Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Favorites by Year 2015 👍🏻

This was a very big year for live streaming.  This list is much too long and keeps increasing.  For me it was also the year of  Berg's Lulu.  I'm considering the three Lulus as one item.  I reviewed 53 performances, including 1 audio only, 5 DVDs, 12 HDs, 17 live, 2 movies, and 16 streams.

For another perspective on 2015 see KK Awards.

Favorite Performances




  • L'Orfeo by Monteverdi streamed from London ** This was translated into English, and in spite of that I was completely entranced. This is a great work and needs only a great production to show this.  Live Stream.


  • (AN) Iolanta in HD   **  I was fascinated with the fact that the translation on the screen said one thing while they were actually singing something different.  We saw the Christian version while they were singing the communist libretto which is still performed in Russia.  Anna Netrebko was her usual fabulous self.    Met HD

  • La Donna del Lago in HD **  Not the easiest plot to follow, but glorious singing, especially from Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Florez.  This was one of the best operas of the year.   Met HD
  • Les Troyens at the San Francisco Opera **  Also one of the great operas of this year with Susan Graham and Bryan Hymel.  I preferred ours to the very similar HD from the Met.   Local Live ##20


  • Tannhäuser in HD. **  This starred Eva-Maria Westbroek and Johan Botha and was chosen for the singing.   Met HD
  • (AN) Il Trovatore in HD **  One of the truly great performances of the period covered by this blog.  It was magnificent from everyone, but especially Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.  Anna has now sung this opera just about everywhere, but the version that made it to DVD is a very odd production from Berlin.  Watch this on the Met On Demand.    Met HD  ##20
     
 

  • Lulu trio--Hannigan .  She toe dances for what seems like forever. I've become a Barbara Hannigan fan.  DVD
  • Lulu West Edge live **,  Very very sexy.  And then you realize that Lulu should always be just this sexy.  A transformative experience.   Local Live ##20
  • Lulu Met in HD **  Too busy visually but still another perspective with great musical performances.   Met HD
      • (JK) The Damnation of Faust from the Paris Opera ** One of the great Eurotrash productions of all time.  We who saw the stream missed the snails copulating nonsense that provided the gossip for this production, but Faust as science fiction for me was fun.  Who knew there was an opera about Stephen Hawking?   Live Stream.

      Singer of the Year

       

      The singing prize goes to Joyce DiDonato.  Perhaps I should have picked a Lulu.

      Didn't like


      There were strong odors emanating from the Edgar Allen Poe operas in San Francisco.  

      New to Me Opera

      1. Benjamin's Written on Skin (2012) from a DVD,
      2. Debussy's La Chute de la Maison Usher (2006) was live at SFO. **
      3. Donizetti's Poliuto (1840) streamed from Glyndebourne,
      4. Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) was live at CSUS. **
      5. Getty's Usher House (2015) was live at SFO. **
      6. Hair (1967) musical live at the Music Circus.**
      7. Kaminsky's As One (2014) was live at West Edge, **
      8. Rossini's La Scala di Seta (1812) from a DVD, with Cecilia Bartoli.
      9. Sibelius' Kullervo (1892) from a stream,
      10. Smalls' The Wiz (1974) musical on TV
      11. Tchaikovsky's Iolanta (1892) from the Met in HD, **
      12. Tutino's La Ciociara (2015) was live at SFO. **
      13. Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco (1845) streamed from Milan,
      14. Verdi's Luisa Miller (1849) live from the San Francisco Opera, **
      15. The movie version of Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper (1928) from YouTube
      ##20 top 20 all time
      ** live, live stream or live in HD

      Things recommended to buy


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