There's fun for free in opera as we head into July.
Handel in the schoolyard or Ravel in a teacup at Glyndebourne? And of course, still continuing, monsters and magic with Mozart. And then, the classic Shostakovich satire of Stalinist Soviet society.
Go to the UK first, for fun and unusual offerings.
Glyndebourne's screenings overlap in this week. If you're quick (ie before Monday 29 June) you can catch some exquisite Handel baroque music, wildly reinterpreted. How to deal with the iffy politics of an opera about the good Crusaders and the Saracen swarm? For their production of Rinaldo (livestreaming from Glyndebourne till 29 June) director Robert Carsen dropped the whole improbable story into a schoolyard. Details, recordings, commentary here. Reviews were mixed. Bachtrack and Guardian here.
A dream-on note: in Sydney – if you can get there - the wonderful Pinchgut Opera still has Rinaldo scheduled (not in a schoolyard) in December. Maybe.
Just as crazy and also great music... From Monday 29 June at 5.00pm you can watch Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges for free on YouTube. Preview here. The operas, filmed in 2012, will be available until 5.00pm on Monday 6 July. For those who've taken to podcasts in isolation, Glyndebourne is featuring them now - here's offerings about Ravel.
This review is of the later 2015 performance: Guardian. 'Sultry Spanish rhythms and bawdy humour are counterbalanced by Gallic charm' according to a superbly detailed review from Bachtrack.
And there are more glitter and giggles, still, at Covent Garden. If you haven't sampled it yet, check out our previous post for the glittering ROH Magic Flute – it’s with us till 4 July. All the hype was justified - it's a marvelous performance. And guess what is on at the Met as we begin this week?
For stark contrast, as reported in last week's blog, there is an extraordinary production, from the Komische Oper Berlin, where Barrie Kosky has produced a new version of Schönberg's unfinished Moses und Aron. OperaVision is screening it - click here - for three months from June 14.
And the week at the Met?
The Met this week brings us a wonderful contrast to the more trad operas it has been showing - Shostakovich’s The Nose. Go to metopera.com - as usual, the opera is on from 9.30 am to 8.30 am next day.
This is the extraordinary and visually stunning production directed by William Kentridge. Shostakovich’s music is gloriously mad. He turns Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 story about a man who wakes up one morning to find that his nose has gone missing in the night into a riotous satire on bureaucracy in Stalinist Soviet Union (they weren’t amused). And Kentridge turns this work of genius into a racing, hilarious experience of brutal absurdity. Kentridge talks about the opera and the production here.
Reviews here from Bachtrack and NY Classical Review – a very thorough description of what’s brilliant. Those who saw it when on Live in HD agree: don’t miss it!
And of course there's more... Here's the week at the Met (dates are ours). More happiness at least at the beginning of the week. It starts with that other Magic Flute and goes on to Donizetti at his funniest with top C's.
Donizetti dispels dismay! Last week brought the classic (Pavarotti) Met Elixir of Love - this week they follow it with a more recent Fille du Regiment. (Here are our pages on Elixir of Love and Daughter of the Regiment from way back when we had opera group meetings.)
Monday, June 29
This is your chance to see the production by Julie Taymor of Magic Flute. Details in our previous post.
Tuesday, June 30 Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment Starring Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Javier Camarena, Maurizio Muraro, and Kathleen Turner, conducted by Enrique Mazzola. From March 2, 2019.
Wednesday, July 1 Wagner’s Die Walküre From 1989. So much for frivolity. Enter Wagner - and this is a classic way-back performance. Starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris, and Kurt Moll, conducted by James Levine. The pre-Machine Ring, and also pre-fidelity performances - they are twins, you know! But it's all about the women, and what women! Behrens and Norman celebrate the magic sword and embryonic hero here. Here's the NYTimes.
Thursday, July 2 Shostakovich’s The Nose See above - crazy wins. Starring Paulo Szot and our own Alexander Lewis (he's the Nose!) , and , conducted by Pavel Smelkov. From October 26, 2013. Not to be missed!!
Friday, July 3 Bizet’s Carmen Starring Anita Hartig, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ildar Abdrazakov, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. From November 1, 2014.
Saturday, July 4 Mozart’s Don Giovanni Yes it’s another Don Giovanni production, but you might want to revisit the opera with Mariusz Kwiecien. And once again, Leporello is Luca Pisaroni. From 2011.
They had dramas with cast after Kwiecien, who treats it as a signature role, damaged his back – read the saga here! But he returned for this live in HD performance – here’s Bachtrack review. And NYTimes here.
Sunday, July 5 Donizetti’s Don Pasquale Starring the legendary Beverly Sills, Alfredo Kraus, Håkan Hagegård, and Gabriel Bacquier, conducted by Nicola Rescigno. From January 11, 1979.
Monday, July 6 Rossini’s La Donna del Lago It's our Rossini fix for the week – a lovely one. We saw this production back when it was screened live in HD. Sir Walter Scott's narrative poem "The Lady of the Lake" became a vehicle for brilliant singing under Rossini. It is not often performed and Joyce DiDonato shows why – this is challenging Rossini, which she revels in. She sings the most famous aria here. Juan Diego Flórez is Giacomo V (James V). There’s a conversation here between them. Reviewed here thoughtfully by Operavore. And nice commentary about the music here.
Lyn, 27 June, 2020
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