What’s on this week? Pretty much everything.
As always, Limelight's On with the Show gives glorious detail and good reading.
Close to home, Opera Australia has put up their 2016 Turandot from the Sydney Harbour.
And in the other hemisphere? Handel at Glyndebourne? Schönberg in Berlin? Or the amazing variety offering in New York?
For my choice, the most remarkable offering is John Adams' musical fusion of history, scientific documentation and poetry to portray what NYTimes describes as 'the terror and the attraction of science'. Dr Atomic screens on Wednesday our time - more detail below in the Met timetable.
Meanwhile, back in Baroque, Handel's Rinaldo - from Glyndebourne - is available all week.
How to deal with the iffy politics of an opera about the good Crusaders and the Saracen swarm? For the production of Rinaldo livestreaming from Glyndebourne this week (22 Jun – 29 June) director Robert Carsen dropped the whole improbable story into a schoolyard.
If you don’t believe schoolkids would be good at exquisite Handel baroque music, tune in to this ‘East-meets-West musical fantasy’. Reportedly the music is good, the singing great, the staging.... well... Here are reviews from Bachtrack, and from the Guardian. (We explored Handel way back - some background here.)
The wonderful Pinchgut Opera still has Rinaldo scheduled (not in a schoolyard) in Sydney in December. Maybe.
And from the Komische Oper Berlin, very different music. The indefatigable Barrie Kosky has produced a new version of Schönberg's unfinished opus magnum, Moses und Aron. OperaVision is screening it for three months from June 14.
Clive Paget comments: ‘Moses und Aron. A well-trodden tale of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and their endless inability to keep their minds on God’s commandments, trust Barrie Kosky to get it right by turning it into a parable of humanity’s never-ending search for answers and a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
And back at the Met…
Monday, June 22 Philip Glass’s Satyagraha Starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. From November 19, 2011. Details in last week's blog post.
Tuesday, June 23 Verdi’s La Traviata Starring Sonya Yoncheva, Michael Fabiano, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. From March 11, 2017.
(This is the stark, modern-dress minimalist 2010 production that starred earlier Natalie Dessay. No lush salons here. Mixed review from NYTimes. And Bachtrack agreed.)
Wednesday, June 24 John Adams’s Doctor Atomic Starring Gerald Finley. From 2008. This is an extraordinary, very operatic version of the story of the Manhattan Project, the creation of the atomic bomb, telling in image, lyrical music, bureaucratic reports and poetry how the scientists, military men, and others involved wrestled with the implications of their work. Baritone Gerald Finley gives a brilliant portrayal of the brilliant J. Robert Oppenheimer. Go beyond opera reviews to learn of the significance of this opera – here’s Newsweek . Find the then and now story in this thoughtful piece in Physics Today. And this is what Scientific American said.
Thursday, June 25 Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila Starring Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Laurent Naouri, Elchin Azizov, and Dmitry Belosselskiy, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. From October 20, 2018.
Friday, June 26 Massenet’s Manon Starring Lisette Oropesa, Michael Fabiano, Carlo Bosi, Artur Ruciński, Brett Polegato, and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From October 26, 2019.
Check out our earlier post for more on this wonderful production of this opera - and the story of Manon.
Saturday, June 27 Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore Starring a very young Kathleen Battle, with Luciano Pavarotti in a role he loved. Here's his 'a furtive tear'.
Here's the famous duet when the supposed elixir inspires Nemorino to hope. (Roberto Alagna performed it with his wife Aleksandra Kurzak, at the online gala earlier this strange opera season.)
From November 16, 1991. Way back in 2016 we explored Donizetti and this delightful opera - more here on our website.
Sunday, June 28 Massenet’s Cendrillon Starring Kathleen Kim, Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Stephanie Blythe, and Laurent Naouri, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. From April 28, 2018. Gorgeous production of a seldom performed version of Cinderella. Our blog post is here.
And then on Monday, June 29 start a new week with Mozart!
Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte Starring Golda Schultz, Kathryn Lewek, Charles Castronovo, Markus Werba, Christian Van Horn, and René Pape, conducted by James Levine. From October 14, 2017.
For details see our next blog post - for all about those Magic Flutes.
Lyn, 18 June, 2020