All productions can be found at the Metropolitan Opera’s website. Each opera becomes available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT on their respective dates and will remain available for streaming for 23 hours.

Here is the complete list of productions for Week 8 at the Met:

Monday, May 4 – Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro

Conducted by James Levine, starring Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Susanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft, and Sir Bryn Terfel. This production dates back to 1998.

Bernard Holland, reviewing for the New York Times said of this production, directed by Jonathan Miller, “One cannot say enough about the septet ending Act II and the final ensemble of Act IV: episodes in which theater and music merged as they rarely do, and where each player was made exquisitely aware of every other. Mozart operas move on the wheels of their ensembles, and Mr. Miller — with no coups de theatre and many acts of self-effacing care — made them turn.”

Tuesday, May 5 – Thomas’s Hamlet

Conducted by Louis Langrée, starring Marlis Petersen, Jennifer Larmore, Simon Keenlyside, and James Morris. This production took place in 2010.

French composer Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas is not the best known of opera composers. Over a two-year period he wrote the two operas for which he’s best known: Mignon and Hamlet.

Of Hamlet, many critics ultimately found that perhaps Thomas was biting off more than he could chew by taking Shakespeare’s play as the basis for this opera. But George Loomis, writing for The Classical Review said of this production, “…it is safe to say that many who witnessed the premiere of the Metropolitan Opera’s fascinating new production of Hamlet on Tuesday evening found the experience closer to watching the Shakespeare play than they ever thought possible. Thomas may have been audacious in his choice of subject, but he also took his musical-dramatic task seriously.”

Wednesday, May 6 – Saariaho’s  L’Amour de Loin

Conducted by Susanna Mälkki, starring Susanna Phillips, Tamara Mumford, and Eric Owens. This production took place in 2016.

L’amour de Loin tells the story of a troubadour who has a pre-determined idea of what perfect love would be. But he is convinced he will never find it. Once he’s told by a newly-arrived pilgrim that his love does indeed exist, he becomes hopeful. Simultaneously a lovelorn countess is told of a man whose view of love is just what she’s desiring. Can love work between the two?

Kaija Saariaho’s opera, with a libretto by Amin Maalouf, had its world premiere at the Salzburg Festival in August of 2000. This production marked the first opera written by a woman to be staged at the Met since 1903. With Mälkki conducting, it became the first opera written by a woman and conducted bya woman as part of the Met Opera Live broadcasts. At the time, Mälkki was only the fourth woman to conduct performances at the famed opera house.

Thursday, May 7 – R. Strauss’s Capriccio

Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, starring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen, and Peter Rose. This production dates back to 2011.

When Fleming decided to do the role of the Countess in this opera by Strauss in 2011, it was the first time she had performed the full opera at the Met. Anthony Tomassini of the New York Times was impressed. “The role suits her ideally at this stage of her career, and she sang splendidly. The performance over all, sensitively conducted by Andrew Davis and featuring a winning cast, made an excellent case for this Strauss curiosity, his final opera, which had its premiere in Munich in 1942 in the midst of World War II.”

As the Countess, Fleming must make one decision that resonates in a second way. Does she prefer words or music? And by extension, does she prefer the poet or the composer that make up the love triangle in this opera.

Friday, May 8 – Puccini’s La Bohème

Conducted by James Levine, starring Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti. This production took place in 1977.

This 1977 production of Puccini’s beloved opera was actually the first Live at the Met broadcast. That it starred two of the biggest names in opera at the time probably had something to do with La Bohème being the first of what became hundreds of broadcasts. Pavarotti made his Met Opera debut in 1968 in La Bohème.

The inclusion of this particular production is part of the Met Opera’s Viewer’s Choice.

Saturday, May 9 – The Opera House

Rather than show another opera production, the Met Opera is showing this 2017 documentary. It’s a fascinating look at everything it took to build the Met at Lincoln Center in the 1960s. By extension, Susan Froemke’s film also looks at what life was like, both politically and artistically, at the time. Amongst the people contributing to the documentary was soprano Leontyne Price.

May 9th would have been the final performance of the 2019-2020 Met Opera season.

Sunday, May 10 – Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci

Two commonly paired one-act operas from 2015 close out the week in performances: Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Both operas are conducted by Fabio Luisi.

Cavalleria Rusticana stars Eva-Maria Westbroek, Marcelo Álvarez, and George Gagnidze. 

Pagliacci stars Patricia Racette, Marcelo Álvarez, and George Gagnidze.

There was controversy surrounding these two productions when David McVicar’s productions replaced the long-performed productions by Franco Zeffirelli. Alex Ross, writing for The New Yorker made the case for the new productions as a way for the Met Opera to continue to grow and evolve.

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. Pagliacci 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 Cavalleria Rusticana. If you’ve seen either Raging Bull or The Godfather III, you’ll recognize this opera, too.

Those are your choices for Week 8 at the Met. What would you like to see in Week 9 or 10? Let us know.

Photo: Tamara Mumford, Eric Owens and Susanna Phillips in L’Amour de Loin. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy of Met Opera)

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As with all of these streaming operas, they become available at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT at the Met Opera website for 23 hours.

Before we get to this week’s list, you’ll notice that there is not a production scheduled for Saturday. There is a special event we will be covering separately. Look for that.

Monday, April 20 – R. Strauss’s Elektra

Conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, starring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, and Eric Owens.

Of this production, The New York Times‘ Anthony Tomasini said, “…nothing prepared me for the seething intensity, psychological insight and sheer theatrical inventiveness of this production on Thursday night, conducted by the brilliant Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mr. Chéreau’s partner in this venture from the start. A superb cast is headed by the smoldering soprano Nina Stemme in the title role.

Tuesday, April 21 – Puccini’s Tosca

Conducted by Emmanuel Villaume, starring Sonya Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo, and Å½eljko Lučić. 

This 2018 production of Tosca was a troubled one. The two announced stars pulled out of appearing. Two conductors, for very different reasons, also left the production. Yoncheva and Grigolo sang these roles for the first time.

Wednesday, April 22 – Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Conducted by James Levine, starring Anna Netrebko, Kathleen Kim, Ekaterina Gubanova, Joseph Calleja, and Alan Held.

This production was directed by Bartlett Sher, best known for his work directing musicals on Broadway including The Light in the Piazza, My Fair Lady and The King and I.

Thursday, April 23 – Lehar’s The Merry Widow

Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, and Nathan Gunn.

This is another production directed by a Broadway veteran: Susan Stroman. This production of The Merry Widow not only marked her debut at The Met, but Tony Award-winning actress Kelli O’Hara also made hers.

Friday, April 24 – Verdi’s La Traviata

Conducted by Fabio Luisi, starring Natalie Dessay, Matthew Polenzani, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

This production marked the first time Dessay sang the role of Violetta at The Met. Her “achingly real” performance, according to Tommasini was enhanced by the performance of Hvorostovsky as Germont.

Sunday, April 26 – Rossini’s La Cenerentola

Conducted by Fabio Luisi, starring Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez.

When DiDonato appeared in La Cenerentola at the Met it was the last time she would be performing the role after playing Cinderella in this opera for 17 years.

Photo: Renée Fleming in a scene from Lehár’s The Merry Widow. (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy of the Met Opera)

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Here is this week’s line-up. Remember that each opera becomes available at the Metropolitan Opera website beginning at 7:30 PM EDT each and remains available for free streaming for the next 23 hours.

Monday, April 13 – Dvořák’s Rusalka

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Renée Fleming and Piotr Beczała.

Tuesday, April 14 – Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov

Conducted by Valery Gergiev, starring René Pape.

Wednesday, April 15 – Puccini’s La Rondine

Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna.

Thursday, April 16 – Rossini’s Le Comte Ory

Conducted by Maurizio Benini, starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, and Juan Diego Flórez.

Friday, April 17 – Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

Conducted by Patrick Summers starring Patricia Racette, Marcello Giordani, and Dwayne Croft.

Saturday, April 18 – Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczała, and Ambrogio Maestri.

Sunday, April 19 – R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier

Conducted by Sebastian Weigle, starring Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Erin Morley, and Günther Groissböck.

For your fans of some of operas great divas, Week 5 at the Met was tailor-made for you.

Photo: Diana  Damrau, Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez in Le Comte Ory (Photo by Marty Sohl/Courtesy of the Met Opera)

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Here’s the line-up for this week and there are some real gems here. Broadway fans might be interested to know that Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara appears in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte on Sunday, April 12th.

Monday, April 6 – Verdi’s Aida

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, and Aleksandrs Antonenko. 

Tuesday, April 7 – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, starring Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani, and Lucio Gallo. 

Wednesday, April 8 – Verdi’s Falstaff

Conducted by James Levine, starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, and Ambrogio Maestri. 

Thursday, April 9 – Wagner’s Parsifal

Conducted by Daniele Gatti, starring Katarina Dalayman, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, and René Pape.

Friday, April 10 – Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, starring Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo. 

Saturday, April 11 – Donizetti’s Don Pasquale

Conducted by James Levine; starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, and Mariusz Kwiecien.

Sunday, April 12 – Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte

Conducted by David Robertson; starring Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Kelli O’Hara, Ben Bliss, Adam Plachetka, and Christopher Maltman.

With such a great line-up for Week 4 at the Met, what do you think will be part of Week 5?

Photo from Cosi fan tutte by Jonathan Tichler/Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

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Gianni Schicchi is the only comedic opera Puccini wrote. The story, which sounds like many families today, depicts the Donati family who are waiting on Buoso Donati to die so that they will inherit his riches and live the life of luxury they always wanted. When he does, damn the torpedoes.

In Ravel’s opera a young boy, after acting up one too many times, is sent to his room. While there, everything in his room comes to life. They have a message for the little brat about misbehaving.

So what do these operas have in common? Josh Shaw, director and designer, is linking them by having the young boy in L’enfant et les Sortilèges be Gherardino, the youngest of the Donati family. Shaw has stated that characters from Gianni Schicchi will somehow appear in this opera, too.

Joshua Horsch will conduct the three performances that all feature a cast of 16.

Traditional?  No. But is Pacific Opera Project about traditions or creating new ones?

Photo of Gianni Schicchi by (Courtesy of Pacific Opera Project)

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Anne Marie Ketchum, Music Director of The Verdi Chorus, has assembled a program with some of the best known operas of all time.

From Verdi come Otello and Il Trovatore. From Puccini come Turandot and Tosca. From Lehár comes The Merry Widow. (There may not be too much fury in that last opera, but there is plenty of beautiful sound.)

There are three soloists joining this weekend’s programs. Shana Blake Hill – soprano, Alex Boyer – tenor and Malcom MacKenzie – baritone are all guest artists. Laraine Ann Madden is the accompanist.

That this group has lasted this long is a testament to two things:  First and foremost, the passion of Ketchum to keep it not just alive, but thriving. Her tenacity is remarkable. Secondly, they wouldn’t be around this long if they weren’t talented and there wasn’t an audience for what they do.

Opera-goers on the West Side don’t have many options to experience opera and The Verdi Chorus gives them their fix. Perhaps people from other parts of town aren’t as inclined to drive to Santa Monica for a concert. To ignore a talented ensemble because it isn’t geographically desirable is to short-change yourself from some great music.

For tickets to either Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon, go here.

Photo of The Verdi Chorus by Tim Bereth/Courtesy of The Verdi Chorus

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“I do love to experiment,” he told me prior to a rehearsal earlier this week. “But I have a very strict idea of whether the ideas are really prepared. Don’t do the changes just for their ego. Most of the time we’re talking about a beautiful idea or no idea whatsoever.”

He has no such concerns for this production of Puccini’s classic opera. Kosky is best known to Los Angeles audiences for his innovative production of The Magic Flute which used animation extensively. (That production returns to LA Opera in November.)

“I saw The Magic Flute, I think it was in Barcelona. Hearing that production there is nothing that is not possible. I think his plan [with La Bohème] is to do it as simple as possible and more focusing on the characters of those four bohemians. He’s done quite a good job. He really thinks how to make that first act as real as possible.”

This isn’t Pirgu’s first time playing Rodolfo. And each time he does he knows that are plenty of other tenors who have sung the role before him.

“It is quite difficult for a tenor to face that crowd and that role that every famous tenor has sung,” he offers. “It is quite difficult. You just need to find a cue how to read it and do your best and usually it helps when that production, in this case Barrie’s, has a lot of freedom and it varies between the friendship of all four friends so it helps my interpretation and to bring something new.”

Later this year Pirgu will perform the role again in a production originally directed by the late Franco Zeffirelli. That means he’ll be tackling this role with a completely different directorial vision.

“It’s not that difficult,” he says of jumping from one production to another. “The La Boheme in Vienna is big emotion. Sometimes opera singers are quite happy when they arrive on those productions because they are exactly how people think a production should be. I’m happy to be in a classic La Bohème. If you ask me which you do I feel more? They are both beautiful.”

One thing he does find to be distinctly different between American productions and Europe productions is how they get produced in the first place.

“It’s a different mentality and the biggest thing in the United States that has a repertory program is the Metropolitan Opera or Chicago or San Francisco. Other cities have only 3-5 productions and they try to bring the best they can. But in Milan, Berlin, they have ever day a different opera, a different staging and more time to do experiments. In Europe the government pays for the art, in the United States donors pay. It’s a completely different mentality of doing art. The culture in Europe is a bit more common to everyone. Here it is still high class, but not everybody has access because it is not touchable for everyone to go to opera in America.”

Pirgu, who was born in Albania, believes in the passion and power of music. In fact, he’s described himself as an atheist. But also added, “If God exists, he exists in music.” It was an intriguing idea I wanted him to explore more fully.

“i believe in the art I’m doing. When the voice of the singer flew to the orchestra and ear of the public and makes them feel happy and emotion, I think that is something special. If you want to understand what is God, music can say something more about that because it is something we don’t need to believe. We can eat, we can sleep, we can work, but music makes our lives much better. If it is a high level of music you get sick of it, but it is a wonderful sickness.”

One of the tenors we spoke about before the conversation ended was Spanish tenor Alfredo Kraus who once said, “You have to make a choice when you start to sing and decide whether you want to service the music, and be at the top of your art, of if you want to be a very popular tenor.” So which route has Pirgu taken?

“I’ve done the first choice,” he says. “I want to do the best for the music and being on top of that level and forget about popularity. It’s very difficult to be loyal to the music and that’s what I’m trying to do.

“I think music chose me. Music has created how I am. Of course I pay attention to what music says to me, but music has chosen me. This conversation will be very mysterious, but music has chosen me.”

For tickets to La Bohème go here.

For our preview of La Bohème go here .

Main Photo: Saimir Pirgu in La Bohème at LA Opera. All photos by Cory Weaver/Courtesy of Los Angeles Opera

Note: English is not Pirgu’s first language. Rather than clean up what he said to make it sound “correct,” I have chosen to let me speak as he naturally does.

The post Tenor Saimir Pirgu Returns to LA in “La Bohème” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

You might be wondering why yet another production of La Bohème? It is with complete certainty that I can tell you the star attraction here is director Barrie Kosky. His innovative production of The Magic Flute (which makes a return at LA Opera starting November 16th) was first seen by local audiences in 2013 and it seems they cannot get enough. The production also played in 2016.

Like The Magic Flute, this production began its life at Berlin’s Komische Oper. What will Kosky do with La Bohème? The only official hints are references to antique photography as inspiration for the sets and that there will be brightly colored costumes. Reviews of the production from Berlin offer more details like the role of the landlord is reduced to that of a hat and is not sung.  There are hookers of both sexes and that the final aria is not staged traditionally at all.

La Bohème  tells the story of a love affair amongst the poor in Paris. Rodolfo (Saimir Pirgu) is a poet and Mimi (Marina Costa-Jackson) is a seamstress. Like many a great love story, this one does not end happily. The opera served as the inspiration for Jonathan Larson’s musical, Rent.

LA Opera is making a significant investment in its future by casting multiple roles with alumni and current members of their Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. This includes Kihun Yoon as Marcello, Nicholas Brownless as Colline, Erica Petrocelli as Musetta, Michael J. Hawk as Schaunard and Robert Stahley as Parpignol.

James Conlon once again leads the LA Opera Orchestra. Grant Gerson directs the LA Opera Chorus and Fernando Malvar-Ruiz directs the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.

If you can’t make it downtown to see La Bohème, LA Opera will have live simulcasts of the September 28th performance at the Santa Monica Pier and Torrance’s Columbia Regional Park. Both will feature English and Spanish subtitles. These are free screenings, but do require an RSVP.

For tickets go here.

Main Image: Komische Oper Berlin’s 2019  production of La Bohème/photo  by Ikko Freese/Drama_berlin.de.

All images courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera

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Miss Saigon sets the story of a young girl who falls in love with a soldier in Vietnam. Kim (Emily Bautista at most performances; Myra Molloy at others) works for an insidious man at a club named The Engineer (Red Concepcíon). He puts on a “contest” called Miss Saigon with the winner to be the prize for a Marine. One of those Marines, Chris (Anthony Festa) becomes smitten with Kim and after a night of sex (her first time), he offers to bring her to America. When he leaves Vietnam, due to the imminent fall of Saigon, he goes without taking her. She holds out hope that he will one day return for her and honor his promise.

Three years go by and lot has changed for both Chris and Kim. When they are reunited those changes lead to a tragic ending that won’t be revealed here. (Not everyone knows Madama Butterfly – no reason to give it all away.)

The original production opened in London in 1989. It was soon followed by a Broadway production in 1991. In both productions, Lea Salonga played Kim and Jonathan Pryce played The Engineer. They both were awarded the Olivier Award and the Tony Award for their performances. In the 2017 revival, Eva Nobelzada (who is currently in Hadestown) played Kim and Jon Jon Briones played The Engineer.

Musical staging and choreography for this production is by Bob Avian, who collaborated with Michael Bennett on A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls and more. He was the original choreographer of Miss Saigon.

Laurence Connor is the director of this production, as he was of the revival. He was also the director for new productions of Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera.

It should be noted that Michael Mahler is also credited with additional lyrics.

For tickets at the Pantages go here.

Tickets at Segerstrom Hall had not gone at sale at press time.

Main Photo: Anthony Festa & Emily Bautista in “Miss Saigon” (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

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In the opera, an American naval officer (Peter Lake) falls in love with a Japanese girl (Keiko Clark.) They get married and he returns to America. She is desperately in love with him and is pregnant. He continues his life in America until circumstances require he return, with his American wife, to Japan.  If the story sounds familiar, but you’ve never attended the opera, you might have seen it as the foundation for the musical Miss Saigon.

Puccini wrote this opera, with his librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, in Italian. A language neither the American officer nor the Japanese girl would natively sing. Pacific Opera Project has reworked the opera so that the native languages of the characters are being sung. So how do these two communicate their love and troubles to one another?

Shaw has cast Japanese-American artists for all the appropriate roles – including the chorus. The English speaking characters will also sing in English.

This production is co-financed with Houston’s Opera in the Heights where performances begin there on April 26th.

Read our interview with Josh Shaw here.

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