Bridges sang the role of Queen Nefertiti in the Metropolitan Opera production of Ahknahten by Philip Glass. The recording of that production won a Grammy Award earlier this year. She created the role of Josefa Segovia in the world premiere of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at San Francisco Opera and has appeared in productions of Carmen, Samson et Dalil and Satyagraha.

It should be noted that just over a year after Lorraine Hunt Lieberson debuted Neruda Songs she passed away following a battle with breast cancer. Peter faced his own battle with lymphoma and passed away five years later. Thankfully they were able to record Neruda Songs. It was that recording that Bridges first heard as a grad student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia as she told me when we spoke earlier this month.

What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. I urge you to go to our YouTube channel to see the full interview.

What was your first reaction when you discovered Neruda Songs?

I remember hearing a recording and going down the rabbit hole of YouTube and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. I was obsessed with her. I still am. I think that her voice and her artistry is of the utmost importance. The first song actually that I happened upon was Amor mío, si muero y tú no mueres [My love, if I die and you don’t], the final song in the set. I just was so captured by that song and I was waiting for the moment to be able to sing it with the orchestra. That actually happened with Maestro Dudamel over the pandemic. So that really kind of wet my palate and I said I have to do all of them with him specifically.

When you enter into something that was so deeply personal for these two do you feel like you’re entering into a private moment of their lives? 

An interesting question. Yes, absolutely. That’s the beauty of these particular songs. It’s like you’re there with them almost. This is extremely intimate. For them to be as vulnerable as they were, and I think outward in their love, it’s such a gift to be able to enter their world. I think many artists will agree that the goal is to really tap into the mind and the heart and the spirit of the composer and the librettist. So it’s made especially, I wouldn’t say easy, but Lieberson has afforded the singer to enter their worlds without much confusion. He lays it all out there. He predicted things in a way, but it doesn’t feel at all sad. It’s just like this eternal love that will be there through life and through death. There’s no beginning. There’s no ending. It’s really special. I’ve learned a lot about life through these particular songs.

In 2007, Peter Lieberson was asked his thoughts about other singers singing Neruda Songs. And he said, “I think it might be more difficult for the singer than for me.” What do you think?

I agree. First of all, if we just speak musically, there are some twists and turns that are not so straight forward. But it actually just makes beautiful sense. But the subject matter, of course, it’s like you have to dig deep and that’s not easy. I have yet to experience a love like theirs. But that’s the beauty of being a singing actress. I’m tapping into that and I honestly feel like I’m manifesting something through through these poems. But yes, he is correct in that I think it’s probably more difficult for the singer on a plethora of levels.

How much of your personal background informs your approach to this song cycle about love and loss? 

Hmm. Wow. Well, yeah, you’re right. As an artist I want to bring bring my life and my experiences into everything that I sing and communicate. I’ve experienced love. I’ve experienced loss. And I do have a subtext for every piece. Neruda has written the poetry and Lieberson has set it so beautifully. But I always ask myself who is J’Nai in this? I try to attach different experiences to different moments in the cycle and that really helps it be authentic to me.

What Lorraine Lieberson did was mind-blowing. That was authentic to her and to their love. So while I definitely admire and actually study her very closely, I do things differently because I’m different and my experience of life is different. I think the tricky part is facing myself in in these poems and having to unearth different experiences and loss and remember certain loves that are actually still there, but they’ve just transformed.

Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that “There is a dimension to these songs which is especially moving and almost too much to take at times.” He was speaking from the audience perspective, what’s your perspective from the stage?

Wow. That’s really brilliant. My goal is to actually, at times, make the audience feel as if it’s too much because it’s a lot. Every single emotion is being captured in these poems and it’s not always easy. I go through that same process in the practice room. I can’t necessarily do that on stage or else I won’t get through the songs. But I do have to be in a place in which I’ve dug deep and have been vulnerable so that the audience can then come there with me. I agree that expressing that sometimes is too much. But what is too much? It’s necessary. This is life. And I think these poems really bring up so many themes that we need to focus on. I feel like they’re actually, in the end, very spiritual and healing.

I love what Lieberson does with Neruda Songs because he makes melody front and center. What role does melody play in the pieces of music, particularly contemporary music, that you choose to perform?

Interesting. Never been asked that, but I love that. That’s a great question. I love melody. I don’t really know any singer that doesn’t love melody. But in terms of contemporary music Lieberson has a way of, like you said, putting the melody upfront and forward. Yet there are these moments that are extremely intellectual and complex, but somehow it just makes so much sense. I’m in the practice room and I play the piano. So I’m just figuring out the chord progressions and it’s actually still a melody. He has a seamless way of aligning what we know as a traditional melody and the more complex phrases and linking them up in a way that is just like, wow, what just happened? I don’t know, but I feel very satisfied and it feels physically really natural on the chords. This is really such a pleasure to sing. 

I want to close by asking you about something that Lorraine Hunt Lieberson told The Boston Globe in 2005. She said, “Music is a vehicle that can transport very high levels of energy. It’s something that can lift you out of a narrow little place and out of everyday existence.” What does music in general and singing Neruda Songs do for you, and by extension, the musicians around you and the audience in the hall? 

These songs give me hope. They really do. It’s not always easy being an opera singer and someone that is basically nomadic and on the road all the time. Sometimes these dark thoughts come in and I think I’m never going to find love or this world is just crumbling. But these songs really present the gift of eternal life and hope. It’s always such a blessing to sing pieces that really have such a profound effect on me. I feel changed. I really do from these poems. I just wish that I could speak to [the Liebersons] directly. But I feel that their spirit is definitely shining down and through me. I do hope that the audience also will feel some healing and a sense of hope. I think we all could use that.

To see the full interview with J’Nai Bridges, please go here.

Main Photo: J’Nai Bridges (Photo by Dario Acosta/Courtesy Unison Media)

The post J’Nai Bridges Enters Peter & Lorraine Hunt Lieberson’s World appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Corigliano and Adamo, who have been together personally for 26 years, wrote The Lord of Cries specifically for Costanzo. When I spoke to Corigliano recently he said, “When you see a countertenor in a modern role it’s very interesting. I think it’s important for someone like Anthony, who is a star, to be in a big real piece and a modern piece.”

“It was really exciting,” Costanzo told me via a Zoom call last week. “I’ve always had the utmost respect for his music. John, and he’ll say this, likes to work with abstraction. He doesn’t like to work with 1990s New York. He likes smoke and ghosts and things like that. This sat in a world of abstraction that worked for his music. But it also had concrete dramatic themes that I felt would really speak to an audience.”

In short, The Lord of Cries uses characters from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to tell the story Euripides wrote in Bacchae. If that sounds confusing, it initially was for Costanzo as well.

“At first I thought I don’t sort understand the combination of these two disparate works. Within five minutes of talking to them about it, immediately it became clear that it was actually kind of a brilliant way of seeing the underpinnings of the story of Dracula that we all know in this Greek tragedy.” (To see how Corigliano and Adamo describe their opera, please go here.)

Costanzo, who became one of the best known opera singers in the world through his performance in Akhnaten by Philip Glass, regularly worked with the creators to help them fully realize the role, just as opera singers have done for centuries.

“I did go in at different points and try things out and sing things through and let John hear it. I think that gave him something for his inner ear as he was composing to hear it be realized. If you think about the history of opera, a lot of these roles were written with a specific singer in mind. Then other singers went and did it. But that specificity you hear in your mind helps the music take on a shape that I think makes it very singable and very accessible in the best sense.”

The themes Costanzo felt were relevant today tackle both repression and one’s place in society.

“This is an opera about repressed desire and what that does. But even more topical in some ways is this idea of place that’s really in the Euripides as well as the Stoker. One line in the opera they say a lot is ‘Deny him not his place.’ And I think what the repressed Victorian London is kind of saying is ‘He has no place here. You have no place here. There’s no place for an outsider.’

“There are a lot of different things happening in our world and reckonings about identity, whether that be sexual identity or gender identity or racial identity. There is this problematic sense of whether somebody has a place or doesn’t have a place. And I think what Dionysus and Dracula both try and show through being the stranger and the outsider is that we are all the same basically. We come from distinct backgrounds, but we share this communal psychology and I think that’s a powerful message for now.”

As Costanzo was coming of age and becoming aware of his own sexuality, he was very supported by his parents. As he told me, he didn’t have to struggle as much as others with being gay. He did, however, have his own hurdles to climb within the world of opera.

“I had a fairly easy time of it all because my parents are both psychologists and they were very accepting. That said, within the field of opera sometimes I felt that I should fit into a mold, a pre-determined mold. It took a while for me to feel like I could fully actualize my own concept of self in something like Akhnaten which has a gender fluidity and queerness, but also a real sort of powerful beauty and mystery in it. It took me a while to understand I could forge my own path. Now I think that’s a really crucial for art and for our platform as we move forward.”

His increasing fame came along with greater opportunities and greater responsibilities.

“I’m going to be the artist-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic next season and the pillar of the programming I have curated is called Authentic Selves. My work over the pandemic creating and producing Bandwagon was both a joy and an education. It was an initiative which first brought a pickup truck to all different neighborhoods. As an extension of that we created partnerships with different institutions. Rather than say we are the New York Phil and we will tell you what we want to do and if you want to participate great. Instead we would go to the National Black Theatre, El Puente Arts, Casita Maria, Flushing Town Hall and say ‘We’ll pay you, we’ll pay the artists, we’ll give you the stage. What do you want to do?’ How can we hand over control in small ways until these seismic changes of representation happen within the field. I think we have to be thinking both micro and macro at all times and working very hard and tirelessly to implement those changes.”

Of course, the classical music world and opera in particular move at pretty slow paces. With the clock ticking ever more loudly about representation in front offices and on-stage, Costanzo feels there’s no time to waste.

“I agree that life is short and opera is long as they say. But I think it is crucial that we be thinking about this all the time. There’s no time to waste. And I think that in the past year we have seen some progress which is encouraging. But I think we are in danger of losing the momentum as we return from COVID and crave the comfort of things going back to the way they were. It’s very important; however, as Masha Gessen said in The New Yorker, not to rebuild what we have lost. We have a chance here to rebuild and we better increase the momentum as opposed to letting it wane in our search for quote unquote comfort.”

For tickets to The Lord of Cries please go here. There are performances on August 5th, 11th and 17th.

This is the fourth in a series of interviews with artists performing at Santa Fe Opera this season.

All Photos: Anthony Roth Costanzo in The Lord of Cries (Photo by Curtis Brown/Courtesy Santa Fe Opera)

The post Anthony Roth Costanzo Defines His Place in Opera appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

There are some live events happening this weekend and as the summer rolls out we’ll be offering top selections of live events.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t great options for you to enjoy at home this week. In fact, one of the year’s most exciting projects is having its premiere on Sunday. It is called America/Beautiful and it is our top pick

Here is our complete line-up of Top Ten Best Bets: July 2nd – July 5th:

*TOP PICK* CLASSICAL MUSIC: America/Beautiful – Premieres July 4th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

We all know the song America the Beautiful. Pianist Min Kwon has commissioned over 70 composers to create variations on that song for Kwon to perform. She begins streaming performances of these variations on July 4th.

Kwon was able to get a veritable who’s who of contemporary composers to participate: Samuel Alder; Bruce Adolphe; Leila Adu-Gilmore; Timo Andres; Andrew Bambridge; Jonathan Berger; Victoria Bond; Kris Bowers; Peter Boyer; Kenji Brunch; Theo Chandler; Anthony Cheung; Jaehyuck Choi; Charles Coleman; Viet Cuong; Sebastian Currier; Richard Danielpour; Tyson Davis; Jed Distler; Avner Dorman; Geena Esmail; Alan Fletcher; Michael Gandolfi; Michael Gilbertson; John Harbison; Stephen Hartke; Jake Heggie; Fred Hersch; Jonathan Bailey Holland; Huang Rao; Vijay Iyer; Pierre Jalbert; JP Jofre; Kristjan Järvi; Aaron Jay Kernis; Texu Kim; Jiyoung Ko; Libby Larsen; Hannah Lash; George Lewis; Tania León; Lei Liang; David Serkin Ludwig; Miya Masoaka; Jessica Meyer; Patricio Molina; Paul Moravec; Nico Muhly; John Musto; Qasim Naqvi; Daniel Newman-Lessler; Paola Prestini; Dave Ragland; Shulamit Ran; City Razaz; Gian Riley; Terry Riley; Daniel Bernard Roumain; Greg Sandow; David Sanford; Paul Schoenfeld; Jeff Scott; Juri Seo; Robert Sirota; Derrick Skye; Augusta Read Thomas; Christopher Trapani; Lilya Ugay; Melinda Wagner; Wang Vie; Trevor Weston; Pamela Z; Judith Lang Zaimont; Patrick Zimmerli and Samuel Zyman.

This is a true melting pot of composers. This thoughtful selection of creative partners for Kwon reflects everything America represents.

Kwon, who was born in Korea, has toured the world as a soloist with major orchestras around the world. She’s recorded five albums for MSR Classics.

For those in New York, Kwon will be performing many of these compositions in person on July 8th and 9th at the Green-Wood Catacombs.

I’ve seen previews of three of the compositions she’ll be playing. This will be a treat! Thus it is our top pick for the weekend.

CABARET: Night of a Thousand Judys – Now available through July 24th

The ninth annual celebration of Judy Garland benefitting the Ali Forney Center debuted in mid-June, but its all-star line-up of performers taking their turns with songs made famous by the star of The Wizard of Oz makes it a perfect holiday entertainment.

This year’s line-up includes Alan Cumming, Duchess, Nathan Lee Graham, Sam Harris, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Jose Llana, Karen Mason, Grace McLean, Jane Monheit, Nadia Quinn, Vivian Reed, Margo Seibert, Kim David smith, Gabrielle Stravelli and Mary Testa.

The show was written and hosted by Justin Sayre.

The Ali Forney Center is a non-profit organization that helps LGBT homeless youth throughout the country. Donations are encouraged.

OPERA: Puccini’s La Bohème – Royal Opera House – Now – July 25th

Conducted by Renato Balsadonna; starring Anna Princeva, Joshua Guerrero, Boris Pinkhasovich, Danielle de Niese and Cody Quattlebaum. This 2021 is a revival of the 2017-2018 season Richard Jones production.

Easily one of the most popular operas in the world, Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème had its world premiere in Turin, Italy in 1896.

The libretto is by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The opera is based on Henri Murger’s 1851 novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

The story centers on four friends who are unable to pay their rent. Successfully getting out of a potentially bad situation with their landlord, all but one go out on the town. Rodolfo stays home and meets a young woman named Mimi. They fall in love, but Mimi’s weakness may be a sign of something far more life-threatening than they know. (If this sounds like the musical Rent, it is because La Bohème served as Jonathan Larson’s inspiration for that musical.)

Tickets to watch La Bohème are $18.50

CLASSICAL MUSIC: What’s Past is Prologue Parts 1 and 2 – Baryshnikov Arts Center and Tippet Rise Arts Center – Now available

The Aizuri Quartet celebrates the music of female composers in this two-part concert under the title What’s Past is Prologue.

This all-female quartet is comprised of violinist Emma Frucht, violist Ayane Kozasa, cellist Karen Ouzounian and violinist Miho Saegusa.

In part one (available through July 7th) the quartet performs music by Rhiannon Giddens, Gabriella Smith and Hildegard von Bingen.

In part two (available through July 14th) they perform works by Eleanor Alberga and Barbara Strozzi.

You probably don’t know most of these composers. I know I don’t. But that’s what makes this two-part concert so appealing – the ability to discover new music and new voices.

The link above goes to Part one on the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Part two can be found on the Tippet Rise Art Center website here.

MODERN DANCE: Animals & Angels – The Joyce Theater – Now – July 18th

As part of celebrating Pride Month, The Joyce Theater in New York has made available the premiere of Animals & Angels. The work is a pas de deux for two female dancers: Cortney Taylor Key and Audrey Malek.

It is unusual to find a duet for two female dancers. That’s just one of the things that makes this work by #QueertheBallet interesting.

Through the length of this work the two women not only explore their burgeoning relationship, but also the traditional roles played by dancers in the world of ballet.

#Queertheballet was created by choreographer Andriana Pierce. Animals & Angels was created by Pierce in conjunction with the dancers.

It’s a brief work running less than six minutes. The video includes a conversation amongst the creators.

PLAYWRIGHTS: TCG Books’ First Fridays with Larissa FastHorse – July 2nd – 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT

MacArthur Fellow and acclaimed playwright Larissa FastHorse (The Thanksgiving Play) will be in conversation with Cornerstone Theater Company’s Michael John Garcés on Friday to discuss her work.

Garcés has directed three of FastHorse’s plays: Native Nation, Urban Rez and The Thanksgiving Play.

In addition to her writing, FastHorse is the co-founder of Indigenous Direction, the nation’s leading consulting company for Indigenous arts and audiences.

TCG Books has published The Thanksgiving Play along with What Would Crazy Horse Do?

JAZZ: The Hot Club of Cowtown – SFJAZZ – July 2nd – July 3rd

This week’s Fridays at Five presentation from SFJAZZ has a bit more twang than their usual offerings. The Hot Club of Cowtown offers more swing than jazz and they do so in a style that easily follows in the tradition of such artists as Stephane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt and Bob Wills.

This three-member band features bassist Jake Erwin, violinist Elana James and guitarist Whit Smith.

The concert being shown comes from their appearance at SFJAZZ in 2018 as they were supporting their latest release, Crossing the Great Divide.

An apt title as their work crosses the divide between country and jazz, swing and roots music. Earlier this year they released their latest album, What Makes Bob Holler. Listening to their music you just know they’d be right at home on the soundtrack to a Woody Allen movie.

If you are unable to watch the show on Friday at Five (that’s pacific time/8:00 PM ET), there is a second streaming of the show on Saturday, July 3rd at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT.

JAZZ: Bill Frisell Solo – Village Vanguard – July 2nd – July 4th

Throughout the pandemic, New York’s Village Vanguard has offered streaming concerts filmed inside this world-famous venue. Apparently they kept one tucked away for a special occasion and this holiday weekend appears to be the event that finds this solo concert by guitarist Bill Frisell being made available.

For over four decades Frisell has been one of music’s finest guitarists. Whether performing solo or with his trio, Frisell has been making music that defies easy categorization. His compositions range in style from jazz to Americana to fusion and more. He’s received 6 Grammy Award nominations and won the trophy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2004 for Unspeakable.

Tickets are $10 and allow for viewing through Sunday, July 4th at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

OPERA: Mozart’s La Clemenza Di Tito – Glyndebourne – July 4th – July 18th

Conducted by Robin Ticciati; starring Richard Croft, Anna Stéphany, Alice Coote, Clive Bayley, Michéle Losier and Joélle Harvey. This Claus Guth production is from the 2016-2017 season.

La Clemenza di Tito (“The Clemency of Titus”) has a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà who altered Pietro Metastasio’s libretto which had been used by other composers before Mozart.

The world premiere took place in Prague in 1791.

Roman Emperor Tito has his eyes set on his friend Sesto’s sister, Sevilla. Sesto is in love with Vitellia. She wants to be married to Tito, but he is not interested in her and she recruits Sesto to assassinate the Emperor in exchange for her love. Intrigue, betrayal and mercy are in store for all involved.

Tim Ashley, writing in The Guardian, said of this production:

“…[Gruth] is helped immeasurably by exceptional performances from Croft and Stéphany. Both achieve rounded characterisations through the seamless integration of recitative and aria, and use Mozart’s verbal and melodic repetitions to suggest shifts in psychological perception and meaning. Croft beautifully conveys the lonely isolation attendant on absolute authority and the anger that both informs and threatens Tito’s idealism. Stéphany trawls Sesto’s emotional and moral anguish with tragic intensity.”

POPS/CLASSICAL: Boston Pops July 4th Spectacular – Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg.com – July 4th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

The annual tradition of a Boston Pops concert for July 4th continues. For the lucky few they will be able to attend in person at Tanglewood. For the rest of us, we can watch it on July 4th live on various Bloomberg outlets.

Joining Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops will be two special guests.

They are recent Academy Award-winner Jon Batiste (bandleader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and legendary singer Mavis Staples.

The full program hasn’t been announced, but it will continue the tradition of patriotic music (The Star Spangled Banner, Stars and Stripes Forever) with the one piece of classical music that inspires fireworks with nearly ever outdoor performance: Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

If you have other plans that night and suffer from FOMO if you can’t see this concert, you’ll have the ability to stream it for 24 days.

Those are the Top Ten Best Bets: July 2nd – July 5th. But a few reminders before we close out this week’s listings:

Unmasked: A Theatrical Celebration of Black Women’s Liberation is only available through the end of the day on Sunday, July 4th from The Wallis.

This weekend’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera include John Adams’ Nixon in China on Friday; Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny on Saturday and Philip Glass’ Akhnaten on Sunday.

On Monday the Met begins a week of operas by Richard Strauss. Monday the series starts with the 1982-1983 season production of Der Rosenkavalier starring Kiri Te Kanawa and Luciana Pavarotti. We’ll have the full line-up for you on Monday.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Sound/Stage season 2 episodes are all available for viewing including the most recent episode featuring Carlos Vives (who will be performing at the Hollywood Bowl with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic in August.)

Here ends our complete list of Top Ten Best Bets: July 2nd – July 5th. Whatever you do, have a safe and sane and wonderful holiday weekend.

Photo: Min Kwan (Courtesy America/Beautiful)

The post Best Bets: July 2nd – July 5th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

A pair of composers have two operas being shown this week: John Adams (Doctor Atomic and Nixon in China) and Philip Glass (Akhnaten and Satyagraha). Also represented are John Corigliano, Nico Muhly and Kurt Weill (technically German, but he ultimately became an American citizen).

Since the Met is re-running productions as the bulk of their weekly streaming schedule, I’m going to mix in interviews with the performers and creators in place of clips to avoid the redundancy of showing the same few clips available. Let me know your thoughts!

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on June 28th, you’ll still have time to see the 2016-2017 season production of Verdi’s La Traviata that was part of Pride Week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 68 at the Met:

Monday, June 28 – Nico Muhly’s Marnie – 3rd Showing – STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Conducted by Roberto Spano; starring Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies and Christopher Maltman. This Michael Mayer production is from the 2018-2019 season.

Muhly’s opera, with a libretto by Nicholas Wright, had its world premiere at the English National Opera in 2017. The opera is based on Winston Graham’s 1961 novel.

If the title, Marnie, sounds familiar, this is based on the same novel by Winston Graham that inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 film. The title character is a woman who steals from people, changes her identity and quickly moves on to other victims. Until an employer catches her and blackmails her.

Anthony Tommasini, in his review for the New York Times, said of the opera, “Marnie benefits from the director Michael Mayer’s sleek and fluid staging, with inventive sets and projections designed by Julian Crouch and 59 Productions. (It was first seen last year in London for the work’s premiere at the English National Opera.) Scenery changes are deftly rendered through sliding and descending panels on which evocative images are projected.

“Mr. Muhly’s music could not have had a better advocate than the conductor Robert Spano, making an absurdly belated Met debut at 57. He highlighted intriguing details, brought out myriad colorings, kept the pacing sure and never covered the singers.”

Tuesday, June 29 – John Adams’s Doctor Atomic – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Alan Gilbert; starring Sasha Cooke, Thomas Glenn, Gerald Finley, Richard Paul Fink and Eric Owens. This Penny Woolcock production is from the 2008-2009 season.

This John Adams opera had its world premiere in 2005 in San Francisco and features a libretto by Peter Sellars. The main source of inspiration for the libretto was declassified government documents from individuals who worked at Los Alamos on the development of the atomic bomb.

Act one of Doctor Atomic takes place approximately one month before the first test. The second act takes place the morning of that test in 1945. At the center of it all is Robert J. Oppenheimer (Finley).

In his review for the New York Times, Anthony Tomassini said of Adams’s score: “This score continues to impress me as Mr. Adams’s most complex and masterly music. Whole stretches of the orchestral writing tremble with grainy colors, misty sonorities and textural density. Mr. Gilbert exposes the inner details and layered elements of the music: obsessive riffs, pungently dissonant cluster chords, elegiac solo instrumental lines that achingly drift atop nervous, jittery orchestral figurations.”

Wednesday, June 30 – John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles – 4th Showing – STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Conducted by James Levine; starring Håkan Hagegård, Teresa Stratas, Renée Fleming, Gino Quilico and Marilyn Horne. This Colin Graham production is from the 1991-1992 season.

Beaumarchais is the playwright who wrote the plays that inspired Rossini’s The Barber of Sevilleand Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. His third play in that series, The Guilty Mother, serves as the inspiration for this opera by John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman.

In the opera, ghosts occupy the theatre at Versailles. Marie Antoinette, not too happy about her execution, spurns the advances of Beaumarchais. He offers his new opera, A Figaro for Antonia, as a means to win her love and change her fate. Now an opera appears within the opera, utilizing the familiar Figaro characters.

The Metropolitan Opera commissioned this work for its 100th anniversary in 1983. It wasn’t performed there until eight years after that centennial. This film is from those performances.

I interviewed Corigliano when LA Opera performed The Ghosts of Versailles. Here’s what he told me about how he handled opening night at the Met:

“The premiere of the opera, this is what I did. I sent out for a take-out chicken. I had a bottle of wine and ten milligrams of valium. I ate the chicken, took the valium and wine to the opening. If you’re asking about something that happened at opening night, I was a zombie. It was traumatizing. I’d never written an opera, it was overwhelming. I couldn’t face it without a little help.”

Both this Metropolitan Opera production and the more recent The LA Opera production were amazing and I personally think Corigliano had nothing to worry about. This is a terrific work.

Thursday, July 1 – Philip Glass’s Satyagraha – 3rd Showing – STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Conducted by Dante Anzolini; starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson and Alfred Walker. This is a revival of Phelim McDermott’s 2008 production from the 2011-2012 season.

This Philip Glass opera had its world premiere in 1980 in Rotterdam. The libretto was written by Glass and Candace DeJong. The title means “insistence on truth” in Sanskrit.

The life of Gandhi is depicted in a story that goes backwards and forwards through time as a way to examine his life in South Africa and leading to his belief in non-violent protests. Sung in Sanskrit with projected titles on the stage itself, this is one unique opera that is staged beautifully and powerfully.

James R. Oestreich, writing in the New York Times, said of this revival (which took place during a celebration of the the composer’s 75th birthday):

“The singers were exceptionally fine and well matched, starting with the tenor Richard Croft, strong yet vulnerable as Gandhi. Like Mr. Croft, Rachelle Durkin as Gandhi’s secretary, Miss Schlesen; Maria Zifchak as his wife, Kasturbai; and Alfred Walker as his Indian co-worker Parsi Rustomji were veterans of the 2008 premiere, and all were excellent except for a bit of strain in Ms. Durkin’s sustained high work in the newspaper scene. Kim Josephson was also strong as Gandhi’s European colleague Mr. Kallenbach.”

I challenge anyone to get to Satyagraha‘s final aria, “Evening Song,” and not be utterly moved.

Friday, July 2 – John Adams’s Nixon in China – 4th Showing

Conducted by John Adams; starring Kathleen Kim, Janis Kelly, Robert Brubaker, Russell Braun, James Maddalena and Richard Paul Fink. This Peter Sellars production is from the 2010-2011 season.

Nixon in China had its world premiere in Houston in 1987 in a production directed by Peter Sellars. Inspired by President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972, the opera features a libretto by Alice Goodman.

It was wholly unlikely that someone as anti-Communist as Nixon would make a trip to China. That trip forged new relations between the two countries and helped thaw the icy relationship the United States had with the then Soviet Union. Nixon and his wife Pat, Chou En-lai, Mao Tse-tung, Henry Kissinger and Madame Mao all play prominent roles in the opera.

This 2011 production, while a Met debut for Nixon in China, was not the New York debut of the opera. It was performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 1987 following its premiere in Houston. Critical reaction upon its premiere was quite mixed.

By the time of this production (which found Sellars revisiting his original work and that of a 2006 revival), Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times called it an “audacious and moving opera.”

Saturday, July 3 –Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny – 2nd Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Teresa Stratas, Astrid Varnay, Richard Cassilly and Cornell MacNeil. This John Dexter production is from the 1979-1980 season. 

Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny had its world premiere in Leipzig in 1930. The libretto, of course, is by Bertolt Brecht.

Three fugitives and four lumberjacks make their way to Mahagonny. The fugitives are trying to elude the authorities and enjoy themselves in a city where men can get all their needs met. The lumberjacks are looking for opportunity. 

A prostitute named Jenny is, at first, attracted by the presence of the fugitives and their money. But she finds herself falling for one of the lumberjacks, Jimmy, who gets more and more in debt as the opera progresses.

As both personal and city financial problems mount, the lives of all eight characters will be changed forever and the shining city will collapse into chaos.

This was the first ever production of this opera at The Met. Harold C. Schonberg, writing in the New York Times, opened his review this way:

“The Weill‐Brecht Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny came to the Metropolitan Opera Friday night, and at least one question about the work was answered. There were those who predicted that Mahagonny with its cabaret roots, smallish orchestra and jazz elements, would not ‘go’ in a house as big as the Met’s. It does. Whether or not it is an opera, and Weill strongly insisted that it is, it does use voices skillfully, it has a big chorus, and it was not lost on the stage of the big house.”

Sunday, July 4 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten – 6th Showing – STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Conducted by Karen Kamensek; starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein and Zachary James. This Phelim McDermott production is from the 2019-2020. 

Akhnaten is one of Glass’s three biographical operas (the others are Einstein on the Beach and Saturday’s opera, Satyagraha.) The composer also wrote the libretto with the assistance of Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins.

Akhnaten was a pharaoh who was controversial for his views on worshipping more than one God. He suggested just worshipping one – the sun. He was husband to Nefertitti and father of Tutankhamun. This opera does not have a linear storyline.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini praised the leads:

“Wearing gauzy red robes with extravagantly long trains, Mr. Costanzo and Ms. Bridges seem at once otherworldly and achingly real. His ethereal tones combine affectingly with her plush, deep-set voice. Ms. Kamensek, while keeping the orchestra supportive, brings out the restless rhythmic elements that suggest the couple’s intensity.”

I’ve seen this production with Costanzo singing the title role and cannot recommend taking the time to watch Akhnaten highly enough. 

That’s the full line-up for Week 68 at the Met. At press time we had no details for next week.

Enjoy your week! Enjoy the operas! Happy Birthday America!

Photo: James Maddalena, Russell Braun and Janis Kelly in Nixon in China (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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Our top pick this weekend is the voice of playwright Adrienne Kennedy whose play Ohio State Murders stars one of the greatest voices of our time: Audra McDonald.

The music of Adam Guettel, new experiments with voice, the voice of jazz’s future, the history-making voices of male ballerinas, Broadway stars galore and more are all available for your enjoyment.

So let’s get to it. Here are the Top Ten Best Bets: June 4th – June 7th:

*TOP PICK* PLAY READING: Ohio State Murders – Spotlight on Plays – Now – June 7th

Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders is this week’s offering from the Spotlight on Plays series from Broadway’s Best Shows.

The play is set at Ohio State University where Suzanne Alexander, an African-American writer, was a student in 1949. She returns to discuss the themes of violence in her writing.

The stories she tells and the violence she’s examining take viewers down a shocking path as the mystery slow reveals itself.

This reading will star six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Warner Miller, Lizan Mitchell and Ben Rappaport. Kenny Leon, who directed the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, directs this reading. Of note, both he and McDonald won Tony Awards for work on that production.

Ohio State Murders had its world premiere in 1992 at the Great Lakes Theater Festival. In 2007 the play opened off-Broadway at The Duke on 42nd Street.

Charles Isherwood, writing for the New York Times, said of the play:

“Like all truly scary horror stories, the tale told in Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders leaves a lasting chill in the bones. Hours after seeing this short, sharp, quietly hypnotic play about an infanticide that ruptures a Midwestern winter in the 1950s, you might find yourself looking anxiously over your shoulder or starting awake with an unsettling thought or image in your head.”

Tickets are $19 with proceeds benefitting The Actors Fund. Tickets allow for on-demand streaming through Monday, June 7th at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT.

CHORAL/VOCAL: Myths and Hymns: Chapter 4: FAITH – Now – June 30th

The fourth and final chapter of Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns from MasterVoices is now streaming.

In this last part of the series, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Jennifer Holliday, Mikael Kilgore, Theresa McCarthy, Miles Mykkanen, Kelli O’Hara, Larry Owens and Nicholas Phan give voice to the final five songs in this song cycle.

Costanzo also directed The Great Highway (which also features O’Hara and Phan). Ted Sperling, the artistic director of MasterVoices directed two of the segments and Tony Award nominated director Trip Cullman directed the final segment, Saturn Returns: The Return.

Joining them are, of course, the MasterVoices singers.

This episode and the entire series are available for viewing on MasterVoices’ YouTube Channel. I love all four chapters of this series. You will, too. Take a look.

There’s no charge to watch Myths and Hymns. Donations are encouraged.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Victoria Clark – Broadway Stories & Songs with Ted Sperling – June 4th – June 5th

As long as we’re on the subject of Ted Sperling, his guest for this weekend’s Broadway Stories & Songs is the Tony Award-winning Victoria Clark. She was named Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Margaret Johnson in Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza.

Her performance in that musical was extraordinary.

Clark’s additional Broadway credits include the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Titanic, Urinetown, Sister Act, Cinderella and more.

She and Sperling have been friends since college. Their personal and professional familiarity will make this a show that’s a must-see for all fans of Broadway.

Victoria Clark will be live on June 4th at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT. Tickets are $25 and allow for a second viewing (or a first viewing if you can’t watch the show live on June 4th) on Saturday, June 5th at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Tchaikovsky Serenade – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Debuts June 4th – 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT

The wildly ambitious and very successful series Close Quarters concludes what I hope will just be its first season with this final episode. Throughout all 14 episodes, James Darrah and LACO have redefined how classical music can be presented.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, composed in 1880, is being performed in this film.

Grant Gershon, Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, leads LACO in the performance. There are four movements in Tchaikovsky’s composition and in this particular film/performance, the running time is 30 minutes.

Darrah told me recently that this final episode reflects a summation of the entire series and a look at how Los Angeles weathered the pandemic.

You probably don’t need to have watched all previous thirteen episodes. But I can assure you if you just watch this one, you’ll be likely to want to watch all fourteen.

DANCE DOCUMENTARY: Ballerina Boys – American Masters on PBS – June 4th (check local listings)

This fascinating, amusing and moving documentary takes a look at Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (The Trocks). They are an ensemble of male ballet dancers who take their dance seriously and present it with whopping doses of humor.

As the British might say, they take the piss out of the art form. But they do it with a absolute respect for the work.

Filmmakers Chana Gazit and Martha Barylick take a look at the 45-year history of The Trocks. Ballerina Boys features interviews with founding members and also current members as it charts its way through over four decades of entertaining audiences. And as their trailer says, “Changing the world one pirouette at a time.”

I’ve seen this film and it is wildly entertaining and, at times, deeply moving.

JAZZ: Immanuel Wilkins Quartet – Vermont Jazz Center – June 5th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

I’ve written several times about Immanuel Wilkins and how amazing he is. This Saturday is the best chance for you to see precisely what critics have been talking about.

Wilkins will be joined by Daryl Johns on bass; Kweku Sumbry on drums and Micah Thomas on piano.

This Tiny Desk concert for NPR should give you a good idea.

When I interviewed Wilkins last August as his album Omega was about to be released, he told me that he wrestled with releasing an album during the pandemic and not being able to tour behind it. Amongst the things he told me was:

“People need to hear it live. The band is a live band. It’s definitely something that should be played live and it would have been nice to have a proper release concert.”

Saturday’s concert will be a big step forward for Wilkins and for all of us to hear how dynamic this music is live.

There’s no charge to watch the concert; however, donations are encouraged.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon of Song – June 6th – 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

Fans of contemporary classical music, particularly those works that showcase the human voice, will be keenly interested in this Sunday’s Bang on a Can Marathon of Song. Expect multiple uses of the human voice to be employed here.

There are eleven world premieres scheduled.

This streaming marathon runs for four hours. Here is the line-up:

1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

Arlen Hulsko performs the world premiere of and there was by Mary Kouyoumdjian. Composer Peni Candra Rini gives the world premiere of her new work. Ken Thomson gives the world premiere performance of Zero at the Bone by Anna Clyne. Composer Albert Kuvezin gives the world premiere of Eremchick (The Spider).

2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT

Julian Otis performs Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan D’Arc by Julius Eastman. Composer Fred Frith gives the world premiere performance of his new work. Kyle Brenn’s Still/Exist will be performed. Taja Cheek, performing as L’Rain will perform. David Cossin will give the world premiere performance of RYB by Florent Ghys.

3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

This hour opens with the world premiere of witness by Matana Roberts. Mark Stewart will perform the world premiere of a new work by Trevor Watson. Composer Eddy Kwan gives the world premiere of his new work. The final performance is by Allison Russell.

4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

Vicky Chow gives the world premiere of a new work by Sophie Cash. Robert Black gives the world premiere of Audible Autopsy by Charles Amirkhanian.

There is no charge to watch the marathon. Donations are encouraged.

CABARET: Alex Newell – The Seth Concert Series – June 6th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

You might know Alex Newell from Glee. You might have seen Newell in the 2017 Broadway production of Once on This Island.

Or you might have seen as Mo on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. (If you haven’t watched this NBC series, you’ll definitely need to make up for lost time.)

However you know Newell, there’s one thing you know for sure, he can sing!

Newell and Rudetsky will of course share plenty of music along with the kind of stories that only Broadway insiders know and fans of musical theater will want to hear. As June is Pride Month, what better way to spend some time this weekend than with Alex Newell and Seth Rudetsky.

If you are unable to watch the show at 3:00 PM ET, there is an encore showing at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. Tickets for either show are $25.

TRIBUTE TO BROADWAY: Curtain Up, Light the Lights – Roundabout Theatre Company – June 7th – 7:45 PM ET/4:45 PM PT

If you live in New York, you can join this 2021 Roundabout Theatre Company Gala live in Central Park. Luckily for those who don’t you can stream it live. Either way, here’s what you’ll get:

Tony Winner Jane Krakowski will perform live from Rumsey Playfield with the New York Pops.

Joining her for part of the concert will be Tituss Burgess (her co-star from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Just for good measure there are a few special guests: Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), EGOT Whoopi Goldberg, Oscar winner Emma Stone (La La Land), Grammy and Emmy Award winner Blair Underwood and Tony Award-nominee Vanessa Williams. Those are the announced special guests. There is word of even more stars to be participating.

As the ghost lights will soon be relieved of 24-hour a day duty and the marquees of Broadway relit in anticipation of theaters re-opening, Curtain Up, Light the Lights will be a great way to welcome the return of Broadway.

Virtual tickets start at $25.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Pajama Cast Party – June 7th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

If I only said Kristin Chenoweth would that be enough? Certainly she’s popular enough. And maybe she’ll be wearing pajamas.

Yes, the three-time Tony Award nominee (and winner for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and star of Wicked is joining Jim Caruso on Monday for the 61st episode of Pajama Cast Party.

In addition to singing, she’ll be sharing some of the young talented performers who are participating in Broadway Bootcamp of which she is one of the directors.

Also joining is Ryan Silverman who appeared in the 2013 Classic Stage Company production of Passion and appeared on Broadway in the 2014 revival of Side Show.

There is no charge to watch the show. Donations are encouraged with a portion of the proceeds going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund.

Those are our Top Ten Best Bets: June 4th – June 7th. Just a few reminders and on other note before we finish.

A few weeks ago we highlighted We Have to Hurry by Dorothy Lyman. It’s a moving play about two neighbors at a retirement community who fear time is not on their side during a quarantine. The play was so popular that a second live performance of the play is taking place this weekend with the playwright as Margaret and the enormously talented Alfred Molina as Gil. They have two performances (one Saturday and one on Sunday.) You can find details here.

Metropolitan Opera’s programming this weekend features the 2019-2020 season production of Porgy and Bess on Friday (highly recommended); the 2014-2015 season production of Macbeth on Saturday and the 2019-2020 season production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten on Sunday (also highly recommended).

On Monday the Met presents classic operas told in new ways. Monday’s offering is the 2012-2013 production of Rigoletto. We’ll have full details in Monday’s preview of the entire week.

That officially concludes all the offerings I have for you in our Top Ten Best Bets: June 4th – June 7th. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the performing arts!

Main Photo: Audra McDonald (Courtesy her website)

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As you might expect for a series tied to podcasts, most of this week’s productions are from recent seasons. Most of the operas come from 2018-2020. There is one notable exception: the 2014-2015 season production of Verdi’s Macbeth.

Since the Met is re-running productions as the bulk of their weekly streaming schedule, I’m going to mix in interviews with the performers and creators in place of clips to avoid the redundancy of showing the same few clips available. Let me know your thoughts!

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on May 31st, you’ll still have time to see the 2010-2011 season production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory that was part of Rare Gems week.

Here is the full line-up of rare gems for Week 64 at the Met:

Monday, May 31 – Puccini’s Turandot – 4th Showing

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov and James Morris. This revival of the 1987 Franco Zeffirelli production from the 2019-2020 season.

Puccini’s opera had its world premiere in 1926 in Milan. The libretto was written by Guiseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The composer died two years before its premiere and the opera was completed by Franco Alfani.

Set in China, Turandot tells the story of Prince Calaf who has fallen in love with the title princess. She, however, isn’t very interested in him. In order for any man to marry Turandot, he is required to correctly answer three riddles. Should any answer be wrong, the suitor is put to death. Calaf is successful, but Turandot remains opposed to their marriage. He strikes a deal with her that will either lead to their marriage or his death. 

Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times about this production:

“Mr. Nézet-Séguin led an exciting and insightful account of Puccini’s Turandot, a revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s glittering, over-the-top and popular 1987 production. The strong cast was headed by the blazing soprano Christine Goerke as Puccini’s icy Princess Turandot, the ardent tenor Yusif Eyvazov as Calaf, and the plush-voiced soprano Eleonora Buratto as Liù. The chorus, during the crowd scenes, sounded superb.”

Tuesday, June 1 – Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Sir Mark Elder; starring Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Laurent Naouri, Elchin Azizov and Dmitry Belosselskiy. This Darko Tresnjak production is from the 2018-2019 season.

The biblical tale of Samson and Delilah serves as the inspiration for Saint-Saëns’s opera. With a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire, Samson et Dalila had its world premiere in Weimar in 1877. Franz Liszt, who previously served as the Music Director at Weimar, was instrumental in getting the opera its world premiere there.

When the governor of the Philistines, Abimelech, belittles the Hebrews into believing that they are helpless to his power and that of the temple of Dagon. Everyone believes him except Samson, who leads a rebellion against Abimelech and kills him. He meets Dalila who tells Samson that his accomplishments have wooed her and that she’s in love with him. Though others try to warn him about Dalila, he succumbs to her charms. But is she truly in love with Samson or does she have other ideas in mind?

This production marked the Metropolitan Opera debut of director Tresnjak who is best known for his work on Broadway with such shows as A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (for which he won a Tony Award) and the musical Anastasia. He directed LA Opera’s award-winning production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles.

Wednesday, June 2 – Bizet’s Carmen – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Louis Langrée; starring Aleksandra Kurzak, Clémentine Margaine, Roberto Alagna and Alexander Vinogradov. This revival of Richard Eyre’s 2009 production is from the 2018-2019 season. 

Georges Bizet collaborated with librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy on this immensely popular opera. It was based on Propser Mérimée’s novella of the same name. 

When Carmen was first performed in Paris in 1875 it was considered both shocking and scandalous. 

Set in Seville, Spain, Carmen is a gypsy who has caught everyone’s eye. A soldier, Don José, plays coy and gives her no attention. Her flirtation causes troubles for both when Don José’s girlfriend, Micaëla arrives. Tensions escalate between the two women and after a knight fight, José must arrest Carmen. When she seduces him it sets off a series of events that will not end well for the gypsy woman.

Margaine made her Met Opera debut in the 2017 revival of this production of Carmen. She had not been announced to open the production, but assumed the part in true understudy form when Sophie Koch took ill. Margaine had been scheduled to take on the role later in the run.

Of her return to the role in this production, Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times said, “Anchoring the performance was the mezzo Clémentine Margaine, arrestingly stern and articulate in the title role. Her voice doesn’t bloom, but it darkly insinuates, like a clarinet. And she portrays a disconcertingly changeable, mordant yet (seemingly genuinely) hopeful Carmen, rising to stony grandeur in the final duet.”

Thursday, June 3 – Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment – 2nd Showing

Conducted by Enrique Mazzola; starring Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Kathleen Turner, Javier Camarena and Maurizio Muraro. This revival of the 2008 Laurent Pelly production is from the 2018-2019 season.

This two-act comic opera written by Gaetano Donizetti was first performed in 1840 in Paris. The libretto is by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.

La Fille du Régiment tells the story of a young woman, Marie, who was raised by the 21st Regiment after having been found as a baby on a battlefield. The plan is that when she is old enough she will marry one of the men of the Regiment. She falls in love with Tyrolean Tonio. When the Marquise de Berkenfield shows up, it is discovered that she is Marie’s aunt and she wants to take Marie away to raise her as a lady. Will love win out for Marie?

One of the hallmarks of this opera is the challenge that faces every tenor singing the role of Tonio to hit nine high C’s in the opera’s best known aria, “Ah! mes amis.” In this production Camarena did this so effortlessly he was allowed an encore to do a second pass at the aria and another nine high C’s.

While Anthony Tommasini did rave about Camarena’s high C’s, he also thought the chemistry between Yende and Camarena worked well, as he said in his New York Times review:

“Ms. Yende and Mr. Camarena treat the story seriously, without a trace of mugging or winking. They were adorable during scenes of budding romance. Complications ensue when the Marquise of Berkenfield, here the commanding mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, realizes that Marie is the daughter she abandoned at birth to avoid scandal, and hauls her off to teach her ladylike behavior. But young love wins out.”

Friday, June 4 – The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess – 5th Showing

Conducted by David Robertson; starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker and Donovan Singletary. This James Robinson production is from the 2019-2020 season. 

DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel, Porgy, was the inspiration for a play written by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward. That play served as the inspiration for this opera by George Gershwin with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Porgy and Bess had its world premiere in 1935 at Boston’s Colonial Theatre.

In the opera, Porgy lives in Charleston’s slums. He’s disabled and spends his time begging. He is enamored with Bess and does everything he can to rescue her from an abusive lover, Crown and a far-too-seductive drug dealer, Sportin’ Life.

If you saw the Broadway version which went by the name The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, that was a truncated version and it was also modified to fit more contemporary times. The Metropolitan Opera production is the full opera as originally written by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin.

Gershwin’s score features such beloved songs as Summertime, I Loves You Porgy and It Ain’t Necessarily So.

Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times, raved about the production and, in particular, its two stars:

“As Porgy, the magnificent bass-baritone Eric Owens gives one of the finest performances of his distinguished career. His powerful voice, with its earthy textures and resonant sound, is ideal for the role. His sensitivity into the layered feelings and conflicts that drive his character made even the most familiar moments of the music seem startlingly fresh. And, as Bess, the sumptuously voiced soprano Angel Blue is radiant, capturing both the pride and fragility of the character.”

Saturday, June 5 – Verdi’s Macbeth – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Željko Lučić and René Pape. This revival of Adrian Noble’s 2007 production is from the 2014-2015 season.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth was the first of his plays to inspire an opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave with additional work by Andrea Maffei. The opera had its world premiere in Florence, Italy in 1847. Verdi re-wroked Macbeth and changed the language from Italian to French. The revised version had its premiere in Paris in 1865.

This is not Shakespeare set to music. Verdi did take much of what Shakespeare wrote about a Scottish general who is told by three witches that he will be the King of Scotland. With the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth, he stops at nothing to do so. However, Verdi couldn’t include the whole play in his opera, nor did he want to. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady MacBeth truly anchors this opera.

This production marked the first time Netrebko had sung the role of Lady Macbeth at the Met. Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, set up the challenges she was facing:

“…the lead soprano role in Verdi’s Macbeth is not just a daunting challenge. For Ms. Netrebko, who turned 43 last week, it represents a shift from the lyric soprano and bel canto roles with which she made her reputation to vocally weightier repertory. Lady Macbeth is particularly risky and demanding.”

He was more than pleased with the result. “The years that Ms. Netrebko spent singing bel canto heroines paid off here in the skillful way she dispatched the trills and runs that Verdi folds into the vocal lines. One such place is the Act II banquet scene after Macbeth, having murdered King Duncan, has been proclaimed the new monarch. Lady Macbeth sings a drinking song, a brindisi, inviting the guests to join in a toast. Yet there was something eerily malevolent in the way this Lady Macbeth tossed off the song with insistent good cheer. Wearing a ruby red evening gown, her eyes wild, Ms. Netrebko almost willed her guests into having a good time, or else.”

Sunday, June 6 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten – 5th Showing

Conducted by Karen Kamensek; starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein and Zachary James. This Phelim McDermott production is from the 2019-2020.

Akhnaten is one of Glass’s three biographical operas (the others are Einstein on the Beach and Saturday’s opera, Satyagraha.) The composer also wrote the libretto with the assistance of Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins.

Akhnaten was a pharaoh who was controversial for his views on worshipping more than one God. He suggested just worshipping one – the sun. He was husband to Nefertitti and father of Tutankhamun. This opera does not have a linear storyline.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini praised the leads:

“Wearing gauzy red robes with extravagantly long trains, Mr. Costanzo and Ms. Bridges seem at once otherworldly and achingly real. His ethereal tones combine affectingly with her plush, deep-set voice. Ms. Kamensek, while keeping the orchestra supportive, brings out the restless rhythmic elements that suggest the couple’s intensity.”

I’ve seen this production with Costanzo singing the title role and cannot recommend taking the time to watch Akhnaten highly enough. 

That’s the complete line-up for Week 64 at the Met. Next week the theme is Updated Settings for Classic Operas.

Enjoy your week! Enjoy the operas!

Photo: J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo and Dísella Lárusdóttir in Akhnaten. (Photo by Karen Almond/Courtesy Met Opera)

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There are five recitals in the Signature Recital Series and once they debut they will be available for streaming through July 1st.

Up first – in a recital that debuted last Friday – is tenor Russell Thomas.

Filmed at Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, his recital finds performances of works Adolphus Hailstork, George Frideric Handel, Roberts Owens and Robert Schumann. He’s accompanied by pianist Mi-Kyung Kim.

Thomas was recently named an Artist-in-Residence with LA Opera. That announcement falls in line with something he told me was important for real progress in the performing arts when I interviewed him in 2018. At that time he was preparing to sing Verdi’s Otello with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

“What happens when you diversify the back office then the stage will become diversified and then the audience. You can’t expect audiences to be diversified if they don’t see themselves on stage. …I understand everything is about dollars and cents, but I think the long term survival of classical arts is at stake. If you look around the room and everybody looks the same, there’s a problem.”

I attended that performance of Otello. Thomas is the real deal.

Thomas will be seen in Verdi’s Aida with the LA Opera during the 2021-2022 season.

The second recital is by mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and it will debut on April 23rd. She will be showcasing the work of composer Kurt Weill in this recital filmed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Amongst the songs she performs are I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Lonely House and September Song. Graham is accompanied by pianist Jeremy Frank.

She is one of those rare singers who embraces music from multiple periods of music. Graham is just as comfortable singing the work of Handel and Mozart as she is works by contemporary composers such as Jake Heggie and Tobias Picker.

Her next appearance at LA Opera will be in a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in the spring of 2022.

The third recital is by Wagnerian soprano Christine Goerke. This is billed as an intimate performance from New Jersey’s Art Factory with pianist Craig Terry accompanying her. The debut of her performance is scheduled for May 7th.

Goerke’s diverse program will include works by Brahms, Handel and Strauss, show tunes, Italian art songs and a song cycle by Carrie Jacobs-Bonds called Half-Minute Songs.

If you’ve watched any of the Met Opera streaming productions you might have seen her in Turandot and as Brunhilde in Die Walküre. I saw her sing excerpts from Götterdämmerung with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was seriously impressed with not just the power of her voice, but also the quieter and softer tones as well.

The fourth recital is by soprano Julia Bullock with pianist Laura Boe. The performance was filmed at Blaibach Concert Hall in Germany. This recital will debut on May 21st.

On Bullock’s program are works by John Adams, Margaret Bonds, Robert Schumann, William Grant Still, Kurt Weill and Hugo Wolf. The finale is a series of songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music.

Another singer who embraces both classic works and contemporary works, Bullock in the past few years has appeared in the world premieres of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at San Francisco Opera and Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

In 2019 she opened the Los Angeles Philharmonic season with a performance of Samuel Barber’s Knoxville. This was also a concert I attended and I can’t wait for an opportunity to see Bullock in a fully-staged production.

The last recital is by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges beginning June 4th. Accompanied by pianist Howard Watkins, Bridges’ recital was filmed at Harlem School of the Arts in New York. The program has yet to be announced.

If you’ve seen any of the multiple streams of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten, you know how amazing she is. She also appeared in the composer’s Satyagraha at LA Opera during the 2018-2019 season.

How can you watch the Signature Recital Series? They are available as a package for $45 for non-subscribers and $30 for LA Opera subscribers. Single tickets are not available. However, regardless of when you purchase the package you will have through July 1st to watch each of the concerts. Tickets are available here.

Photo: Russell Thomas from his Signature Recital Series performance (Courtesy Los Angeles Opera)

The post LA Opera’s Signature Recital Series Has Begun appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

So what did you choose? All of the productions are from the 21st century. The earliest from 2007 and the most recent just last year. Amongst the performers showcased this week are Anthony Roth Costanzo, Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Netrebko. Productions by David McVicar and Bartlett Sher proved most popular (each has two productions being shown this week).

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on March 15th, you might still have time to catch the 2017-2018 season production of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini that concludes a week celebrating Verismo Passions.

Here are your selections for Week 53 at the Met:

Monday, March 15 – Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Conducted by James Levine; starring Anna Netrebko, Kathleen Kim, Ekaterina Gubanova, Kate Lindsey, Joseph Calleja and Alan Held. This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2009-2010 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on April 22nd.

Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman had its world premiere in Paris in 1881. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and was inspired by three short stories by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman. Offenbach did not live to see this opera performed. He died four months before its premiere.

In the opera Offenbach and Barbier put the author of the stories in the middle of all the action. He’s seeking perfect love and tells a tavern crowd about three fruitless attempts at romance. The first with the daughter of an inventor who turns out to be a doll instead of a human being. The second with a beautiful young woman with a gorgeous voice, but whose singing may lead to her death. The third with a young woman who steals his reflection. Will poor Hoffman ever find love? Or will his writing be his lifelong companion?

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review, laid out some of the challenges this production faced and also what it achieved in spite of them:

“As conceived, this production was to have featured the tenor Rolando Villazón as the poet, wild-eyed dreamer and delusional lover Hoffmann. When Mr. Villazón, in the midst of a vocal crisis, pulled out last spring, the young Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, who had never sung this daunting role, accepted the assignment. On Thursday he gave his all, singing with ardor, stamina and poignant vocal colorings and winning a rousing ovation. There were technically shaky elements to his performance, and his focused, quick vibrato revealed every slight inaccuracy of pitch. Still, the insecurity actually befitted Mr. Calleja’s take on the character, laid bare emotionally. 

“The soprano Anna Netrebko may have disappointed her fans by deciding not to sing all four of Hoffmann’s love interests, as originally planned. But she was vocally lustrous, charismatic and wrenching as Antonia, the sickly and frustrated singer who has been warned that singing will lead to her death. She also made a captivating and tart Stella, the prima donna Hoffmann is smitten with.”

Tuesday, March 16 – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jonas Kaufmann and Željko Lučić. This revival of the 1991 Giancarlo del Monaco production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on July 26th.

Giacomo Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West had its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 1910. It was Puccini’s follow-up to Madama Butterfly. Like that work, this was also inspired by a play by David Belasco. The Girl of the Golden West was adapted by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini.

Set during the Gold Rush era in California, Sherriff Rance is told by a Wells Fargo agent, Ashby, that he is chasing a bandit named Ramerrez. Minnie is the owner of the bar where Rance’s unrequited love for Minnie remains just that. A stranger arrives and successfully flirts with Minnie. He identifies himself as Johnson, but in reality he is the bandit Ramerrez. Can he avoid recognition and capture? Will their love save the day?

This production marked Kaufmann’s return to the Metropolitan Opera after a four-and-a-half-year absence from their stages. He had previously been announced in three productions during that time, but withdrew from each one. Skeptics wondered if he would actually appear in this one. He did. And though not in top form, he still received praise from Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times:

“The dusky colorings of Mr. Kaufmann’s voice gave his singing of this Italianate music a Germanic cast, but that quality made his Johnson seem, intriguingly, more of an outsider. He brought melting richness and dramatic nuances to his performance, supported by the sensitive conducting of Marco Armiliato.”

Wednesday, March 17 – Donizetti’s Anna Bolena

Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Tamara Mumford, Stephen Costello and Ildar Abdrazakov. This David McVicar production is from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on April 27th and October 15th.

Anna Bolena has its premiere in Milan in Milan in 1830. The libretto is based on two works: Ippolito Pindemonte’s Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli’s Anna Bolena. Donizetti’s librettist was Felice Romani.

Donizetti wrote four operas about the Tudor period. The three most popular operas are being performed in consecutive order (and the order of their composition) this week. The lesser-known fourth opera (which was actually the first opera) is Il castello di Kenilworth. Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux‘s leading female characters are referred to as the “three Donizetti Queens.”

In Anna Bolena, Henry VIII has fallen in love with Jane Seymour who is Queen Anna’s lady-in-waiting. Though King Henry had demanded Anna separate from Lord Percy to marry him, he now must find a way to make it possible for him to leave her and marry Jane. He contrives a meeting between Lord Percy and Anna in order to set her up for treason and ultimately execution.

This production was the first time the Metropolitan Opera performed Anna Bolena in all its history. It was, however, the second time Netrebko had performed the role having sung it in Vienna earlier that year. Anthony Tommasini, writing for the New York Times, raved about Netrebko’s performance:

“Ms. Netrebko sang an elegantly sad aria with lustrous warmth, aching vulnerability and floating high notes. When the audience broke into prolonged applause and bravos, Ms. Netrebko seemed to break character and smile a couple of times, though her look could have been taken as appropriate to the dramatic moment, since the delusional Anna is lost in reverie about happy days with her former lover.”

Thursday, March 18 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten

Conducted by Karen Kamensek; starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein and Zachary James. This Phelim McDermott production is from the 2019-2020. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on June 20th, November 14th and February 12th.

Akhnaten is one of Glass’s three biographical operas (the others are Einstein on the Beach and Saturday’s opera, Satyagraha.) The composer also wrote the libretto with the assistance of Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins.

Akhnaten was a pharaoh who was controversial for his views on worshipping more than one God. He suggested just worshipping one – the sun. He was husband to Nefertitti and father of Tutankhamun. This opera does not have a linear storyline.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini praised the leads:

“Wearing gauzy red robes with extravagantly long trains, Mr. Costanzo and Ms. Bridges seem at once otherworldly and achingly real. His ethereal tones combine affectingly with her plush, deep-set voice. Ms. Kamensek, while keeping the orchestra supportive, brings out the restless rhythmic elements that suggest the couple’s intensity.”

I’ve seen this production with Costanzo singing the title role and cannot recommend taking the time to watch Akhnaten highly enough. 

Friday, March 19 – Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Peter Mattei, John Del Carlo and John Relyea. This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2006-2007 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on March 31st and October 19th.

Gioachino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) had its world premiere in 1816 in Rome. The opera is based on the new 1775 comedy by Beaumarchais of the same name. The libretto was written by Cesare Sterbini.

In this comedic opera, Count Almaviva is in love with the delightful Rosina. As he’s a Count, he wants to make sure her love is true and anchored in her passion for him, not the fact that he’s a Count. 

In order to be sure, he pretends to be student with no money. Regardless of his efforts, Bartolo, who serves as Rosina’s guardian, will make sure no one will woo Rosina and win. Bartolo, however, doesn’t know that Almaviva has a secret weapon, a cunning man named Figaro who is…the barber.

This production marked the debut of Tony Award-winner (and 9-time nominee) Bartlett Sher at the Metropolitan Opera. In Anthony Tommasini’s review in the New York Times he hailed Sher’s production:

“For the inventive, breezy new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Metropolitan Opera, which opened on Friday night and boasts a winning cast, the director Bartlett Sher, making his Met debut, has embraced the opera’s atmosphere of intrigue and subterfuge. Michael Yeargan’s set is an abstract matrix of movable doors, stairwells and potted orange trees that characters lurk behind as they listen in on conversations. Yet this is in no way an updated production. The costume designer, Catherine Zuber, has dressed the characters in colorful and sexy period garb with comic touches, like the disheveled, curly red wig worn by Rosina, the young heroine. 

“If not updated, the opera is freshened up by Mr. Sher, bringing his perspective as an acclaimed theater director best known to New Yorkers for The Light in the Piazza.”

Saturday, March 20 – Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin

Conducted by Valery Gergiev; starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This revival of Robert Carsen’s 1997 production is from the 2006-2007 season.This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on March 22nd, November 30th and February 24th

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel of the same name for this opera that had its world premiere in Moscow in 1879. The composer co-wrote the libretto (using much of Pushkin’s text as written) with Konstantin Shilovsky.

Onegin is a rather selfish man. Tatyana expresses her love for him, but he rejects her saying he isn’t suited to marriage. By the time he comes to regret the way he treated her, he has also come to regret the actions that lead to a duel that killed his best friend.

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review raved, “You will seldom see better acting in opera then the scenes between Ms. Fleming and Mr. Hvorostovsky. With his white mane, commanding physique and earthy voice, Mr. Hvorostovsky projects charisma naturally, making him perfect for this diffident character.

“Everything and everyone seems to come to Onegin, which accounts for his passivity. In the scene in which he gently chastises Tatiana for having sent him a rash love letter, his paternalistic arrogance, as projected by Mr. Hvorostovsky, would have been infuriating had it not seemed so tragically clueless.”

Sunday, March 21 – Handel’s Agrippina

Conducted by Harry Bicket; starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2019-2020 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on August 8th and October 27th.

George Frideric Handel’s Agrippina has a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. The opera had its world premiere in 1709 in Venice at the Teatro S Giovanni Grisostomo which was owned by Grimani.

Agrippina is the Roman empress who is fixated on the idea of having her highly unqualified son, Nerone, take over the throne. To do that, she will stop at nothing to get her husband, Claudio, to cede it to him.

Though McVicar’s production was first staged in Brussels in 2000, this marked the first ever Metropolitan Opera production of Agrippina. Conductor Harry Bicket lead from the harpsichord and audiences and critics were enthralled.

Zachary Woolfe, in his review for the New York Times said, “Three centuries on, Agrippina remains bracing in its bitterness, with few glimmers of hope or virtue in the cynical darkness. But it’s irresistible in its intelligence — and in the shamelessness it depicts with such clear yet understanding eyes.”

Those are your choices for Week 53 at the Met. At the moment I have no idea what Week 54 has in store for us all. So enjoy the operas you’ve selected and enjoy your week.

Photo: Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Renée Fleming in Eugene Onegin. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

The post Viewer’s Choice: Week 53 at the Met appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Our top pick this week is Heartbeat Opera’s Breathing Free, a powerful 45-minute film that is having its West Coast debut courtesy of The Broad Stage. Opera, spirituals, movement and imagery combine to explore the challenges Black men have of simply breathing without fear. I saw the film last year and can tell you this is easily one of the strongest works you’ll see all year.

If you are a fan of The Supremes and want to catch quite possibly Mary Wilson’s last performance (she passed away earlier this week), you will want to catch A Catalina Soulful Valentine fundraiser on Friday night.

It’s not all dance and topical issues this week, in fact, our first listing might find you mixing your own cocktails. Get your ice out of the freezer, get your cocktail shaker on standby and dig in!

Here are my Best Bets: February 12th – February 15th (we’re including Monday since it’s also a holiday weekend):

PLAY: Dixie’s Happy Hour – Segerstrom Center for the Arts – Now – February 21st

Dixie Longate hosting a happy hour? That will certainly have heavy emphasis on the happy. And probably on the adult side, too. Dixie, though a Southern girl at heart, has a quick wit and is never shy about sharing her thoughts.

With everything that has gone on the world since Dixie was last selling Tupperware locally, I can only imagine what she’ll have to say.

And what drinks she’ll make. I don’t believe Dixie has been in the Alabama slammer, but I bet she knows how to make a fierce one! Actually, she does have a pre-show margarita recipe to share.

There are performances every night through February 21st at 7:00 PM PST. Tickets are $35.

BALLET: Digital Program 02 – San Francisco Ballet – Now – March 3rd $29 for 72 hour access

The world premiere of Colorforms, a new work by Myles Thatcher, is featured in San Francisco Ballet’s Digital Program 02. The work, set to Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings by Steve Reich, seeks to illuminate the parallels between the creation and consumption of art. The film, directed by Ezra Hurwitz, was shot in multiple San Francisco locations including the War Memorial Opera House where the San Francisco Ballet regularly performs.

Opening the program is Dwight Rhoden‘s Let’s Begin at the End which features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Philip Glass and Michael Nyman. The work was created for SF Ballet’s 2018 Unbound and had its debut on April 26th of that year.

Closing out the program is Sandpaper Ballet by Mark Morris with music by Leroy Anderson. The work was created in 1999 for San Francisco Ballet. Composer Anderson is probably best-known for having written the popular holiday song, Sleigh Ride. Sandpaper Ballet was composed in 1954.

Tickets are $29 and allow for 72 hours of streaming.

BALLET: Raymonda Act III – Royal Opera House – Now – March 14th

Marius Petipa’s ballet, Raymonda, had its world premiere in St. Petersburg in 1898 and is set to the music of Alexander Glazunov. In 1948 the Kirov Ballet revived the ballet with new choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev. This latter choreography is the one most commonly used in performances of the ballet.

Ballet star Rudolf Nureyev dance the ballet with the Kirov. He would later stage a full-length version for the Royal Ballet in 1964. Five years later he tweaked the very popular third act. It is that version that will be seen in this film which comes from a 2003 tribute to Nureyev. (The event took place ten years after his death.)

The two acts leading up to the segment being presented depicts the story of two lovers, Raymonda and Jean de Brienne who plan to get married. Unfortunately Abderman shows up at her birthday party and makes his intentions clear. Jean de Brienne does not arrive for one more day. He does arrive just in time (in Act 2) to break up Abderman’s kidnapping attempt of Raymonda. A duel ensues between the two men and Abderman is killed.

So what’s left in Act III? A big celebration. The full ballet isn’t performed as often as is this third act.

Pavel Sorokin conducts with Natalia Osipova as Raymonda and Vadim Muntagirov as Jean de Brienne.

Tickets to stream this performance are £3 which at press time equals approximately $4.15

THEATRE TALK: Virtual Halston – Cast Party Network on YouTube – February 12th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

Fans of the original cast of The Producers will certainly recognize Julie Halston’s guests for this week’s Virtual Halston: Cady Huffman (who originated the role of Ulla and won both the Drama Desk Award and the Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical) and Brad Oscar (who originated the role of Franz Liebkind). Oscar would later assume the role of Max Bialystock (the role Nathan Lane created) as the show continued its successful run on Broadway.

The two will be reunited on this Friday’s virtual happy hour with Halston. It’s a holiday weekend, your work is being mostly done by remote, why not mix a drink early and join in the fun?

PLAY: Yorick, La Historia de Hamlet – REDCAT – February 12th – February 14th

Hamlet’s soliloquies form the basis for this one-man show created by and starring Chilean actor Francisco Reyes. Yorick, the late court jester in Shakespeare’s play, is the narrator of Yorick, La Historia de Hamlet. Co-creator Simón Reyes wrote the script.

Joining Reyes in the performance are puppets that he manipulates. The puppets were created by Ismael Reyes.

The film is also uniquely lit by only candlelight. Music was composed by Miguel Miranda with songs by Rocío Reyes.

The work is performed in Spanish with English subtitles. There are only three showings of this highly-acclaimed film by Reyes. Friday, February 12th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST; Saturday and Sunday at 6:00 PM EST/3:00 PM PST. Tickets range from $8 for students up to $15 for general admission.

JAZZ: SF Jazz Collective – SFJAZZ – February 12th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

This weekend’s Fridays at Five concert celebrates the work of two very influential and different artists: Sly and the Family Stone and Miles Davis. As befitting such groundbreaking artists, this concert runs nearly two hours.

The San Francisco Jazz Collective, an octet, performs music from Stand! and Davis’ In a Silent Way. Both albums were released in 1969.

This concert, from November 2019, celebrates the 50th anniversary of both works. Stand! featured the songs I Want to Take You Higher and Everyday People. Davis was more austere with his recording – it only had two tracks, but ran 38 minutes.

The members of the SF Jazz Collective are bassist Matt Brewer; trumpeter Etienne Charles; drummer Obed Calvaire; vocalist Martin Luther McCoy; guitarist Adam Rogers; tenor saxophonist David Sánchez; pianist Edward Simon and vibraphonist Warren Wolf.

There is also a cameo appearance by Family Stone drummer Greg Errico. 

Tickets are $5 (which includes a one-month digital membership) or $60 (which includes an annual digital membership). This concert will stream just once.

JAZZ/CABARET: A Catalina Soulful Valentine – February 12th – 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST

Los Angeles nightclub, Catalina Jazz Club, has been severely impacted by the pandemic. They are doing everything they can to keep the doors open and amongst them is Friday night’s A Catalina Soulful Valentine.

For weeks they have been touting the appearance of Mary Wilson of The Supremes as one of their performers. Of course, she passed away earlier this week. But, her set was filmed in advance and will be seen in its entirety to both support Catalina Jazz Club and to honor her.

Sally Struthers and singer/musician Mr. Chris Norton serve as hosts. The list of performers includes Lucie Arnaz, Carole J. Bufford, Linda Purl, James Snyder, Nita Whitaker and more.

The show will air on Catalina’s Facebook page and Chris Isaacson Presents’ YouTube channel. There is no charge to watch the concert, but donations are definitely encouraged.

JAZZ: Douglas J. Cuomo’s Seven Limbs featuring Nels Cline and Aizuri Quartet – CAP UCLA – February 12th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

Composer Douglas J. Cuomo’s Seven Limbs was meant to have its world premiere last year. We all know what happened to preclude that. This digital performance of the work had its world premiere earlier this week from The Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech.

UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance is making the film available on Friday with on demand opportunities beginning on Sunday for one week.

What is Seven Limbs? It is a 75-minute work for electric guitar and string quartet. Cuomo composed this specifically for the artists who perform it: Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and the Aizuri Quartet.

But what is it? Best to let the composer describe it for you:

“This piece is inspired by an ancient Buddhist purification ceremony called The Seven Limbs. It’s part of a meditation practice I do every day. The practice has lots of words; the piece has none. The feel of this ceremony is what I kept going to as I composed, and then at some point I realized I was setting text without using words. For me Seven Limbs is a dream-like piece; I can look inward to a new terrain and find out what’s there. Stillness, turmoil, suppleness, euphoria, high drama. I wrote it for Nels Cline and the Aizuri Quartet because, for composers, to write for great players is another kind of dream. Together, we offer you our dream, in the hope it makes some connection with you.”

CAP UCLA is making this performance free to view.

OPERA: Save the Boys – Opera Philadelphia – February 12th

Last week our top pick was musician/composer Tyshawn Sorey’s two-night gig at the Village Vanguard. He returns to our Best Bets this weekend with the debut of his twenty-minute song cycle Save the Boys.

Sorey uses Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s 1887 poem of the same name as the inspiration for this work.

Harper was an Black women’s rights activist and abolitionist.

Performing Save the Boys is the vocalist for whom it was written: countertenor John Holiday. If his name sounds familiar, perhaps you saw him on the most recently concluded season of The Voice. In 2019 I interviewed Holiday. You can read that interview here.

Holiday is accompanied on the piano by Opera Philadelphia’s Grant Loehnig.

Tickets are $10 which allows for a seven-day rental.

OPERA: Cosí fan tutte – San Francisco Opera – February 13th – February 14th

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Ellie Dehn, Susannah Biller, Marco Vinco, Francesco Demuro and Philippe Sly. This revival of the 2004 John Cox production is from the 2012-2013 season.

Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte had its world premiere in Vienna in 1790. Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libertti for The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, wrote the libretto.

Ferrando and Guglielmo are vacationing with their fiancées, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. They are sisters. Don Alfonso challenges the men to a bet revolving around the women and their ability to be faithful. Using disguise, deception and a wicked sense of humor, Mozart’s opera ends happily ever after for one and all.

Joshua Kosman, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, raved about Sly’s performance as Guglielmo , “In the ensemble cast of six, the standout performance was the precocious and phenomenally assured company debut of Adler Fellow Philippe Sly as Guglielmo. Adler Fellows don’t often get cast at this level, but then again, Adler Fellows this gifted and accomplished are rare indeed.

“Sly’s singing was at once robust and lyrical, with a beautiful range of tonal colors and the ability to combine virility and tenderness in a single phrase.”

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Anna Clyne’s Stride – Detroit Symphony Orchestra – February 13th – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST

It must be daunting for a composer to have a world premiere or relatively new work precede one of the stalwart compositions in classical music. Such is the status of British composer Anna Clyne who’s Stride will be performed by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra prior to their performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051.

But it is Clyne’s composition that is most interesting about this concert. The Australian Chamber Orchestra commissioned Clyde to write a piece as part of their celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s Birth. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of many of their performances last year, but they were able to return on November 14th with the world premiere of Stride.

The work weaves themes from Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata throughout and also includes nods to other composers, most notably Bernard Herrmann (best known for his film scores for director Alfred Hitchcock).

Tickets are $12 to stream the concert.

DANCE: John Henry – Dance Theatre of Harlem on Stage Access – Debuts February 13th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Dance Theatre of Harlem gave the world premiere performance of Arthur Mitchell’s John Henry on June 28, 1988. Before getting into her review, Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times reported, “…its premiere at the company’s opening at the City Center Tuesday night roused cheering fans out of their seats during the curtain calls. Mr. Mitchell, the troupe’s founder and artistic director, stayed in the spirit of things by throwing himself into a choreographed clog dance to acknowledge the applause.”

With music by Milton Rosenstock, Dance Theatre of Harlem will make available, via Stage Access, a performance filmed in Denmark at Danmarks Radio. The performance will remain available through February 19th.

Stage Access offers up a 7-day free trial with two subscription options: an annual plan of $69.99 or a monthly plan of $7.99

TOP PICK: OPERA/MOVEMENT: Breathing Free – The Broad Stage – February 13th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

Earlier this week I published an interview with Michael Blakk Powell, a formerly incarcerated man who was a member of the Kuji Mens Chorus at Marion Correctional Institute in Ohio. Through his participation in that chorus, he found himself learning German to perform music from Beethoven’s Fidelio.

One of the two pieces in which that performance can be seen and heard is in Heartbeat Opera’s powerful Breathing Free. This 45-minute film combines movement and opera to explore the challenges Black men in particular face in simply being allowed to breathe freely.

Joining the Beethoven heard in Breathing Free are works by Black composers and lyricists Harry T. Burleigh, Florence Price, Langston Hughes, Anthony Davis and Thulani Davis. The project also uses Negro spirituals.

The cast includes bass-baritone Derrell Acon, tenor Curtis Bannister, soprano Kelly Griffin and dancers Randy Castillo, Tamrin Goldberg, Brian HallowDreamz Henry. Breathing Free was directed by Ethan Heard. Music Direction was by Jacob Ashworth and Daniel Schlosberg (who also did the arrangements of the music from Fidelio).

Tickets prices range from $10 – $75 based on what you can afford to pay. I strongly urge you to consider carving out time on Saturday night to see Breathing Free.

CABARET: Laura Osnes – Seth Rudetsky Concert Series – February 14th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

You have to be a pretty versatile performer to believably portray Cinderella in one musical and Bonnie Parker in another. Add to that the ability to be Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Sandy in Grease. Broadway star Laura Osnes has done them all.

She received Tony Award nominations for her performances in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella and also for Frank Wildhorn’s musical about the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.

Osnes is Seth Rudetsky’s concert guest this week. In addition to Sunday’s live performance there is an encore presentation February 15th at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST. Tickets are $25 for either showing.

THEATRE: Justin Hicks’ Use Your Head for More – Baryshikov Arts Center – February 15th – March 1st

Looking at composer/creator/performer Justin Hicks’ website, he describes himself as “a multidisciplinary artist, and performer who uses music and sound to investigate themes of presence, identity, and value.” For this digital world premiere, Hicks has created a performance based on a transcript of a conversation he had with his mother. Use Your Head For More is offered up as a series of audiovisual portraits.

His work runs 30 minutes and was filmed at Hicks’ home in Bronx, New York. Two vocalists, Jasmine Enlow and Jade Hicks, collaborated with Hicks on Use Your Head for More.

There is no charge to watch Use Your Heard for More.

For those interesting in digging further into the project, there will be a live-streamed conversation between Hicks and Meshell Ndegeocello on February 24th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST. You must register to watch the conversation. Registration for that opens up on February 15th.

CABARET/OPERA/JAZZ: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – February 15th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

It’s sad that we don’t often have Monday listings, because Pajama Cast Party would be on the list every week. Which means you need to check out Jim Caruso and his fabulous guests. This week they include opera star Zachary James, jazz singer/songwriter Lauren Kinhan, actress/singer Avery Sommers and comedian Gianmarco Soresi. They will share stories, songs, jokes and more during the show.

Cast Party is a weekly ritual for New Yorkers and it takes place at Birdland. This is a modified version, but no less entertaining – just less physically tangible. It’s also the 45th episode Caruso has done…so far. No doubt he’d love to be back at Birdland as much as the rest of us would!

That’s the complete list of my Best Bets: February 12th – February 15th. But you know I’ve got a few reminders for you as well!

Pianist Richard Goode performs works of Bach and Claude Debussy on Saturday in a performance from New York’s 92nd Street Y.

The Metropolitan Opera concludes their second week of Black History Month with performances of Akhnaten by Philip Glass on Friday (strongly recommended); Berlioz’s Les Troyens on Saturday and Wagner’s Die Walküre on Sunday. Plus here’s an early preview of Week 49 at the Met. They will be celebrating Franco Zeffirelli and launch the week with the 2007-2008 season production of Puccini’s La Bohème.

This week’s episode of In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl is called Música sin Fronteras (Music without Borders) and concludes the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s series on PBS. (Check your local listings).

The films.dance festival continues with this week’s Pássaro Distante. They debut a new film, and one of my favorites, Match on Monday, February 15th.

That ends all my Best Bets: February 12th – February 15th. There’s culture to enjoy with the family; culture to enjoy with that special someone and certainly great options for those going solo this year. Whatever you choose, be safe and have a wonderful weekend.

Main Photo: An image from Breathing Free (Courtesy The Broad Stage)

The post Best Bets: February 12th – February 15th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This week’s productions feature Kathleen Battle, Harolyn Blackwell, J’Nai Bridges, Leona Mitchell, Jessye Norman, Eric Owens, and Florence Quivar.

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on February 8th, you might still have time to catch the 1978-1979 production of Tosca by Puccini that concludes the first week of Black History Month.

Here is the full line-up for Week 48 at the Met:

Monday, February 8 – Wagner’s Das Rheingold

Conducted by James Levine; starring Wendy Bryn Harmer, Stephanie Blythe, Patricia Bardon, Richard Croft, Gerhard Siegel, Dwayne Croft, Bryn Terfel, Eric Owens, Franz-Josef Selig and Hans-Peter König. This Robert Lepage production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production made available on March 24th.

This is the first in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (also known as The Ring Cycle). As with all four of these operas, Wagner wrote the music and the libretto. Das Rheingold had its world premiere in 1869 in Munich. It was premiered as a stand-alone opera. The first performance of the entire cycle was at Bayreuth in 1876.

Alberich is a dwarf who renounces love in his successful effort to take gold from the Rhinemaidens and have possession of a ring bestowing power to the wearer. With this one action, he sets in motion the storyline that runs through all four operas in the Ring Cycle. Fafner and Fasolt are the giants who built Valhalla. The long-suffering Wotan is introduced here as are the challenges the gods face in repaying the architects of Valhalla. When the ring is stolen from Alberich he puts a curse on it and on anyone who takes possession of it.

The Lepage Ring Cycle was notorious for the moving planks that were an integral part of the design. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn’t. In spite of the planks, Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review, gave Lepage credit for his work with the cast.

“Mr. Lepage deserves credit for coaxing vivid portrayals from his cast. And most of the action is played on an apron of planks that extend from the stage, which brings the singers into exciting proximity. Mr. Terfel’s singing was sometimes gravelly and rough. But his was a muscular Wotan, in both his imposing presence and his powerful singing. 

“Mr. Owens’s Alberich was no sniveling dwarf, but a barrel-chested, intimidating foe, singing with stentorian vigor, looking dangerous in his dreadlocks and crazed in his fantasy of ruling the universe.”

Tuesday, February 9 – Verdi’s Ernani

Conducted by James Levine; starring Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes and Ruggero Raimondi. This Pier Luigi Samaritani production is from the 1983-1984 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on August 1st and December 31st.

The trio of Giuseppe Verdi, Victor Hugo and Francesco Maria Piave served as the foundation for this opera that had its world premiere in Venice in 1844 (seven years before Rigoletto.) Hugo’s 1830 play, Hernani, inspired the composer and Piave, his librettist for Ernani.

Set in 16th century Spain, the centerpiece of this opera is our heroine, Elvria, who finds herself the object of three men’s desires: Carlo, the King of Spain; Silva, her abusive uncle and our title character, Ernani who is a bandit formerly known as Don Juan of Aragon. Disguises, deceit, mercy, suicide and tragedy ensue.

Donal Henahan, a critic from 1967 – 1991 for the New York Times, was a very pithy writer. He began his review of this production with some historical perspective as only he could:

“Ernani is an important opera because it is by Giuseppi Verdi. Other than that, its attractions are modest. It is, in fact, third-rate Verdi, which makes it second-rate anyone else, or better. It is a mass of musical and dramatic cliches, but operagoers with an ear tuned to history find it fascinating for what it led up to.” 

Henahan won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1986. He passed away in 2012.

Wednesday, February 10 – Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Conducted by Ralf Weikert; starring Kathleen Battle, Rockwell Blake, Leo Nucci, Enzo Dara and Ferruccio Furlanetto. This John Cox production is from the 1988-1989 season. 

Gioachino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) had its world premiere in 1816 in Rome. The opera is based on the new 1775 comedy by Beaumarchais of the same name. The libretto was written by Cesare Sterbini.

In this comedic opera, Count Almaviva is in love with the delightful Rosina. As he’s a Count, he wants to make sure her love is true and anchored in her passion for him, not the fact that he’s a Count. 

In order to be sure, he pretends to be student with no money. Regardless of his efforts, Bartolo, who serves as Rosina’s guardian, will make sure no one will woo Rosina and win. Bartolo, however, doesn’t know that Almaviva has a secret weapon, a cunning man named Figaro who is…the barber.

Donal Henahan, in the New York Times, said of Battle’s performance:

“… conferred consistently buttery tones on the role of Rosina…As Dr. Bartolo’s adventurous ward, she often slipped into a stereotyped coyness, passing up chances to show sharper, more illuminating facets of the character. The part, written for a genuine coloratura mezzo, is not ideal for a light coloratura soprano, but Miss Battle’s technique, taste and tone are such that reservations tend to melt away. Most of the time, despite the voice’s feathery quality, Miss Battle could be heard clearly, thanks in part to the purity of each note’s pitch. She declined, however, to compete with the orchestra whenever it threatened to drown her out, seemingly content at such moments to mouth the words. This caution can sometimes cost her performances a certain raw, sporting quality, but it also could insure that she will be singing beautifully when most of her colleagues have shouted themselves into premature retirement.”

Thursday, February 11 – Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera

Conducted by James Levine; starring Aprile Millo, Harolyn Blackwell, Florence Quivar, Luciano Pavarotti and Leo Nucci. This revival of Piero Faggioni’s 1989-1990 production is from the 1990-1991 season.

Verdi’s opera, translated A Masked Ball, had its premiere in Rome in 1859. Librettist Antonio Somma used the libretto written by Eugène Scribe for the opera, Gustave III, ou Le Ballo masqué, written by Daniel Auber in 1833. 

The opera is based on the real life assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden who was killed while attending a masquerade ball in Stockholm. 

Verdi takes some dramatic liberties which certainly enhances the drama. Riccardo is in love with Amelia. She, however, is the wife of his good friend and confidante, Renato. Riccardo is warned by his friend that there is a plot to kill him at the ball. Paying no attention to the warning, Riccardo instead seeks out Ulrica, a woman accused of being a witch. In disguise he visits Ulrica to have his fortune read. She tells him he will be killed by the next man who shakes his hand. That next man turns out to be Renato. What follows is a story of intrigue, deception, questions of fidelity and, of course, the assassination.

Donal Henahan was not a fan of this production. He did, however, single out Blackwell for praise in his New York Times review. “It does not say a lot for a ‘Ballo’ that the most unequivocally fine performance came from its Oscar, in this instance Harolyn Blackwell. Her impersonation of the page boy was a model of agility, spunk, charm and silvery tone. Unless one has not been paying enough attention in Miss Blackwell’s recent appearances, the voice has taken on more size without losing sparkle or purity. Both her first- and last-act arias were broken in half by impulsive applause, signaling listener appreciation, perhaps, but also a lack of operatic experience.”

Friday, February 12 – Philip Glass’s Akhnaten

Conducted by Karen Kamensek; starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein and Zachary James. This Phelim McDermott production is from the 2019-2020. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 20th and November 14th.

Akhnaten is one of Glass’s three biographical operas (the others are Einstein on the Beach and Saturday’s opera, Satyagraha.) The composer also wrote the libretto with the assistance of Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, Richard Riddell and Jerome Robbins.

Akhnaten was a pharaoh who was controversial for his views on worshipping more than one God. He suggested just worshipping one – the sun. He was husband to Nefertitti and father of Tutankhamun. This opera does not have a linear storyline.

In his New York Times review, Anthony Tommasini praised the leads:

“Wearing gauzy red robes with extravagantly long trains, Mr. Costanzo and Ms. Bridges seem at once otherworldly and achingly real. His ethereal tones combine affectingly with her plush, deep-set voice. Ms. Kamensek, while keeping the orchestra supportive, brings out the restless rhythmic elements that suggest the couple’s intensity.”

I’ve seen this production with Costanzo singing the title role and cannot recommend taking the time to watch Akhnaten highly enough. 

Saturday, February 13 – Berlioz’s Les Troyens

Conducted by James Levine; starring Tatiana Troyanos, Jessye Norman, Plácido Domingo and Allan Monk. This Fabrizio Melano production is from the 1983-1984 season.

If you though only Wagner wrote long operas, let me introduce you to this over 5-1/2 hour opera by Berlioz.

Les Troyens was inspired by Aeneid, an poem by Virgil. Berlioz wrote the libretto. The opera had its world premiere in Parisin 1863.

Set in the ancient city of Troy, where the Greeks have “gifted” their enemy with a wooden horse. Cassandra had feared there was a threat and when the Greeks ransacked the city, she and the woman of Troy choose suicide over surrendering.

Prince Aeneas, able to flee Troy, sets sail with his fleet for Italy. Circumstances force him to land at Carthage where Queen Dido falls in love with him. Will their love win out or must Aeneas be faithful to the Gods?

This production opened the centennial season at the Metropolitan Opera. It also marked the first appearance of Jessye Norman on their stage. In an odd twist, Norman and Troyanos switched the roles of Cassandra and Dido for two performances. Had either been sick during the run of the production, the other would sing both parts. That’s not unheard of, even at the Met. In 1973 Shirley Verrett sang both parts when co-star Christa Ludwig was too ill to go on.

Donal Henahan, in his New York Times review, said of Norman’s Met debut, “…a Metropolitan audience finally had a chance to cheer Jessye Norman, who made her debut as Cassandra. Miss Norman, who will move over to the role of Dido in some later performances, is a soprano of magnificent presence who commanded the stage at every moment. As the distraught Cassandra she sang grippingly and projected well…”

Sunday, February 14 – Wagner’s Die Walküre

Conducted by James Levine; starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris and Kurt Moll. This revival of Otto Schenk’s 1986 production is from the 1988-1989 season.

This is the second opera in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. It had its premiere as a stand-alone opera in 1870 in Munich. 

The son of the god Wotan is a fugitive named Siegmund. When he finds himself taking refuge at Sieglinde’s house, the two fall passionately in love. But Sieglinde is married and in order for her and Siegmund to be together Siegmund must defeat her husband in a battle to the death.

This production marked the first time Jessye Norman sang the role of Sieglinde at the Met. In his review for the New York Times, Donal Henahan wrote of her performance, “Miss Norman, assuming her role for the first time at the Metropolitan, sang both richly and sensitively and entered into the character with the ease and skill of a veteran Wagnerian. Miss Behrens, never the most powerful of Brunnhildes vocally, had to finesse the music at times, but as in the past made an irresistible Valkyrie, the most ebullient of a particularly bouncy band of female warriors. As usual, some vocal struggle had to be overlooked in a performance that was a triumph of will, dramatic instinct and musicality. Miss Ludwig, in her best current voice in the crucial dialogue with Wotan, actually made a many-dimensional, sympathetic figure of the henpecking goddess.”

That’s the full line-up for Week 48 at the Met.

As of now I don’t have any idea what Week 49 at the Met will bring. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, enjoy your week and enjoy the operas!

Photo: J’Nai Bridges in Akhnaten (Photo by Karen Almond/Courtesy Met Opera)

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