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.
Delphine Galou sings a handful of baroque works as part of a concert with the Accademia Bizantina. Video stream from Bayreuth Baroque, Tuesday, September 8.
Susan Graham sings the title role (!) in a 2006 live recording of L’incoronazione di Poppea from the Houston Grand Opera; Frederica von Stade sings Ottavia. The role of Nerone, I regret to report, is assigned to a tenor. Archival broadcast Saturday, September 12 on HPM Classical.
Vivica Genaux sings a few Hasse arias as part of a concert with the Lauten Compagney. Video stream from Bayreuth Baroque, Saturday, September 12.
Christian Gerhaher and his regular collaborator Gerold Huber open the Wigmore Hall’s autumn season of socially distanced and video livestreamed performances with a recital of works by Schubert and Berg. Livestream from Wigmore Hall, Sunday, September 13.
Romina Basso and the ensemble Latinitas Nostra perform a concert of baroque works (including one by Barbara Strozzi). Video stream from Bayreuth Baroque, Sunday, September 13.
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.
Susan Graham sings the title role in a 2002 archival recording of Handel’sAriodante at the Houston Grand Opera. Her co-stars include Alexandra Coku, Sally Burgess,andChristine Brandes. This is a radio broadcast, but the internet can supply you with some visuals for the well-traveled David Alden production. Christopher Hogwood conducts. Saturday, September 5 on HPM Classical.
Vivica Genauxsingsa selection of Italian baroque arias with the Orchestra of the Antipodes, conducted by Erin Helyard. Recorded live in 2018; rebroadcast Sunday, September 6 on ABC Classic. (Note that the midday Australian broadcast time will fall in the wee hours in Europe and on the evening of the 5th in the Americas.)
Vivica Genaux sings in a performance of Hasse’s Artaserse, also recorded live in 2018 with the Orchestra of the Antipodes and scheduled for re-broadcast on the same day. Genaux’s co-stars are David Hansen, Carlo Vistoli, Emily Edmonds, Andrew Gooodwin,andRussell Harcourt. Erin Helyard conducts. Re-broadcast Sunday, September 6 on ABC Classic. (The evening timing of this broadcast in Australia places it in the morning for European listeners and in the middle of the night for those in the Americas.)
I’ve been mostly sitting out the pandemic-era opera streaming boom when my favorite mezzo isn’t involved, but some of these offerings from Bayreuth Baroque are catching my eye.
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 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.
It’s Zerbinetta and Komponist (the Composer) in Strauss’s opera Ariadne auf Naxos. He’s written a serious opera, she heads up a commedia dell’arte troupe, and they unexpectedly have to perform their acts at the same time. He’s young, passionate, self-important– and absolutely livid. She’s game, she’s an improviser by trade, but he won’t agree with it and she knows she has to do something.
Here’s where the dynamic can go one of two ways. She can manipulate him by seducing him and becoming exactly the kind of woman he’d want. Or she finds herself drawn to him, and in a few short minutes is honestly telling him that underneath all of her coquetry and good humor, she’s really lonely. She wants a real connection.
The latter interpretation is always the more interesting one. And this performance, with Natalie Dessay as Zerbinetta and Susanne Mentzer as Komponist, is very clearly making the choice that there’s something real between them.
And yes, Komponist is a trouser role. But of all the trouser roles I can think of, this is one where you can change the character’s gender and have the story be essentially the same (but obviously with different nuances and complexities). There are already productions that are full on presenting Komponist as a woman.
Anyway, whatever gender you like, I love them so much.
I’ve been spending the lockdown watching operas! I haven’t talked about my love for opera on Tumblr before and I’d really like to start doing that more! I’ve loved opera since I was 9 and I’ve been taking professional voice lessons to sing classical art song (since 14) & then also opera (since 17) (not pursuing music as a career though, more for personal joy). I’m a soprano but I also sing some mezzo material. So here’s a list of the 8.5 opera streams I’ve seen up to May 21! 1 (tie) Met La fille du regiment w/ Natalie Dessay & Juan Diego Florez: AH. AH. AH. My absolute favorite romance. The love between Marie (the canteen girl/mascot of a French regiment) & Tonio (young man from the other side) is so wholesome and good, and Natalie & Juan just have wonderful chemistry together. I was invested in their story from beginning to end. Definitely one of two of the most hilarious operas I’ve ever seen. I was practically dying of laughter from the interactions between Marie & her main father figure Sulpice to the music lesson scene. My heart broke when Marie was forced to leave the regiment BUT HAPPY ENDING DID HAPPEN YES YES YES. I loved how Natalie portrayed Marie as a “tomboy.” Natalie as Marie gives me a lot of gender euphoria feelings for my non-binary soul; her freedom in her army outfit & her discomfort in her dress really got me. Most importantly, this is the opera where I heard Juan for the first time. I’m in love w/ his voice. It was how he sang Tonio’s “Pour me rapprocher de Marie” aria where he pours out all his love for Marie that did it for me. I was totally transported by his voice. When he hit the high C sharp at the end, I felt my breath leave my body for a moment and I was suspended in time for a brief moment & all there was in the world was the bliss of that note. & when the note ended, I came back to my body w/ a lasting sense of awe. It’s so hard to discover such a moment & I did.
1 (tie) Met Le Comte Ory w/ Florez, Diana Damrau, & Joyce DiDonato: The other most hilarious opera I’ve ever seen. OH MY FUCKING GOD I WAS ABSOLUTELY LOSING IT. By far the most wild experience watching opera I’ve had. I actually really liked that there wasn’t much plot b/c I could focus on the hilarity & music. Diana looked like a queen in all of her dresses & I may have loudly sighed “DIANA!” for the whole house to hear when she hit her first high E flat. My friends & I also screamed Joyce’s name a few times whenever she did an amazing run. God they’re the best trio. Juan playing Ory in disguise as a nun killed me. THE THREESOME SCENE MY GOD. My jaw was on the floor. I bet I could watch a million times & the joy of watching it would never get old. 2 Met La Cenerentola w/ DiDonato, Florez, Luca Pisaroni, Alessandro Corbelli, & Pietro Spagnoli: Officially my favorite version of the Cinderella story. I enjoyed the plot of Don Ramiro (the prince) & Dandini (the valet) switching identities & getting to be in on it. I wish there were way more women though. I could listen to Joyce do the coloratura runs in Angelina/Cenerentola’s final aria for days. Angelina just deserves the world & the portrayal of her as an abuse survivor felt very real to me. While scenes exploring that were at times difficult to watch, I appreciated seeing a production that to me actually addressed that part of the Cinderella story that I haven’t seen in other depictions of Cinderella so far. I’m intrigued by Angelina’s decision to forgive her abusive family b/c I’d struggle w/ that if I was in her position & I love that she makes her own choice. My fave aspect of La Cenerentola was that Ramiro was a fully fledged passionate character. I could write a whole post about him about the way he eschews social norms in some ways & how this makes him & Angelina’s love a more equal relationship. Ramiro throwing a chair at Angelina’s abusive family in rage over how they treated her made me feel a lot. Love this opera so much. 3 Met Un Ballo in Maschera w/ Marcelo Alvarez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sondra Radvanovsky, & Kathleen Kim: ALL THE MUSIC IN THIS JUST WOW. Dmitri & Sondra both took my breath away w/ their voices in their duet. I was in awe of Sondra’s sound during her big aria. W/ Dmitri especially I just adored his vocal color & the way he completely embodied Renato in such a heart shattering way that I felt so much for Renato even when I was angry at him. Kim as Oscar is officially my 2nd fave trouser role (next to Le Comte Ory’s Isolier); Oscar was so adorable. I enjoyed watching Alvarez’s infectious overconfident energy as Riccardo & then his character development in the final act. 4 Met Werther w/ Jonas Kaufmann, Sophie Koch, & Lisette Oropesa: Most visually stunning opera production I’ve seen so far. A review I read described this production as more Charlotte’s story than Werther’s story, & I really loved how that centered Charlotte’s perspective. I really like that the opera allows characters’ actions & intentions to be ambiguous & open to interpretation. However, I do feel that the production didn’t explore enough certain aspects of Werther’s character such as his yearning for family. Jonas & Sophie have incredible chemistry & I could feel the tension every moment of their scenes. I must give a special mention to Jonas being incredible at singing soft. YES. & he’s a wonderful actor. 5 Zurich Werther w/ Florez & Anna Stephany: Very different production & I’d say it emphasizes Werther’s story. My absolute favorite thing about this production was that it centered how Werther’s search for love w/ Charlotte is also very much a search for the family he may not had experienced before. In that way, Werther singing “O Nature” looking at Charlotte’s family instead of literal nature made so much sense to me. While I think that some of the production’s concepts could’ve been executed better, the production’s attention to family as a theme & Juan’s portrayal of Werther were wonderful. I won’t compare Juan & Jonas’ vocals to each other b/c their voices are completely different from each other in terms of tenor voice type & thus what they each bring to Werther vocally is so different. I love both of them as Werther very much. Juan brings a lot of fiery passion to Werther that is intense & amazing to experience. 6 Met L’Elisir D’Amore w/ Matthew Polenzani, Pretty Yende, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, & Davide Luciano: While not my favorite opera comedy, there were many funny scenes. Ildebrando as Dulcamara & Pretty as Adina were my favorites vocally & dramatically. I was very gay for Adina in her dress & top hat combo. I especially love that she still wore the top hat while in her wedding dress! Matthew was a great fit for Nemorino & the way he sung on “Una furtiva lagrima” was beautiful. 7 Met Macbeth w/ Anna Netrebko, Zeljko Lucic, Rene Pape, & Joseph Calleja: This was very good, but I personally didn’t feel emotionally connected to the action & characters. I love how Lady Macbeth is centered & Anna is a good actor. Rene as Banquo was my absolute favorite in this. OH GOD I LOVE HIM. MY FAVORITE BASS. I am in love w/ his vocal color & that he can sing w/ great power but also heartbreakingly soft. AH RENE. 8 1st hour & a half Met Idomeneo w/ Polenzani, Alice Coote, Nadine Sierra, & Elza van den Heever: I really wanted to like this one, especially as I’ve sung Mozart before plus I’d heard that Matthew is great in Mozart. Matthew & Elza were my favorites and I could not take my eyes off of them when they were on stage. Matthew as Idomeneo is absolutely up there among the best acting I’ve seen in opera. Elza as Elettra was incredible vocally & dramatically & I loved her chaos. Personally, I could only get the 1st hour & a half b/c the plot for me needed more forward momentum & this is mainly a production staging & libretto issue. So that’s the operas I’ve watched so far! Thank you for reading & I look forward to watching more!
The absolute best opera duet in my opinion, the one duet that lives rent free in my mind, is the Fly Duet from Orphee aux enfers by Offenbach. Everyone on opera tumblr has been sleeping on this duet & my mission is to change that forever. The opera is Roman mythology satire. Jupiter & Eurydice have a love duet. Jupiter is disguised as a fly the whole time. Video stars Natalie Dessay and Laurent Naouri having the time of their lives. You’ll thank me later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY2L3ute5iY
Now for everyone else: 1: Can I include the entirety of Bluebeard’s Castle since the whole opera is two characters singing together? Even though the opera doesn’t follow traditional structures in any way? I’m deciding yes b/c you all need to watch & listen to Bluebeard’s Castle. 2: Parigi o cara from La Traviata 3: Depuis l’instant ou, dans mes bras from La fille du regiment 4: Don Pasquale & Malatesta’s patter duet from Don Pasquale 5: Ah! quel respect, Madame from Le Comte Ory 6: Son nata lagrimar from Giulio Cesare 7: Dio, che nell’alma infondere from Don Carlos 8: Can’t find the name but the love duet Ottone & Poppea have in Act 3 right after Poppea gets Nero in trouble w/ Claudio from Agrippina 9: Final Scene of Werther 10: Zitto zitto piano piano from La Cenerentola
A few days ago, I watched the chamber opera adaptation (written in 2008) of No Exit by Andy Vores. The opera comes from the famous philosophical play of the same name by Jean-Paul Sartre. Plot: Three people (Estelle, Garcin, & Inez) have died & are put in one room in Hell. The door is locked and there are no reflective surfaces–they can only see themselves through the eyes of the other people in the room. Estelle, Garcin, & Inez are trying to figure out why they are in this room in Hell together. They realize that Hell is them emotionally torturing each other in this one room forever. Music: This definitely is a minimalist opera musically with influences from Expressionist music, which I really love and is the PERFECT type of music for this type of plot. I also really liked that the composer also made dreamlike sounding music whenever the characters slipped into their memories of when they were alive. All of the singers in the production were excellent, especially the singer who portrayed Inez. Even though the production I watched didn’t have subtitles, the English diction was so clear from every singer that the lack of subtitles wasn’t much of an issue, & the full libretto is easily available online. Visuals: The music, the plot, and the visuals are inseparably tied together. The singers faced the audience the whole time while behind them was a projection of their faces. The projections came from a camera held from the audience by a fourth character, The Valet. Those choices really accented what it means to only be viewed through the eyes of other people. Is there representation of characters w/ marginalized identities?: Yes. Inez is lesbian and her attraction to Estelle is very important to the plot of No Exit. I need to be clear that ALL of the characters are in this one room in Hell for harm done when they were alive. The characters are meant to be complex representations of humanity that shows a lot of dark sides, not paragons of positive representation. There are moments where you empathize w/ her as well as feel frustrated w/ her AND she isn’t portrayed as worse or better than Estelle & Garcin, and Garcin & Estelle aren’t portrayed as worse or better than her either. Positive representation and complex darker representation (w/o falling into villain tropes) are both important. Rating: 9/10, if you are interested in watching this opera, message me & I’ll send you the link to the opera & libretto~
Anyway everyone in the tags of that pot whos like ’omg an opera person?’ or ’someone talking about opera on this site i’m so happy!!!’ Join opera tag club NOW Right NOW and you will CONSTANTLY be surrounded by OPERA. and follow me so we can be friends :)
ballet is so funny bc they will be like ”oh the ballerina is retiring… this is her farewell before she goes off to greener pastures to spend the rest of her days… she has worked a long career and has earned her rest…” and she will be like 31 and opera is so funny bc they will be like ”hes a promising young bass!!! just starting out all wide eyed and bushy tailed!! we’re excited to see where his career will go” and he will be like 47
the funniest thing about this post is the amount of people coming in to either tell me a) why this is or b) that this is an oversimplification and that the standards on women (esp sopranos) in opera are Way harsher. like… i am aware of both things… its almost like this is the field i’m going to be spending my career in, or something…
ppl who hate massenet operas are sooooo funny like no i dont think massenet operas are like Absolute Mindbendingly Revolutionary but like. theyre just… nice
big blockbuster movies arent allowed to just be nice and thats all but operas are and the reason is 1) operas arent marvel movies 2) opera might just be the media ever so like its totally fine. also because don quixote gay love story continues to be the funniesg thing in the world to me
ppl who hate massenet operas are sooooo funny like no i dont think massenet operas are like Absolute Mindbendingly Revolutionary but like. theyre just… nice
