Stop Press!!! The Met rescheduled this week; if you planned your week from this blog before Tuesday, please check the dates below. I've updated all to our time on the new schedule.
The change is because they are running Force of Destiny for 48 hours, so all operas after that are one day ahead of my previous posting.
Why the reschedule? Met says it's their (very last minute) celebration of 'Juneteenth', the US holiday on 19 June for Emancipation Day (otherwise known as Freedom Day , Jubilee Day, Cel-Liberation Day or the Black Fourth of July). Well, Verdi's plot about curses, revenge, greed and murder among the Spanish nobles is not very relevant to the emancipation of US slaves or the current protests. There's a timeline link - Force of Destiny premiered (in St Petersburg) in 1862; the post Civil War 'Emancipation' proclamation of the next year - 1863 - wasn't declared in Texas till 2 years later in 1865 - and it's that date that's celebrated by the Juneteenth holiday .
But I guess the Met's statement is that Leontyne Price is not only black but was the Met's first black diva. More about her career in our blog a few weeks back. - Lyn
The opera of the week award - and discussion topic for our Opera Group - still belongs to Puccini, as his triptych, Il Tritico, screens from Covent Garden through to late June. Read all about it on our blog last week. These three one hour operas were his last - each brief, gritty, offering some exquisite music and demanding extraordinary acting ability from those singing it. ROH has provided all this in these productions. If you're feeling down, pass on the first two - Puccini is powerful in verismo mode on poverty, loneliness and the cruelty of religious morality.
Then, it's on to the Met's offerings, and this week they reach from baroque beauty to minimalist challenges - Handel to Glass. Between, there are two Rossini operas and a taste of Gluck and Verdi.
The challenge of Philip Glass is encapsulated here in a BBC bouquet. For us this week the challenge is offered in two of his trilogy of operas about great thinkers. (We miss out on Einstein.) And the challenge is met by the Met with two extraordinarily innovative productions.
Here's the diary of events. (Dates Melbourne time)
First, travel back to baroque. We’ve had little Handel in this rich stretch of free livestreaming, and on Monday the Met makes up for this. We’ve also had little Rossini – two coming up this week.
Monday, June 15
Handel’s Rodelinda With ‘a typically tangled web of plotlines and characteristic combination of gorgeous lyricism and scintillating vocal fireworks, Rodelinda is Handel opera at its finest.’ The opera premiered in 1725 and has long been regarded as one of Handel's greatest works. This performance was 2011, with Renée Fleming as the seventh-century Queen of Lombardy and the production was much praised, partly for the male voices - it stars the brilliant counter tenors Andreas Scholl as her husband and Iestyn Davis as his friend.
Wanting background on Handel? Here's our 2017 meeting with him. And if you missed the opera, but want a taste of the glorious singing, here's Fleming and Scholl in the extraordinary aria 'Io t’abbracio' - Handel glorying in the combination of soprano and countertenor. There's a nice commentary on the aria here.
Then it's on to Rossini.
Tuesday, June 16 Rossini’s Armida
Armida is another historic performance - another and very different Renée Fleming star role, from 2010, (She was 'hardly playing it safe' in requesting this role, according to NYTimes, as Rossini is less her home than Handel and the vocal drama of this role is formidable). According to Bachtrack, the three tenors playing the men she variously bewitches are also stars.
Wednesday, June 17
Rossini’s Semiramide This is 2018, with Angela Meade, Elizabeth DeShong, Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov.
A tacky tragedy, according to the Observor. NYTimes is more thoughtful: asking whether 'one of the grand, stylized ocean liners of early-19th-century opera' can survive now, and concluding it probably can!
Thursday, June 18
Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride Starring Susan Graham, Plácido Domingo (already 70 years old) in 2011. NYTimes was thrilled with her, admired his stamina.
Friday, June 19 and Saturday June 20th Verdi’s La Forza del Destino Starring Leontyne Price, conducted by James Levine. From March 24, 1984. Bachtrack reports that (as we saw in her Aida, livestreamed last month), the voice triumphed and you forgave the wooden acting. But the Met gave us 48 hours to view it. NYTimes ruled that ' it offers one of our century's greatest singers in one of her greatest roles. No soprano has emerged to wear her mantle as becomingly as Leontyne Price still wears it. For her, this should not be missed.' It also has some fabulous Verdi music - starting with That Overture! OA music director recorded insights into the music here when they performed the opera in 2013.
And now for grasping at the genius of Glass
It’s the weekend to confront Philip Glass – via the Met’s recent production of Akhnaten, and then the 2011 Satyagraha.
New to Glass, and his minimalist music? Wikipedia has a detailed intro to the man and the music here, and there's a strong article in NYTimes here. More here.
Sunday, June 21 Philip Glass’s Akhnaten 2019 Starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J'Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein, and Zachary James, conducted by Karen Kamensek. From November 23, 2019.
Read about Anthony Roth Costanzo here
He talks about the role here. And here’s his hymn to the Sun.
Monday June 22 Philip Glass’s Satyagraha 2011 Starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. There's a video introduction to the production here.
This production is entirely different from the Akhnaten. It's done as newspaper-reported ritualistic pageant with puppet people and creatures depicting the themes of Ghandi's pacifism.
Needing some brilliant arias with good, hummable tunes and romantic themes? Well, on Monday it's back to Verdi, though it's a modern dress version of Traviata, which may stretch your sense of tradition or even make the plot implausible. Bachtrack describes it vividly but approves the performance. And NYTimes review agrees Sonya Yoncheva shone.
Tuesday, June 23 Verdi’s La Traviata Starring Sonya Yoncheva, Michael Fabiano, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. From March 11, 2017. (How traditional can you get!)
Enjoy!
Lyn, 12 June, 2020. Updated June 16th.