Jonas Kaufmann: "I was sexually harassed"

From Der Tagesspiegel we have:

Jonas Kaufmann: „Ich wurde sexuell belästigt“

Jonas Kaufmann berichtet über sexuelle Nötigung. Am Anfang seiner Karriere wurde ihm ein Konzert angeboten - Bedingung: eine Gegenleistung. 
Jonas Kaufmann reports sexual coercion. At the beginning of his career he was offered a concert - condition: a consideration.

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann ist zu Beginn seiner Karriere sexuell belästigt worden. Auch Männer seien davor nicht gefeit, sagte der 48-Jährige der Mailänder Tageszeitung „Corriere della Sera“ mit Blick auf die MeToo-Debatte. „Ich kenne die Situation gut, als ich jung war, ist es mir auch passiert. Ich stand am Anfang meiner Karriere, als mir ein Manager ein Konzert anbot, eine fantastische Gelegenheit. 
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann was sexually harassed at the beginning of his career. "Even men are not immune to it," said the 48-year-old in the Milanese newspaper Corriere della Sera with a view to the MeToo debate. "I know the situation well, when I was young, it happened to me too. At the beginning of my career, when a manager offered me a concert, it was a fantastic opportunity.

Im Gegenzug hätte ich aber mit ihm in die Sauna gehen müssen. Das war ein sehr expliziter Tausch. Ich hatte Angst und habe Nein gesagt.“ Sexuelle Erpressung sei „grauenhaft“, so Kaufmann. „Man muss den Mut haben, sie aufzudecken.“ Der Klassikstar beklagte aber auch, dass in den USA ein Mann nicht mehr allein mit einer Frau in einem Raum sein könne, ohne dass eine Kamera laufe. „Die Gefahr, der Belästigung beschuldigt zu werden, ist zu groß.“ dpa 
"In return, I would have had to go to the sauna with him. That was a very explicit exchange. I was scared and said no."  Sexual blackmail was "horrible," according to Kaufmann. "You have to have the courage to uncover them."  But the classic star also complained that in the US, a man can no longer be alone with a woman in a room without a camera running. "The danger of being accused of harassment is too great."

The machine translated this just fine.  I adjusted the punctuation.

May before it's over

This is Schumann, of course.  "In the wonderfully beautiful month of May."

George Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence

?, Mortimer, son, Isabel, daughter, ?

George Benjamin | Conductor, Composer
Martin Crimp | Libretto
Katie Mitchell | Stage director

Stéphane Degout: King
Barbara Hannigan: Isabel, King's wife
Gyula Orendt: Gaveston, King's lover/Stranger
Peter Hoare: Mortimer, a courtier
Samuel Boden: Boy/Young King
Jennifer France: Witness 1/Singer 1/Woman 1
Krisztina Szabó: Witness 2/Singer 2/Woman 2
Andri Björn Robertsson: Witness 3/Madman

This is a free live stream from the Royal Opera House in London of George Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence.  It's an historical plot about King Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327) who was deposed in a manner similar to what is shown here.

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Sexiest in Drag

We have a new candidate.

René Pape, of course, as Méphistophélès in the Royal Opera House's Faust.  Would you give up your soul for this?

Singers for the Ring

Shortly The Ring of Richard Wagner will begin at the San Francisco Opera.  These are some of the main singers.

Wotan and The Wanderer: Greer Grimsley.  On a good day he can be fabulous. 

 Alberich: Falk Struckmann*  He was our Iago with Botha and Fleming.


Fricka, Waltraute, and Second Norn:  Jamie Barton.  She was our Adalgisa in Norma with Sondra Radvanovsky.  She will have some quick changes.


Brünnhilde:  Iréne Theorin, our replacement.  She'll do fine.


Sieglinde: Karita Mattila.  She appears frequently at both the Met and in San Francisco.  I've loved her since her fabulous Fidelio.


Siegfried: Daniel Brenna*.  He played Alwa in the Met Lulu.  He comes in toward the end.


Siegmund and Froh:  Brandon Jovanovich.  He was here recently in Meistersinger, but this example is the best I've ever heard him sing.  Perhaps he should change Fach.

The list goes on and on.  Maybe more later.

Whitsun

I have always thought that one of the great secrets of the astounding success of Cecilia Bartoli was her ability to construct a program.  Who knew Vivaldi was this interesting?  So she proves it year after year in Salzburg.

Here is a photo from L’italiana in Algeri this season. Rossini was fascinated by the culture clash between Italian women and moslem culture. Here is this year's program for the whole festival which is going on now.

Here is next year's program which is all about castrati and features five of the top countertenors:  Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic, Yuriy Mynenko, Christophe Dumaux and Franco Fagioli.  The operas are Handel's Alcina and Porpora's Polifemo, as well as an oratorio by Caldara composed for Farinelli called La Morte d'Abel.  Every singer in the genre will be there.

You were wondering if she still had it.

Serenade to Music

I thought to myself while leafing through lists in YouTube of Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music that Bernstein would completely understand this piece.  He understood perfectly the necessity of ecstasy.  The words are Shakespeare, of course.  "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank...."  I think I got it in one.

This new one is also very nice.


Now we can have both.

Bach Orchestral Suites

American Bach Soloists performed all four of Bach's orchestral suites on Monday in Davis in the order IV, II, I, III.  This seems to be their groove.

II was scored as a transverse flute solo which was played by Sandra Miller.  It was rather like a concerto in the form of a suite.  It was gorgeous.

This completed their season.  See you next year.

Lisette Oropesa

Lisette in costume for Gilda at the LA Opera.