Topic: General Opera News

[knight66]

PS Vickers in Fidelio is really summa cum laude.

Make that Vickers in just about anything.

He consdered his greatest part to be Parsifal. With all the live broadcasts that are flooding the market, I am surprised no performance of his in the part seems to have surfaced.

Mike

[grandma]

ZB

[quote PS Vickers in Fidelio is really summa cum laude.
[/quote]

I couldn't agree more!  He is the best.

[T-C]

EMI will release DVDs of five of the 2007-2008 Metropolitan Opera productions here:

Met and EMI to Release 5 Operas on DVD

[uffeviking]

Thank you, T-C - did you too notice there still is no DVD of Karita's Salome? 

[T-C]

Thank you, T-C - did you too notice there still is no DVD of Karita's Salome? 

Maybe now there is a better chance…

[Maciek]

This is not exactly a piece of news but since there's at least one Wojtek Drabowicz fan in the Opera and Vocal section (wink, wink, Lis), I thought I'd mention the fact that I posted a large song cycle by Eugeniusz Knapik in the Knapik thread, and Drabowicz is one of the two featured vocalists. Fans of late-romantic song cycles (Strauss, Mahler) are bound to enjoy this.

Here's a link to the appropriate post:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,610.msg60306.html#msg60306

[uffeviking]

Glyndebourne goes to the movies, says the headline in the Newsdesk section of this month's Opera. I  quote:

"Glyndebourne is to become the first British opera house to screen it's work in the cinema. Following the example of the Met, Glyndebourne has announced a partnership with ODEON cinemas in ten cities and towns (including London, Tunbridge Wells, Guildford, Cardiff, Brighton, Oxford, Harrogate and Manchester-other to be confirmed). The first confirmend dates are September 27, October 26 and November 29; the productions will be Tristan und Isolde, Così fan tutte and another still to be agreed. Ticket prices are to start at £7.50. See www.odeon.co.uk for more information.

Good news for our friends in the UK! 

[Brewski]

Glyndebourne goes to the movies, says the headline in the Newsdesk section of this month's Opera. I  quote:

"Glyndebourne is to become the first British opera house to screen it's work in the cinema. Following the example of the Met, Glyndebourne has announced a partnership with ODEON cinemas in ten cities and towns (including London, Tunbridge Wells, Guildford, Cardiff, Brighton, Oxford, Harrogate and Manchester-other to be confirmed). The first confirmend dates are September 27, October 26 and November 29; the productions will be Tristan und Isolde, Così fan tutte and another still to be agreed. Ticket prices are to start at £7.50. See www.odeon.co.uk for more information.

Good news for our friends in the UK! 

This is great news.  I hope they eventually extend the plan so we can see these in the U.S. as well.  (I'd settle for seeing a taped version later, though.)

--Bruce

[Joan]

Good news about the Glyndebourne broadcasts!

Here's a nice article I just saw about the growth of opera attendance in the U.S. It's probably old news to most of you, but it's a nice change from the usual "classical music is dying" complaints:

http://www.american.com/archive/2007/july-august-magazine-contents/america2019s-opera-boom

Quote: In the most comprehensive recent study, the National Endowment for the Arts found that between 1982 and 2002, total attendance at live opera performances grew 46 percent.

[Wendell_E]

Previously, it had been announced that when the Met does John Adams' Doctor Atomic in October 2008, it'd be a revised version of the Peter Sellars world-premiere San Francisco production (which will be seen at Lyric Opera of Chicago next season). But now, according to the latest press release (http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/press/detail.aspx?id=360) at the Met's website, it'll be a new co-production by the Met and the English National Opera.

According to Peter Gelb: “In the case of Doctor Atomic, I believe that this monumental work by John Adams is of such merit that it deserves a production created uniquely for our two stages.”

The director will be Penny Woolcock, who directed the film version of Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer.

The press release also talks about the upcoming Osvaldo Golijov commision, which will also be a co-production with ENO.

[uffeviking]

Super news in more ways than one, Wendell! Not only will we have a good chance of getting a DVD release of Doctor Atomic, Mr. Gelb seems to be on the way to eliminate rivalries between different venues, with the cooperation of the ENO of course. Doesn't that put a smile on the faces of us opera lovers? 

Thank you, Wendell!

[Anne]

The mention of Glyndebourne reminded me that I had just finished watching the 1982 DVD of Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck featuring Janet Baker as Orfeo and Raymond Leppard conducting the London Philharmonic.  What a beautiful opera!  The music is gorgeous.  At this moment I prefer Gluck's version to Monteverdi's.

[Brewski]

Previously, it had been announced that when the Met does John Adams' Doctor Atomic in October 2008, it'd be a revised version of the Peter Sellars world-premiere San Francisco production (which will be seen at Lyric Opera of Chicago next season). But now, according to the latest press release (http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/press/detail.aspx?id=360) at the Met's website, it'll be a new co-production by the Met and the English National Opera.

According to Peter Gelb: “In the case of Doctor Atomic, I believe that this monumental work by John Adams is of such merit that it deserves a production created uniquely for our two stages.”

The director will be Penny Woolcock, who directed the film version of Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer.

The press release also talks about the upcoming Osvaldo Golijov commision, which will also be a co-production with ENO.

This is great news - thanks for posting it.  And I'm delighted that Gelb is so taken with the work that he thinks it needs a new production.  (I didn't see the San Francisco one, but a number of friends did, and mostly liked it.)

--Bruce

[knight66]

Re the Adams production..."uniquely for our two stages".  Is that English? Anyway; ENO needs any prestigious partner it can get as things have been rather shakey there in every way recently.

Mike

[uffeviking]

Katharina Wagner and Christian Thielemann announced in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung their plan to work together running the Bayreuth Festival. Her father, Wolfgang Wagner, applauded the plan, but he is still in command of course. In November the Stiftungsrat der Festspiele will discuss the succession.

Anybody good in German, here is the article, I can not find the English version:

http://www.faz.net/s/Rub4D7EDEFA6BB3438E85981C05ED63D788/Doc~EAA67D32D4E03482AB54DA947BE2AFB5C~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

[uffeviking]

Katharina and Christian:

[Novi]

Glyndebourne goes to the movies, says the headline in the Newsdesk section of this month's Opera. I  quote:

"Glyndebourne is to become the first British opera house to screen it's work in the cinema. Following the example of the Met, Glyndebourne has announced a partnership with ODEON cinemas in ten cities and towns (including London, Tunbridge Wells, Guildford, Cardiff, Brighton, Oxford, Harrogate and Manchester-other to be confirmed). The first confirmend dates are September 27, October 26 and November 29; the productions will be Tristan und Isolde, Così fan tutte and another still to be agreed. Ticket prices are to start at £7.50. See www.odeon.co.uk for more information.

Good news for our friends in the UK! 

No Edinburgh?

That is very friendly ticket pricing. When they screened a couple of the Met productions at our local arthouse cinema, it was 3 or 4 times that. I'd love to see Tristan.

[uffeviking]

About Katharina Wagner and Christian Thielemann teaming up for continuing Richard Wagner's tradition, maybe we shall have another Boulez - Chereau cooperation in the works! 

Thielemann being a very strong-willed conductor and negotiator, I believe he is capable of controlling Katharina, preventing her from creating another fiasco as she did with he Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. 

[Wendell_E]

Brokeback Mountain—the opera.

No, seriously:  http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/news/pressrelease.aspx?id=1459

[Brewski]

Brokeback Mountain—the opera.

No, seriously:  http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/news/pressrelease.aspx?id=1459

It's a bit startling, isn't it!  With all respect to Wuorinen (whose work I admire) I'm not sure I would have imagined him doing this project.  On the other hand, I'm not sure whom I would have thought of, either. 

--Bruce