#gerald finley

Mostly Mezzo Mondays: a recurring (though not weekly) feature where, on Monday nights, I blog a list of the upcoming broadcasts that have caught my eye on World Concert Hall. My interests: baroque vocal music, art song recitals, and a list of favorite singers.

• Sandrine Piau is among the soloists for a performance of Jommelli’s Requiem recorded late last year. (The same team can be heard in the previous day’s performance on YouTube.) Deferred broadcast Tuesday, August 11 on WDR 3.
• Sarah Connollysingsa recital of works by Debussy, Schoenberg, Eisler, Zemlinsky, Poulenc, Strauss, and Korngold, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau. Re-broadcast Wednesday, August 12 on BBC Radio 3.* 
• Sarah Connolly sings the role of Dido in a performance of Purcell’sDido and Aeneas recorded at the 2003 Proms. Other notables in the cast include Christopher Purves as Aeneas and Carolyn Sampson as Belinda. Archival broadcast Thursday, August 13 on BBC Radio 3.*
• Alice Coote is among the soloists for a performance of Mahler’sDes Knaben Wunderhorn conducted by Herreweghe in 2010. Second part of an archival broadcast program Saturday, August 15 on NPO Radio 4.
• Susan Graham sings the Composer in a production of Strauss’sAriadne auf Naxos recorded at the Houston Grand Opera in 2011; Christine GoerkeandLaura Claycomb are among her co-stars. Archival broadcast Saturday, August 15 on HPM Classical.
• Katherine Watson sings a small selection of Handel arias as part of a baroque concert with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment recorded in 2018. Deferred broadcast Saturday, August 15 on Radio Clásica.
• As part of its free online streaming program this summer, Glyndebourne will be showing the 2017 world premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet. The show stars, among others, Allan Clayton(Hamlet), Sarah Connolly(Gertrude),Rod Gilfry(Claudius),Barbara Hannigan (Ophelia), and John Tomlinson (Ghost, Player King, and Gravedigger). I had the pleasure of seeing this production live; I was there for Connolly’s Gertrude (“on excellent form, all tiaras and condescension and cracking veneer” as one reviewer put it), but Clayton’s outstanding performance in the marathon title role blew me away, and Hannigan’s live-wire Ophelia was quite memorable, too. Video stream Sunday, August 16 on the Glyndebourne website; should remain available for a week. (Looks like this will be geoblocked in France and Japan.)
• I don’t have a particular favorite to call out, but the cast of this Saulfrom the 2003 Proms is strong all around: Neal Davies, Andreas Scholl, Deborah York, Susan Gritton, Mark Padmore, Paul Agnew, andJonathan Lemalu. Archival broadcast Sunday, August 16 on BBC Radio 3.
• Beethoven’s Ninth is arguably just the thing to lift our mid-pandemic spirits, although the fact that it is being performed live in Salzburg while live performance of large-scale classical works remains ethically impossible in my own country (due to horrendously inadequate responses to the public health crisis on the part of both the leadership and the public) makes me feel just a little bit bitter about putting it on this list. The names of vocal soloists Marianne CrebassaandGerald Finley caught my eye; I can’t say I am as familiar with the work of Asmik GrigorianandSaimir Pirgu, but I trust they’re up to snuff. Deferred (only by three days) video stream on Arte Concert. (May be geoblocked.)

* The two broadcast marked with asterisks are not featured on World Concert Hall; these links go directly to the BBC Radio 3 site.