“It’s playful, as well as an ideal vehicle for her glorious mezzo voice in which the most fiendish coloratura ornaments and trills sound effortless.”–Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, at guardian.co.uk, about Joyce DiDonato’s new CD Diva, Divo
January 30, 2011
January 24, 2011
January 24, 2011
The people at Welsh National Opera have announced their 2011-2012 season, so they say. One has to do a certain amount of clicking around on their site to glean information, and there does not appear to be any information on the casts. Maybe some people will go to the opera to hear just anybody, but I can’t imagine doing that. If Welsh National Opera can’t announce their season properly, they should not announce it at all, IMHO. A lack of regard for identities of the singers is a lack of regard for the audience.
January 22, 2011
January 22, 2011
“Neither a bad cold nor last-minute changes of accompanist and program could prevent soprano Christine Brewer’s Boston recital debut (Celebrity Series of Boston) from being a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying concert. Brewer obviously has technique to burn — a blazing, clarion voice that she can also scale down to tender intimacy, with commendable diction — along with both stylistic variety and conviction. She can even whistle!”–Lloyd Schwartz, Boston Phoenix, reviewing Christine Brewer’s Boston recital of January 15
January 17, 2011
January 17, 2011
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Christine Brewer’s recital in Boston last Saturday night is reviewed by Sudeep Agarwala for Boston Musical Intelligencer.
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“Due to an acute and persistent upper respiratory tract infection requiring a period of rest, Ian Bostridge has been instructed by his doctors to withdraw from the forthcoming rehearsals and performances of Death in Venice at the Teatro alla Scala, to his enormous regret. The role of Gustav von Ascenbach will be performed by the tenor John Graham-Hall.”–Teatro alla Scala
January 16, 2011
January 16, 2011
The Royal Opera House was unable to raise the safety curtain for a performance of Il Barbiere di Sivigila, reports Intermezzo.
Christine Brewer recital, Boston
I enjoyed very much last night’s recital of Christine Brewer at Jordan Hall in Boston. Craig Terry was the pianist, replacing Craig Rutenberg whose absence was due to an injury, according to an insert in the program booklet. Miss Brewer was suffering from a cold, and mentioned at one point that she had taken a lot of cold medication. She cited the cold as her reason for singing only one encore.
Program:
C.W. Glück
“Divinités du Styx” from Alceste
Wagner
Wesendonck-Lieder (Five Poems for Female Voice)
Der Engel
Stehe Still
Im Treibhaus
Schmerzen
Träume
Richard Strauss
“Ich liebe dich,” from Sechs Lieder, Opus 37, no. 2
“Breit’ über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar,”
from Sechs Lieder, Opus 19, no. 2
“Befreit,” from Fünf Lieder, Opus 39, no. 4
Intermission
Britten
Cabaret Songs
John Carter
Cantata
ECHOES OF NIGHTINGALES:
Sidney Homer
Sing to Me, Sing
Edwin MacArthur
Night
Paul Sargent
Hickory Hill
Frank Bridge
Love went a’riding
Idabelle Firestone
If I Could Tell You
Frank LaForge
Hills
Encore
Merrill: “I came on two buses and a train” from Carnival
Miss Brewer explained that the songs grouped together as “Echoes of Nightingales” are songs associated with, and sometimes sung as encores by, singers such as Helen Traubel, Kirsten Flagstad, Eileen Farrell, and Eleanor Steber.
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“Ultimately, Christine Brewer’s programming and performance made Saturday evening’s recital a success. She was able to dazzle with an awe-inspiring sound and acrobatic subtlety in her voice, and her collaboration with Terry, so clearly focused on interpreting, on understanding the inner psyche of these masterpieces, provided an intimate engagement with the audience, a rare feat.”–Sudeep Agarwala, The Boston Musical Intelligencer
January 12, 2011
January 12, 2011
A previous report that Juan Diego Flórez would sing at Machu Picchu in April 2011 is untrue, says Juan Diego Flórez’s manager, reports an article in Spanish at elcomercio.pe.
January 11, 2011
January 11, 2011
Anne Midgette blogs about last night’s web streaming of the Met’s Tosca with Sondra Radvanovsky and Roberto Alagna
Steve Smith reviews the Met’s Tosca for the New York Times
January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011
Ian Bostridge’s album Three Baroque Tenors is reviewed by Robert Hugill at musicweb-international.com.
January 8, 2011
January 8, 2011
At the Classical Beat one can read an interesting article and comments about the encore showings of the Metropolitan Opera’s HD broadcasts to movie theatres. Individual theatres are responsible for DVR-ing the show for rebroadcast, and the quality can therefore vary from one theatre to another.
