Classical Grammy Nominees for 2022 Plus Winners

BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL

• Archetypes, Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion

• Beethoven: Cello Sonatas – Hope Amid Tears, Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax

• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Manfred Honeck, Mendelssohn Choir Of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

• Chanticleer Sings Christmas, Chanticleer  WINNER
  

• Mahler: Symphony No. 8, ‘Symphony of a Thousand,’ Gustavo Dudamel, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Luke McEndarfer, Robert Istad, Grant Gershon, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus, Pacific Chorale & Los Angeles Philharmonic

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL

• Blanton Alspaugh
• Steven Epstein
• David Frost
• Elaine Martone
• Judith Sherman WINNER
  

BEST ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE

• Adams: My Father Knew Charles Ives; Harmonielehre, Nashville Symphony Orchestra

• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

• Muhly: Throughline, San Francisco Symphony

• Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, Philadelphia Orchestra, cond. Yannick Nézet-Séguin WINNER
  

• Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Scriabin: The Poem Of Ecstasy, Seattle Symphony Orchestra

BEST OPERA RECORDING ALBUM

• "Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle,” Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
• “Glass: Akhnaten,” The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus WINNER
  
• “Janáček: Cunning Little Vixen,” London Symphony Orchestra; London Symphony Chorus & LSO Discovery Voices
• “Little: Soldier Songs,” The Opera Philadelphia Orchestra
• “Poulenc: Dialogues Des Carmélites,” The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus, cond. Yannick Nézet-Séguin

BEST CHORAL PERFORMANCE

• It’s a Long Way, Jonas Budris, Carrie Cheron, Fiona Gillespie, Nathan Hodgson, Helen Karloski, Enrico Lagasca, Megan Roth, Alissa Ruth Suver & Dana Whiteside; Skylark Vocal Ensemble
• Mahler: Symphony No. 8, ‘Symphony of a Thousand,’ Leah Crocetto, Mihoko Fujimura, Ryan McKinny, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Simon O’Neill, Morris Robinson & Tamara Wilson; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus & Pacific Chorale  WINNER
  
• Rising w/ The Crossing, International Contemporary Ensemble & Quicksilver; The Crossing
• Schnittke: Choir Concerto; Three Sacred Hymns; Pärt: Seven Magnificat-antiphons, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
• Sheehan: Liturgy Of Saint John Chrysostom, Michael Hawes, Timothy Parsons & Jason Thoms; The Saint Tikhon Choir
• The Singing Guitar, Estelí Gomez; Austin Guitar Quartet, Douglas Harvey, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet & Texas Guitar Quartet; Conspirare

BEST CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

• Adams, John Luther: Lines Made By Walking, Jack Quartet
• Akiho: Seven Pillars, Sandbox Percussion
• Archetypes, Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion
• Beethoven: Cello Sonatas – Hope Amid Tears, Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax WINNER
  
• Bruits, Imani Winds

BEST CLASSICAL INSTRUMENT SOLO

• “Alone Together,” Jennifer Koh  WINNER
  
• “An American Mosaic,” Simone Dinnerstein
• “Bach: Sonatas & Partitas,” Augustin Hadelich
• “Beethoven & Brahms: Violin Concertos,” The Knights
• “Mak Bach,” Mak Grgić
• “Of Power,” Curtis Stewart

BEST CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM

• Confessions, Laura Strickling; Joy Schreier

• Dreams Of A New Day – Songs By Black Composers, Will Liverman; Paul Sánchez

• Mythologies, Sangeeta Kaur & Hila Plitmann (Virginie D’avezac De Castera, Lili Haydn, Wouter Kellerman, Nadeem Majdalany, Eru Matsumoto & Emilio D. Miler) WINNER
  

• Schubert: Winterreise, Joyce Didonato; Yannick Nézet-Séguin

• Unexpected Shadows, Jamie Barton; Jake Heggie (Matt Haimovitz)

BEST CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM ALBUM

• American Originals – A New World, A New Canon, Agave & Reginald L. Mobley; Geoffrey Silver, producer

• Berg: Violin Concerto; Seven Early Songs & Three Pieces for Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor; Jack Vad, producer

• Cerrone: The Arching Path, Timo Andres & Ian Rosenbaum; Mike Tierney, producer

• Plays, Chick Corea; Chick Corea & Birnie Kirsh, producers

• Women Warriors – The Voices Of Change, Amy Andersson, Conductor; Amy Andersson, Mark Mattson & Lolita Ritmanis, producers  WINNER
  

BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION

• Akiho: Seven Pillars, Andy Akiho, composer (Sandbox Percussion)

• Andriessen: The Only One, Louis Andriessen, composer (Esa-pekka Salonen, Nora Fischer & Los Angeles Philharmonic)

• Assad, Clarice & Sérgio, Connors, Dillon, Martin & Skidmore: Archetypes, Clarice Assad, Sérgio Assad, Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin & David Skidmore, composers (Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion)

• Batiste: Movement 11′, Jon Batiste, composer (Jon Batiste)

• Shaw: Narrow Sea, Caroline Shaw, composer (Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish & Sō Percussion) WINNER

 

Mariusz Kwiecien

 This is about a year old, but apparently I have confused him with Ludovic Tézier who is still singing.

2 October 2020

Polish Baritone Mariusz Kwiecień Announces Retirement from Singing

POLISH BARITONE MARIUSZ KWIECIEŃ, who made his professional debut in 1993 in a Kraków Opera performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and went on to join the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program before making his debut with the company as Kuligin in a 1999 performance of Kát'a Kabanová, has announced his retirement from singing, effective immediately, due to health issues. 

Kwiecień announced to the Polish media that he had sustained a slipped spinal disc in 2017 during a Metropolitan Opera performance of Don Giovanni and subsequently underwent reparative surgery in New York, though the issue was exacerbated following a performance of Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House. The baritone's last performance at the Metropolitan Opera came in November 2018, when he sang Zurga in the first act of a performance of Les Pêcheurs de Perles before being replaced in Act II by Alexander Birch Elliott. Over the course of his career, Kwiecień sang in more than 200 performances at the Met, including new productions of Don Pasquale (2006), Lucia di Lammermoor (opening night of the 2007-08 season), Carmen (2009), L'Elisir d'Amore (opening night, 2012-13 season), Eugene Onegin (opening night of the 2013-14 season) and Les Pêcheurs de Perles (2015). Kwiecien also opened Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2014-15 season in the title role of the Robert Falls's Don Giovanni staging. Other companies at which Kwiecień frequently performed included Covent Garden, Paris Opéra, the Vienna State Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper. With an essentially lyric instrument, Kwiecień made specialties of roles that included Giovanni, Szymanowski's King Roger, Eugene Onegin, Figaro's Almaviva, Don Pasquale's Malatesta, Riccardo in I Puritani and Posa in Don Carlo.

Kwiecień has reportedly accepted the post as artistic director of Wrocław Opera, and will begin his tenure there with the company's 2020-21 season. 

“There are other problems appearing now, and my movements onstage would be quite limited in such a situation. I don’t want that,” Kwiecień told the Polish press. “I have a lot to say about opera these days. I have sufficient background and experience from the greatest opera houses in the world. I have a huge number of wonderful friends, singers, directors and conductors, whom I will be delighted to invite to Wrocław." 

Stephen Sondheim 1930-2021

Stephen Sondheim has died.  I was not a connoisseur.  He was responsible for the lyrics to Bernstein's West Side Story, for me the greatest of all American musicals.  A new movie version of this is coming out on December 10 which I must see.

West Side Story  [lyrics only]

• I loved the original movie of this with Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno.  It was done at the Sacramento Music Circus in 2015 where I saw it live.  I seem to have complained about the production.

Sweeney Todd   Since I began blogging I have seen three different versions of this show.

• In 2008 came the incredible movie starring Johnny Depp as the demon barber,  Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett and Sacha Baron Cohen.  I seem to have enjoyed it rather more than expected.

• In 2014 the New York Philharmonic put on a semi-staged version with an amazing cast:  Bryn Terfel as Todd, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett, Erin Mackey as Johanna and Audra McDonald as The Beggar Woman.  They made this work and made a fantastic group.

• In 2015 the San Francisco Opera presented it as an opera which I saw live.  It didn't fill the seats.  The cast:  Sweeney Todd: Brian Mulligan, Mrs. Lovett: Stephanie Blythe, Johanna: Heidi Stober and Beggar Woman: Elizabeth Futral.  Stephanie is great in anything she does.  I feel like I've done this, but nothing erases the Mrs Lovett of Angela Lansbury.
  

Sunday in the Park with George   I tried to see this in London, but couldn't get a ticket.

• So instead I saw it live on Broadway in 2008.  It set me to thinking about art.
  

Into the Woods It's a mash up of fairy tale stories.

• In 2013 I saw this live presented by the Sacramento Light Opera theater.   I enjoyed it.
  

• Then in 2015 came the movie with Meryl Streep.  I called it an excellent film adaptation.

It is strange to realize that there are no hit tunes from any of these where the music is by Sondheim.  I haven't seen A Little Night Music.

Edita Gruberová (23 December 1946 – 18 October 2021)

 The great coloratura soprano Edita Gruberová has died.  I believe in this performance she was 61.

Cecilia Unreleased

 

This is for Cecilia Bartoli's new album Unreleased.  I've never seen a picture of Cecilia with a dog before.  I received this in my email as a Friend, something I did not know I was.  Smile😍

This CD includes Beethoven's Ah Perfido, also seen on Lise's recent album.  There are also a number of Mozart arias.

Blogging

There is finally a Number 4 in my pantheon of idols.  

First was Italian Cecilia Bartoli who I made myself a complete fool over.  I traveled many times to Europe to see her.  I had a friend to visit in the city where she performed, if that's any excuse.  The last time I flew for her was for Norma in Salzburg.  I gave her I lot of advice which she mostly ignored.  She tried to get me into arguments, but she scared me. I was there only for love.  She seems to have finally forgiven me.  We met accidentally in the aisle of the Salle Playel where she smiled and squeezed my hand.  She is a very special person whom I love and respect.  She has achieved true greatness.  The picture is Cecilia in makeup for Ariodante at Salzburg.

Then came Russian Anna Netrebko whom I traveled only to Los Angeles to see in Manon.  I wanted to be sure I didn't miss it, though it later came out on DVD through a performance of the same production in Germany.  That performance is still my favorite.  My second favorite performance is Il Trovatore with Dmitri at the Met.  She performed many times for us at the San Francisco Opera, making travel unnecessary.  Cecilia and Jonas have sung in California but never on the stage of the San Francisco Opera.  Anna is a Merolini.  We also see her often on the Met live in HD.  I don't recall giving Anna advice.  She is on another level.  The picture is a shot of Anna in the described Manon production.

Third was German Jonas Kaufmann whom I first saw by accident in Fidelio in Zurich when I was visiting to see Cecilia.  I called him "a Florestan to die for."  This is part of the reason I would have liked to see him in Fidelio again.  Over the years I have enjoyed many wonderful performances by him, even if I have only traveled when he was performing in the same city as Cecilia.  One such performance was the magnificent Werther in Paris.  The picture is from the recent Aida from Paris where they have removed his beard and curls.  Perhaps military officers are not allowed beards.  He came to the Bay Area for a concert, but never appeared at the opera.  After many years, I have finally thought of some advice.  He is the gold standard for pronunciation in any of the major singing languages, so no advice there.  His hoch Deutsch is impeccable and beautiful to hear.  I just am not enjoying his current interest in crooning.  Anyone can do that.

You should notice that this is an enormous variety of voices and styles.  I love only the complete performer.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Russian, might be considered a number 4, but I was never required to travel for him.  He came to me in San Francisco and London, and from the Met live in HD.   I loved him but did not embarrass myself over him.  Advising Dmitri on any subject would have been foolish, even more foolish than I have ever been.  He was perfection and greatly missed.

I recently turned 80, a traumatic event.  Suddenly I remembered a song I heard once in Germany.  "Ich moechte noch einmal verliebt sein.  Wie damals, wie siebzehn, im Mai."  "I want once more to fall in love, like then, like 17, in May."  And then suddenly I did.  At this age I didn't think it possible.  The door to my heart lies always through singing.  So we arrive at who must be considered our official Number 4:  Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen.  It is an irrational passion which I would prefer not to humiliate myself over. This may prove impossible.  [Too late?]  I am, after all, quite silly at times.  All my friends say do it.  She demands respect, and I wish always to show her the respect I feel.  Lise seems to be intelligent and well advised.  When she speaks about her art, she shows great understanding.  Her big voice is extraordinarily beautiful.  So far I have seen her on film in Ariadne auf Naxos from Vienna, Fidelio from the Royal Opera, and Tannhäuser from Bayreuth.

This picture comes from Pique Dame at the Met which I wish it was possible to see.  

For the Love of Opera

 

I wrote this in February of 2020, before the pandemic:

"One of the reasons I began blogging was to spend time praising my beloved favorites.  At the time these were Cecilia Bartoli, Anna Netrebko, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.  I quickly added Jonas Kaufmann after a trip to see Cecilia in Zurich.  Dmitri has died, but the other three are still singing, and I still follow their careers.

"All of these lists will be limited to singers active during the life of this blog.  I can also be said to love from early in the blog René Pape, Karita Mattila, Nina Stemme, Maria Guleghina, Susan Graham, Angela Gheorghiu, Elina Garanča, Piotr Beczala, Renée Fleming, Natalie Dessay, and Juan Diego Florez.  This should not be regarded as a complete list.  Forgive me if I have omitted your favorite.  Dessay has retired from opera.

"Newer enthusiasms include Lisette Oropesa, Sondra Radvanovsky, Isabel Leonard,  Christine Goerke, Pretty Yende, Javier Camarena, Anja Harteros, Erin Morley, Lawrence Brownlee, Anita Rachvelishvili, Ludovic Tezier, Luca Pisaroni,and Matthew Polenzani.  It is interesting to me that none of these newer artists have aroused the level of passion experienced from the earlier discoveries. Lisette might manage it, though.  Part of this lessening of passion can be attributed to my advancing age."

One name will be conspicuously missing from this rather too long list.  Only the singers in the first paragraph count as true loves.  So I thought I was too old to experience the true passion for a singer.  None of them have topped this sudden love for the Norwegian soprano, Lise Davidsen.  I was sincere in thinking this was simply not any longer possible.  

It seems to have a personal aspect which the others do not have.  Before appearing on the international opera stage, Lise sang Bach and Lieder, things I also sang.  I feel sympathy for her musical mind.  With Cecilia it was the strangeness and shock of her very individual interpretations which always surprised me.  With Lise it is the familiarity.   Of course, she also has the most exciting voice I've ever heard.

Lise is "an amazing human being" to quote the Screaming Divas.  Love comes to me not from surprise, but from comfort and familiarity.  She reaches the deep corners of my musical soul.   Thank you, dear.

Donald Pippin has Died (1925-2021)

The one and only Donald Pippin has died.  When I was a young person living in the Bay Area I went to see him perform Handel operas at the Spaghetti Factory in North Beach.  His gimmick was to perform the interesting parts with a small orchestra and talk between the numbers to explain what was going on.  His explanations were much funnier than the actual stories.

I even performed in one.  I was in Julius Caesar where I played Tolomeo while Caesar was sung by the magnificent Stephanie Friedman.  Standing on my left, towering over me, was John del Carlo who later sang at the Met.

Donald was much loved.

West Edge Postponed

2021 has arrived and here is the West Edge Opera summer postponed from last year.  The text is the same, but the pictures are new and dates and location are added.

This is the publicity for the 2020 season of West Edge opera:
 Leoš Janáček’s  Katya Kabanova
 Elizabeth Cree, by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell
 Francesco Cavalli’s Eliogabolo

By Michael Zwiebach

August 6, 2019

0 Comments

West Edge Opera’s Mark Streshinsky | Credit: Mark Mayfield

While West Edge Opera has your attention, as their season rolls out, the company has announced next year’s season. No surprise, it’s just as ambitious as this year’s season. The festival opens a week earlier, July 25, 2020, instead of the first week in August and, just as with the current productions, you will have to wait for Artistic Director Mark Streshinsky to do location scouting to discover where the shows will be held, so stay tuned.

 

 

As usual, there is no sign of a top 50 opera anywhere, which is why some of us regard WEO so highly. However, there is a lot of great music in the works: the 2020 festival opens with Leoš Janáček’s brilliant, realistic drama Katya Kabanova with soprano Carrie Hennessy in the title role. This is a show that will challenge the company on a number of levels, but WEO has waded into these waters before, producing Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen in 2016. If they succeed, it will be one of the highlights of the Bay Area’s musical year.   July 24, Aug 1 & 5

 

The contemporary opera that the company always offers will be Elizabeth Cree, by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell, based on a novel by Peter Ackroyd and premiered by Opera Philadelphia in 2017. The opera is the third collaboration by Puts and Campbell, following Silent Night (2012) and The Manchurian Candidate (2015). Despite the fact that the opera is about a grisly murder, it is, the authors insist, darkly comic, and Puts believed it was his best theater work up to that time. His tonal idiom and command of period style should work well in this tale of a music hall singer of the 1890s who is accused of murdering her surgeon husband. July 25, 30 & Aug 7

 

Francesco Cavalli’s Eliogabolo (1667), from the anything-goes Venetian opera houses of the 17th century is the third show of the season. The tale of a perverse and depraved Roman emperor, it almost feels like a modern show (an operatic Caligula, maybe) and in fact it never got its Venetian premiere, but not because it was too risqué. (It was replaced by an opera on the same subject by a different composer.) Maybe it was that Cavalli was too old-fashioned at the time, but in the 21st century, audiences have come around to Cavalli. The show has major productions at Theatre de la Monnaie (Belgium, 2004), the Aspen Festival (2007), Gotham Chamber Opera (NY, 2013), and Paris Opera (2016/17). Not bad for a modern opera. The West Edge production will star countertenor Randall Scotting in the title role, a part he can only hope leaves him clothed most of the time.   July 31, Aug 6 & 8

Michael Zwiebach is the senior editor/ content manager for SFCV. He assigns all articles and content, manages the writing staff and does editing. A member of SFCV from the beginning, Michael holds a Ph.D. in music history from the University of California, Berkeley.

BB.  This will all take place in The Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda in 2021.

Yannick Movie

 

I went to my local theater to see the movie from the Metropolitan Opera called Yannick: An Artist’s Journey, a new documentary from filmmaker Susan Froemke about Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met's new music director.  It shows his life in music throughout his whole life.  His childhood piano teacher is shown.  She's very proud.

I liked it very much.  They never forgot to show his love for music.  They showed a lot of rehearsal scenes, which for me is a joy.  They showed him rehearsing Diana Damrau in La Traviata and the whole cast in The Dialogues of the Carmelites.  This last was particularly enjoyable.  Try to see it.

Addendum.  It went by on the screen very quickly, but Yannick conducted as his Met debut the Carmen I loved so much.

Christa Ludwig (1928-2021)

The great mezzo Christa Ludwig has died.  I have actually blogged about her on numerous occasions.  I see only one listing for her at the San Francisco Opera.  In 1971 she sang Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier to Sena Jurinac's Marschallin.  I think I did not attend.

I love this wonderful picture of Joyce DiDonato and Susan Graham at the Opera News Awards 2014 bowing before Christa.  What a great picture.

I'm going to post some of my favorite films, which I have mostly posted before.  Here she is with Bernstein singing "I am so easily assimilated."

 

And here at last is the perfect performance of Bach's "Erbarme dich" by the great Christa Ludwig.  The tempo and the phrasing are all masterpieces.

I'm trying to cover a lot of ground in these selections.  Here is Christa singing "Nur wer die Sehnsicht kennt" by Tchaikovsky.

My favorite Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde with Leonard Bernstein and the incomparable Christa Ludwig.
Der Einsame im Herbst

 

Von der Schoenheit


Abschied part I

part II

part III

We are currently doing Fidelio in different incarnations.  Here is Christa.



My heart leaps. Doch. Die Liebe wirt's erreichen. This is the most rubato in Beethoven I've ever heard.
She was a very great artist.  Spend some time listening.

New CD from Lise Davidsen

 Update:  It's out.  It's fabulous.  My son called it amazing, like something from a bygone era.

I am dangerously close to becoming a fanzine for Lise.  She announced her new album this morning.  It comes out here in the US at the end of April, and that's a long time.  I love the photo.  She is aiming for greatness and should succeed.

Track List:

1. "Absheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?" from "Fidelio" (Act I No.9)

2. "Ah! Perfido", Scene and Aria for Soprano and Orchestra Op.65 - Recitativo. Allegro con brio

3. "Ah! Perfido", Scene and Aria for Soprano and Orchestra Op.65 - Aria. Adagio

4. "Ah! Perfido", Scene and Aria for Soprano and Orchestra Op.65 - Allegro assai "Ah crudel! crudel!"

5. "Dei tuoi figli la madre"from "Medea" Act I

6. "Voi lo Sapete" from "Cavalleria Rusticana" (Act I; Romanza e Scena)

7. "Pace Pace" from "La Forza Del Destino" (Act IV Sc 2)

8. "Ave Maria, piena di grazia" from "Otello" (Act IV)

9. Wesendonck Lieder, WWV91 - Der Engel

10. Wesendonck Lieder, WWV91 - Stehe Still

11. Wesendonck Lieder, WWV91 - Im Treibaus

12. Wesendonck Lieder, WWV91 - Schmerzen

13. Wesendonck Lieder, WWV91 - Traume 

 

Sample.   I find this truly excellent.

 

Queen of Baroque - Out Today

Note:  I have finally received my copy and listened to about half.  Once again Cecilia displays her greatest talent--the ability to assemble a fabulous program.  Her whole career is shown.  Enjoy.

Amazon says today is the day.

Cecilia Bartoli announces a new CD from Decca:  Queen of Baroque.  It will be released on December 18, 2020.  Pre-order now by clicking below.  It can be delivered in time for Christmas.  It's described as:

A collection of the very best of Bartoli's treasured recordings of musical delights and discoveries of the 17th and 18th century. Featuring two previously unreleased world premiere recordings of forgotten jewels by Leonardo Vinci and Agostino Steffani. With guest appearances from Philippe Jaroussky, June Anderson, Franco Fagioli and Sol Gabetta.  Here is a track list.

Steffani
I trionfi del fato: “E l’honor stella tiranna”*

Vinci
Alessandro nelle Indie: “Quanto Invidio…Chi vive amante”*

Handel
Rinaldo: “Lascia ch’io pianga”

Broschi
Artaserse: “Son Qual Nave”

Pergolesi
Stabat Mater, P. 77: 1. Stabat Mater dolorosa feat. Anderson

Vivaldi
Griselda: Agitata da due venti

Steffani
Niobe, regina di Tebe: “Serena, o mio bel sole… Mia fiamma…” feat. Jaroussky

A. Scarlatti
Il Sedecia, Re di Gerusalemme: “Caldo Sangue”

Handel
Serse: “Ombra mai fu”

Albinoni
Il nascimento dell’Aurora: “Aure andate e baciate” feat. Sol Gabetta

Graun
Adriano In Siria: Deh, tu bel Dio d’amore…Ov’e il mio bene?

Steffani
Stabat Mater: “Eja Mater, fons amoris… Fac, ut ardeat… Sancta Mater… Tui nati, vulnerati” feat. Fagioli, Behle

Caldara
Il Trionfo dell’Innocenza: “Vanne pentita a piangere”

Handel
La Resurrezione (1708), HWV 47: “Disserratevi oh porte d’Averno”

Porpora
Germanico in Germania: Parto ti lascio, o cara

Steffani
I Triondi del fato: “Combatton quest’alma” feat. Jaroussky

Handel
Rinaldo: “Bel piacere”

*Denotes a world premiere recording

And here is a sample.

Cecilia's Grammys

I reposted this because Cecilia has just received a new Grammy nomination, at the bottom of the list. 

1992  Rossini Heroines Classical Vocal Solo Nominee
1992  Rossini Heroines  Classical Album Nominee

1995 · The Impatient Lover Classical Vocal Solo Winner

1996   La Clemenza di Tito Best Opera Recording Nominee

 

1998 · An Italian Songbook Classical Vocal Solo Winner

 

2001 · The Vivaldi Album Classical Vocal Solo Winner

2002 · Gluck Italian Arias Classical Vocal Solo Winner

2005   Opera Proibita Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

2009 · Maria Classical Vocal Solo Nominee
2009 · Maria Classical Album Nominee

2011 · Sacrificium  Classical Vocal Solo Winner
2011 · Sacrificium  Classical Album Nominee

2014 · Mission  Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

2016 · St Petersburg   Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

2016  Giulio Cesare Best Opera Recording Nominee

2021  Farinelli Best Classical Vocal Solo Nominee

According to Google November, 2019, Cecilia Bartoli has sold 12 million records.

News

Donald Runnicles, formerly the musical director of the San Francisco Opera, is now officially Sir Donald Runnicles.  Congratulations.

Erin Wall (4 November 1975 – October 8, 2020)

 

 

 

This is what I wrote about Erin when I first saw her at the Santa Fe Opera in 2007.

"Since she was by far the best singer at Santa Fe, (Daphne in Daphne) I thought it would be nice to know more about Erin Wall. She's from Alberta, Canada, and has competed in the Singer of the World in Cardiff."  The full review is here.

I've seen her in some wonderful things over the years.  My favorite was her Arabella at Santa Fe.  Most recently she sang Donna Anna in San Francisco in 2017.

I enjoyed everything I saw and wish I had seen more.  She has died of cancer.  I feel it is a loss.

Metropolitan Opera in HD for 2021-2022

Disclaimer.  The contents of this list comes from Opera Wire.  I hope it is accurate.

Oct. 9, 2021 – Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky. The opera will be presented in its original 1869 version which appears to have no role for Marina.  This opera was presented at the Met in the longer version in 2010 in the same production which also starred René Pape in one of his greatest roles.

• Production - Stephen Wadsworth
• Conductor - Sebastian Weigle
• René Pape - Boris
• Alexey Markov
• Stanislav Trofimov
• David Butt Philip
• Ain Anger
• Maxim Paster 

 

 Oct. 23, 2021 – Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terence Blanchard, libretto by Kasi Lemmons.  This opera had its premier in 2019 at Opera Theater of St. Louis.

• Production- James Robinson and Camille A. Brown
• Conductor- Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Angel Blue, Destiny/Loneliness/Greta
• Latonia Moore - Billie
• Will Liverman- Charles

 

Dec. 4, 2021 – Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin.  This is a new Orpheus opera having its Met premier.  The world premier was at the LA Opera 2/1/2020 just before everything shut down.

• Production- Mary Zimmerman
• Conductor- Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Erin Morley _ Eurydice
  
• Joshua Hopkins, baritone - Orpheus
  
• Jakub Józef Orliński, countertenor - Orpheus' alter ego. 

 

Jan. 1, 2022 – Cinderella by Massenet is usually called Cendrillon, but will here be presented in an English-language translation. We had this with the same production in French with Joyce DiDonato in 2018.  This is a shorter, more family oriented version.

• Production- Laurent Pelly
  
• Conductor-Emmanuel Villaume 
  
• Isabel Leonard - Cinderella
  
• Jessica Pratt - Fairy Godmother
  
• Emily D’Angelo - Prince Charming
  
• Stephanie Blythe - MMe
• Laurent Naouri - Pandolfe

 

Jan. 29, 2022 – Rigoletto by Verdi.  No more Rat Pack. This is a new production by Bartlett Sher.  I am so pleased we will all get to hear Quinn Kelsey's wonderful version of Rigoletto.

• Production - Bartlett Sher
• Conductor - Daniele Rustioni
• Rosa Feola - Gilda
  
• Piotr Beczala - Duke
• Quinn Kelsey - Rigoletto

 

March 12, 2022 – Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss. This is for Lise Davidsen, of course.  I am very happy with this choice.  When Brandon Jovanovich comes out at the end, we will know he is a god.

• Production - Elijah Moshinsky
• Conductor - Marek Janowski
• Lise Davidsen - Ariadne
  
• Brenda Rae - Zerbinetta
  
• Isabel Leonard -  The Composer
  
• Brandon Jovanovich -  Bacchus
  

 

March 26, 2022 – Don Carlos by Verdi.  Met Opera audiences will get a chance to see Verdi’s famed opera in its original French version for the first time in its history. Elina and Sonya were in a version from Paris in 2017.

• Production - David McVicar
  
• Conductor - Yannick Nézet-Séguin
  
• Elina Garanca - Eboli
  
• Matthew Polenzani - Don Carlos 
• Sonya Yoncheva - Elisabeth
  
• Étienne Dupuis - Rodrigue
  
• Günther Groissböck - Philippe II
  
• John Relyea - Grand Inquisitor

 

May 7, 2022 – Turandot by Puccini.  This is the traditional Zeffirelli production, and Anna Netrebko's Met role debut.

• Production - Franco Zeffirelli
• Conductor - Marco Armiliato
• Turandot - Anna Netrebko
• Calaf - Yonghoon Lee
• Liu - Michelle Bradley

 

May 21, 2022 – Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.  This is a new production, but I loved the old one.  The ghost at the fountain was genius.

• Production - Simon Stone
• Conductor - Riccardo Frizza
• Nadine Sierra - Lucia
  
• Artur Rucinski - Enrico
  
• Javier Camarena -  Edgardo
  
• Matthew Rose -  Raimondo

 

June 4, 2022 – Hamlet by Brett Dean which had its world premier at Glyndebourne in 2017.

• Production - Neil Armfield
  
• Conductor - Nicholas Carter
• Brenda Rae - Ophelia
• Rod Gilfry - Claudius
• Allan Clayton -  Hamlet
• Dame Sarah Connolly -  Gertrude
• Sir John Tomlison - Ghost

Our list includes 3 new operas, and new productions of Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor.  In addition we can count the Met premier of the original French version of Verdi's Don Carlos.  This is pretty interesting stuff.

Things we are missing:

Die Meistersinger with Lise Davidsen and Antonio Pappano.  This is something I would really like to see.  Otto Schenk is their current production.  And Tosca with Sondra Radvanovsky.

 

Metropolitan Opera in HD for 2020-2021 -- Cancelled

More news:  I regret to say the entire 2020-21 Met season has been cancelled.  We await the 2021-22 season announcement.

Jan 16, 2021 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die Zauberflöte.   This is the old Julie Taymor production and will be done in German. 

• Conductor Gustavo Dudamel
• Production Julie Taymor 
• Pamina Christiane Karg 
• Queen of the Night Kathryn Lewek 
• Tamino Stanislas de Barbeyrac 
• Papageno Thomas Oliemans 
• Sprecher Christian Van Horn 
• Sarastro Stephen Milling

Jan 30, 2021 Charles Gounod Roméo et Juliette

• Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Production Bartlett Sher
• Juliette Nadine Sierra, she sang this for us in San Francisco this season.
• Stéphano Julie Boulianne 
• Roméo Stephen Costello  
• Tybalt David Portillo 
• Mercutio Joshua Hopkins 
• Capulet Laurent Naouri 
• Frère Laurent Ildar Abdrazakov 

Mar 27, 2021 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Don Giovanni   This is the old Michael Grandage production with an excellent cast.

• Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Production Michael Grandage
  
• Donna Anna Ailyn Pérez 
• Donna Elvira Isabel Leonard 
• Zerlina Hera Hyesang 
• Don Ottavio Ben Bliss 
• Don Giovanni Peter Mattei 
• Leporello Gerald Finley 
• Masetto Alfred Walker 
• The Commendatore Ryan Speedo Green

Apr 17, 2021 Jake Heggie Dead Man Walking  This is a new production of an opera new to the Met.  It's not new to me since I was at the world premier.

• Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Production Ivo van Hove 
• Sister Rose Latonia Moore 
• Sister Helen Prejean Joyce DiDonato 
• Mrs Patrick De Rocher Susan Graham 
• Joseph De Rocher Etienne Dupuis 

Apr 24, 2021 Richard Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten.  This is a spectacular cast.

• Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Production Herbert Wernicke 
• The Empress Elza van den Heever
• The Dyer's Wife Nina Stemme
• The Nurse Evelyn Herlitzius
• The Emperor Klaus Florian Vogt
• Barak Michael Volle
• The Geisterbote Ryan Speedo Green

May 8, 2021 Giuseppe Verdi Nabucco.  This will be Netrebko's first Abigaille.

• Conductor Marco Armiliato 
• Production Elijah Moshinsky
• Abigaille Anna Netrebko
• Fenena Varduhi Abrahamyan
• Ismaele Najmiddin Mavlyanov
• Nabucco George Gagnidze
• Zaccaria Dmitry Belosselskiy 

May 22, 2021  Vincenzo Bellini Il Pirata.  This is a new opera for me.

• Conductor Maurizio Benini 
• Production John Copley
• Imogene Diana Damrau 
• Gualtiero Javier Camarena
• Goffredo Nicolas Testé 

News

 

 

 I regret to show this announcement:

"Hello friends, I want to share with you that I have tested positive for COVID-19 and am currently in the hospital for medical treatment. I am doing well but also have COVID-related pneumonia, so I need medical supervision. I knew of course there was always going to be a risk that I might get infected. But I don’t regret going back to performing because I strongly believe that we need culture, now as ever. I am expected to make a full recovery thanks to the wonderful care I’m receiving. 
We are very, very grateful that Yusif and Tiago have tested negative for the virus. Yusif has tested positive for antibodies so he is clear to perform, which makes me very happy. Thank you all for the well wishes and continued support."

from Anna Netrebko 

We can only hope for the best.

P.S.  There is news that Anna is singing in hospital.

P.P.S.  Anna was in hospital for her birthday, Sept. 18, but as of this morning, Sept. 23, has been released and is recuperating.

P.P.P.S.  She reports that all is well with her voice, but is bored with nothing to do..

 

Salzburg Whitsun 2021

The program for next year's Whitsun Festival at Salzburg has been announced.  I was sorry to see the homage to Pauline Viardot disappear, but in today's world it's only a small loss.  In 2021 Cecilia Bartoli will celebrate Rome, the city of her birth.

Fri, May 21	7:00 PM	OPERA
		George Frideric Handel
		Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
		Cecilia sings Piacere.
Sat, May 22	11:00 AM	CONCERT
		Orchesterkonzert · Poema Sinfonico
		Conducted by Zubin Mehta
		includes Respighi's  Pini di Roma.
	7:00 PM	OPERA
		Concert performance Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
		La clemenza di Tito
		Cecilia sings Sesto
Sun, May 23	11:00 AM	CONCERT
		Sacred Concert · Dixit Dominus
	7:00 PM	OPERA
		George Frideric Handel
		Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
	8:00 PM	GALA
		Gala dinner
Mon, May 24	11:00 AM	CONCERT
		Alessandro Scarlatti
		Cain, Overo Il Primo Omicidio
	4:00 PM	OPERA
		Concert performance Giacomo Puccini
		Tosca
		Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel