Here's news of good watching.
First: an alert - your last chance to see the Glyndebourne The Barber of Seville is this coming weekend, finishing Sunday 26th.
And then, from Monday 27 July you can watch Verdi’s Falstaff Sunday night 2 August.
Meanwhile, there's ROH Faust is available now, until Friday 31 July 2020
At Glyndebourne, they have moved from the stark modern tragedy of Billy Budd to classical comedy, with their 2016 production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville and then more classical tragedy with Faust.
Do try to catch the Barber before Sunday 26 July. It’s a hoot, with some highly talented young, fun Rossini singers you’ve never heard of, bringing new life to the old characters. Most delightful is the barber, who of course is Figaro (yes, he turns up again in the Marriage of F.) He's played by Björn Bürger, German baritone, who has already apparently gained 'barihunk' status according to Classic FM.
(It's a good week for Barihunks, as Erwin Schrott is the devil in Faust, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings the Count di Luna in Il Trovatore - see below.)
Click the link to hear Björn Bürger sing the 'Largo al factotum'. (Did you ever wonder what he's singing? Words here with translation.) Glyndebourne recorded a more formal recital of arias from him - here. Björn Bürger did an apparently splendid Papageno in Glyndebourne's Magic Flute last year, but that's yet to appear on their livestreaming list.
Oh, and there's also Danielle de Niese as Rosina, and Alessandro Corbelli as her guardian. Watch the delicious trailer here.
For discussion of Rossini and this marvellous opera, go to our blog from last year here . Or earlier, here .
Speak of the Devil...
Moving on at Glyndebourne, we come to Verdi's version of Shakespeare's tale of the merry wives of Windsor - Falstaff. We can see it from Sunday 26 July until Sunday 2 August.
In our previous post we discussed the historic 1992 Met production of Verdi's Falstaff . The Met production screens Saturday 25th - go to our previous post for details of the opera and the women who make its story. NYTimes commented - way back then!-, ‘It would have been very easy, given contemporary operatic tastes, to turn the plot's ridicule of Falstaff into a campy farce. This is, after all, an opera about excess…But … This performance found an unusual balance between sympathy and irony, physical exuberance and charm.’
So how did Glyndebourne's 2009 version fare? There's a video here to consider!
It could hardly be more different.
It's updated to 1946. 'An uproarious snapshot of small-town English life', it promises. 'Updated to a post-war Windsor of pompous ex-army officers, redoubtable Brownie leaders and lovesick GIs, Richard Jones’ production is less Tudor than mock-Tudor – an updating that brings a zany, sitcom energy to this classic comedy.'The Independent finds the transferred time intriguing but the opera less fun.
Reviews enthused about the Sir John Falstaff sung by Christopher Purves, but hesitated at the rethinking of Verdi's work. The Merry Wives are Brownies!
The Guardian concluded, 'for all its wit and astuteness, the production lacks danger and magic'. This review of the DVD sees it as 'a pleasant, harmless production'.
Meanwhile, at Covent Garden
Check out last week's post for discussion of the ROH recent (2019) performance of an old (2004) production of Gounod’s Faust with Michael Fabiano as an elegant Faust and Erwin Schrott as a devilishly good Méphistophélès. Listen here to the account of the opera and its characters from those playing them in this production.
It’s a David McVicar production, setting the tale of the deal with the devil in the ‘debauchery, lasciviousness and hypocrisy of the Belle-Époque France of Gounod’s later years’ said Operawire. To revisit a few reviews: here’s Bachtrack; Opera perfection according to this review; Guardian loved it.
There’s an interesting interview of Fabiano with Limelight here, before his Opera Australia performance in Faust, giving an idea of his approach to Faust and the world of opera.
Faust is available now, until Friday 31 July 2020. Details here .
Back home
‘Breaking Glass’ is still available online – more detail here and in our last post.
And at the Met?
The Met’s ticketed concerts with star singers have begun – with Jonas Kaufmann singing from beautiful Polling Abbey, near Munich.
You can get a taste of the concert, here, in his heartfelt performance of Cavaradossi’s great, erotic aria, dreaming of his time with Tosca – ‘E lucevan le stelle’ - the stars were shining. English translation (and Pavarotti) here. Renee Fleming is up in the next ticketed concert, from Aug 2nd, singing in Dumbarton Oaks.
Meanwhile, free livestreaming of past Met performances continues. With Kaufmann forward stage! Here's the timetable, dates for Melbourne.
Monday, July 27 Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West Starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jonas Kaufmann, and Željko Lučić, conducted by Marco Armiliato. From October 27, 2018.
The girl of the golden west – how stereotypically American mythology! A gem for an imaginative production, and an opera with some great Puccini tunes. A fine review here, stressing the American western dream.
This performance, screened Live in HD here last year, was fast and impressive and Kaufmann did his western garb proud. Thus Puccini’s Great American Drama progresses into popular myth, though with no American stars! Review here.
What, not even an American baddie? Željko Lučić is singing Jack Rance for the first time, oozing Scarpia-like evil.
And then
Tuesday, July 28 Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor Starring Natalie Dessay, Joseph Calleja, Ludovic Tézier, and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Patrick Summers. From March 19, 2011.
Wednesday, July 29 Puccini’s Tosca Starring Karita Mattila, Marcelo Álvarez, and George Gagnidze, conducted by Joseph Colaneri. From October 10, 2009.
Thursday, July 30 Verdi’s Rigoletto Starring Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Levine. From November 7, 1977.
Friday, July 31 Verdi’s Il Trovatore Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Marco Armiliato. From April 30, 2011. It was a splendid production, with a splendid cast, and remembered now most for the performance by Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who returned to the Met in 2015 in the same role, but already ill. Listen to the video of his portrayal of the torn Count, not such a baddie after all.
Saturday, August 1 Dvořák’s Rusalka Starring Kristine Opolais, Katarina Dalayman, Jamie Barton, Brandon Jovanovich, and Eric Owens, conducted by Mark Elder. From February 25, 2017.
You’ve seen Renee Fleming on that tree, now watch the recent performance of Kristine Opolais. Interview with her here . All about the opera in our earlier post here .
Sunday, August 2 Verdi’s Ernani Starring Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, and Ruggero Raimondi, conducted by James Levine. From December 17, 1983.
A Wagner moment coming up.
No Wagner for a week! But on Monday, August 3 the Met screens Wagner’s Die Walküre Starring Christine Goerke, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jamie Barton, Stuart Skelton, Greer Grimsley, and Günther Groissböck, conducted by Philippe Jordan. From March 30, 2019.
More next week about this production, and especially the casting of Westbroek and Skelton as the ill fated (adulterous and incestuous) twins.