SUNDAY, JANUARY 25

Metropolitan Opera Broadcast Series: The Gershwins: PORGY AND BESS
Metropolitan opera Orchestra and Chorus
Kwamé Ryan (Conductor)
Porgy ..... Alfred Walker (bass-baritone)
Bess ..... Brittany Renee (soprano)
Crown ..... Ryan Speedo Green (bass-baritone)
Sportin' Life ..... Frederick Ballentine (tenor)
Robbins/crab man ..... Chauncey Packer
Serena ..... Leah Hawkins (soprano)
Jake ..... Benjamin Taylor (baritone)
Clara ..... Vuvu Mpofu (soprano)
Maria ..... Denyce Graves (mezzo-soprano)
Mingo ..... Errin Duane Brooks (tenor)
Peter ..... Norman Shankle (tenor)
Lily ..... Adrienne Danrich (soprano)
Frazier ..... Kevin Short (bass-baritone)
Strawberry woman ..... Brittany Olivia Logan (soprano)
Jim ..... Norman Garrett (baritone)
Undertaker ..... Darren Drone (baritone) (3 hrs.)

Opera in Iowa: Des -Moines Metro Opera -- Salome
This production of Salome is sung in German and features Sara Gartland as Salome, Norman Garrett as Jochanaan, Chad Shelton as Herod Antipas, Gwendolyn Jones as Herodias, Alex McKissick as Narraboth, with Maestro David Neely conducting the DMMO Festival Orchestra.
Sara Gartland ..... Salome
Norman Garrett ..... Jochanaan
Chad Shelton ..... Herod Antipas
Gwendolyn Jones ..... Herodias
Alex McKissick ..... Narraboth
David Neely ..... Conductor ()

The Opera Show with Mairi Nicolson: No details available (2 hrs.)

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SPECIAL PROGRAM: Georg Friedrich Händel: Alexander's Feast HWV 75
Óda o dvou dílech 1. díl; 2. díl; Zpívají Miriam Kutrowatz (soprán), Daniel Johannsen (tenor), Damien Gastl (bas)
Arnold Schoenberg Chor, sbormistr Erwin Ortner, hraje Zefiro, řídí Alfredo Bernardini (1 hr., 28 min.)

RTHK RADIO 4 HONG KONG

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Sunday Opera: Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus (3 hrs.)

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SPECIAL PROGRAM: Operní klasik Giuseppe Verdi II
Árie, sbory a scény z oper skladatelů 19. století od mistrů italského belcanta přes francouzské romantiky po Richarda Wagnera, ale především z oper jejich dodnes úspěšného současníka Giuseppe Verdiho, jehož dlouhý život se uzavřel před 125 lety - 27. ledna 1901. Hudbu vybírá a uvádí Petr Veber.

Arias, choirs and scenes from operas by composers of the 19th century, from the masters of Italian bel canto to French romantics to Richard Wagner, but above all from the operas of their still successful contemporary Giuseppe Verdi, whose long life closed 125 years ago - January 27, 1901. The music is selected and presented by Petr Veber. (4 hrs.)

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Opera: Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann: Undine
A fairy tale opera in three acts
Sung by Roland Hermann (baritone)
Hans Franzen (bass)
Elizabeth Glauser (mezzo-soprano)
Krisztina Laki (soprano)
Heiki Orama (baritone)
Karl Ridderbusch (bass)
Ulrich Ress (tenor)
Dora Koschak; (mezzo-soprano)
Mani Mekler (soprano)
Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale, Berlin
Radio-Symphony-Orchester Berlin, conducted by Roland Bader
Listed for the 250th anniversary of Hoffmann's59 birth.
***** Program dále doplní hudba Wolfganga Amadea Mozarta: Smyčcový kvartet č. 14 G dur K 387
Jarní a Koncert pro klavír a orchestr č. 22 Es dur K 482
Hrají Vlachovo kvarteto, Jenö Jandó (klavír) a Concentus Hungaricus, řídí Mátyás Antal.
řipomínáme 270 let od Mozartova narození. Připravil Rafael Brom. (4 hrs., 1 min.)

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Opera, o lume: Ediţie specială - 20 de ani de la trecerea în eternitate a tenorului Ludovic Spiess

Giacomo Puccini - Turandot
cu: Maria Slătinaru-Nistor, Ludovic Spiess, Teodora Lucaciu, Nicolae Florei, Octav Enigărescu, Valentin Teodorian, Corneliu Fânățeanu, George Mircea, Dionisie Konya, Mircea Ștefănescu
Corul Academic Radio (pregătit de Aurel Grigoraș)
Corul de Copii Radio (pregătit de Elena Vicică)
Orchestra de Studio Radio, dirijor Carol Litvin
Înregistrare din anul 1970

Lieduri cu tenorul Ludovic Spiess; la pian - Viorica Cojocaru. Înregistrări din anul 1974 (3 hrs.)

Teatro de Ópera: No details available yet (3 hrs.)

WWUH
Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Sunday Afternoon at the Opera: Graun, Montezuma

This is one of the most unusual operas of the eighteenth century. Carl Heinrich Graun (1701-59) was primarily a composer of operas at the court of King Frederick "The Great" of Prussia at Berlin. The king himself provided the libretto of Montezuma. It was the most politically radical operatic text of its time. Frederick was entirely in sympathy with the conquered Aztecs and their hapless leader. The king also shows an unashamedly anti-Christian bias.

Montezuma appears never to have been performed anywhere outside of Prussia, yet the opera made its mark on musical posterity. Its score was published in 1904, long before the modern revivalist interest in the baroque. Excerpts from it were set forth on a Decca LP circa 1968. The 1992 Capriccio CD recording is the world premiere of the complete opera on disc. David Johnson wrote favorably about the recording in the April/May, 1993 number of Fanfare magazine. He finds a few faults with the singing cast (mostly Latin American or Spanish sopranos), but concludes that, all in all,"...this Montezuma belongs in the collection of all adventurers in the byways of opera."

Unlike his contemporary J.S. Bach, Graun was a musical progressive. His score for Montezuma prefigures many aspects of the "reform operas" of Gluck. The dacapo arias have been streamlined and the recitatives are very sensitively set. Capriccio has given Graun's magnum opus the best possible recorded treatment. The Deutsche Kammerakademie, says David Johnson, is an excellent chamber orchestra. (It is, however, not a period instrument ensemble.) All singers and players are under the sure-handed direction of Johannes Goritzki. I broadcast these same Capriccio CD's on three previous occasions: on Sunday, June 2, 2013, and before that on Sunday, September 25, 2005, and initially on Sunday, February 12, 1995. (3 hrs., 30 min.)

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SPECIAL PROGRAM: Resonanzen 2026 live
Baldassare Galuppi: "L'uomo femmina", Oper in drei Akten
Eva Zaicik, Mezzosopran
Lucile Richardot, Contralto
Floriane Hasler, Mezzosopran
Marc Mauillon, Bariton
Francois Rougier, Tenor
Anas Séguin, Bassbariton
Ensemble Le Poème Harmonique
Leitung: Vincent Dumestre (2 hrs., 30 min.)

RADIO BEETHOVEN
Santiago, CHILE

La Opera: No details available yet (3 hrs.)

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The WWFM Sunday Opera: Two Operettas: Beer's "The Polish Wedding" & Fall's "The Rose of Istanbul"

As promised, we’ll be looking at two operettas on this week’s Sunday Opera, Joseph Beer’s “The Polish Wedding” and Leo Fall’s “The Rose of Istanbul.”

The afternoon begins with the delightful work by a composer who was firmly a part of the 20th century. Joseph Beer was born in Poland in 1908, but because he was Jewish, his music was censored by the Nazis. His work was largely forgotten until one of his daughters, who included some of his arias in her concert appearances.

This work, “Polnische Hochzeit” ("The Polish Wedding") was incredibly popular when it debuted in 1937 when Beer was only 28.The charming piece centers on the love of Boleslav (Nikolai Schukoff) for Jadja (Martina Ruping) who has been promised to Bolesav’s uncle, the lecherous Staschek (Michael Kupfer-Radecky), but in this wonderful romp, the cunning Suza (Susanne Berhard), Jadja’s father’s estate manager, manipulates Staschek so perfectly that Boleslav and Jadja end together (with Boleslav’s rightful inheritance) and Suza can marry her beloved, Casimir (Mathias Hausmann).

The music is incredibly melodic and lush, and it’s clear that and things been different, Beer would be just as well-known a name as Lehar and Strauss. Ulf Schirmer conducts this live recording from 2015.

Schirmer is also the conductor for the second work which was recorded in 2014. Leo Fall is another Austrian composer who never really received his just due. Fall composed 23 operettas and is probably best known in the English-speaking world for “The Dollar Princess” and “Madame Pompadour.”

Today, we’ll hear one of his “hits” in the 1916 score to “Der Rose von Stambul” (“The Rose of Istanbul”). In this, the arranged marriage of Kondja (Kristiane Kaiser) and Achmed Bey (Matthias Klink) has hit a snag. Kondja, it seems, is enamored of a progressive Turkish writer named Andre Levy and vows to have nothing to do with Achmed. Of course, Achmed is actually Andre, but Kondja doesn’t find that out until the end of the operetta.

Tune in for an afternoon of happy endings, delightful music, and excellent performances. It’s unfamiliar music you’re sure to love. (3 hrs., 30 min.)