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		<title>Unhinged Mad Scenes &#8211; Week 62 at the Met</title>
		<link>https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/17/unhinged-mad-scenes-week-62-at-the-met/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Craig Byrd]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2021 07:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opera: Bravo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Streaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aleksandrs Antonenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alfredo Kraus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alice Coote]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anna Netrebko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boris Godunov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitri Hvorostovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Belosselskiy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ekaterina Semenchuk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elijah Moshinsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elisabeth Söderström]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elza van den Heever]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eric Cutler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evelino Pidò]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evgeny Nikitin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Franco Vassallo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaetano Donizetti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Galina Gorchakova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giuseppe Verdi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I Puritani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Idomeneo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Levine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jamie Barton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jean-Pierre Ponnelle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joan Sutherland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Relyea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Juan Diego Flórez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[La Sonnambula]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Liudmyla Monastyrska]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lucia di Lammermoor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mary Zimmerman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew Polenzani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metropolitan Opera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michele Pertusi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Petrenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Modest Mussorgsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nabucco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nadine Sierra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natalie Dessay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nikolai Putilin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oleg Balashov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pablo Elvira]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patrick Summers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Plishka]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plácido Domingo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[René Pape]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Boynge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russell Thomas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandro Sequi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Wadsworth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Queen of Spades]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Valery Gergiev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vincenzo Bellini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Ognovenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Metropolitan Opera Website<br />
<br />
May 17th - May 23rd</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/17/unhinged-mad-scenes-week-62-at-the-met/">Unhinged Mad Scenes &#8211; Week 62 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Songwriters such as Willie Nelson, The Talking Heads and Gnarls Barkley are just some of the artists who have written and performed songs about being or going crazy. But they&#8217;re rank amateurs when it comes to craziness of the highest order. Leave that to opera composers. Which is precisely what Week 62 at the Met is doing. Each opera this week features unhinged mad scenes.</p>



<p>For many opera fans little can surpass the mad scene from <em>Lucia di Lammermoor</em>. Of course that opera is part of this week&#8217;s programming in a 1982 season production starring the legendary Joan Sutherland. Bellini has a second opera being shown, too. <em>I Puritani</em> from the 2006-2007 season starring Anna Netrebko opens the week.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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&nbsp;<a href="http://metopera.org/">Metropolitan Opera website</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If you read this column early enough on May 17th, you’ll still have time to see the 2015-2016 season production of Donizetti&#8217;s <em><a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/10/national-council-auditions-alumni-week-61-at-the-met/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roberto Devereux</a></em>&nbsp;that was part of&nbsp;<em>National Council Auditions Alumni</em>&nbsp;week.</p>



<p>Here is the full line-up for Week 62 at the Met:</p>



<p>Monday, May 17 – Bellini’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em></strong> &#8211; 3rd Showing</p>



<p>Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo and John Relyea.&nbsp;This is a revival of the 1976 Sandro Sequi production from the 2006-2007 season. This is an encore presentation.</p>



<p>Vincenzo Bellini’s&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in Paris in 1835. The libretto was written by Carlo Pepoli. This was the composer’s final work. He died eight months after the premiere of this opera.</p>



<p><em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;is set in 1650 England. Elvira and Arturo are going to be married. He is a Royalist and she is a Puritan. (Puritanism was a religious reform movement that originated in the late 16th Century and believed that The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had too much in common and weren’t rooted in the text of the Bible.) Riccardo, a Puritan, is also in love with Elvira and believes himself to have already been promised her. The three must navigate not just their romantic entanglement, but also the political issues and intrigue surrounding the English Civil War.</p>



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<iframe title="I Puritani Mad Scene" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-lNSR7MupX4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>This was the Metropolitan Opera’s first production of&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;in a decade. By the time this production opened in late 2006, it was the fourth new role for Netrebko that year. The&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/arts/music/29puri.html" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that on opening night the soprano received a lengthy ovation at the the conclusion of the second act mad scene.</p>



<p>Tuesday, May 18&nbsp;–&nbsp;Mozart’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>Idomeneo</em></strong> &#8211; 3rd Showing</p>



<p>Conducted by James Levine; starring Nadine Sierra, Elza van den Heever, Alice Coote and Matthew Polenzani. This revival of the 1982 Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production from the 2016-2017 season.&nbsp;This is an encore presentation.</p>



<p>Mozart’s opera had its world premiere in 1781 in Munich and has a libretto by Giambattista Varesco.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>Idomeneo</em>&nbsp;tells the story of Idomeneus, the King of Crete, who in order to survive at sea promises Poseidon he will kill the first man he sees upon being rescued. His son, Idamante, learns that his father is in serious danger and fears he has perished. Mourning his father at the beach, he is overjoyed to see that he has survived. But in doing so becomes the first man his father sees. That’s when the story gets good!</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe title="The Met: Live in HD 2016-2017 Idomeneo: Tutte nel cor vi sento furie del cupo averno" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KK30RKbZxhM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p><a href="https://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2017/03/mets-inspired-cast-delivers-the-musical-riches-of-mozarts-idomeneo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">George Grella</a>, writing&nbsp;in&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Classic Review</span>,&nbsp;said of Nadine Sierra’s performance:</p>



<p>“Her voice balanced youthful shine and, just under the surface, deep feeling. She was incandescent all night, singing with great ease and richness, and modulating naturally between moods of loss, love, regret, and pride.”</p>



<p>Wednesday, May 19&nbsp;–&nbsp;Mussorgsky’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>Boris Godunov</em></strong> &#8211; 3rd Showing</p>



<p>Conducted by Valery Gergiev; starring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko and Vladimir Ognovenko. This Stephen Wadsworth production (taking over from Peter Stein who quit a few months prior to opening) is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation.</p>



<p>This opera by Modest Mussorgsky had its world premiere in St. Petersburg in 1874. The libretto, written by the composer, was based on Aleksandr Pushkin’s&nbsp;<em>Boris Godunov</em>. Mussorgky completed an earlier version of the opera in 1869, but it was rejected. He revised the opera and included elements from&nbsp;<em>History of the Russian State</em>&nbsp;by Nikolay Karamzin to gain approval and ultimately a production in 1874.</p>



<p>In the opera, a retired and very reluctant Boris Godunov assumes the throne as Tsar. He is bedeviled by a constant foreboding and hopes his prayers will help him navigate what lies ahead. An old monk named Pimen discusses the murder of Tsarevich Dimitri with Gregory, a novice. Had he lived, Dimitri might have ascended to the throne. Godunov was implicated in his murder years ago. What follows is one man’s pursuit of forgiveness, his being haunted by the Dimitri’s ghost and the Russian people who demand justice.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe title="René Pape (Boris Godunov)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JWL4LMPQnJo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/arts/music/13boris.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anthony Tommasini</a>, writing in the&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span>, spent a considerable amount of his review discussing Pape in the title role.</p>



<p>“With his towering physique and unforced charisma, Mr. Pape looks regal and imposing. Yet with his vacant stare, the haggard intensity in his face, his stringy long hair and his hulking gait, he is already bent over with guilt and doubt. Mr. Pape has vocal charisma as well, and his dark, penetrating voice is ideal for the role. Not knowing Russian, I cannot vouch for the idiomatic quality of his singing. But his enunciation was crisp and natural. And in every language, Mr. Pape makes words matter.</p>



<p>“During the coronation there is a soul-searching moment when Boris removes his crown and voices his remorse to himself. Some great Borises have conveyed the character as beset with internalized torment. Mr. Pape’s anguish is always raw, fitful and on the surface. But the volatility is balanced by the magisterial power he conveys.”</p>



<p>Thursday, May 20&nbsp;–&nbsp;Bellini’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>La Sonnambula</em></strong> &#8211; 2nd Showing</p>



<p>Conducted by&nbsp;Evelino&nbsp;Pidò;&nbsp;starring Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Flórez and Michele Pertusi. This Mary Zimmerman production is from the 2008-2009 season.&nbsp;This is an encore presentation.</p>



<p>Bellini’s opera had its world premiere in 1831 in Milan. The libretto was written by Felice Romani who also collaborated with the composer on&nbsp;<em>Norma</em>. </p>



<p>The original story was set in a 19th century Swiss village where the orphan Amina is engaged to be married to Elvino. Their plans are complicated by the arrival of Rodolfo who believes Amina to be a long-lost love from younger days. The village, however, is haunted by the appearance of a ghost. This turns out to be Amina walking in her sleep. Elvino becomes suspicious about his fiancé&#8217;s activities and begins to fall in love with another woman in the village. Can love conquer all including sleepwalking?</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="La Sonnambula: &quot;Ah! non credea mirarti&quot; (Natalie Dessay)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pouHB3wImTc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>This was the first production of&nbsp;<em>La Sonnambula</em>&nbsp;at the Met since 1972.&nbsp;Zimmerman set the story in a New York rehearsal room where the performers are rehearsing a production of the opera set in a Swiss village.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/arts/music/04sonn.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anthony Tommasini</a> of the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> wasn&#8217;t a fan of this concept, but he did enjoy the singing.</p>



<p>&#8220;It must be said that Ms. Zimmerman has elicited wonderfully sung and mostly affecting performances from her leads, the riveting French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay as Amina, and the charismatic Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez as Elvino.&#8221;</p>



<p>Friday, May 21&nbsp;–&nbsp;Verdi’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>Nabucco</em></strong> &#8211; 3rd Showing</p>



<p>Conducted by James Levine; starring Liudmyla Monastyrska, Jamie Barton, Russell Thomas, Plácido Domingo and Dmitry Belosselskiy. This revival of Elijah Moshinsky’s 2001 production is from the 2016-2017 season. This is an encore presentation.</p>



<p>Giuseppe Verdi’s&nbsp;<em>Nabucco</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in 1842 at La Scala in Milan. The libretto, by Temistocle Solera, is based on four books from the bible as well as a play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu. It is believed that a ballet of the play by Antonio Cortese was also an inspiration for this opera.</p>



<p>The title character is the King of Babylon. Just as he has assumed control of Jerusalem in a battle with the Israelites, his daughter has fallen in love with Ismaele, who is an Israelite. Her half-sister Abigaille, plots revenge on her sister after the sister has released Israelite prisoners. Nabucco announces he is a god. After he’s struck by lightning the real storms begin brewing.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Met: Live in HD 2017 season - Nabucco: Salgo già del trono aurato" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JEo2gXbJDWw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>The composer said of his work, “This is the opera with which my artistic career really begins. And though I had many difficulties to fight against, it is certain that&nbsp;<em>Nabucco</em>&nbsp;was born under a lucky star.”</p>



<p>Though the story is a mix of history, love story and politics. But what most people remember about this particular Verdi opera is the work of the chorus, as evidenced by&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/arts/music/review-james-levine-placido-domingo-metropolitan-opera-verdi-nabucco.html" target="_blank">Zachary Woolfe’s review</a>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span>. </p>



<p>“<em>Nabucco</em>&nbsp;is defined by its choruses, much as Rossini’s&nbsp;<em>Guillaume Tell</em>, at the Met earlier this season, is. The company’s ensemble, under the direction of Donald Palumbo, rose to the occasion with massed yet transparent, shimmering singing.”</p>



<p>Saturday, May 22&nbsp;–&nbsp;Donizetti’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>Lucia di Lammermoor</em></strong> &#8211; 2nd Showing</p>



<p>Conducted by Richard Bonynge, starring Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Pablo Elvira and Paul Plishka. This Margherita Wallmann production is from the 1982-1983 season. This is an encore presentation.</p>



<p>Sir Walter Scott’s novel&nbsp;<em>The Bride of Lammermoor</em>&nbsp;was the inspiration for Gaetano Donizetti’s opera,&nbsp;<em>Lucia di Lammermoor</em>. Salvadore Cammarano, who collaborated with the composer on seven operas, wrote this libretto. This opera had its world premiere in Naples in 1835.</p>



<p>The opera, set in Scotland in the early 18th century, is a truly tragic love story. Lucia and Edgardo are secretly in love. They keep their love a secret as they are from opposing families. Her brother keeps them from getting married by lying to Lucia about Edgardo having married another woman. So deep is her despair that she turns to murder and ultimately devolves into madness.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;Spargi d&#039;amaro pianto&#039;, (Lucia di Lammermoor), Joan Sutherland, New York [1982]" width="696" height="522" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LdE_z1DNtig?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>Donizetti’s&nbsp;<em>Lucia di Lammermoor</em>&nbsp;is a textbook example of everything opera can do well: great music, the opportunity to hear amazing singing and drama of the highest order.</p>



<p>Joan Sutherland made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961 in&nbsp;<em>Lucia di Lammermoor</em>. When she performed the role in 1959 at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden it launched her international career. This production marked the last time Sutherland would perform the role at the Met.</p>



<p>Sunday, May 23&nbsp;–&nbsp;Tchaikovsky’s&nbsp;<strong><em>The Queen of Spades</em></strong> &#8211; 2nd Showing</p>



<p>Conducted by Valery Gergiev; starring Galina Gorchakova, Elisabeth Söderström, Plácido Domingo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nikolai Putilin. This revival of the 1995 Elijah Moshinsky production is from the 1998-1999 season.&nbsp;This is an encore presentation.</p>



<p>As with his&nbsp;<em>Eugene Onegin</em>, Tchaikovsky used the work of Alexander Pushkin as the source for his opera, but he made significant changes to the plot from the author’s 1834 novella. Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother, wrote the libretto.&nbsp;<em>The Queen of Spades</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in Saint Petersburg in 1890.</p>



<p>A young officer, Ghermann, falls for a girl, Lisa, whom he sees in a park. For him it is love at first sight. Ghermann learns that Lisa’s grandmother is a gambler who knows the secret three cards necessary to win any game. Ghermann wants to learn those three cards so he can gamble, win a lot of money and Lisa’s heart. But things don’t turn out the way he planned.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Tchaikovsky: &quot;Pique Dame&quot;: Duet German - Liza &amp; final act 1- Placido Domingo, Galina Gorchakova" width="696" height="522" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2h6oMteub9M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/20/arts/opera-review-met-s-queen-of-spades-with-a-domingo-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anthony Tommasini</a>, in his&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span>&nbsp;review, raved about most of the cast, but singled out Domingo. </p>



<p>“The role of Ghermann, which Mr. Domingo aptly calls the Russian&nbsp;<em>Otello</em>, is his first in that language, not counting some roles from Russian operas he sang in Hebrew during his journeyman days with the Israeli Opera. He worked on his Russian diction with Ghermann-like obsessiveness, and it has paid off. Though mature-looking for Ghermann, he hurls himself into the part with an intensity that is ageless and sings with a power that seems almost dangerous. Yet, the plaintiveness in his lyrical phrases gives this pathetic character an affecting depth.”</p>



<p>That&#8217;s the full line-up for Week 62 at the Met. After a week of mad scenes, next week will offer some rare gems amongst the programming at the Metropolitan Opera.</p>



<p>Enjoy the operas! Enjoy your week!</p>



<p>Photo: Joan Sutherland in <em>Lucia di Lammermoor</em> (Photo by Erika Davidson/Courtesy Met Opera)</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/17/unhinged-mad-scenes-week-62-at-the-met/">Unhinged Mad Scenes &#8211; Week 62 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Craig Byrd]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2021 15:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Gaetano Donizetti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gavin Creel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gioachino Rossini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grantham Coleman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Herbert von Karajan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I Puritani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Idina Menzel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Il Barbiere di Siviglia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Caruso]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Caruso&#039;s Pajama Cast Party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[José Llana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keith David]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kelli O'Hara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LaChanze]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lillian Hellman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lin-Manuel Miranda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lincoln Center Theater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles Philharmonic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marcos Balter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marilyn Maye]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Doyle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MCC Theater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meryl Streep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metropolitan Opera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miscast 2021]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Missy Mazzoli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nadia Sirota]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Council Auditions Grand finals Concert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nico Muhly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patrick Wilson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patti Murin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Red Bull Theater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renée Elise Goldsberry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rob Moose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Glasper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roberto Devereux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robin De Jesús]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sejanus His Fall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SFJazz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spotlight on Plays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stand Up Stand Strong]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Petronio Company]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Spinella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sutton Foster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tales from the Wings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ted Hearne]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ted Sperling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Audition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Covenant House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Joyce Theater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Phillips Collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vincenzo Bellini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Watch on the Rhine]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://culturalattache.co/?p=14431</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Ted Hearne, Lillian Hellman, Audra McDonald, Marilyn Maye and more are on this week's list</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/14/best-bets-may-14th-may-17th/">Best Bets: May 14th &#8211; May 17th</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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<p>Welcome to the weekend and our Best Bets: May 14th &#8211; May 17th.</p>



<p>With yesterday&#8217;s good news that those who are vaccinated can go around without masks with the exception of a few specified areas, it seems like only a matter of time before live events will come roaring back.</p>



<p>The question now is whether or not all the streaming events of the past 15 months will become a relic of the era or a regular part of our cultural experience. Only time will tell.</p>



<p>For now, there are still plenty of great programs available for viewing. Topping our list is MCC Theater&#8217;s <em>Miscast 2021 Gala</em>. There are two other gala events, a new musical reading, a vintage classical music concert, new music, a play reading and more.</p>



<p>Here are the Best Bets: May 14th &#8211; May 17th.</p>



<p><strong>*TOP PICK*</strong> &#8211; <em><a href="https://mcctheater.org/tix/miscast21/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Miscast 2021</a> </em>&#8211; MCC Theater &#8211; May 16th &#8211; May 20th</p>



<p>Yesterday we posted a <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/13/top-pick-of-best-bets-miscast-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">full preview</a> of this event, but here&#8217;s what makes this show so entertaining: Broadway stars perform songs separately or with others they would never be cast to sing. For instance, Robert Fairchild sings this song from the musical <em>Sweet Charity</em> in a clip from last year&#8217;s &#8220;quarantine&#8221; edition of <em>Miscast</em>.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="ROBERT FAIRCHILD performs IF MY FRIENDS COULD SEE ME NOW from SWEET CHARITY at MISCAST20" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XWFSTZsMik0?list=PL09zD5L4yB7Ii7YOoFZbT2xS0__wI2xXb" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>This year&#8217;s line-up includes Annaleigh Ashford (<em>Sunday in the Park with George</em>), Melissa Barrera (<em>In the Heights</em>), Gavin Creel (<em>Hello, Dolly!</em>), Robin de Jesús (<em>The Boys in the Band</em>), Renée Elise Goldsberry (<em>Hamilton</em>), Leslie Grace (<em>In the Heights</em>),&nbsp;<a href="https://culturalattache.co/2014/04/23/is-cheyenne-jackson-the-don-draper-of-song/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cheyenne Jackson</a>&nbsp;(<em>Finian’s Rainbow</em>), Jai’Len Josey (<em>SpongeBob SquarePants</em>), LaChanze (<em>Summer: The Donna Summer Musical</em>), Idina Menzel (<em>Wicked)</em>, Kelli O’Hara (<em>Kiss Me, Kate</em>),&nbsp;<a href="https://culturalattache.co/2018/05/31/soul-billy-porter-meets-soul-richard-rodgers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Billy Porter</a>&nbsp;(<em>Kinky Boots</em>), Kelly Marie Tran (<em>Raya and the Last Dragon</em>), Aaron Tveit (<em>Moulin Rouge</em>) and Patrick Wilson (<em>The Full Monty</em>).</p>



<p>This is a free event, though donations are encouraged.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14439" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lillian-Hellman-Courtesy-New-York-Public-Library-Archives.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Playwright Lillian Hellman (Courtesy the New York Public Library Archives)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>PLAY READING</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.stellartickets.com/o/spotlight-on-plays/events/watch-on-the-rhine/occurrences/136a44e1-bce5-4890-bf64-6619e58b544e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watch on the Rhine</a></em> &#8211; Broadway&#8217;s Best Shows &#8211; Now &#8211; May 17th</p>



<p>Lillian Hellman&#8217;s <em>Watch on the Rhine</em> had its world premiere at the Martin Beck Theater on April 1, 1941. Her play tells the story of a German man, Mueller, married to an American woman, who is involved with anti-fascist causes in Europe. While visiting his wife&#8217;s relatives in Washington, D.C., another guest, also staying with the family, blackmails Mueller after discovering Mueller is planning to send money to aid underground operations in Germany.</p>



<p>For this reading as part of <em>Spotlight on Plays</em>, Ellen Burstyn, Alan Cox, Carla Gugino, Mary Beth Peil and Jeremy Shamos star in this reading directed by Sarna Lapine.</p>



<p>Tickets are $18 with the reading available for viewing through Monday at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT. Proceeds from the reading benefit The Actors Fund.</p>



<p>Trivia: Two years later a film version of <em>Watch on the Rhine</em> was released starring Bette Davis and Paul Lukas (reprising his role from Broadway). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Lukas won for Best Actor.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14440" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-scene-from-22New-Prayer-For-Now-Part-122-Film-still-by-John-Fitzgerald-Courtesy-The-Joyce-Theater.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>A scene from &#8220;New Prayer For Now (Part 1)&#8221; (Film still by John Fitzgerald/Courtesy The Joyce Theater)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>DANCE</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.joyce.org/stephen-petronio-company" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stephen Petronio Company</a></em> &#8211; The Joyce Theater &#8211; Now &#8211; May 26th</p>



<p>There are five works being showcased in this new film by the Stephen Petronio Company, the New York-based dance company that was founded in 1984.</p>



<p>Two of the five pieces being performed are set to songs made famous by Elvis Presley: <em>Are You Lonesome Tonight</em> and <em>Love Me Tender</em>.  </p>



<p>There are two versions of <em>Are You Lonesome</em> <em>Tonight</em> being performed. <em>Love Me Tender</em> was originally performed in 1993 in a collaboration with artist Cindy Sherman. </p>



<p><em>New Prayer For Now (Part 1)</em> has its debut in this film. Petronio was inspired by <em>Balm in Gilead</em> and <em>Bridge Over Troubled Water</em> when creating <em>New Prayer&#8230;</em>. Monstah Black (who is also a dancer and choreographer in addition to being a musician) composed the music and performs with the Young People&#8217;s Chorus of New York City.</p>



<p>The program wraps up with a new version of <em>Group Primary Accumulation</em> by Trisha Brown and <em>Pandemic Portraits</em>, a film by Dancing Camera.</p>



<p>Tickets are $25. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14441" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Herbert-von-Karajan-Courtesy-Carnegie-Hall.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Conductor Herbert von Karajan (Courtesy Carnegie Hall)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>CLASSICAL MUSIC</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2021/05/14/Carnegie-Hall-Selects-Tchaikovskys-Piano-Concerto-No-1-1200PM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Berlin Philharmonic 1967</a></em> &#8211; Carnegie Hall &#8211; May 14 &#8211; May 21st</p>



<p>Herbert von Karajan leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in a performance of Tchaikovsky&#8217;s <em>Piano Concerto No. 1</em> with soloist Alexis Weissenberg.</p>



<p>This is amongst the most popular concerti in the world. But if Weissenberg&#8217;s name isn&#8217;t familiar to today&#8217;s audiences, this quote from his obituary by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/arts/music/alexis-weissenberg-pianist-of-fire-and-ice-dies-at-82.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maraglit Fox</a> in the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> defines his reputation: </p>



<p>&#8220;Mr. Weissenberg possessed&nbsp;a technical prowess rivaled by few other pianists. The ice of his demeanor at the keyboard (he sat, leaned forward and got down to business, playing with scarcely a smile or grimace) was matched by the fire that came off the keys.&#8221; (Weissenberg passed away in 2012.)</p>



<p>There is no charge to watch this performance. This is the first of a new series <em>Carnegie Hall Selects</em> featuring performances by artists who played major roles in the 130-year history of the venue.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14442" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jose-Llana-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Jose Llana (Courtesy his Facebook Page)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>BROADWAY VOCALS</strong>: <em><a href="https://dreamstage.live/event/jose-llana" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jose Llana: Broadway Stories &amp; Songs with Ted Sperling</a></em> &#8211; May 14th &#8211; 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT</p>



<p>Broadway star Jose Llana is <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/04/22/ted-sperling-returns-to-myths-and-hymns/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ted Sperling</a>&#8216;s guest for <em>Broadway Stories &amp; Songs</em>. Llana has been seen in <em>The King and I</em>, <em>Rent</em>, <em>Street Corner Symphony</em>, <em>Flower Drum Song</em>, <em>The 25th Annual Putnam</em> <em>County Spelling Bee</em> and <em>Wonderland</em> on Broadway. </p>



<p>I first saw him in <em>Flower Drum Song</em> at the Mark Taper Forum. I also saw him in the incredible show <em>Here Lies Love</em> at the Public Theater. </p>



<p>He also performed Adam Guettel&#8217;s song cycle <em>Saturn Returns</em> (later renamed <em><a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/03/11/adam-guettels-myths-and-hymns/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Myths and Hymns</a></em>) which is where he and Sperling first worked together.</p>



<p>If you can&#8217;t see the show on Friday, there is an encore showing scheduled for May 15th at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT. Tickets for either showing are $25. You can watch the show a second time if you buy tickets for the Friday night showing.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14443" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Robert-Glasper-Courtesy-his-website.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Robert Glasper (Courtesy his website)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>JAZZ</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.sfjazz.org/watch/#info-open" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Glasper: Everything&#8217;s Beautiful</a></em> &#8211; SFJAZZ &#8211; May 14th &#8211; 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT</p>



<p>This 2018 concert found innovative musician/composer Robert Glasper putting his own spin on works by Miles Davis for his album <em>Everything&#8217;s Beautiful</em>. Glasper&#8217;s music was featured in Don Cheadle&#8217;s film <em>Miles Ahead</em> from 2015.</p>



<p>If you don&#8217;t know Glasper or his work, he&#8217;s one of the most interesting artists working in jazz today. He&#8217;s also collaborated with Erykah Badu, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, Ledisi and Jill Scott.</p>



<p>Joining Glasper in this performance are vocalist Bilal; Michael Severson on guitars; Burniss Travis on bass and Justin Tyson on drums.</p>



<p>If you can&#8217;t watch Friday night&#8217;s showing that is part of SFJAZZ&#8217;s <em>Fridays at Five</em> series, there is an encore showing on Saturday, May 15th at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT. Tickets require either a one-month digital membership for $5 or a $50 annual digital membership.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14451" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rehearsing-22Breathe-The-Musical22-Courtesy-of-Breathes-Facebook-page.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Rehearsing &#8220;Breathe: A New Musical&#8221; (Courtesy Breathe&#8217;s Facebook page)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>MUSICAL</strong>: <em><a href="https://breathemusical.com/#section-home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Breathe: A New Musical</a></em> &#8211; May 14th &#8211; July 9th</p>



<p>Playwright Timothy Allen McDonald (<em>Roald Dahl&#8217;s Willy Wonka</em>) and novelist Jodi Picoult (<em>The Book of Two Ways)</em> have teamed up for this new musical suite that features interlocking stories of five different couples navigating their way through the Covid pandemic and its impact on their lives.</p>



<p>The songs were written by Doug Besterman (<em>The Big One-Oh!</em>), Zina Goldrich (<em>Ever After</em>), Marcy Heisler (<em>Hollywood Romance</em>), Kate Leonard (<em>Ratatouille: The </em><i>Ti</i><em>KTok Musical</em>), Douglas Lyons (<em>Peter, Darling</em>), Daniel J. Mertzlufft (<em>Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical)</em>, Rebecca Murillo (<em>Credence &amp; Cecilia</em>), Ethan Pakchar (<em>Five Points</em>), Rob Rokicki (<em>The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical</em>) and Sharon Vaughn (<em>My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys</em>).</p>



<p>Appearing in this online musical are Tony Award winners Kelli O’Hara and <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2016/02/03/brian-stokes-mitchell-and-the-la-phil-take-you-on-a-sonic-ride-through-broadway-with-in-character/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brian Stokes Mitchell</a> along with Denée Benton (<em>Hamilton</em>), Rubén J. Carbajal (<em>Hamilton</em>), Max Clayton (<em>Moulin Rouge</em>), Josh Davis (<em>Beautiful: The Carole King Musical</em>), Colin Donnell (<em>Anything Goes</em>), Matt Doyle (the upcoming revival of <em>Company</em>), Patti Murin (<em>Frozen</em>), T. Oliver Reid (<em>Hadestown</em>), and Daniel Yearwood (<em>Once on This Island</em>).</p>



<p>Tickets are $25 to watch <em>Breathe</em>. If you want to join the <a href="https://overture.plus/Home/CheckOut?pid=29cc6365-a385-49b5-bfc6-48e266cb64bb&amp;ref=homeweb" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">official opening night</a> on Friday, May 14th at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT, those tickets are $40 and includes an post-premiere cast party and a download of the music from the show.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14444" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ted-Hearne-Photo-by-Rosenstein-Courtesy-Ted-Hearnes-Website.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Ted Hearne (Photo by Rosenstein/Courtesy Ted Hearne&#8217;s website)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>CONTEMPORARY SONG CYCLE</strong>: <em><a href="https://cap.ucla.edu/calendar/details/ted_hearne" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dorothea</a> </em>&#8211; CAP UCLA &#8211; Debuts May 15th &#8211; 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT</p>



<p>Ted Hearne, one of our most fascinating and interesting composes, has created a song cycle inspired by the poetry of Dorothea Lasky.</p>



<p>Lasky is an acclaimed poet who told the LA Review of Books, &#8220;I do believe it&#8217;s better not to be safe in your poems.&#8221; As a composer, Hearne also doesn&#8217;t play it safe. </p>



<p>They both are utterly compelling. This combination should double down on that and prove to be very exciting to watch.</p>



<p>Hearne was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his 2018 composition <em>Sound From the Bench</em>. Both Los Angeles Opera and San Francisco Opera performed his opera <em>The Source</em> about Chelsea Manning.</p>



<p>Hearne will be singing vocals in this performance. Joining him are&nbsp;Eliza Bagg on vocals and synths; Ashley Bathgate on cello; Nathan Koci on piano/keyboards; Diana Wade on viola; Ron Wiltrout on drums&nbsp;and Ayanna Woods on bass. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>There is no charge to watch <em>Dorothea</em>. Donations to CAP UCLA are encouraged.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14445" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nadia-Sirota-Photo-by-Graham-Tolbert-Courtesy-The-Phillips-Collection.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Nadia Sirota (Photo by Graham Tolbert/Courtesy The Phillips Collection)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>CLASSICAL MUSIC</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.phillipscollection.org/event/2021-05-16-nadia-sirota-gabriel-cabezas-and-rob-moose?utm_source=iContact&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=music&amp;utm_content=May+Music" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nadia Sirota, Gabriel Cabezas and Rob Moose</a></em> &#8211; The Phillips Collections &#8211; Debuts May 16th &#8211; 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT</p>



<p>Johann Sebastian Bach&#8217;s <em>Trio Sonata No. 6 in G Major, BWV 530&nbsp;</em>serves as the foundation for this performance by violist Nadia Sirota, cellist Gabriel Cabezas and violinist Rob Moose. </p>



<p>The concert will begin and end with a movement from the sonata with a third movement at the halfway point. </p>



<p>Interspersed amongst the concert are works by three of today&#8217;s most interesting contemporary composers: Marcos Batler, Missy Mazzoli and <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2018/02/22/composer-nico-muhly-registers-organ-concerto/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nico Muhly</a>. </p>



<p>Sirota is also the music producer for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra&#8217;s <em>Close Quarters</em> series.</p>



<p>There is no charge to watch this performance, however registration is required. The program will remain available for viewing through May 22nd.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14446" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Denis-OHare-Courtesy-his-Facebook-page.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Denis O&#8217;Hare (Courtesy his Facebook page)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>PLAY READING</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.redbulltheater.com/sejanus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sejanus, His Fall</a></em> &#8211; Red Bull Theater &#8211; Debuts May 17th &#8211; 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT</p>



<p>New York&#8217;s Red Bull Theater will present a new adaptation of Ben Johnson&#8217;s 17th-century play <em>Sejanus, His Fall</em> on Monday night. The adaptation is by Nathan Winkelstein, who also directs.</p>



<p>The play depicts a power struggle between Tiberius, the Emperor of Rome and Sejanus, his right-hand man. Sejanus covets being the emperor. Tiberius has no desire to make that a possibility. Factions line up behind each man and the power struggle begins with all of our own contemporary issues surrounding politics and power at play. </p>



<p>Participating in the reading are: Shirine Babb (<em>Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</em>), Grantham Coleman (<em>The Great Society</em>), Keith David (<em>Seven Guitars</em>), Manoel Felciano (<em>To Kill a Mockingbird)</em>, <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2014/01/15/how-shock-and-awe-turned-actor-denis-ohare-into-a-playwright/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Denis O’Hare</a> (<em>Assassins</em>), Matthew Rauch (<em>Junk</em>), Liv Rooth (<em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em>), Laila Robins (<em>Heartbreak House</em>), Stephen Spinella (<em>Angels in America</em>), Emily Swallow (<em>High Fidelity</em>), Raphael Nash Thompson (<em>The Red Letter Plays</em>), Tamara Tunie (<em>Radio Golf</em>)&nbsp;and&nbsp;James Udom (<em>The Rolling Stone</em>).</p>



<p>Tickets are pay what you can with proceeds going to Red Bull Theater.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14447" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Audra-McDonald-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Audra McDonald (Courtesy her Facebook page)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>CONCERT/GALA</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.covenanthouse.org/nightofstars" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stand Up, Stand Strong</a></em> &#8211; Covenant House &#8211; May 17th &#8211; 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT</p>



<p>Sara Bareilles, Stephanie J. Block, Jon Bon Jovi, Zach Braff, Terron Brooks, Rachel Brosnahan, Stephen Colbert, Charlie Day, Darius De Haas, Ariana DeBose, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Morgan Freeman, Jon Hamm, Adrianna Hicks, James Monroe Iglehart, Capathia Jenkins, Jewel, <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2015/09/02/supergirls-jeremy-jordan-sings-oscar-winning-songs-with-the-pasadena-pops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeremy Jordan</a>, Amanda Kloots, Ames McNamara, Laurie Metcalf, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Abby Mueller, Alex Newell, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, Kelli O&#8217;Hara, Laura Osnes, Dolly Parton, Jo Ellen Pellman, Ben Platt, Jason Ralph, Ryan Reynolds, <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2018/05/08/chita-rivera-part-2-look-forward-tomorrow/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chita Rivera</a>, Robin Roberts, Aliza Russell, Keala Settle, Tony Shalhoub, Meryl Streep, Ana Villafañe, Dionne Warwick, Marlon Wayans, Frank Wildhorn, Vanessa Williams, Daniel Yearwood and more will join co-hosts <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2013/10/23/broadway-star-audra-mcdonald-returns-to-la-opera-for-one-night/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Audra McDonald</a> and John Dickerson for this annual fundraiser for Covenant House.</p>



<p>The organization provides shelter for homeless youth living on the streets. They have helped more than one million youth since their inception more than 40 years ago.</p>



<p>This gala fundraiser will offer music, stories and more. There is no charge to watch the show, however donations are encouraged. For a list of the many ways you can watch <em>Stand Up, Stand Strong</em>, please go <a href="https://www.covenanthouse.org/nightofstars-streaming" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-14448" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Marilyn-Maye-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Marilyn Maye (Courtesy her Facebook page)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong>VOCALS/STORIES</strong>: <em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZYqtpk2Xo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jim Caruso&#8217;s Pajama Cast Party</a></em> &#8211; May 17th &#8211; 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT</p>



<p>Though <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2018/05/23/jim-carusos-wish-list-cast-party-la/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jim Caruso</a> has multiple guests for this Monday&#8217;s 58th episode of <em>Pajama Cast Party</em>, I can sum up the reason to tune into this particular episode with two words: Marilyn Maye.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Marilyn Maye sings &quot;Guess Who I Saw Today/Fifty Percent&quot; - Feinstein&#039;s 54Below" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UIirXPt6jCw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>That&#8217;s the official list of Best Bets: May 14th &#8211; May 17th. Here are also a few reminders:</p>



<p>Lincoln Center Theater&#8217;s <em>Tales from the Wings</em>, which we previewed <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/12/tales-from-the-wings-celebrating-lincoln-center-theater/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>, will remain available through Monday, May 17th. This is a must for theater fans.</p>



<p>The Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts <em>Chamber Music: Piazzolla</em> in their <em>Filmed at the Ford </em>series. You can find details <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/03/03/la-philharmonics-sound-stage-season-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



<p>This weekend&#8217;s offering from the <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/10/national-council-auditions-alumni-week-61-at-the-met/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Metropolitan Opera</a> include the documentary <em>The Audition</em> on Friday; Rossini&#8217;s <em>Il Barbiere di Siviglia</em> from the 2014-2015 season on Saturday and Donizetti&#8217;s <em>Roberto Devereux</em> from the 2015-2016 season on Sunday.</p>



<p>Sunday will also be the finals of the <a href="https://www.metopera.org/nationalcouncil" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Council Auditions</a> at the Met at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT.</p>



<p>Monday begins Week 62 at the Met where the theme is Unhinged Mad Scenes. The first production being streamed is the 2006-2007 season production of Bellini&#8217;s <em>I Puritani</em> with Anna Netrebko.</p>



<p>There are just two weeks left to see Sutton Foster&#8217;s <em>Bring Me to Light</em>. You can find details in our preview <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/04/27/bring-me-to-light-sutton-foster/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



<p>There you have a jam-packed list of Best Bets: May 14th &#8211; May 17th.</p>



<p>Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the shows!</p>



<p>Photo: Renée Elise Goldsberry (Photo by Justin Bettman/Courtesy MCC Theater)</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/05/14/best-bets-may-14th-may-17th/">Best Bets: May 14th &#8211; May 17th</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
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		<title>Epic Rivalries: Week 43 at the Met</title>
		<link>https://culturalattache.co/2021/01/04/epic-rivalries-week-43-at-the-met/</link>
					<comments>https://culturalattache.co/2021/01/04/epic-rivalries-week-43-at-the-met/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Craig Byrd]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jan 2021 08:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opera: Bravo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Streaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Adriana Lecouvreur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambrogio Maestri]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anita Rachvelishvili]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anna Netrebko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cavalleria Rusticana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Daniela Barcellona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David McVicar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diana Damrau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitri Hvorostovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dolora Zajick]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elza van den Heever]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eric Cutler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eva-Maria Westbroek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fabio Luisi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Francesco Cilea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Franco Vassallo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaetano Donizetti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[George Gagnidze]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georges Bizet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gianandrea Noseda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gioachino Rossini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giuseppe Verdi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I Puritani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Il Trovatore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jane Bunnell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Osborn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Relyea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joshua Hopkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joyce DiDonato]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Juan Diego Flórez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[La Donna del Lago]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Les Pêcheurs de Perles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lucas Meachem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marcelo Álvarez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marco Armiliato]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maria Stuarda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mariusz Kwiecień]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew Polenzani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew Rose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maurizio Benini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metropolitan Opera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michele Mariotti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Testé]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oren Gradus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pagliacci]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patricia Racette]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patrick Summers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Curran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Penny Woolcock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pietro Mascagni]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Piotr Beczała]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ruggero Leoncavallo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandro Sequi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sondra Radvanovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vincenzo Bellini]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Metropolitan Opera Website<br />
<br />
January 4th - January 10th</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/01/04/epic-rivalries-week-43-at-the-met/">Epic Rivalries: Week 43 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Love triangles, politics and family dynamics take center stage as Week 43 at the Met focuses on Epic Rivalries.</p>



<p>There are eight operas this week as two one-act operas (exactly the pair you would expect) are included along with works by Bellini, Bizet, Cilea, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi.</p>



<p>Performers include Marcelo Álvarez, Diana Damrau, Joyce Di Donato, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Anita Rachvelishvili, Sondra Radvanovsky and Eva-Maria Westbroek.</p>



<p>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 <a href="http://metopera.org">Metropolitan Opera website</a>. </p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>If you read this column early enough on January 4th, you might still have time to catch the 1991-1992 production of <em>L&#8217;Elisir d&#8217;Amore </em>by Gaetano Donizetti that concludes the year-ending <em><a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/12/28/luciano-pavarotti-week-42-at-the-met/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pavarotti Week</a></em>.</p>



<p>Here&#8217;s the full line-up for Week 43 at the Met:</p>



<p>Monday, January 4 – Cilea’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Adriana Lecouvreur</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczała and Ambrogio Maestri. This David McVicar production is from the 2018-2019 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on April 18th.</p>



<p>Francesco Cilea&#8217;s <em>Adriana Lecouvreur</em> had its world premiere in Milan in 1902. It features a libretto by Arturo Colautti. The opera is based on the 1849 Eugène Scribe&nbsp;and&nbsp;Ernest Legouvé play <em>Adrienne Lecouvreur</em>.  </p>



<p>At the center of this opera is a love triangle. The title character is a beloved actress who has many possible suitors. She is in love with the Count of Saxony, Maurizio. He, though smitten with Adriana, is trying to fully break ties with his ex-lover, the Princesse de Bouillon. Insecurities and jealousies lead all three down a path that will ultimately end in murder.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Adriana Lecouvreur: Act II Excerpt" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9imgHGNOjEI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/arts/music/review-adriana-lecouvreur-metropolitan-opera.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anthony Tommasini</a>, writing in his <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> review, said of this production, &#8220;The strongest scenes in the opera, involving the three principals, leapt off the stage on Monday, especially the confrontation between Adriana and the princess in Act II, when they discover that they both love Maurizio. Ms. Netrebko and Ms. Rachvelishvili sang ferociously as they hurled accusatory phrases at each other. Yet each found moments in the music to suggest the womanly longing that consumes them.&#8221;</p>



<p>Tuesday, January 5 – Rossini’s&nbsp;<strong><em>La Donna del Lago</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Michele Mariotti; starring Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn and Oren Gradus.&nbsp;This Paul Curran production is from the 2014-2015 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on July 5th.</p>



<p>Sir Walter Scott’s poem,&nbsp;<em>The Lady of the Lake</em>, served as the inspiration for this opera by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto is by Andrea Leone Tottola.&nbsp;<em>La Donna del Lago</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in Naples 1819.</p>



<p>Rossini’s opera is set in Scotland in the first half of the 16th century when King James V reigned. Elena has been promised to Rodrigo, but she’s in love with Malcom. Both men are rebels as is her father, Douglas. The King, disguised as a man named Umberto, falls in love with Elena at first sight, but knows she is related to rebels who want him overthrown. How both the relationships and the politics play out will ultimately impact Elena for the rest of her life.</p>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="La Donna del Lago: &quot;No! più non so frenarmi&quot; (Trio)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PdZPWihfnzo?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p>This production was first seen in 2013 at the Santa Fe Opera who co-produced with the Metropolitan Opera and this was the first time this opera was performed by the Met.</p>



<p>Di Donato regularly sings “Tanti affetti” from <em>La Donna del Lago</em> in concerts. <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/arts/music/review-a-la-donna-del-lago-with-melting-tenderness-at-the-met.html" target="_blank">Anthony Tomassini</a>, writing in the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span>, said of her performance in this production, “It was good to have the stage so bright for Ms. DiDonato’s triumphant performance of ‘Tanti affetti.’ Besides adding an important Rossini opera to the Met’s repertory, this production gives those who have only heard her sing that aria as an encore a chance to get to know the long opera that precedes it.”</p>



<p>Wednesday, January 6 – Bizet’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>Les Pêcheurs de Perles</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; starring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani,&nbsp;Mariusz Kwiecień&nbsp;and&nbsp;Nicolas Testé. This Penny Woolcock production is from the 2015-2016 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on April 3rd and September 11th.</p>



<p><em>Les Pêcheurs de Perles</em>&nbsp;(best known to many as&nbsp;<em>The Pearl Fishers</em>) had its world premiere in 1863 in Paris. Bizet’s opera has a libretto written by Eugène Cormon&nbsp;and&nbsp;Michel Carré.</p>



<p>The setting is the island of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) and two men find that their plan to be friends forever regardless of circumstances is threatened when they both fall in love with the same woman. She, too, is conflicted as she has sworn to be a priestess, but finds herself falling in love with the men.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Les Pêcheurs de Perles: &quot;Ton coeur&quot; (Damrau, Polenzani)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S4T4uP262Uc?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p>Director Woolcock’s production was new to the Met when it debuted on New Year’s Eve 2015. The production was first staged at the English National Opera in 2010. The last time&nbsp;<em>Les Pêcheurs de Perles</em>&nbsp;had been performed at the Met was 1916.</p>



<p>Thursday, January 7 – Bellini’s<strong>&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo and John Relyea.&nbsp;This is a revival of the 1976 Sandro Sequi production from the 2006-2007 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on June 1st and September 18th.</p>



<p>Vincenzo Bellini’s&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in Paris in 1835. The libretto was written by Carlo Pepoli. This was the composer’s final work. He died eight months after the premiere of this opera.</p>



<p><em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;is set in 1650 England. Elvira and Arturo are going to be married. He is a Royalist and she is a Puritan. (Puritanism was a religious reform movement that originated in the late 16th Century and believed that The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had too much in common and weren’t rooted in the text of the Bible.) Riccardo, a Puritan, is also in love with Elvira and believes himself to have already been promised her. The three must navigate not just their romantic entanglement, but also the political issues and intrigue surrounding the English Civil War.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Bellini - I Puritani - Anna Netrebko (Vien, diletto, e in ciel la luna)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3ZRdOvJ0Wjg?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>This was the Metropolitan Opera’s first production of&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;in a decade. By the time this production opened in late 2006, it was the fourth new role for Netrebko that year. The&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span>&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/arts/music/29puri.html" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that on opening night the soprano received a lengthy ovation at the the conclusion of the second act mad scene.</p>



<p>Friday, January 8 – Mascagni’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Cavalleria Rusticana</em></strong> and&nbsp;Leoncavallo’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Pagliacci</em></strong></p>



<p><em>Cavalleria Rusticana:</em>&nbsp;Conducted by Fabio Luisi; starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jane Bunnell, Marcelo Álvarez and George Gagnidze.</p>



<p><em>Pagliacci:</em>&nbsp;Conducted by Fabio Luisi; Patricia Racette, Marcelo Álvarez, George Gagnidze and Lucas Meachem.</p>



<p>Both operas were David McVicar productions from the 2014-2015 season. This is an encore presentation of these two one-act operas that was previously made available on May 10th.</p>



<p>Perhaps no pairing of one-act operas is more popular than the combination of&nbsp;<em>Cavalleria Rusticana&nbsp;</em>by Pietro Mascagni and&nbsp;<em>Pagliacci</em>&nbsp;by Ruggero Leoncavallo.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>Cavalleria Rusticana&nbsp;</em>had its world premiere in Rome in 1890. The opera is based on a short story which later became a play by Giovanni Verga. Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci adapted them both for their libretto.</p>



<p>Mascagni’s opera centers on a love triangle. Turridu, who has returned from military service, goes to see his ex-lover, Lola, before seeing his current lover, Santuzza. Lola is married to Alfio. Santuzza decides to tell Alfio about the infidelity and the two men decide to duel. At the end of the opera, multiple hearts are left broken.</p>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Cavalleria Rusticana: Easter Hymn" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/auB72irQ0WA?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p><em>Pagliacci</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in Milan in 1892. Leoncavallo also wrote the libretto.</p>



<p>The opera tells the story of a married couple, Canio and Nedda, who are performers in a small theatre company on the road. Canio is insanely jealous and that jealousy drives Nedda to seek affection from another man, Silvio. Nedda and Silvio make plans to elope, but their plans are overheard by Tonio, another member of the company. He tells Canio about Nedda’s plans. Looking for revenge, Canio, during a performance of their touring play, makes his personal life mirror the drama in the play.</p>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Pagliacci: &quot;Sperai, tanto il delirio&quot; (Marcelo Álvarez)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y31KS0Yq7Gk?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p>For those relatively new to opera, these two one-act productions are easy ways to explore the art form. There is well-known music, but there is more.&nbsp;<em>Pagliacci</em>&nbsp;is not just a commonly performed opera, it is also one that is referenced in countless films and television shows. But don’t count out&nbsp;<em>Cavalleria Rusticana</em>. If you’ve seen either&nbsp;<em>Raging Bull</em>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<em>The Godfather III</em>, you’ll recognize this opera, too.</p>



<p>There was controversy surrounding these two productions when David McVicar’s productions replaced the long-performed productions by Franco Zeffirelli. Alex Ross, writing for&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">The New</span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Yorker</span>&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/11/high-concept-musical-events-alex-ross" target="_blank">made the case</a>&nbsp;for the new productions as a way for the Met Opera to continue to grow and evolve.</p>



<p>Saturday, January 9 – Donizetti’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Maria Stuarda</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Elza van den Heever, Joyce DiDonato, Matthew Polenzani, Joshua Hopkins and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2012-2013 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available on April 28th and October 16th.</p>



<p>Mary, Queen of Scots, is the central figure in this opera written by Donizetti that had its world premiere in Milan in 1835. The libretto Guiseppe Bardari, was based on Friedrich von Schiller’s play,&nbsp;<em>Mary Stuart</em>, from 1800.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Elisabetta, the Queen of England, has her cousin, Maria Stuarda, the Queen of Scotland, in prison. Elisabetta is in love with the Earl of Leicester, Roberto, but he wants to help Maria with whom he is in love. His suggestion to Maria that a reconciliation take place between the two cousins only leads to greater animosity and ultimately Maria’s execution.</p>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Maria Stuarda: &quot;Figlia impura di Bolena&quot; -- Joyce DiDonato &amp; Elza van den Heever (Met Opera)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aKmOVN5_BOo?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p>Of DiDonato’s performance in the title role, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/arts/music/maria-stuarda-at-the-metropolitan-with-joyce-didonato.html?searchResultPosition=7" target="_blank">Anthony Tommasini</a> of the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> said, “Ms. DiDonato’s performance will be pointed to as a model of singing in which all components of the art form — technique, sound, color, nuance, diction — come together in service to expression and eloquence.”</p>



<p>Sunday, January 10 – Verdi’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Il Trovatore</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This revival of the 2009 David McVicar production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was previously made available July 30th and November 23rd.</p>



<p>Giuseppe Verdi’s&nbsp;<em>Il Trovatore</em>&nbsp;is based on the play&nbsp;<em>El trovador</em>&nbsp;by&nbsp;Antonio García Gutiérrez published in 1836. The libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano with additions by Leone Emanuele Badare. The opera had its world premiere in Rome in 1853.</p>



<p>The setting is Zaragoza, the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon, circa 1412. To offer up a quick synopsis here would be a fool’s game to play. Several stories happen simultaneously and sometimes share the same characters. The opera has rarely been hailed for its story, but it certainly ranks as one of Verdi’s finest compositions.</p>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Il Trovatore: &quot;Il balen del suo sorriso&quot; (Hvorostovsky)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aHhwOByP81I?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p>If you think I was a bit unfair about the plot in&nbsp;<em>Il Trovatore</em>, let me share with you&nbsp;what<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/arts/music/sondra-radvanovsky-in-il-trovatore-at-the-met-review.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Zachary Woolfe&nbsp;</a>said&nbsp;at the start of his review of this production in the&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span>:</p>



<p>“With its cackling Gypsies, mistaken identities and secret brothers, the convoluted plot of Verdi’s&nbsp;<em>Trovatore</em>&nbsp;can seem like the setup for a joke. Already verging on chaos, it makes a natural backdrop for the anarchic final scene of the Marx Brothers’&nbsp;<em>Night at the Opera</em>.</p>



<p>“<em>Il Trovatore</em>&nbsp;overcomes its absurdities, though, with its vitality, its irresistible melodies and tightly driven rhythms.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>That concludes Week 43 at the Met. Next week will feature Renée Fleming in all seven productions.</p>



<p>Happy New Year and enjoy the operas!</p>



<p>Photo: A scene from <em>Pagliacci</em>. (Photo by Cory Weaver/Courtesy Met Opera)</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2021/01/04/epic-rivalries-week-43-at-the-met/">Epic Rivalries: Week 43 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
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		<title>Best Bets at Home: September 18th &#8211; September 20th</title>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Craig Byrd]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2020 07:01:47 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>A truly eclectic list of culture to watch this weekend awaits you</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/18/best-bets-at-home-september-18th-september-20th/">Best Bets at Home: September 18th &#8211; September 20th</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
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<p>I&#8217;ve probably said this before, but this weekend&#8217;s list of <em>Best Bets at Home: September 18th &#8211; September 20th</em> is truly eclectic. Where else will you find a Russian musical, a celebration of dance from India, a centenary tribute to Noël Coward, an examination of string quartets, a re-invention of a classic opera, a Latino play, some cool jazz and a Broadway star in concert? Only at Cultural Attaché.</p>



<p>Let&#8217;s get to it. Here are your Best Bets at Home: September 18th &#8211; September 20th. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10689" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Anna-Goryachova-in-22Carmen22-©-2017-ROH-Photo-by-Bill-Cooper.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Anna Goryachova in &#8220;Carmen&#8221; (©2017 ROH/Photo by Bill Cooper)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em>Carmen</em></strong> &#8211; Royal Opera House &#8211; September 18th  &#8211; October 17th</p>



<p>Georges Bizet&#8217;s most popular opera gets presented with a new perspective in this 2018 Royal Opera House production directed by Barrie Kosky. He is perhaps best-known for his innovative production of Mozart&#8217;s <em>The Magic Flute</em> which has been performed all over the world. LA Opera in Los Angeles has performed his production three times&#8230;so far.</p>



<p>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.&nbsp;</p>



<p>When&nbsp;<em>Carmen</em>&nbsp;was first performed in Paris in 1875 it was considered both shocking and scandalous.&nbsp;</p>



<p>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.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Carmen - Habanera (Bizet; Anna Goryachova, The Royal Opera 2018)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IzsbN1BXvao?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>In Kosky&#8217;s production, Carmen (sung by Anna Goryachova) is front and center. The opera is told from her point-of-view. There is a narrator and the production uses music Bizet eliminated from the opera&#8217;s earliest performances.</p>



<p>In <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/arts/music/barrie-kosky-carmen-royal-opera-london.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an interview</a> with the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> Kosky said, &#8220;Everyone assumes <em>Carmen</em> is what people are used to. A big Spanish spectacle: loud, huge orchestra, huge chorus. Lots of Spain&#8230;The piece is not a Spanish opera. It’s a French opera, from the first note. Actually it’s not even a French opera, it’s an operetta that turns&nbsp;into&nbsp;an opera in the fourth act.</p>



<p>&#8220;This is the mistake that people make. They assume that it’s a doom-laden story of a Gypsy with black curly hair and gold earrings, and a story of love and sex and whatever. Well, it turns into that, but for the first two thirds of the evening, it’s sunlight, it’s joy, it’s naughtiness, it’s irony. I keep saying to the cast, &#8216;You’re in an operetta. You are not in ‘le grand opéra.’”</p>



<p>This production of <em>Carmen</em> will be available for one month and does have a fee of £3 (which is equivalent to approximately $4).</p>



<p></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10701" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evelina-Fernandez-Courtesy-her-Facebook-page-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Playwright  Evelina Fernández (Courtesy her Facebook page)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em><a href="https://www.thelatc.org/live" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sleep with Angels</a></em></strong> &#8211; Latino Theater Company &#8211; September 18th &#8211; September  27th</p>



<p>In their continuing series of archived plays and readings of new works, Latino Theater Company is offering a sneak peek of <em>Sleep with Angels</em>. Written by Evelina Fernández, the play is scheduled to have its world premiere with the company next year.</p>



<p>A mysterious woman named Juana shows up on Molly&#8217;s doorstep. She arrives just as Molly is in need of someone to watch her children now that she&#8217;s separated from her husband. </p>



<p>The kids are charmed by Juana, but who is she? </p>



<p><em>Sleep with Angels</em> is directed by José Luis Valenzuela. The cast features Aileen Alfaro,&nbsp;Esperanza America,&nbsp;Sandino Gonzalez-Flores,&nbsp;Sal Lopez,&nbsp;Xavi Moreno,&nbsp;Robert Revell,&nbsp;Lucy Rodriguez and&nbsp;Elia Saldana. </p>



<p>The first opportunity to watch <em>Sleep with Angels</em> is at 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT on Friday, September 18th. The reading will  be available through September 27th.</p>



<p>While at Latino Theater Company&#8217;s website you&#8217;ll also notice that a film of their 2010 production of <em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spmVU_lX06o&amp;utm_source=wordfly&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=LaVictimaArchival&amp;utm_content=version_A" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">La Victima</a></em> is also available. This was the company&#8217;s first show and it starred the late Lupe Ontiveras. <em>La Victima</em> will be available for viewing through September 24th.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10698" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Scott-Yoo-and-guests-22Now-Hear-This-Haydn22-Photo-courtesy-PBS.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Scott Yoo and guests in &#8220;Now Heart This: Haydn King of Strings&#8221; (photo credit: Arcos Film + Music/Courtesy of PBS)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em>Now Hear This &#8220;Haydn: King of Strings&#8221;</em></strong> &#8211; PBS Great Performances &#8211; September 18th (check local listings)</p>



<p>The work of composer Franz Joseph Haydn is explored in this one-hour show on PBS&#8217;s <em>Great Performances</em>. In particular, host Scott Yoo will explore the role folk music from Austria, Hungary and Scotland played in informing the composer&#8217;s composition of his <em>Emperor Quartet</em>. Haydn is considered the father of the string quartet having written 68 of them. </p>



<p>Amongst his guests are violinist Geoff Nuttall and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10694" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jack-DeJohnette-Photo-by-Fanny-Delsol-Courtesy-jackdejohnette.com_-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Jack DeJohnette (Photo by Fanny Delsol/Courtesy of jackdejohnette.com)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em>Jack DeJohnette/Don Byron/Matt Garrison</em></strong> &#8211; Shapeshifter Lab &#8211; September 19th &#8211; 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT</p>



<p>Simply put, Jack DeJohnette is one of the most important drummers in the history of jazz. His collaborations have included recordings and performances with John Abercrombie, Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Keith Jarrett, Charles Lloyd and John Scofield. And that&#8217;s just a few of a very extensive list of credits.</p>



<p>On Saturday he will be performing live from home with bassist Matthew Garrison and clarinetist Don Byron.  </p>



<p>Garrison, the son of John Coltrane bassist Jimmy Garrison, has recorded and performed with a broad range of artists that spans from Betty Carter to Whitney Houston; The Gil Evans Orchestra to Paul Simon and Tito Puente to Joni Mitchell.</p>



<p>Byron is a musician, teacher and composer. His range of musical styles vacillates from jazz to klezmer and includes composing for films and for such ensembles as the Kronos Quartet.</p>



<p>Tickets to watch this performance require a minimum donation of $20. The performance will remain available for three days after the live stream on Saturday.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10702" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/22Anna-Karenina22-Courtesy-StageRussia.com_.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>&#8220;Anna Karenina&#8221; (Courtesy StageRussia.com)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em><a href="http://BroadwayOnDemand.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anna Karenina</a></em></strong> &#8211; Broadway on Demand &#8211; September 19th &#8211; 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT</p>



<p>Not all musicals are happy. Case in point is this Russian musical by Roman Ignatyev and librettist Yully Kim. Based on Leo Tolstoy&#8217;s tragic love story between Anna Karenina and military officer Alexey Vronsky. The musical is set in the late 19th century amongst Russian nobility. </p>



<p>Ekaterina Guseva plays Anna and Sergey Lee plays Alexey. Alina Chevik directs and choreography is by Irina Korneeva. </p>



<p>The musical is sung in Russian with English subtitles.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Stage Russia HD: Anna Karenina Musical Trailer" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YlK2zp2eW00?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>This production was filmed in front of a live audience in 2018. The pay-per-view price is $5.99. <em>Anna Karenina</em> will also be  available for two days afterwards to rent for the same amount.</p>



<p><em>Miss Saigon</em> (another not-happy musical) had a helicopter land on stage. I&#8217;m sure the train required for <em>Anna Karenina</em> will make that accomplishment seem terribly outdated. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10691" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Noel-Coward-Courtesy-of-NYPL-Archives.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Noël Coward (Courtesy of New York Public Library Archives)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em><a href="http://www.broadwayondemand.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Marvellous Party</a></em></strong> &#8211; Broadway on Demand &#8211; September 20th &#8211; 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT</p>



<p><em>I&#8217;ll Leave It To You</em> marked the first time playwright/actor Noël Coward had a play of his performed in London&#8217;s West End. He also appeared in the show. <em>I&#8217;ll Leave It To You</em> opened at the New Theatre on July 21, 1920 and ran for 37 performances. The rest, as they say, is history. </p>



<p>Coward went on to write such plays as <em>Hay Fever</em>,&nbsp;<em>Private Lives</em>,&nbsp;<em>Design for Living</em>,&nbsp;<em>Present Laughter</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Blithe Spirit</em>. </p>



<p>In 2006 the New Theatre was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre.</p>



<p>To celebrate this centenary, The Noël Coward Foundation is presenting an all-star event called <em>A Marvellous Party</em>. His words and music will be performed (in either self-recorded performances at home or performances filmed following Covid-19 guidelines) by Kate Burton,&nbsp;Judi Dench,&nbsp;Stephen Fry,&nbsp;Montego Glover,&nbsp;Derek Jacobi,&nbsp;Josh James,&nbsp;Cush Jumbo,&nbsp;Robert Lindsay,&nbsp;Kristine Nielsen,&nbsp;Bebe Neuwirth,&nbsp;Julian Ovenden,&nbsp;Patricia Routledge,&nbsp;Kate Royal,&nbsp;Emma Thompson,&nbsp;Giles Terera,&nbsp;Indira Varma&nbsp;and&nbsp;Lia Williams.</p>



<p><em>A Marvellous Party</em> will remain available on demand for two weeks (or a fortnight as Coward might say.)</p>



<p>There is no charge to watch the show, but you will need to register to do so. Donations to <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/campaign/amarvellousparty" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Acting for Others</a> and <a href="http://actorsfund.org/MarvelousParty" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Actors Fund</a> are encouraged.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10692" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judy-Kuhn-Courtesy-of-JudyKuhn.net_.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Judy Kuhn (Courtesy of judykuhn.net)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em>Judy Kuhn with Seth </em></strong><span style="font-weight: 600;"><i>Rudetsky</i></span> &#8211; September 20th &#8211; 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT</p>



<p>In this week&#8217;s Seth Rudetsky concert series, four-time Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn joins for conversation and song. Kuhn originated the role of Helen Bechdel in <em>Fun Home</em> (one of her Tony nominations). Her other nominations came for her performances in <em>Les Misérables</em><strong> </strong>(as Cosette); <em>Chess</em> (as Florence) and the 1993 revival of <em>She Loves Me</em> (as Amalia Balash). </p>



<p></p>



<p>She also memorably played Fosca in the Classic Stage Company&#8217;s 2013 production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine&#8217;s <em>Passion</em>.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Judy Kuhn Sings &quot;What Can You Lose?&quot; from DICK TRACY Film (Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/519p-Ei6vHY?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>There will be an encore presentation of this show on Monday, September 21st at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT. The show will also be available for pay-per-view viewing next week. Tickets for all viewings are $25.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" src="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10693" srcset="https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-300x169.jpg 300w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-768x432.jpg 768w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-696x392.jpg 696w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival-747x420.jpg 747w, https://culturalattache.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vishwa-Nambi-Courtesy-Erasing-Borders-Dance-Festival.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>  Vishwakiran Nambi (Courtesy of Erasing Borders Dance Festival)</figcaption></figure></div>



<p><strong><em><a href="http://facebook.com/iaac.us" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Erasing Borders Dance </a></em></strong><span style="font-weight: 600;"><i><a href="http://facebook.com/iaac.us" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Festival</a></i></span><em> </em>&#8211; Indo-American Arts Council &#8211; September 20th &#8211; September 27th</p>



<p>The multitude of dances found in India are celebrated in the <em>Erasing Borders Dance Festival</em>. This is the 12th year of the festival and, for obvious reasons, this year the festival is online. Each program can be found on the Indo-American Arts Council&#8217;s Facebook page (link in the title). </p>



<p>Each program becomes available at 8:30 PM EDT/5:30 PM PDT. The line-up is as follows:</p>



<p><em>Sunday, September 20th</em>: Shambhu Nath Karmakar/Ashpara Care Club (Purulia Chhau)<br><em>Monday, September 2st</em>: Neha Mondal Chakravarty (Kalakshetra Bharatanatyam) and Krishnakshi Kashyap (Sattriya)<br><em>Tuesday, September 22nd</em>:  Ganesh Vasudeva (Bharatanatyam)<br><em>Wednesday, September 23rd</em>: Divyaa Unni (Bharatanatyam) and Arun Mathai (Bharatanatyam)<br>T<em>hursday, September 24th</em>: Sandhya Raju (Kuchipudi)<br><em>Friday, September 25th</em>: Damir Tasmagambetov (Kalakshetra Bharatanatyam) and Barkha Patel (Contemporary Kathak)<br><em>Saturday, September 26th</em>: Mesma Belsaré (Shilpa Natana)<br><em>Sunday, September 27th</em>: Vishwakiran Nambi (Contemporary) and workshops by Nahid Siddiqui (Sufi Kathak)</p>



<p>Those are my selections for your Best Bets at  Home: September 18th &#8211; September 20th. Before we go, a few reminders:</p>



<p>Los Angeles area audiences can watch <em><a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/08/19/in-concert-at-the-hollywood-bowl/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl</a></em> on PBS SoCal on September 18th at 8:00 PM. This week&#8217;s show is <em>Musica Sin Fronteras </em>and features performances from Café Tacvba, Columbian singer/songwriter Carlos Vives, Florida’s Siudy Garrido Flamenco Dance Theatre all in performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.</p>



<p>New to our listings is<em> <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/16/table-top-shakespeare-at-home/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Table Top Shakespeare: At Home</a></em>. These unique presentations of Shakespeare&#8217;s plays got launched on Thursday. This weekend&#8217;s performances (which are all free to watch) are <em>Perciles</em> on Friday; <em>The Merchant of Venice</em> on Saturday and <em>A Midsummer Night&#8217;s Dream</em> on Sunday. All performances are live at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT.</p>



<p>Some reminders from this week&#8217;s <em><a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/15/jazz-stream-september-15th-september-20th/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jazz Stream</a></em>:</p>



<p><em>Fridays at Five</em> from SFJAZZ offers a 2017 concert by jazz legend Wayne Shorter.</p>



<p>The Bill Frisell Trio performs Friday from New York&#8217;s Blue Note.</p>



<p>Pianist Bill Charlap and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis perform from the Village Vanguard on Friday and Saturday.</p>



<p>The Ehud Asherie Trio performs from Smalls on Saturday.</p>



<p>Trumpeter Keyon Harrold performs from Blue Note on Saturday.</p>



<p>For opera fans, here are reminders of this week&#8217;s programming from the <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/14/week-27-at-the-met/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Metropolitan Opera</a>:</p>



<p>This week&#8217;s <em>Bel Canto</em> series concludes with Bellini&#8217;s <em>I Puritani</em> on Friday; Donizetti&#8217;s <em>L&#8217;Elisir de Amore </em>on Saturday and Bellini&#8217;s <em>Norma</em> on Sunday.</p>



<p>Eclectic right? Those are your Best Bets at Home: September 18th &#8211; September 20th. Let me know what you watched and  what you thought in our comments section. Enjoy your weekend!</p>



<p>Main photo: Anna Goryachova and ensemble in &#8220;Carmen&#8221;  (©2017 ROH/Photo by Bill Cooper)</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/18/best-bets-at-home-september-18th-september-20th/">Best Bets at Home: September 18th &#8211; September 20th</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
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		<title>Week 27 at the Met</title>
		<link>https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/14/week-27-at-the-met/</link>
					<comments>https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/14/week-27-at-the-met/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Craig Byrd]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2020 07:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opera: Bravo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Streaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alessandro Corbelli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anna Netrebko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bartlett Sher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carlo Rizzi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cesare Lievi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David McVicar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Davide Luciano]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diana Damrau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Domingo Hindoyan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Don Pasquale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elīna Garanča]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eric Cutler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Felicity Palmer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Franco Vassallo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaetano Donizetti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gioachino Rossini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I Puritani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ildebrando D'Arcangelo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Levine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Relyea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joseph Calleja]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joyce DiDonato]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Juan Diego Flórez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[L'Elisir d'Amore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[La Cenerentola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[La Fille du Régiment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Laurent Pelly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawrence Brownlee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Le Comte Ory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mariusz Kwiecień]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew Polenzani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew Rose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maurizio Benini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metropolitan Opera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natalie Dessay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Norma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Otto Schenk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patrick Summers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pretty Yende]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandro Sequi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Simone Alberghini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sondra Radvanovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vincenzo Bellini]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://culturalattache.co/?p=10605</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Metropolitan Opera Website<br />
<br />
September 14th  - September 20th</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/14/week-27-at-the-met/">Week 27 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Welcome to Week 27 at the Met. As with recent weeks, this week&#8217;s line-up has a theme: <em>Bel Canto Favorites</em>.</p>



<p>What is Bel Canto? Simply put it is a particular style of singing &#8220;with its emphasis on beauty of&nbsp;sound&nbsp;and brilliancy of performance rather than dramatic expression or romantic emotion.&#8221; That definition comes from the Harvard Dictionary of Music.</p>



<p>This means that women are front and center in these operas. Anna Netrebko, Diana Damrau, Natalie Dessay, Elīna Garanča, Pretty Yende and Sondra Radvanovsky are this week&#8217;s leads.</p>



<p>Each production becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on the Metropolitan Opera&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metopera.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>. Every opera remains available for 23 hours. They are heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series so you’ll have to go past those promos to find the streaming productions. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.</p>



<p>If you read this preview early enough on Monday, September 14th, you might still have time to catch the 2013-2014 season production of&nbsp;<a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/07/week-26-at-the-met/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jules Massenet&#8217;s <em>Werther</em></a> starring Jonas Kaufmann.</p>



<p>Here is the complete line-up for Week 27 at the Met:</p>



<p>Monday, September 14 – Donizetti’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Don Pasquale</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by James Levine; starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani and Mariusz Kwiecien. This revival of Otto Schenk&#8217;s 2006 production is from the 2010-2011 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 11th.</p>



<p>Gaetano Donizetti&#8217;s opera had its world premiere in Paris in 1843. The composer collaborated with Giovanni Ruffini on the libretto. It was inspired by the libretto Angelo Anelli had written for&nbsp;<em>Ser Mercantonio</em>, an opera by Stefano Pavesi from 1810.</p>



<p>Ernesto is Don Pasquale’s nephew. He wants to marry Norina, but Don Pasquale wants to choose his nephew’s bride. Others conspire against Pasquale and trick him so that ultimately Ernesto and Norina can marry.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Don Pasquale: &quot;So anch&#039;io la virtù magica&quot; -- Anna Netrebko (Met Opera)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ab1-furp1LU?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>Vivien Schweitzer, writing in the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/arts/music/02don.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said of Netrebko&#8217;s performance</a>:</p>



<p>&#8220;Ms. Netrebko offered a vivid portrait of Norina, her fluid voice lustrous as she navigated the bel canto hurdles in a performance that was both physically energetic and vocally rich. She oozed seductive charm as she languished on her balcony, singing of love, and she turned demure — her voice taking on a suitably meek cast — as &#8216;Sofronia,&#8217; the Don’s new wife. Her transition to vixen was complete as she flounced down the stairs in hot-pink tights, tiara and velvet gown, flustering the hapless Don by her sudden metamorphosis from timid to tyrannical.&#8221;</p>



<p>Tuesday, September 15 – Rossini’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Le Comte Ory</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez.  This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2010-2011<em> </em>season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 16th.</p>



<p>Gioachino Rossini&#8217;s <em>Le Comte Ory</em> had its world premiere in Paris in 1828. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe&nbsp;and&nbsp;Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson who adapted a play they had written eleven years earlier. Rossini used some of the music he had composed for <em>Il Viaggio a Reims</em>, performed at the the coronation of Charles X, in this opera.</p>



<p>Count Ory and his companion Raimbaud disguise themselves as hermits to seduce women left behind during the Crusades while  the men went to the Holy Land. The women are on their own. Lady Ragonde takes charge of Formoutiers castle and looks after Adèle, the sister of the castle&#8217;s lord. Ory and Raimbaud offer their assistance, but obviously have something else on their minds.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Le Comte Ory: &quot;Que les destins prospères&quot; -- Juan Diego Flórez (Met Opera)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FEkgUqUeF5c?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>This was the very first production of <em>Le Comte Ory</em> at the Met. All three leads had previously appeared together in Rossini&#8217;s <em>Il Barbiere di Siviglia</em> under Sher&#8217;s direction four years earlier. </p>



<p>Here Sher uses an opera-within-an-opera conceit. It was one that Anthony Tommasini of the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/arts/music/bartlett-sher-directs-rossinis-le-comte-ory-at-the-metropolitan-opera.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">did not expect to like</a>:</p>



<p>&#8220;Nothing in <em>Ory</em> invites an opera-within-an-opera concept. Still, Rossini artificially turned two unrelated pieces into a completely reconceived opera, so the artifice of Mr. Sher’s staging is somehow resonant. Moreover, for all the antics, Mr. Sher takes Rossini’s characters and their romantic entanglements seriously and coaxes precise, nuanced performances from his gifted cast.&#8221;</p>



<p>Wednesday, September 16 – Donizetti’s&nbsp;<strong><em>La Fille du Régiment</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Marco Armiliato; starring Natalie Dessay, Felicity Palmer, Juan Diego Flórez and Alessandro Corbelli. This Laurent Pelly production is from the 2007-2008 season.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p><em>La Fille du Régiment</em>&nbsp;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?</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="La Fille du Régiment: &quot;Chacum le sait&quot; -- Natalie Dessay (Met Opera)" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZE5DyvqXxsY?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>Pelly updated the original Napoleonic war setting to World War I for this production. The end result, according to several critics, was that the &#8220;war is hell&#8221; concept is undermined by the silliness of the plot.</p>



<p>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.” Flórez nailed them and, of course, repeated the aria to wild applause from the audience. </p>



<p>Thursday, September 17 – Rossini’s&nbsp;<strong><em>La Cenerentola</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring&nbsp;Elīna&nbsp;Garanča, Lawrence Brownlee, Simone Alberghini, Alessandro Corbelli and John Relyea.&nbsp;This revival of Cesare Lievi’s 1997 production is from the 2008-2009 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on July 17th.</p>



<p>Gioachino Rossini’s opera of the&nbsp;<em>Cinderella</em>&nbsp;story is based on Charles Perrault’s&nbsp;<em>Cendrillon</em>. The libertto, by Jacopo Ferretti, was based on two previous libretti for operas based on the same story: Charles-Guillaume Étienne’s libretto for Nicolas Isouard’s 1810 opera&nbsp;<em>Cendrillon</em>&nbsp;and Francesco Fiorini’s libretto for Stefano Pavesi’s 1814 opera,&nbsp;<em>Agatina&nbsp;</em>o&nbsp;<em>La virtú premiata</em>.&nbsp;<em>La Cenerentola</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in 1817 in Rome.</p>



<p>The story is exactly you expect. After being relegated to chores around the house by her Stepmother and her Stepsisters, Cinderella dreams of going to the Prince’s ball. They mock her before leaving themselves for the event. Cinderella’s fairy godmother appears to make her dream a reality, but only if she returns by midnight.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Elina Garanca - Una volta c&#039;era un re...Un tantin di carità...O figlie amabili - Di Don Magnifico" width="696" height="522" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BMnn3r1Iclw?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>In Steve Smith’s&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;review of this production&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/arts/music/08cene.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">he raved about Brownlee</a>. “As Don Ramiro, the Prince Charming of the tale, the young American tenor Lawrence Brownlee was outstanding, with a sweet sound, impressive agility, ringing high notes and a smile that resonated to the core of his interpretation. Mr. Brownlee’s performance of the prince’s big aria, ‘Si, Ritrovarla Io Giuro,’ drew the evening’s most rousing applause.&#8221;</p>



<p>Friday, September 18 – Bellini’s&nbsp;<strong><em>I Puritani</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo and John Relyea.&nbsp;This is a revival of the 1976 Sandro Sequi production from the 2006-2007 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on June 1st.</p>



<p>Vincenzo Bellini’s&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;had its world premiere in Paris in 1835. The libretto was written by Carlo Pepoli. This was the composer’s final work. He died eight months after the premiere of this opera.</p>



<p><em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;is set in 1650 England. Elvira and Arturo are going to be married. He is a Royalist and she is a Puritan. (Puritanism was a religious reform movement that originated in the late 16th Century and believed that The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had too much in common and weren’t rooted in the text of the Bible.) Riccardo, a Puritan, is also in love with Elvira and believes himself to have already been promised her. The three must navigate not just their romantic entanglement, but also the political issues and intrigue surrounding the English Civil War.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Bellini: I Puritani - Suon d&#039;araldi? - Anna Netrebko" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-CzSXdZ-A7c?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>This was the Metropolitan Opera’s first production of&nbsp;<em>I Puritani</em>&nbsp;in a decade. By the time this production opened in late 2006, it was the fourth new role for Netrebko that year. The&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/arts/music/29puri.html" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;that on opening night the soprano received a lengthy ovation at the the conclusion of the second act mad scene.</p>



<p>Saturday, September 19 – Donizetti’s&nbsp;<strong><em>L’Elisir d’Amore</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Domingo Hindoyan; starring Pretty Yende, Matthew Polenzani, Davide Luciano and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.&nbsp;This revival of the 2012-2013 Bartlett Sher production is from the 2017-2018 season.&nbsp;This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on May 30th.</p>



<p>Donizetti&#8217;s <em>L&#8217;Elisir d&#8217;Amore</em> had its world premiere in Milan in 1832. The libretto by Felice Romani.&nbsp;<em>L’Elisir d’Amore</em>&nbsp;was inspired by Eugène Scribe’s libretto for&nbsp;Daniel Auber’s&nbsp;<em>Le philtre</em>.</p>



<p>In this opera, Adina and Nemorino are the couple at the center of the story. Nemorino is madly in love with Adina, but she toys with his love. In an act of desperation he purchases an “elixir” that he believes will make her fall in love with him. He pretends not to love her anymore which leads, of course, to the planning of their wedding. But will it take place? It’s a comic opera, of course it will!</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="L’Elisir d’Amore: “Una furtiva lagrima”" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-nFNzHZXSCY?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>When this production was reviewed critics were particularly impressed with Yende’s performance. She made her role debut in this production. Polenzani was part of Sher&#8217;s original production and returns to the same part here. Conductor Hindoyan made his first appearance at the Met with this production.</p>



<p>Sunday, September 20 – Bellini’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Norma</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Carlo Rizzi, starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja and Matthew Rose.&nbsp;This David McVicar production is from the 2017- 2018 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that was made available on April 5th.</p>



<p>Vincenzo Bellini&#8217;s <em>Norma</em> had its world premiere in Milan in 1831. The&nbsp;libretto&nbsp;was written by&nbsp;Felice Romani&nbsp;based on Alexandre Soumet&#8217;s play <em>Norma, ou L&#8217;infanticide</em>&nbsp;(<em>Norma, or The Infanticide</em>).</p>



<p>The opera is set during Roman occupation of Gaul. Norma, the Druid high priestess, has been abandoned by the Roman consul, Pollione, the father of her two children. He has fallen in love with his wife&#8217;s friend, Adalgisa. Norma is devastated when she learns of his betrayal and his plans to marry Adalgisa. This leaves Norma in the position of having to figure out what to do with her children and whether or not to exact revenge on Pollione. </p>



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<p>Maria Callas made <em>Norma</em> a signature role for her after she first performed in a 1948 production at Teatro Comunale di Firenze. She sang the part in 89 performances. The role is considered the Mount Everest of opera. </p>



<p>James Jorden&nbsp;examined what makes this role so challenging in a 2017 article for the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> that ran just before this production opened. You can read that story <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/arts/music/norma-bellini-metropolitan-opera.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



<p>That&#8217;s the full line-up for Week 27 at the Met. I hope you enjoy <em>Bel Canto Classics</em>. </p>



<p>Photo: Joyce DiDonato&nbsp;and Sondra Radvanovsky in <em>Norma</em>. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/09/14/week-27-at-the-met/">Week 27 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
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		<title>Week 12 at the Met</title>
		<link>https://culturalattache.co/2020/06/01/week-12-at-the-met/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Craig Byrd]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2020 13:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opera: Bravo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Streaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alban Berg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aleksandrs Antonenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alice Coote]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amanda Echalaz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anna Netrebko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Audrey Luna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bartlett Sher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian Van Horn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Rice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christoph Willibald Gluck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cornell MacNeil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Daniel Brenna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Danielle de Niese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Adam Moore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Portillo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eric Cutler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Franco Vassallo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frank Wedekind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Franz Grundheber]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frédéric Antoun]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giacomo Puccini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giuseppe Verdi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heidi Grant Murphy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I Puritani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iestyn Davies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Conlon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Levine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jesús López-Cobos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Johan Reuter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Cox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Relyea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Tomlinson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joseph Kaiser]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jules Massenet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Burdette]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luciano Pavarotti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luis Buñuel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lulu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marlis Petersen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metropolitan Opera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Schade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Orfeo ed Euridice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Otello]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patrick Summers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Groves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renée Fleming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rod Gilfry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sally Matthews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shirley Verrett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sonya Yoncheva]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sophie Bevan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephanie Blythe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Susan Graham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thaïs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Exterminating Angel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thomas Adés]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thomas Hampson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tom Cairns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tosca]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vincenzo Bellini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[William Kentridge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[William Shakespeare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yannick Nézet-Séguin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Željko Lučić]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Met Opera Website<br />
<br />
June 1st - June 7th</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/06/01/week-12-at-the-met/">Week 12 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>What&#8217;s the best way to look at Week 12 at the Met? Is it that we are concluding our third full month of productions from the Metropolitan Opera&#8217;s archives? Has it really been three months already? Is it that there&#8217;s a wonderful mix of old, less old and very new available this week? Perhaps it&#8217;s all of it rolled into one.</p>



<p>The highlight for me this week is Friday&#8217;s showing of Thomas Adés&#8217;s <em>The Exterminating Angel</em>, based on the 1962 film by Luis Buñuel.</p>



<p>Each production becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PDT and remains available at the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Met Opera website (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.metopera.org" target="_blank">Met Opera website</a> for 23 hours. This means you still have time on Monday, June 1st to catch Karita Matilla in Richard Strauss&#8217; <em>Salome</em> up to 6:30 PM EDT/3:30 PM PDT.</p>



<p>Here is the line-up for Week 12 at the Met:</p>



<p>Monday, June 1 – Bellini’s&nbsp;<strong><em>I Puritani</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Patrick Summers and starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo and John Relyea.&nbsp;This is a revival of the 1976 Sandro Sequi production from the 2006-2007 season.</p>



<p>Vincenzo Bellini&#8217;s <em>I Puritani</em> had its world premiere in Paris in 1835. The libretto was written by Carlo Pepoli. This was the composer&#8217;s final work. He died eight months after the premiere of this opera.</p>



<p><em>I Puritani</em> is set in 1650 England. Elvira (Netrebko) and Arturo (Cutler) are going to be married. He is a Royalist and she is a Puritan. (Puritanism was a religious reform movement that originated in the late 16th Century and believed that The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had too much in common and weren&#8217;t rooted in the text of the Bible.) Riccardo (Vassallo), a Puritan, is also in love with Elvira and believes himself to have already been promised her. The three must navigate not just their romantic entanglement, but also the political issues and intrigue surrounding the English Civil War.</p>



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<p>This was the Metropolitan Opera&#8217;s first production of <em>I Puritani</em> in a decade. By the time this production opened in late 2006, it was the fourth new role for Netrebko that year. The <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="reported (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/arts/music/29puri.html" target="_blank">reported</a> that on opening night the soprano received a lengthy ovation at the the conclusion of the second act mad scene.</p>



<p>Tuesday, June 2 – Berg’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Lulu</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Lothar Koenigs and starring Marlis Petersen, Susan Graham, Daniel Brenna, Paul Groves, Johan Reuter and Franz Grundheber.&nbsp;This William Kentridge production is from the 2015-2016 season.</p>



<p>Alban Berg used two Frank Wedekind plays, <em>Erdgeist</em> and <em>Die Büchse der Pandora</em>, as the inspiration for this opera. The plays were both about the title character, Lulu. The composer died before finishing the final act of the opera. It&#8217;s debut in 1937 in Zurich was of the incomplete opera. In 1979 Friedrich Cerha&#8217;s orchestration of the act 3 sketches were added to the work Berg had completed and that version is commonly performed.</p>



<p>Lulu (Petersen) is the engineer of her own destruction. She&#8217;s a mysterious young woman whose fall from grace is depicted over the course of three acts. </p>



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<p>Kentridge received wide praise from audiences and critics alike. What drew many people to this particular production was that soprano Petersen, who had performed <em>Lulu</em> for nearly twenty years, retired the role after these performances at the Met.</p>



<p>Wednesday, June 3 – Gluck’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Orfeo ed Euridice</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by James Levine and starring Danielle de Niese, Heidi Grant Murphy and Stephanie Blythe.&nbsp;This Mark Morris production is from the 2008-2009 season.</p>



<p>Once again the myth of Orpheus inspired a composer. Christoph Willibald Gluck&#8217;s opera, which premiered in Vienna in 1762, has a libretto by Ranieri de&#8217; Calzabigi. (Others who have been so inspired include Haydn, Lizst and Stravinsky. The story is also the inspiration for the Tony Award-winning musical <em>Hadestown</em>.)</p>



<p>The Orpheus story is about a man (Blythe) who suddenly loses the love of his life, Euridice (de Niese). He travels to the underworld to find her. He can bring her back, but only if he truly trusts in her love.</p>



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<p>Mezzo-soprano Blythe is a highly-acclaimed singer whose work ranges from Wagner&#8217;s <em>Ring Cycle</em> to Ricky Ian Gordon&#8217;s 2014 opera <em>27</em> about Gertrude Stein. The reviews she received for this production at the Met Opera were overwhelmingly positive. </p>



<p>Thursday, June 4 – Puccini’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Tosca</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2018/10/04/conductor-james-conlons-passion-verdi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="James Conlon (opens in a new tab)">James Conlon</a> and starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti and Cornell MacNeil.&nbsp;This Tito Gobbi production is from the 1978-1979 season.</p>



<p>It is quite likely that Puccini&#8217;s <em>Tosca</em> was the first opera to premiere in 1900. Its first performance was on January 14 in Rome. Based on Victorien Sardou&#8217;s 1887 play of the same name, <em>Tosca</em>&#8216;s libretto was written by Luigi Illica&nbsp;and&nbsp;Giuseppe Giacosa.</p>



<p>The setting for<em> Tosca</em> is Rome in 1800. The Napoleonic wars were raging and political unrest was omnipresent. The opera takes place over the course of slightly less than 24 hours. Floria Tosca (Verrett) is the object of Chief of Police Baron Scarpia&#8217;s (MacNeil) lust. He uses suspicions that her lover, Mario Cavaradossi (Pavarotti), aided a political prisoner who has escaped as an opportunity to get him out of his way which will leave Tosca for himself. After capturing Cavaradossi, Scarpia says that if Tosca doesn&#8217;t become his lover, he will have Cavaradossi killed.  </p>



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<p>When Pavarotti took on this role it was one of his first forays into more demanding roles that were tougher on his vocal chords. The tenor made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera six-and-a-half years prior to this <em>Tosca</em> in a production of Donizett&#8217;s <em>La fille du régiment</em>.</p>



<p>Friday, June 5 –&nbsp;Thomas Adès’s&nbsp;<strong><em>The Exterminating Angel</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Thomas Adès and starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan,&nbsp;Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David Portillo, David Adam Moore, <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2019/02/20/a-high-degree-of-difficulty-for-operas-rod-gilfry/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Rod Gilfry (opens in a new tab)">Rod Gilfry</a>, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn and John Tomlinson.&nbsp;This Tom Cairns production was from the 2017-2018 season.</p>



<p>British composer Adés&#8217;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.</p>



<p><em>The Exterminating Angel</em> 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. </p>



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<p>If you saw the composer&#8217;s <em>The Tempest</em> a couple weeks ago, you know that Adés is one of our most compelling and intriguing composers. </p>



<p>Feel free to check out <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/arts/music/exterminating-angel-review-metropolitan-opera.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Anthony Tomassini's review (opens in a new tab)">Anthony Tomassini&#8217;s review</a> in the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span><em>. </em>I&#8217;ll just give you the last sentence from his review: &#8220;If you go to a single production this season, make it this one.&#8221;</p>



<p>Saturday, June 6 – Verdi’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Otello</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and starring Sonya Yoncheva, Aleksandrs Antonenko and Željko Lučić.&nbsp;This Bartlett Sher production is from the 2015-2016 season. </p>



<p>Verdi&#8217;s opera based on Shakespeare&#8217;s play was his penultimate opera. (<em>Falstaff</em> was the last opera he composed.) It premiered in Milan in 1887 and features a libretto by Arrigo Boito.</p>



<p><em>Otello</em> tells the story of a Moor (Antonenko) in the Venetian Army who is convinced by his ensign, Iago (Lučić), that Otello&#8217;s wife, Desdemona (Yoncheva), has been unfaithful.</p>



<p>This was Sher&#8217;s sixth production for the Metropolitan Opera. The production made history by being the first Metropolitan Opera production where the tenor singing the title role was not in blackface (that had been standard practice around the world.)</p>



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<p>Critics were mixed in their reviews of the production, but Yoncheva received universal praise for her performance.</p>



<p>Sunday, June 7 – Massenet’s&nbsp;<strong><em>Thaïs</em></strong></p>



<p>Conducted by Jesús López-Cobos and starring Renée Fleming, Michael Schade and Thomas Hampson.&nbsp;This John Cox production is from the 2007-2008 season.</p>



<p>Jules Massenet&#8217;s <em>Thaïs</em> had its world premiere in Paris in 1894. The libretto is by Louis Gallet based on the novel of the same name by Anatole France.</p>



<p>In this opera the Roman Empire is controlling Egypt. Athanaël (Hampson), a monk, has a lustful obsession with Thaïs (Fleming), which conflicts with his attempts to convert her to Christianity.</p>



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<p>For sopranos who want to sing the title character, this is a great role. Fleming earned rave reviews for her performance this production, which originated at Lyric Opera Chicago in 2002. She and Hampson performed together in <em>Thaïs</em> in Chicago and have recorded the opera.</p>



<p>In his <span style="text-decoration: underline;">New York Times</span> review of this production, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/arts/music/10thai.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Anthony Tomassini wrote (opens in a new tab)">Anthony Tomassini wrote</a>, &#8220;But let’s face it. <em>Thaïs</em> is a diva spectacle, and Ms. Fleming plays it to the hilt. In Scene 2, during a party at Nicias’ well-appointed house, complete with solid-gold decorative palm trees, Athanaël appears, issuing apocalyptic threats to Thais, which Mr. Hampson sings chillingly. The guests ridicule the monk, forcing him to his knees and bedecking him with garlands in tribute to Venus. In the midst of a vocal outpouring, Ms. Fleming climbs a winding staircase just so she can deliver a triumphant high C from the top landing, then scurries back down to face the humiliated monk as the curtain falls.&#8221;</p>



<p>So ends Week 12 at the Met. </p>



<p>Here&#8217;s a sneak peak for Week 13: Marilyn Horne singing Rossini from 1986.</p>



<p>Photo: David Adam Moore, Christian Van Horn, Rod Gilfry, Christine Rice, Audrey Luna and Sir John Tomlinson in <em>The Exterminating Angel</em>. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera)</p>



<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://culturalattache.co/2020/06/01/week-12-at-the-met/">Week 12 at the Met</a> appeared first on <a href="https://culturalattache.co">Cultural Attaché</a>.</p>
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