On tap (no pun intended) is a wonderful tap performance from New York’s Joyce Theater by Ayodele Casel; a musical where popular princesses from animated films imagine a different definition of “Happily Ever After;” the return of Tony Award-winner Lena Hall with some new “Obsessions;” a live performance from The Royal Opera House of work by Brecht and Weill; a concert performance of one of Verdi’s least-performed operas and the first of a two-part live performance of a play adapted from Milton’s Paradise Lost.

My top pick this weekend comes from San Francisco Opera. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher inspired an unfinished opera by Claude Debussy and a newer work by Gordon Getty. Both operas are being streamed this weekend and their rarity easily makes this the most interesting option for the weekend.

I’ll begin with my top pick for the week and the balance of my Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th are listed in the order in which they are available.

Here are my Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th:

*TOP PICK* OPERA: House of Usher – San Francisco Opera – April 10th – April 11th

Conducted by Lawrence Foster; starring Brian Mullian, Jason Bridges, Antony Reed, Jamielyn Duggan, Jacqueline Piccolino, Edward Nelson and Joel Sorensen. This David Poutney production is from the 2014-2015 season.

You know Cultural Attaché covers operas on a very regular basis. So it’s exciting to let you know about two one-act operas that are rarely performed and have not, to my knowledge, been streamed before this offering from San Francisco Opera.

Composers Claude Debussy and Gordon Getty each wrote operas inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Poe tells the story of Roderick Usher through the eyes of his friend and reveals what may or may not have happened to Usher’s sister Madeline.

Debussy’s work, La chute de la maison Usher, is an unfinished opera that he worked on from 1908-1917. The opera was completed and orchestrated, based on the composer’s draft, by Robert Orledge in 2004. The premiere of the completed opera was in 2014 paired with Getty’s version at the Welsh National Opera. It is this production that came to San Francisco Opera with different casting.

Philip Glass also composed a work inspired by The Fall of the House of Usher. A film, directed by James Darrah, is available for streaming from Boston Lyric Opera for $10. These two one-act operas, our top pick for the weekend, are available for free but only through Sunday, April 11th.

BALLET: Concerto – Royal Ballet – Now – April 25th

This work by legendary choreographer Kenneth MacMillan was one of two pieces that premiered at the first performance after he was named Director of Berlin’s Deutsche Opera Ballet in 1966. For Concerto he used Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concert No. 2 in F as his inspiration.

This new post came after his wildly successful years at Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet where he created nine new ballets.

This Royal Ballet performance is from 2019 and features soloists James Hay, Mayara Magri and Anna Rose O’Sullivan. They are joined by principals Ryoichi Hirano and Yasmine Naghdi.

Sarah Crompton, writing in The Guardian, said of this production: “…a plotless piece of sharp geometric angles and airy leaps, danced to Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 2. Set by Jürgen Rose against a perfect pale lemon backdrop, with the dancers in orange, russet and yellow, it has a breezy sophistication, with a delicate cross work of steps for soloists and a large corps de ballet. It seems simple but is devilishly complicated.”

The performance is available now for streaming. The price is £3 which equals $3.47.

PLAY READING: Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous – Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – April 12th

Sisters Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad star in the reading of Pearl Cleage’s 2019 play Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous which is being read as part of the Spotlight on Plays series from Broadway’s Best Shows.

After their production of scenes from August Wilson’s Fences ignited a major controversy actress Anna Campbell and director Betty Samson fled to Amsterdam for what they thought would be short-term assignment. 25 years later they are invited back to the United States where their version, nicknamed Naked Wilson, is going to open a women’s theater festival. But the festival wants to work with a much younger actress than Campbell. You don’t think that’s going to go over well, do you?

Also participating in the reading are Heather Alicia Simms and Alicia Stith. Camille A. Brown directs.

Tickets are $15 with proceeds going to the Actors Fund. The show will remain available through Monday, April 12th.

DANCE: Chasing Magic – The Joyce Theater Foundation – Now – April 21st

Fans of tap dance will definitely want to check out Chasing Magic by Ayodele Casel streaming now from The Joyce Theater in New York. I saw the film and it’s simply amazing.

For this world premiere, Casel has collaborated with director Torya Beard, dancer/choreographer Ronald K. Brown, singer/songwriter Crystal Monee Hall, composer/musician Arturo O’Farrill, percussionist Sent Stoney and composer Annastasia Victory.

Viewers can expect both traditional tap and also a contemporary style of tap – both of which will put a smile on your face, just as it does the dancers performing.

Tickets are $25/household.

BALLET: Carmen – State Street Ballet – Now – April 14th

Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen serves as the inspiration for this work by William Soleau (Co-Artistic Director of State Street Ballet). The work had its premiere in 2014 and this is a film from a performance at The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara from that year.

For those unfamiliar with the opera, here is the synopsis:

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.

Leila Drake dances the title role. Ryan Camou dances the role of Don José. Randy Herrera dances the role of the Toreador Escamillo and Cecily Stewart MacDougall dances the role of Micaëla.

There is no charge to watch the performance which will remain available through midnight on April 14th.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Simone Porter and Hsin-I Huang – Soka Performing Arts Center – Now – June 30th

As part of their Signature Encore Series, the Soka Performing Arts Center is making this 2019 concert by violinist Simone Porter and pianist Hsin-I Huang available through June 30th.

Their performance features works by Mozart (Sonata No. 24 in F Major, K. 376); Leoš Janáček (Violin Sonata, JW VII/7); Esa-Pekka Salonen (Lachen Verlent); Ernest Bloch (“Ningun” from Baal Shem); Maurice Ravel (Tzigane) and Sergei Prokofiev (3 pieces from Romeo & Juliet, Op. 64).

This concert is free to watch on both the Soka website and also their YouTube channel.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: The Heart of the Matter – St. Louis Symphony Orchestra – Now – May 8th

Three of the four pieces being performed in this concert by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra are very well known to classical music fans.

Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Andante cantabile and Giacomo Puccini’s I crisantemi (The Chrysanthemums). The last work was written originally for string quartet, but is rarely heard in that version.

Less known is the first piece on the program: Within Her Arms by composer Anna Clyne.

This work has been compared to Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings for the depth of its emotion. It’s a composition that inspired violinist Jennifer Koh to tell the New York Times, “Sometimes things reach you and it’s colorful or intricate or structured in an interesting way or the orchestration is wonderful. But the extraordinary thing about Anna’s music is that it is incredibly moving. And I hadn’t had that reaction for a long time.”

Stéphane Denève leads the SLSO in this performance. Tickets are $15.

MUSICAL: Disenchanted – Stream.Theatre – April 9th – April 11th

Cinderella, The Little mermaid, Pocahontas, The Princess Who Kissed the Frog and Snow White are just some of the princesses who are changing the definition of happily ever after in this musical with book, lyrics and music by Dennis T. Giacino.

Disnenchanted opened off-Broadway in 2014 and was the recipient of numerous nominations including Best New Musical. The production that is streaming this weekend is from England.

The cast or women playing the princesses are Courtney Bowman, Natalie Chua, Allie Daniel, Shanay Holmes, Sophie Isaacs, Aisha Jawando, Grace Mouat, Millie O’Connell, Jenny O’Leary, and Jodie Steele. Tom Jackson Greaves directs.

There are only three performances. The show will be streamed at 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are £18 (including service charges) which equals almost $25.

OPERA/DANCE: The Seven Deadly Sins and Mahagonny Songspiel – Royal Opera House – April 9th – 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT

The Royal Opera House offers its first live broadcast of the year with this double bill of works by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.

The Seven Deadly Sins is called a ballet chanté. That means it is a sung ballet. The work had its world premiere in Paris in 1933. As you might imagine from the title, each of the seven deadly sins (envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth and wrath) is explored through the story of two sisters: Anna I and Anna II. The first Anna (Stephanie Wake-Edwards) is a singer and the second a dancer (Jonadette Carpio).

Also in the company are Tenors Filipe Manu and Egor Zhuravskii; baritone Dominic Sedgwick, and bass Blaise Malaba who are joined by dancer Thomasin Gülgeç.    

This is satire at its best and it was also the last significant collaboration between Brecht and Weill.

Mahagonny Sonspiel premiered in 1927 in Baden-Baden, Germany. A perfect companion piece to The Seven Deadly Sins, Brecht and Weill were offering their opinion on the pursuit of pleasure. Amongst the songs in this work is The Alabama Song which many will know from the version recorded by Jim Morrison and The Doors.

For this performance, mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nkolaieva will sing the role of Bessie.

Choreographer Julia Cheng has kept the streaming experience in mind while creating this production.

Tickets are $11.53. The performance will be available for streaming through May 9th.

COCKTAILS AND CONVERSATION: Virtual Halston – Cast Party Network on YouTube – April 9th – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

I adore Julia Halston and her Friday soirees have been a staple of my winding down and getting ready for the weekend. So I’m sad that this weekend, her 40th episode, will be her last for the time being.

However, I’m thrilled that she’s going on a hiatus to work on a new theater project.

For this episode Halston will welcome producers Ruby Locknar and Jim Caruso for a look back on those 40 episodes that have featured everyone from Charles Busch to Jane Monheit to Michael Urie and so many more.

The show is free to watch but donations to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation are encouraged.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Lena Hall: Obsessed – April 9th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

When Tony Award winner Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) launched her Obsessed series of EPs in 2018, she offered her versions of both well-known songs and deep-tracks of such artists as Beck, David Bowie, Nirvana, Pink, Radiohead, Jack White and more.

Given her voice, it was probably a surprise she didn’t also record the music of Heart – the duo best known for songs like Baracuda, Crazy on You and Magic Man.

But she’s going to be singing their songs in a live concert on Friday night. This video, from a Broadway Sessions performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre gives you a taste of what she can do with this music (it does contain some profanity):

Does this foreshadow a second Obsessed series? This is a one-time only concert. There will be no streaming if you can’t see it as it happens. And you should. Lena Hall rocks!

Tickets are $20 and $50. The higher-priced VIP tickets allows for interaction with Hall during the concert.

JAZZ: Claudia Villela: The Music of Jobim – SFJAZZ – April 9th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

There are certain artists who can use just one name and you know immediately who it is. Brazilian composer Jobim is one of them. (For the record his full name is Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim).

Amongst his best-known songs are Corcovado, Desafinado and The Girl from Ipanema.

Singer Claudia Villela will pay tribute to Jobim in this concert from 2019. She is joined by special guest guitarist Chico Pinheiro. Her band includes Celso Alberti on drums and percussion; Gary Brown on bass; Gary Meek on saxophone and flute and Jasnam Daya Singh on piano and keys.

There will be an encore presentation Saturday, April 10th at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT.

This concert is available to digital members of SFJAZZ. Membership is $5 for one month of programs or $60 for one year.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Beethoven Serioso – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Debuts April 9th – 9:30 PM EDT/6:30 PM PDT

As they did with their most recent episode of Close Quarters, the camera moves in and amongst the musicians in this performance of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 nicknamed Serioso. The orchestration is by Gustav Mahler. Margaret Batjer leads LACO in this performance.

Given the significance the camera plays in this film, I want to give attention to cinematographer Michael Thomas whose deft work breathes new life into ensemble performance. Visual artist Ken Honjo also contributed to this episode.

If you haven’t checked out this terrific series, all previous videos are available for streaming. There’s no charge to watch Beethoven Serioso or any of the other videos.

DANCE: Awakening – Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company – April 10th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

For over 30 years, New Jersey’s Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has been at the forefront of creating works that express through contemporary dance that long history of the Chinese American cultural tradition.

This program will find the company offering two world premieres (Luminescence and Shadow Force) along with two works from 2019 (Truth Bound and Introspection). The works are united in their exploration of ideas we have all probably faced during the pandemic: identity, information, optimism, outside forces that complicate our lives, truth and more.

Tickets are $10 to watch the performance. If you are a member of the South Orange Performing Arts Center, you can watch for free.

THEATER: From Number to Name – East West Players – April 10th – April 11th

Wednesday afternoon I published an interview with the provocative performance artist Kristina Wong who is helming From Number to Name.

Through a series of interviews and over the course of six-and-a-half weeks, Wong and her collaborators have put together this dramatic show that explores the impact of incarceration on the Asian/Pacific Islander community in America. It is a story filled with shame, regret and finds those who are released from prison rarely having a familial support system to reintegrate into society.

There are two performances of From Number to Name. The first is on Saturday at 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT. The second is on Sunday at 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT.

Tickets begin at $5 and go up in price based on your ability to include a donation to East West Players.

CHORAL: Amore della Vita, Love of Life – The Verdi Chorus – April 11th – 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT

For those clamoring for all things Italian, this weekend’s virtual concert by The Fox Singers from the Verdi Chorus will delight. They will be performing a program of Italian art songs.

Amongst the composers are Ruggero Leoncavallo (best known for his one-act opera Pagliacci), Pietro Mascagni (best known for Cavalleria rusticana), Gioachino Rossini (best known for the theme song to The Lone Ranger*) and Paolo Tosti (best known for his over 50 art songs).

Featured performers in this concert are sopranos Tiffany Ho, Megan Lindsey McDonald and Sarah Salazar; mezzo-soprano Ariana Stultz; and tenors Elias Berezin and Joseph Gárate. Anne Marie Ketchum leads the ensemble with Laraine Ann Madden accompanying.

If this concert (and perhaps Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy) makes you hungry, The Verdi Chorus is publishing The Verdi Chorus Pandemic Cookbook. How many of the recipes are Italian, I couldn’t tell you. But if they can cook like they sing…. The book is available for pre-order here.

CABARET: Ali Stroker – Seth Concert Series – April 11th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Ali Stroker won a Tony Award for her performance as Ado Annie in the 2019 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma! She became the first performer in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award. (She was paralyzed in an automobile accident when she was two years old.)

This wasn’t her first Broadway performance. She appeared in the 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. This was the Deaf West Theatre production that was first performed at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

She is Seth Rudetsky‘s guest for this weekend’s concert and conversation.

I saw Stroker in both shows and she is simply amazing. This will be well worth watching.

In addition to the live concert on Sunday afternoon there will be an encore showing Sunday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT. Tickets for either showing are $25.

OPERA: Atilla Highlights in Concert – Lyric Opera of Chicago – April 11th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Giuseppe Verdi’s Atilla had its world premiere in Venice in 1846. The opera tells the story of Atilla the Hun (how many other Atillas do you know?) and his ill-fated relationship with Odabella, a prisoner whose father died at the hands of Atilla. Foresto and Ezio, having their own reasons for wanting revenge on Atilla, defer to Odabella who will stop at nothing to see Atilla die.

Atilla is not amongst Verdi’s most popular nor the most commonly-performed. In fact, the Metropolitan Opera only staged Atilla for the first time in 2010. The Lyric Opera of Chicago staged their first production ten years earlier.

On Sunday they will premiere a concert of excerpts from Atilla that will feature bass-baritone Christian Van Horn singing the role of Attila, soprano Tamara Wilson singing Odabella, tenor Matthew Polenzani singing Foresto, and baritone Quinn Kelsey singing Ezio. Pianist William C. Billingham and Jerad Mosbey accompany the singers.

Enrique Mazzola leads the concert which will be available on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: A Tour of Iran – New West Symphony – April 11th – 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

Michael Christie leads the New West Symphony in a performance of work exploring the influence of Iranian poetry and music on the West. Joining the performance are mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and two Iranian instrumentalists: Pejman Hadadi (tombak and dad) and Masoud Rezaei (setar).

The program features a mix of classical works by Mozart (The Magic Flute Overture), Rameau (Suite from Zoroastre), Handel (“Ombra mai fu” from Xerxes) and Gounod(selections from Faust) with works by Iranian composers Khayam (Seven Valleys of Love for Strings), Ranjbaran (Enchanted Garden: Joy) and excerpts from Rezaei’s album Nothingness.

Tickets to stream the concert are $25 per household and will include a post-performance reception with Christie and the guest artists.

CLASSICAL MUSIC/CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Jennifer Koh Solo Recital – Shriver Hall Concert Series – April 11th – 5:30 PM EDT/2:30 PM PDT

Violinist Jennifer Koh appears in this very intriguing concert which finds her playing two compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and peppering the concert with twelve new compositions that she commissioned in 2020 for her Alone Together project.

Bach’s Partita No. 3 and the Sonata No. 3 are sharing space with works by Kati Agócs, Katherine Beach, Hanna Benn, Patrick Castillo, Vijay Iyer, Angelica Negrón, Andrew Norman, Ellen Reid, Darian Donovan Thomas with electronics by Layale Chaker, Ian Chang, George Lewis and Cassie Wieland.

Tickets are $15. The recital will remain available through April 18th.

PLAY: Smokefall – Goodman Theatre – April 12th – April 25th

Critics found themselves searching for superlatives when Noah Haidle’s Smokefall opened in 2013. From the writing to the performances and the production, the acclaim was universal.

In Haidle’s play, Violet is pregnant with twins and anticipating a major shift in her life. What she doesn’t know is that her husband is getting ready to leave her.

Adding to her worries is that her daughter has chosen not to speak and her father is suffering from senility. Just what an expectant mother wants in her life as she’s about to give birth to twins.

Starring in Smokefall are Catherine Combs, Anne Fogarty, Katherine Keberlein, Guy Massey, Mike Nussbaum, Eric Slater. (In case you are wondering, two of the actors play Fetus One and Fetus Two). Directing is Anne Kaufmann.

There’s no charge to stream Smokefall, but you do need to reserve your streaming opportunity.

PLAY READING: Paradise Lost – Red Bull Theater – April 12th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

John Milton’s Paradise Lost, an epic poem about temptation and the fall of man seen through the eyes of Adam & Eve and Satan, was probably something you read in college.

It has proven to be catnip for playwrights who want to find a way of putting this extraordinary work on stage.

Enter Michael Barakiva who offered up a 13-hour adaptation in 2013 with Upstart Creatures.

New York’s Red Bull Theater is offering a live reading of the play with the first part on Monday. (I’m betting that the play has been edited since its first presentation eight years ago). The second part will be performed live on Monday, April 26th.

Starring as Satan is Jason Butler Harner. Said Arrika Ekulona is God. The cast includes Stephen Bel Davies, Sheldon Best, Gisela Chípe, Robert Cuccioli, Carol Halstead, Gregory Linington, Daniel José Molina, Sam Morales, Howard Overshown and Cherie Corinne Rice. Barakiva directs.

Tickets are pay what you can. After the initial live performance, the livestream will remain available until 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST the Friday immediately following the live performance.

CABARET AND CONVERSATION: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – April 12th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Joining Jim Caruso for this Monday’s Pajama Cast Party are up-and-coming musical theater performer D’Marreon Alexander, Jackie Burns (Wicked), singer Jacob Daniel Cummings and country singers Chase McDaniel and Emily West.

The show is free to watch and if you can’t make it Monday night, the show (and Virtual Halston for that matter) will remain available for streaming on the Cast Party Network on YouTube.

That’s my official list of Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th. But you know I always have a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera continues its From Page to Stage series with their 2013-2014 season production of Shostakovich’s The Nose on Friday; their 2007-2008 season production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette on Saturday and their 2017-2018 season production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller on Sunday.

Monday the Metropolitan Opera begins a series of operas based on fairy tales called Once Upon a Time. They start with the 2017-2018 of Massenet’s Cendrillon. I’ll have the full line-up for you on Monday.

This is your last weekend to watch Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike free on Broadway on Demand. The Lincoln Center Theater production stars Billy Magnussen, Kristine Nielsen, David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver. If you need a good laugh this weekend, this play will offer you many of them. (Use code VANYAFREE on the BOD website)

Also be sure to check with previous Best Bets to find other options that might still be available. As you can see from this week’s list, there are always shows you can watch well after this weekend is over.

That’s officially a wrap on this week’s Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th. Enjoy your weekend!

Photo: An image from House of Usher (Photo by Cory Weaver/Courtesy San Francisco Opera)

*You don’t think I’m serious do you?

The post Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The composers represented this week are Thomas Adés (who has two operas being streamed), John Adams, Benjamin Britten, John Corigliano, George Gershwin and Kurt Weill. I think there are some really amazing productions available this week.

Each production becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on the Metropolitan Opera website. Every opera remains available for 23 hours.

They are heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series, their New Year’s Eve Gala 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. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

If you read this column early enough on December 7th, you might still have time to catch the 1978-1979 season production of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini that concludes last week’s Stars in Signature Roles series. 

Here is the line-up for Week 39 at the Met:

Monday, December 7 – Thomas Adès’s The Tempest

Conducted by Thomas Adès; starring Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Alek Shrader, Alan Oke and Simon Keenlyside. This Robert Lepage production is from the 2012-2013 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that streamed on May 12th and September 6th.

The Tempest by Thomas Adés had its world premiere in London in 2004. The libretto, by Meredith Oakes, is inspired by William Shakespeare’s play, but is not slave to it. There are differences.

The Duke of Milan, Prospero, has been exiled and with his daughter, Miranda, they have been set to sea. They ultimately land on an island filled with spirits. Amongst those spirits are Ariel and the monster, Caliban. Prospero, who has magical powers, causes a ship carrying the King of Naples and his son Ferdinand to wreck during a storm Prospero created. Relations both personal and professional collide leaving each of the participants changed and one of the characters alone in the island.

Between its London premiere and its debut at the Met in 2012, there had already been four other productions of The Tempest. Few contemporary operas get that many productions in so short a period of time.

Alex Ross, writing for The New Yorker, said of Adés’ opera (one of at least fifty operas based on Shakespeare’s play), “The Tempest is the opposite of a disappointment; it is a masterpiece of airy beauty and eerie power. As if on schedule, Adès, at thirty-two, is now the major artist that his earliest works promised he would become.”

Tuesday, December 8 – John Adams’s Doctor Atomic

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 is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 23rd.

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, December 9 – Britten’s Peter Grimes

Conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles; starring Patricia Racette, Anthony Dean Griffey and Anthony Michaels-Moore. This John Doyle production is from the 2007-2008 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on May 14th, September 1st and November 13th.

Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes had its world premiere in London in 1945. The libretto was written by Montagu Slater who based it on a poem in The Borough by George Crabbe.

In Peter Grimes, the title character is facing intense questioning after his apprentice has died. The townsfolk believe him to be responsible, the coroner rules he was not. Shortly afterward, Grimes recruits another apprentice, John. Ellen, the only person in town who believes Grimes, later finds herself questioning Grimes when she finds that John has intense bruising on his neck. Word spreads quickly about the boy’s injuries and the people in town want an investigation. What follows is tragic on multiple levels.

The title role was written by Benjamin Britten for his partner, Peter Pears. In the mid 60s, Jon Vickers’s performance has been considered definitive for quite some time.

John Doyle, best known for his minimalist productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals, made his Met Opera debut with this production of Peter Grimes. Griffey, having sung this opera a few times before this production, finally found his way into a lead role at the Met.

Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, found some unique qualities in how Griffey tackled the part: “Mr. Griffey, even though his voice has heft and carrying power, is essentially a lyric tenor. And it is disarming to hear the role sung with such vocal grace, even sweetness in places. Every word of his diction is clear. You sense Grimes’s dreamy side struggling to emerge. The moments of gentleness, though, make Mr. Griffey’s impulsive fits of hostility, his bursts of raw vocal power, seem even more threatening.”

Thursday, December 10 – Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel

Conducted by Thomas Adès; starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David Portillo, David Adam Moore, Rod Gilfry, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn and John Tomlinson. This Tom Cairns production was from the 2017-2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 5th and November 15th.

British composer Adés’s opera, based on the Luis Buñuel film from 1962, had its world premiere in Salzburg in 2016. Tom Cairns, who directed this production, wrote the libretto.

The Exterminating Angel depicts an elaborate dinner party where all the attendees suddenly and mysteriously cannot leave the room. As the hours turn into days, they lose any sense of privilege and pretense and are reduced to more animalistic tendencies.

If you saw the composer’s The Tempest (which opened Week 39 at the Met), you know that Adés is one of our most compelling and intriguing composers. 

Feel free to check out Anthony Tomassini’s review in the New York Times. I’ll just give you the last sentence from his review: “If you go to a single production this season, make it this one.” I’ve seen it and wholeheartedly agree.

Friday, December 11 – The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

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. This is an encore presentation of the production previously made available on September 5th and 6th.

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, December 12 – Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny 

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, December 13 – John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles

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. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 11th and October 31st.

Beaumarchais is the playwright who wrote the plays that inspired Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and 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.

This is also a terrific week of operas. So many great productions. I hope you enjoy Week 39 at the Met.

Photo: Audrey Luna and Simon Keenlyside in The Tempest (Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

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The concerts open with Murderer, Hope of Women, a one-act opera by Paul Hindemith. The libretto is taken from a play of the same name by Oskar Kokoschka. It takes places in the ancient past and depicts a confrontation between a man with his warriors and a woman with hers. Violence, flirtation and carnage ensue.

The next work is The Berlin Requiem by Weill and Brecht. This work was written in 1928 while the composer was taking a break from writing their opera, The Rise and Fall of The City of Mahagonny. The Requiem was written for orchestra and male voices to be heard on the radio. Issues with the censors postponed the performance by a year.

Of the work Weill said, “It is an attempt to express what the city-dweller of our time has to say about the idea of death.”

Anchoring each concert is The Seven Deadly Sins, the last collaboration between Weill and Brecht. The work is a ballet that employs the use of orchestra and five singers (soprano, two tenors, baritone and bass).

As you would imagine, it is centered around the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth, Pride, Anger, Gluttony, Lust, Covetousness (aka Avarice) and Envy.

This is not going to be a small concert. In addition to the already listed needs for soloists, Simon McBurney is the Director of the concert and his brother Gerald McBurney serves as Music Consultant and Dramaturge. The Los Angeles Master Chorale, eight actors and a phalanx of video, lighting and sound designers along with a choreographer are employed for what will be a unique presentation of this material.

Note that this concert is performed without an intermission.

For tickets for Thursday go here.

For tickets for Friday go here.

For tickets for Saturday go here.

For tickets for Sunday go here.

Photo of Kurt  Weill courtesy of the Kurt Weill Foundation

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