Cecilia Bartoli Announces New Album -- Farinelli -- download now

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She is still singing very well.  Here is a full list of tracks for Farinelli:

1. ‘Nell’Attendere Mio Bene’ from Polifemo by Porpora
2. ‘Vaghi Amori, Grazie Amate’ from La Festa d’Imeneo by Porpora
3. ‘Morte Col Fiero Aspetto’ from Marc’Antonio E Cleopatra by Hasse
4. ‘Lontan… Lusingato Dalla Speme’ from Polifemo by Porpora*
5. ‘Chi Non Sente Al Mio Dolore’ from La Merope by Broschi
6. ‘Come Nave In Ria Tempesta’ from Semiramide Regina Dell’Assiria by Porpora
7. ‘Mancare O Dio Mi Sento’ from Adriano In Siria by Giacomelli
8. ‘Si, Traditor Tu Sei’ from La Merope by Broschi*
9. ‘Questi Al Cor Finora Ignoti’ from La Morte d’Abel by Caldara
10. ‘Signor La Tua Speranza… A Dio Trono, Impero A Dio’ from Marc’Antonio E Cleopatra by Hasse
11. ‘Alto Giove’ from Polifemo by Porpora
*Denotes a world premiere recording

The beard first appeared in her Salzburg performance of Handel's Ariodante.  The castrato Farinelli probably couldn't grow a beard, but never mind.  She is someone I love, and she looks great in her beard.  There's even a short film.  She begins with the Ariodante makeup and then switches to her own hair.



Farinelli was very popular in London during Handel's opera period.



Amazon tells me that I cannot receive my album until January, but in spite of that, I may listen now. I may also download now. The pieces on this album are mostly by Porpora, a wonderful Italian composer of vocal music who has slipped out of the repertoire. It is wonderful that we get to hear him now by way of la Bartoli.

Other composers include Broschi, Farinelli's brother. His first aria is rather low key for this era.

The sweetness and flexibility of her voice is still with us, as is also the complete originality of her interpretations. She loves this music and wants us to love it, too.

The final track, Alto Giove by Porpora, is the most well known of this repertoire and has a different orchestra accompanying it. Il Giardino Armonico led by Giovanni Antonini accompany most of the tracks, but the final one is accompanied by Les Musiciens du Prince with Gianluca Capuano. She must simply have loved this version. I love it too.

This one comes with visuals.



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Don Pasquale from Covent Garden

Director Damiano Michieletto
Conductor Evelino Pidò

Don Pasquale Bryn Terfel
Norina Olga Peretyatko
Ernesto Ioan Hotea
Doctor Malatesta Markus Werba

Occasionally operas from the ROH play in a local movie theater here.  This time we saw Donizetti's Don Pasquale with Bryn and Olga Peretyatko.  This is an excellent role for Bryn.  This is regie, of course.  When Norina receives a message from Ernesto, it is by way of her mobile phone.  Ding.

This opera works pretty well in a modern setting.  She's not an imprisoned woman like in so many other Italian comedies.  Instead it's the young man who is being disinherited for wanting to marry the girl he loves.  In Italian comedies love always will out.  One tires of the young people tricking the nasty old man plot.  One is after all old oneself.

Akhnaten in HD

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Conductor.................Karen Kamensek
Production................Phelim McDermott

Akhnaten................Anthony Roth Costanzo (countertenor)
Nefertiti, his wife.....J'Nai Bridges (contralto)
Queen Tye, his mother...Dísella Lárusdóttir (soprano)
Amenhotep III, ghost of his father....Zachary James (speaking)
Aye, Nefertiti's father............Richard Bernstein (bass)
High Priest of Amon............Aaron Blake (tenor)
General Horemhab........Will Liverman (baritone)

This performance of Akhnaten from the Metropolitan Opera is my seventh opera by Philip Glass, the others being Einstein on the Beach (live), Satyagraha (live), Appomattox (live), The Perfect American, Orphée (live), and Hydrogen Jukebox (live).  Surely this must make me something of an expert.  All around me were experiencing a Glass opera for the first time.

The story is told on three levels.

1. Captions appear on the screen describing what is going on in this scene.  "Coronation of Akhnaten" for example.  
2. There is an English speaking narrator who represents the spirit of Amenhotep III and quotes characters from the opera.  
3. Action by the singers and actors on the stage show the actions.

The narrative method of most operas is missing.  People in conversation telling their own emotions does not happen.  What does happen that I haven't seen before is juggling.  Everyone juggles.  Sometimes a juggler would drop his ball, and at the end they all do.  I was especially pleased to see an Egyptian tomb painting shown in the intermission of women juggling.  So does juggling belong in the list above?

Akhnaten was an idealist, obsessed with the sun, in love with his wife and wishing to separate himself from the politics of his era.  I felt that this music and theatrical presentation represented his life in a profound way that could not have been imagined, at least by me.

There was only one real aria for which text was provided:  The Hymn to the Sun by Akhnaten.  The singing was beautiful if completely abstract.  The costumes were gorgeous and represented the exalted nature of their status in Egypt.

As a Glass expert, I declare this to be his masterpiece.  Here is an excerpt from the "Hymn to the Sun."


 
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Revival of The King and I

Kelli O'Hara as Anna Leonowens
Ken Watanabe as King of Siam
Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang

Directed by Bartlett Sher

From the perspective of 2019 Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I seems very different.  Is this cultural appropriation?  We have cute oriental children, a king that goes barefoot, bowing while curling up on the floor, etc. etc. and so forth.  Who knows what the true reality is? The English conquered the world and never reconsidered their own values. 

The musical is based on the memoirs of Anna Harriette Leonowens which were published after the American civil war, while Uncle Ton's Cabin was still well known.  This novel is a topic in Anna's lessons with the children.  They notice that this contradicts what their father has taught.

Anna does not come as a conqueror.  She is hired to teach the children and receives a salary.  She teaches English ideas.  But that is why the king has hired her.  He wants to find a place in this world filled with European conquerors.  He wants to appear to them to be civilized, perhaps realizing that they are filled with cultural prejudices.  It's best to just go with it.

Kelli O'Hara projects the classy but not too classy tone of Anna.  She sings sweetly and does a nice waltz [oops--polka].  I wasn't too sure about Ken Watanabe at first, but he won me over.  Tuptim's lover was a beautiful young man who was not that great as a singer.  Ken sang the king's songs resulting in melodies I don't think I've ever really heard before. 

It ran on television.  It's worth a look.

Authentic Die Fledermaus

Orlofsky and Adele

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Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus comes from the Wiener Staatsoper and streams on OperaVision. Catch it while you can.

Conductor Franz Welser-Möst
Director Otto Schenk

Gabriel von Eisenstein Kurt Streit
Rosalinde Michaela Kaune
Frank Alfred Šramek
Prinz Orlofsky Zoryana
Kushpler Alfred Rainer Trost
Dr. Falke Markus Eiche
Dr. Blind Peter Simonischek
Adele Daniela Fally

This is as authentic a production of this the most famous of German operettas that you are likely to see, both theatrically and musically.   This is the most I have liked Franz Welser-Möst.  Of course, the orchestra he is conducting could play this in their sleep, but nevertheless it was stylistically quite wonderful.

The cast were all unfamiliar to me but were filled with joy and great comic intensity.  Who wouldn't want to go to a party where everyone was having this much fun.  Es lebe Champaigne der Erste.  We get all the old jokes.  The Viennese understand this better than anyone else.

Salzburg 2020 Reduced (see summer festivals)

The Salzburg Festival of 2020 has been announced.  This year is the 100 anniversary of the festival, so there will be much celebrating.



OPER

• Richard Strauss ELEKTRA


• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart DON GIOVANNI


• Giacomo Puccini TOSCA (Netrebko, Eyvazov, Tézier)


• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE


• Luigi Nono INTOLLERANZA 1960


• Gaetano Donizetti DON PASQUALE (Cecilia Bartoli)


• Modest Mussorgski BORIS GODUNOW (Ildar Abdrazakov) 


• Giuseppe Verdi I VESPRI SICILIANI (Plácido Domingo)


• Morton Feldman NEITHER


• Händel / Mozart DER MESSIAS (Mozart's arrangement of Handel's Messiah orchestrated for an orchestra of his time and translated into German.  The San Francisco Symphony performed this when I was in the chorus.  At Salzburg it will be staged.)

There will be a distinguished selection of plays in German.

KONZERT

• OUVERTURE SPIRITUELLE Pax (Britten War Requiem begins a series of concerts.)


• WIENER PHILHARMONIKER (Five concerts, including Wesendonck Lieder w. Garanca).


• ORCHESTER ZU GAST


• BEETHOVEN-ZYKLUS (8 concerts of piano sonatas.)


• Still life — Zeit mit FELDMAN


• MOMENTS MUSICAUX (5 concerts with surprise contents)


• KAMMERKONZERTE (7 concerts, 3 Beethoven)


• LIEDERABENDE (Christian Gerhaher, Matthias Goerne, Benjamin Bernheim, Sonya Yoncheva)


• SOLISTENKONZERTE (11 distinguished concerts.)


• KIRCHENKONZERT


• MOZART-MATINEEN MOZARTEUMORCHESTER (5 concerts)


• CAMERATA SALZBURG


• HERBERT VON KARAJAN YOUNG CONDUCTORS AWARD


• YOUNG SINGERS PROJECT


• SONDERKONZERTE

Time to completely overdo.  This is the festival to top all festivals, even their own.  They are proud to proclaim the presence of Placido Domingo.

Mozart at the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera

Our conductor for this all Mozart program was Michael Christie.  In our all Mozart program at the
Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera I didn't notice that he used a baton.  He has won a Grammy.  This concert took place in Fremont Presbyterian and was split into two concerts. 

The program began with Mozart's Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter."  The program did not list the movements, as I believe is still traditional.  I admit that Mozart's symphonies are more standardized than other composers, but I still like seeing the movements.  This was good but not thrilling.  Mr. Christie's tempos are a bit fast IMHO.

We were treated to semi-staged opera scenes from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro.   These were remarkably well coordinated since neither the conductor nor the singers could see one another.  The following cast listings are made up by me, since nothing in the program lists these.

Ellie Dehn, soprano -- Despina in Cosi, Susanna in Nozze.
Jana McIntyre, soprano -- Fiordili in Cosi, Marcellina in Nozze.
Julie Miller, mezzo-soprano -- Dorabella, in Cosi, Countess in Nozze.
Michael Day, tenor -- Ferrando in Cosi, Basilio in Nozze.
Benjamin Taylor, baritone -- Guglielmo in Cosi, Count Almaviva in Nozze.
James Hayden, bass-baritone --     ,  Figaro in Nozze.
Scott Levin, bass-baritone -- Don Alfonso in Cosi, Gardener in Nozze.

The singers all wore standard concert attire except Doctor Despina.

Act I Finale to Cosi fan tutte begins when the two lovers in their disguises pretend to take poison.  Robitussin is Doctor Despina's cure.  The supertitles were loosely translated for laughs. 

Act II Finale to Le nozze di Figaro begins just before Susanna steps out of the Countess's wardrobe instead of the expected Cherubino.  This is an excellent place to begin since you cannot have a Cherubino without a costume of some kind.

These are two of Mozart's magnificent ensemble scenes in opera.  He comes in an era when most opera consisted of a series of arias with perhaps a duet here or there.  Amazing ensembles are a treat, and these were beautifully sung with a real sense of ensemble.  The two sisters in Cosi were especially beautiful together.

Marin Alsop to Vienna

Marin Alsop who has been conducting in Baltimore since I lived in Maryland, is off to Vienna to conduct The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.  She is the first female conductor for this orchestra.  Good luck.

Watch List

Kálmán - Gräfin Mariza:



Prokofiev - The Love For Three Oranges:



Offenbach - la grande duchesse du Gerolstein:



Douglas J. Cuomo -Doubt:

#MoD

I have introduced a new label:  #MoD.  This is short for Metropolitan Opera on Demand.  Please select it from the filters list to read reviews of HD transmissions from the Met.  Met on Demand has both audio and video files.  I have focused almost entirely on the video files.