lazar, conducted by Leitung: Sebastian Weigle.
Espace 2, Dwojke Polskie Radio, NRK Klassisk & NRK P2 - From the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, a November 9 performance of Chabrier's L'Etoile, with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, René Schirrer, Jean Doyen, Fabrice Farina, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Blandine Staskiewicz and Jérôme Savary, conducted by Jean-Yves Ossonce.
Metropolitan Opera (on numerous stations) - Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, with Kathleen Kim, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Kate Lindsey, Joseph Calleja and Alan Held, conducted by James Levine.
NPR World of Opera - From the International Baroque Opera Festival in Beaune, France, Handel's Ariodante, with Ann Hallenberg, Karina Gauvin, Maarten Engeltjes, Jael Azzaretti,; Krystian Adam and; Sergio Foresti, conducted by Federco Maria Sardelli.
WWFM - From this past summer's Bayreuth Festival, Wagner's Die Meistersinger, with Alan Titus, Artur Korn, Charles Reid, Rainer Zaun, Adrian Eröd, Markus Eiche, Edward Randall, Hans-Jürgen Lazar, Florian Hoffmann, Martin Snell, Hans Schwarz Mario Klein, Diógenes Randes, Klaus Florian Vogt, Norbert Ernst, Michaela Kaune, Carola Guber and Friedemann Röhlig, conducted by Sebastian Weigle.
Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) & Radio Tre (RAI) - From the Vienna State Opera, a December 14 performance of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, with Robert Dean Smith, Violetta Urmana, Yvonne Naef, Bo Skovhus, Franz-Josef Selig, Clemens Unterreiner, Wolfgang Bankl, Gergely Nemeti and Peter Jelosits, conducted by Simon Rattle.
Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - From the Vienna State Opera, Gounod's Faust, with Piotr Beczala, Kwangchul Youn, Boaz Daniel, Soile Isokoski, Zoryana Kushpler, Hans Peter Kammerer, Roxana Constantinescu, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.

Messiah Alert!
This being the week before Christmas, there are many opportunities to hear Handel's Messiah (by my count I have entered eight for this week!), including a gem of a performance I heard the other evening with the New York Philharmonic, Helmut Rilling conducting a the Philharmonic's chamber orchestra with the Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart. The soloists are all more than respectable, but the glory of this performance is the utter clarity and beauty of the choral singing. There will be more than one chance to hear it (unfortunately abridged to fit a two hour time slot - the performance included all three parts and ran about an hour and a half), as many stations in the U.S. will be carrying it as part of their NY Philharmonic series this week.

Happy listening - and Merry Christmas to all!

Exciting Janacek offering

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Because of time constraints, today I'm only going to spotlight just one of the many exciting choices on offer over the Web today. As always, we invite you to peruse our Saturday page yourselves for anything that especially appeals to you during this afternoon. But we're especially attracted to a performance from Florence heard on four different stations today:

Deutschlandradio Kultur / Dwojke Polskie Radio - At GMT 1800/EST 1:00PM, Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen: a star-studded cast features

Seiji Ozawa conductor

Quinn Kelsey
The Gamekeeper

Judith Christin
His Wife, The Owl

Dennis Petersen
The Schoolmaster,The Mosquito

Kevin Langan
The Priest, The Badger

Gustáv Belácek
Harašta, a tramp

Federico Lepre
Pásek, The Innkeeper

Marcella Polidori
Páskova, His Wife

Isabel Bayrakdarian
Bystrouška, the Cunning Little Vixen

Lauren Curnow
The Fox.

NRK Klassisk / NRK P2 - At GMT 1830/EST 1:30PM, you can hear this same performance on these stations in even finer sound! However, be aware that NRK Klassisk recently made an arbitrary cut at the start of the last act of a recent Lady Macbeth of Mzensk. Since NRK P2 appears to do their Saturday opera in tandem with NRK Klassisk, both stations may have done the same on that occasion! Consequently, in this case, opting for finer sound today, at GMT 1830/EST 1:30PM, may entail some risk for the listener. "Buyer, beware".

Happy listening.....

Live Offerings, Saturday, November 21, 2009 - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Further live offerings for this afternoon:

Dwojke Polskie Radio - Is also carrying the Szymanowski Król Roger from the Liceu; a correction: Josep Pons is the sonductoir (and not the singer Juan Pons, as I ahd eal;rier supposed).
France Musique - From Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, a November 9 performance of Donizetti's Don Pasquale, with Nicola Alaimo, Laura Giordano, Mario Cassi, Francisco Gatell and Gabriele Spina, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
NPR World of Opera - From the Vienna State Opera, Mozart's Don Giovanni, with Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Rene Pape, Ricarda Merbeth, Soile Isokoski, Michael Schade, Michaele Selinger, Boaz Daniel and Eric Halfvarson, conducted by Constantinos Carydis.
NRK Klassisk & NRK P2 - From Palais Garnier in Paris, Gounod's Mireille, with Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo, Franck Ferrari, Alain Vernhes, Sylvie Brunet, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Sébastien Droy, Nicolas Cavallier and Amel Brahim-Djelloul, conducted by Marc Minkowski.
Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) - From Theater an der Wien, an October 22 performance of Vivaldi's Armida al Campo d'Egitto, with Sara Mingardo, Furio Zanasi, Monica Bacelli, Raffaella Milanesi, Marina Comparato, Romina Basso and Martin Oro, conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini.
Cesky Rozhlas-3 Vltava - From trhe Metropolitan Oper archives, a 1959 broadcast pf Verdi's Macbeth, with Leonie Rysanek, Leonard Warren, Carlo Bergonzi, Jerome Hines, William Olvis, Carlotta Ordassy, Gerhard Pechner, Harold Sternberg, Osie Hawkins, Calvin Marsh, Emilia Cundari and Mildred Allen, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf.
Klara - Is running a full day of Purcell programming, and in their opera slot listen to Glyndebourne performance of Purcell's The Fairy Queen, with Lucy Crowe, Claire Debono, Anna Devin, Carolyn Sampson, Robert Burt, Ed Lyon, Andrew Foster-Williams, Sean Clayton, Adrian Ward, and Lukas Kargl, conducted by William Christie.
Latvia Radio Klasika - From the Grand Theatre in Geneva, a February 28 performance of Strauss's Salome, with Alan Held, Nikola Bellere Karbone, Hedviga Fasbindere and Kim Begley, conducted by Gabriele Ferro.
NDR Kultur - From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, a September performance of Verdi's Don Carlo, with Jonas Kaufmann, Maria Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, Sonia Ganassi, Ferruccio Furlanetto and John Tomlinson, conducted by Semyon Bychkov.
Radio Tre (RAI) - From Opéra Berlioz, Le Corum, Montpellier, a July 13 performance of Bellini's Zaira, with Ermonela Jaho, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Shalva Mukeria, Wenwei Zhang, Franck Bard, Marianne Crebassa and Carlo Kang, conducted by Enrique Mazzola.
Radio Tre (RAI) - In their weekend late-night archival broadcast slot, tonight hear an October 25, 1963 broadcast of Leoncavallo's's La Boheme, with Angelo Loforese, Guido Mazzini, Fernando Lidonni, Giorgio Tadeo, Osvaldo Scrigna, Osvaldo Scrigna, Walter Brunelli, Antonio Petrini, Bianca Maria Casoni, Florida Assandri Norelli and Maja Sunara, Orchestra Sinfonica e coro di Milano della Raiconducted by Pietro Argento; tomorrow night hear Puccini's La Boheme, with Agostino Lazzari, Rolando Panerai, Enrico Ciampi, Franco Calabrese, Aristide Baracchi, Melchiorre Luise, Elena Rizzieri, Graziella Sciutti, Walter Artioli and Egidio Casolari, Orchestra Sinfonica e coro di Milano della Rai conducted by Nino Sanzogno.

Happy listening.....

Live Offerings, Saturday, November 21, 2009 - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Getting a late start on this blog today (thanks to a late but great party last night). Some things are already underway:

Sveriges Radio P2 - Stravinski's The Rakes Progress, from Malmö, with Nikola Matisic, Hulda Björk Gardarsdóttir, Bengt Krantz, Emma Lyrén, Ethel Schelin, Daniel Hellström, Sellem - Rickard Söderberg, Thomas Hildebrandt and Skådespelare - Keijo J. Salmela, conducted by Staffan Larsson.
WUFT-FM HD2 - From Houston Grand Opera, a Choral Gala.
Bartok Radio - Its Budapest Ring Cycle continues with a June 14 performance of Gotterdammerung, with Christian Franz, Oskar Hillebrandt, Eric F. Halfvarson, Hartmut Welker, Linda Watson, Markovics Erika, Cornelia Kallisch, Gál Erika, Németh Judit, Szabóki Tünde, Korondi Anna, Fodor Gabriella and Shöck Atala, conducted by Adan Fischer.
BBC Radio 3 - From Opera North, Massenet's Werther, with Paul Nilon, Alice Coote, Fflur Wyn, Peter Savidge, Donald Maxwell, Richard Burkhard and Joshua Ellicott, conducted by Richard Farnes.

And about to start:

CBC Two - From La Scala in Milan, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, with David Daniels, Rosemary Joshua, Emil Wolk, Daniel Okulitch, Gordon Gietz, and Erin Wall, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Deutschlandradio Kultur - From Staatsoper Hannover, a November 14 perfromance of Wagner's Das Rheingold, with Tobias Schabel, Jin-Ho Yoo, Young-Hoon Heo, Robert Künzli, Stefan Adam, Jörn Eichler, Albert Pesendorfer, Young Myoung Kwon, Khatuna Mikaberidze, Arantxa Armentia, Okka von der Damerau, Nicole Chevalier, Julia Faylenbogen and Mareike Morr, conducted by Wolfgang Bozic.
DR P2 - From the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck, an August 29 performance of Haydn's Orlando Paladino, with Tom Randle, Sine Bundgaard, Pietro Spagnoli, Magnus Staveland, Alexandrina Pendatchanska and Sunhae Im, condiucted by René Jacobs.
Espace Musique - From Vienna State Opera, Wagner's Lohengrin, with Robert Dean Smith, Morten Frank Larsen, Ain Anger, Falk Struckmann, Janina Baechle and Camilla Nylund, conducted by Leif Segerstram.
KBYU - From Houston Grand Opera, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, with Iestyn Davies, Laura Claycomb, Jon Michael Hill, Norman Reinhardt, Liam Bonner, Marie Lenormand, Katie van Kooten, Matthew Rose, Steven Cole, Ryan McKinny, Robert Pomakov and Leann Sandel-Pantaleo, conducted by Patrick Summers.
Radio 4 Netherlands - From The Liceu in Barcelona, Szymanovsky's Krol Roger, with Juan Pons and Anne Schwanenwilms and Scott Hendricks.
Radio Clasica de Espana - From Wexford, an October 31 performance of a double bill: Chabrier's Une éducation manquée, with K. Jayasinghe, P. Murrihy; and Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio, with G. Bellavia, C. Pervin, G. Pelligra, V. Prato, L. Dall’Amico and A. Gill, both conducted by C. Franklin.
RTP Antena 2 - From Thuríngia, a February 2 performance of Mendelssohn's Soldatenliebschaft, with Gerlinde Illich, Linlin Fan, Joan Ribalta, Bernardo Kim and Serge Noviqueconducted by Eric Solén.
WETA - From Washington National Opera, one more airing of Handel's Tamerlano, with Placido Domingo, David Daniels, Sarah Coburn, Patricia Bardon, Claudio Huckle and Andrew Foster Williams, conducted by William Lacey.
WFMT Opera Series (on numerous stations) - From Houston Grand Opera, a Choral Gala.
WQXR - from Los Angeles Opera, Verdi's Requiem, with Adrianne Pieczonka, Stephanie Blythe, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, and René Pape, conducted by Placido Domingo.
XLNC1- From Houston Grand Opera, Verdi's Rigoletto, with Scott Hendricks, Albina Shagimuratova, Eric Cutler, Andrea Silvestrelli, Maria Markina, Bradley Garvin, Jamie Barton, Adam Cioffari, Shon Sims, Octavio Moreno, Faith Sherman and Tommy Ajai George, conducted by Patrick Summers.

More to come shortly. Happy listening.....

Saturday, November 14, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:05:00 +0000

Here are a few high spots for this afternoon --

CBC TWO - Massenet's Werther, with Rolando Villazon and Susan Graham, under Kent Nagano.
DRP2 - Gounod's Faust, with Piotr Beczala, Soile Isokoski and Boaz Daniel; Bertrand de Billy conducts.
Espace Musique - A broadcast of Mozart's Entführung aus dem Serail, featuring Matthew Polenzani, Erin Wall, and Aleksandra Kurzak; Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
KBYU - Joyce Di Donato stars in an English-language production of Berlioz's Beatrice and Benedick.
RTP Antena 2 - Cavalli's's Ercole Amante: Ivor Bolton leads a performance featuring Veronique Gens.
WETA - Charlotte Hellekant stars as Nerone in Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea.
XLNC1 - From Houston Grand Opera, Britten's Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Iestyn Davies, Laura Claycomb, Norman Reinhardt, Liam Bonner, Katie van Kooten, Marie Lenormand, Matthew Rose and Steven Cole, conducted by Patrick Summers.
France Musique - A rebroadcast of this summer's Bayreuth Festival performance of Wagner's Parsifal, featuring Christopher Ventris and Mihoko Fujimora.
NPR World of Opera on numerous stations - From Washington National Opera, Richard Strauss's Elektra, with Susan Bullock, Christine Goerke, Irina Mishura, Daniel Sumegi and Alan Woodrow, conducted by Heinz Fricke.
NRK Klassisk / NRK P2 - Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mzensk, starring Angela Denoke.
Sveriges Radio P2 - A rare historic broadcast of a 1974 performance in New York of Verdi's Vespri Siciliani, starring Montserrat Caballé, Nicolai Gedda, Sherrill Milnes and Justino Díaz, James Levine conducting.
Bartok Radio - Monteverdi's Orfeo, starring Ian Bostridge, Patrizia Ciofi, Natalie Dessay, Alice Coote and Véronique Gens; Emmanuelle Haim conducts.

Happy listening . . . .

Saturday, November 7, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Here are a few high spots for this afternoon --

WFMT Opera Series (on numerous stations) - From Houston Grand Opera, Britten's Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Iestyn Davies, Laura Claycomb, Norman Reinhardt, Liam Bonner, Katie van Kooten, Marie Lenormand, Matthew Rose and Steven Cole, conducted by Patrick Summers.
CBC TWO - Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict, with Joyce Di Donato and Charles Workman, under Sir Colin Davis.
XLNC1 - Joyce Di Donato also stars in another performance of Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict, opposite Norman Reinhardt, with Michael Hofstetter conducting.
KBYU - A rebroadcast of this summer's Bayreuth Festival performance of Wagner's Meistersinger von Nürnberg, featuring Klaus Florian Vogt.
NRK Klassisk / NRK P2 - A rare historic broadcast of a 1974 performance in New York of Verdi's Vespri Siciliani, starring Montserrat Caballé, Nicolai Gedda, Sherrill Milnes and Justino Díaz, James Levine conducting.
RTP Antena 2 - Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, with Anthony Michaels-Moore, Krassimira Stoyanova, Neil Shicoff and Giacomo Prestia, conducted by Paolo Carignani.
WETA - From the Vienna State Opera, a Gala performance of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin: Simon Keenlyside (Eugene Onegin); Tamar Iveri (Tatyana); Ramon Vargas (Lensky); Seiji Ozawa conducting.
Latvia Radio Klasika - Wagner's Meistersinger von Nürnberg, featuring Robert Dean Smith.

Happy listening . . . .

Live Offerings - Saturday, October 24, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:37:00 +0000

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 . . . .

Live Offerings, Saturday, October 17, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:29:00 +0000

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 . . . .

Live Offerings, Saturday, October 10, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:31:00 +0000

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 . . . .

RED ALERT! -- Sunday, October 4, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:21:00 +0000

UPDATE: As of 4;00AM Sunday, we are again able to put up pages to the site. All seems to be back to normal....

RED ALERT

We are having difficulties uploading pages to Operacast.com. The provider is having difficulties and not accepting pages at the moment. Hopefully, this Blog posting will post successfully, alerting Operacast.com users that we are aware of the problem. We can only hope that it will be corrected in a few hours, even though the outlook on a weekend for this kind of problem being corrected quickly may be bleak.

Regrets to all,

Liz & Geoffrey Riggs, Webmasters

www.operacast.com

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

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:36:00 +0000

And on we go with live listings for today:

Espace 2 - From Bucharest, an August 9 performance of Enesco's Oedipe, with Franck Ferrari, Oana Andra, Mihai Lazar, Stefan Schuller, Horia Sandu, Valentin Racoveanu, Pompeiu Harasteanu, Adriana Alexandru, Crina Zancu, Ecaterina Tutu, Vicentiu Taranu, Ionut Pascu and Mihnea Lamatic, conducted by Oleg Caetani.
Klara - From Vlaamse Opera, a September 25 performance of Berg's Wozzeck, with Gabriel Suovanen, Wozzeck Noëmi Nadelmann, Marie Ales Briscein, Tambourmajor Peter Bronder, Hauptmann Friedemann Röhlig, Doktor Thorsten Büttner, Andres Katarina Bradic and Margret Milcho Borovinov, conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
Latvia Radio Klasika - From Opera Royal de Wallonie, Auber's Fra Diavolo, with Sumi Jo and Kenneth Tarver, conducted by Jean Claude Malgoire.
Radio Slovenia Klasika - Also airing the Rossini Zelmira from Pesaro.
Sveriges Radio P2 - From the Royal Albert Hall in London, a July 19 performance of Handel's Partenope, with Inger Dam-Jensen, Tuva Semmingsen, Andreas Scholl, Christophe Dumaux, Bo Kristian Jensen and Palle Knudsen, conducted by Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
Radio Tre (RAI) - From the 2009 Maggio Musicale in Florence, Verdi's Rigoletto, with James Valenti, Alberto Gazale, Désirée Rancatore,, Konstantin Gorny, Chiara Fracasso,, Giorgia Bertagni Armando Caforio, Roberto Accurso, Luca Casalin, Andrea Cortese, Miriam Artiaco, Vito Luciano Roberti and Elisa Luppi, conducted by Stefano Ranzani.
Lyric FM - From Teatro dell' Opera in Rome, Gluck's Iphegenie en Aulis, with Krassimira Stoyanova, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
WDAV - NPR World of Opera (on a one week delay): From the Capitole Theatre in Toulouse, Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, with Bernard Richter, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Allyson McHardy, Stephane Degout, Fancoise Masset, Jennifer Holloway, Bruno Calucci, Jael Azzaretti and Francis Lis, conducted by Emmanuelle Haim.
KING - Another chance to hear Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov from San Francisco Opera, with Samueal Ramey, 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 Ian Robertson.
Classid FM (Australia) - From Vienna State Opera, Strauss's Die Schweigsame Frau, with Kurt Rydl, Janina Baechle, Adrian Eröd, Michael Schade, Jane Archibald, Caroline Wenborne, Michaela Selinger, Clemens Unterreiner, Janusz Monarcha and Walter Fink, conducted by Peter Schneider.
Concert FM (New Zealand) - Another chance to catch Beethoven's Fidelio from the BBC Proms, with Waltraud Meier, Simon O'Neill, Gerd Grochowski,, John Tomlinson Adriana Kucerova, Stephan Rügamer and Viktor Rud, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

Happy listening.....

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

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:06:00 +0000

Starting at 1:30PM EDT:

Bartok Radio - From Lyric Opera of Chicago, a November 7, 2008 performance of Berg's Lulu, with Marlis Petersen, Jill Grove, Buffy Baggott, Craig Irvin, Scott Ramsay, Wolfgang Schöne, William Burden, Jan Buchwald, Thomas Hammons, Rodell Rosel and Bradley Garden, conducted by Andrew Davis.
France Musique - From the 2009 Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Rossini's Zelmira, with Alex Esposito, Kate Aldrich and Juan Diego Florez.
NPR World of Opera - From 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.
MDR Figaro - From Semper Oper, the September 6 finals concert of their vocal competition, conducted by Markus Poschner.
NRK Klassisk & NRK P2 - From Covent Garden in London, Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, with Elina Garaca, Anna Netrebko, Dario Schmunck, Eric Owens and Alastair Miles, conducted by Mark Elder.
Radio Oesterreich International (OE1) - From Flemish Opera in Antwerp, a February 13 performance of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa, with Nikolai Putilin, Mikhail Kit, Leandra Overmann, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Viktor Lutsiuk, Milcho Borovinov, Vesselin Ivanov and Thorsten Büttner, conducted by Dmitri Jurowski.

Still more to come.....

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

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:28:00 +0000

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!

Disdaining the Master's Art

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:08:00 +0000

Sam Shirakawa went to Cologne last week to see Wagner's Die Meistersinger:

WAGNER: DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG
26 September 2009
Cologne

As I was leaving the Cologne Opera House, following a performance of Die Meistersinger last Saturday night. I couldn’t help but overhear two women conversing behind me:

“I didn’t understand the production at all,” said one in a distinctive Kölner accent.

“Neither did I,” replied the other.

I could barely keep myself from turning around to add: “And neither did I.”

Uwe Eric Laufenberg’s new production starts off with all the characters, with the exception of Walther von Stolzing, in period costumes--possibly the Wilhelmenian era. He is sporting a tie-less black suit that could possibly bear a Hugo Boss label. He is also snapping photos with a camera that is presumably digital. (The flash didn’t function on Saturday night.) The set sketches out a church -- presumably St. Katharine’s Church in Nuremberg. Is Walther then a visitor from the future?

In the second Act, the outdoor setting, top hats and bustles suggest the same period. Walther’s white satin dress coat suggests that he has quickly adjusted to the fashions of the times.

The interior of Hans Sachs’ house in the final act, though, is decked out in what looked like 1960s Bargain Outlet or maybe DDR Moderne. And the final scene takes place, not on the meadows outside Nuremberg’s walls, but on the plaza outside the Cologne Opera House -- presumably NOW. A mini-Jumbotron flashes a video montage of Cologne’s history over the past century, using archive photos, newsreels and other films, many of which I have never seen before. As a bonus, televised excerpts of from an earlier production of Meistersinger (no sound though) are interspersed with the other images.

Confusing? Distracting? No, just awful.

Thanks largely to Markus Stenz’s leadership at the podium, the performance withstood most of the on-stage shenanigans. Stenz’ love of Wagner was palpable in every measure of the score, as he moved the musical impulses in a seamlessly ascendent direction from start to finish. Only in the final scene did the powerful images on the Jumbotron overwhelm the thrust of the music. Despite a flub here and there, the Gürzenich Orchestra produced continuous incandescence.

Before the performance started an announcement from the stage informed the audience that Marco Jentzsch (Walther) and Johannes Martin Kränzle (Beckmesser) were suffering from colds and asking for indulgence. Kränzle fared better of the two. In fact, his scrivener was one of the most touchingly sung I have experienced live. Kränzle plays Beckmesser as an infatuated middle-age schoolboy. The desperate desire to please in his protracted second act serenade was well-nigh embarrassing.

Jentzsch, singing the role for the first time, got through the first two acts with style and in full, rounded voice. In the third act, he nursed his voice through the first scene and managed to deliver a prize-winning Prize Song in the finale. Given the circumstances, it’s difficult to assess what appears to be potential revealed, rather promise fulfilled. Jentzsch is young, tall and good-looking with a bright sizable tenor in the middle range. Since he sang most of the exposed upper notes between F and A in half voice, it’s impossible to say whether he’s in full possession of The Right Stuff for middle-weight Wagner.

Astrid Weber delivered a charming, occasionally neurotic Eva. Her voice shows signs of turning acidic at the top, but it retained its focus throughout the long evening.

Carsten Süß as David has two voices -- a candy-sweet lower and middle voice and another voice in the upper register that falls back into the head. If he can knead the two voices into one instrument, he could become a Lohengrin to be reckoned with.

The two glories of the evening were Bjarni Thor Kristinsson as Pogner and Robert Holl as Sachs. I never have heard Kristinsson before, and I wondered where I’ve been keeping myself. If you remember Gottlob Frick and Kurt Boehme, remember this: they live on in Kristinsson.

I’ve heard Robert Holl here and there for many years, but it’s hard to believe that nearly four decades have gone by since he started making the rounds on the international opera circuit. He is one of those blessed few singers who last long enough to implement the experience they acquire. Holl is still going strong and sounding better than ever.

As he struck a solid F in Sach’s peroration, I wondered what he thinks of some of his colleagues, who, though much younger, can barely make it through a performance.

© Sam H. Shirakawa

Live Offerings - Saturday, September 26, 2009 - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Further offerings for this afternoon:

Cesky Rozhlas 3-Vltava - From Brno, Blažek's Verchovina, with Vilém Pr(ibyl, Richard Novák, Anna Barová, Jarmila Palivcová, Jir(í Olejníc(ek, Jir(í Bar, Václav Halír, František Kunc, Stanislav Bechynský, Josef Škrobánek, Daniela Suryová, Jan Hlavík, Vladimír Krejc(ík, Jaroslav Souc(ek, Josef Klán, Jarmila Krátká, Pavel Polášek, conducted by František Jílek.
Radio Tre (RAI) - Direct from Teatro Olimpico di Roma, IL FLAUTO MAGICO secondo l'ORCHESTRA DI PIAZZA VITTORIO, with Omar Lopez Valle, Papageno, El Hadij Yeri Samb, Petra Magoni, Sylvie Lewis, Awalys Ernesto Lopez Maturell, Carlos Paz Duque, Houcine Ataa, Raul Scebba, Ziad Trabelsi, John Maida, Gaia Orsoni, Zsuzsanna Krasznai, Pino Pecorelli, Evandro Dos Reis and Sanjay Kansa Banik, conducted by Mario Tronco.
WFMT - This evening will air the Opening Night of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Season: Puccini's Tosca, with Tosca, with Deborah Voigt, Vladimir Galouzine, James Morris and Dale Travis, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.

And a late correction: KAMU is not carrying the San Francisco La Boheme, as we has originally listed, but will air the San Francisco Opera Der Rosenkavalier, with Joyce DiDonato, Soile Isokoski, Miah Persson, Kristinn Sigmundsson and Jochen Schmeckenbecher, conducted by Donald Runnicles.

Happy listening,

Live Offerings - Saturday, September 26, 2009 - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Liz) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Sveriges Radio P2 - already underway, from Göteborg Opera, Börtz's Goya, with Anders Larsson, Anders Lorentzon, Fredrik Zetterström, Michael Weinius, Mats Persson, Linus Börjesson, Iwar Bergkwist, Johan Schinkler, Henric Holmberg, Ann-Kristin Jones, Ann-Marie Backlund, Katarina Giotas and Natalie Hernborg, conducted by Joakim Unander.
BBC Radio 3 - From the Grand Theatre in Leeds (Opera North), the British premiere of Gershwin's Let 'em Eat Cake, with William Dazeley, Rebecca Moon, Steven Beard, Nicholas Sharratt, Martin Hyder, Rob Edwards, Richard Morris and Graham Howes, conducted by Wyn Davies.
CBC Two - From the Vienna State Opera, Strauss's Die Schweisame Frau, with Kurt Rydel, Michael Schade, and Diana Damrau, conducted by Peter Schneider.
Deutschlandradio Kultur - From the Vienna State Opera, a February 13 performance of Verdi's Stiffelio, with José Cura, Hui He, Anthony Michaels-Moore, Gergely Németi, Alexandru Moisiuc, Benedikt Kobel and Elisabeta Marin, conducted by Michael Halász.
DR P2 - From the Aix-en-Provence Festival, a July 30 performance of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, with Daniel Behle, Marlis Petersen, Anna-Kristiina Kaapola, Daniel Schmutzhard, Sunhae Im, Marcos Fink and Kurt Azesberger, conducted by René Jacobs.
Espace Musique & Radio Oesterreich International (OE1)- From Festival de Radio-France et Montpellier 2009, Bellini's Zaira, with Ermonela Jaho, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Shalva Mukeria, Wenwei Zhang, Gezim Myshketa, Franck Bard and Marianne Crebassa, conducted by Enrique Mazzola.
Radio 4 Netherlands & France Musique - From Paris Opera, Gounod's Mireille, with Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo and Franck Ferrari, conducted by Marc Minkowski.
RTP Antena 2 - From the 2009 Bayreuth Festival, Wagner's Parsifal.
WETA - From the NPR World of Opera archives, from Houston Grand Opera, Verdi's Aida, with Zvetelina Vassileva, Marco Berti, Dolora Zajick, Gordon Hawkins, Tigran Martirossian, Bradley Garvin and Tamara Wilson, conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
WFMT Opera Series (on numerous stations) - From San Francisco Opera, Puccini's La Boheme, with Angela Gheorghiu, Piotr Beczala, Quinn Kelsey, Norah Amsellem, Oren Gradus, Brian Leerhuber, Dale Travis, Chester Pidduck, Colby Roberts, Ryan Hedrick, David Kekuewa and Jere Torkelsen, conducted by Nicola Luisotti.
NPR World of Opera - From Capitole Theatre in Toulouse, Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, with Bernard Richter, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Allyson McHardy, Stephane Degout, Fancoise Masset, Jennifer Holloway, Bruno Calucci, Jael Azzaretti and Francis Lis, conducted by Emmanuelle Haim.
XLNC1 - From San Francisco Opera, Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore, with Inva Mula, Ramon Vargas, Giorgio Caoduro, Alessandro Corbelli and Ji Young Yang, conducted by Bruno Campanella.
NRK P2 & NRK Klassisk - From The Metropolitan Opera, the February 1, 1947 broadcast of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, with Bidú Sayão, Jussi Björling, Mimi Benzell, Claramae Turner, John Brownlee, Nicola Moscona, Anthony Marlowe, Kenneth Schon, Thomas Hayward, George Cehanovsky, Philip Kinsman and William Hargrave, conducted by Emil Cooper.

More to come shortly . . .