General Opera News

[brewski]

I keep forgetting about OperaVision, which has excellent streamed performances that are then archived and available for a few months—all free. Of the current crop, I'm hoping to view Rusalka (Dutch National Opera), The Turn of the Screw (I Teatri di Reggio Emilia), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal Swedish Opera).

https://operavision.eu/performances

-Bruce

[Wendell_E]

R.I.P., Renata Scotto

https://operawire.com/obiutary-legendary-soprano-renata-scotto-dies-at-89/

[Wendell_E]

Met Chorus Master Donald Palumbo stepping down at end of the upcoming season.

https://www.metopera.org/about/press-releases/met-chorus-master-donald-palumbo--to-step-down-after-almost-20-years/

[Todd]

Christian Thielemann chosen to succeed Daniel Barenboim as music director of Berlin's Staatsoper

[brewski]

On Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1:00 pm (EDT), Arte will show Salome from the Staatsoper Hamburg, with Asmik Grigorian in the title role, and Kent Nagano conducting.

https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/115598-000-A/richard-strauss-salome/

-Bruce

[Karl Henning]

Just monstrous:

Q&A: Composer Michael Shapiro talks about his "Frankenstein—The Movie Opera"

[Wendell_E]

Met's Tannhäuser season premiere interrupted by climate change protesters.

I got a late start in listening to the performance, but thanks to the Sirius XM, was able to start it from the beginning. I took to bed after Act I, but woke up later and the performance had been paused during the Act II song battle, it restarted, but some people in the audience started screaming something almost immediately. Another pause, the Met General Manager came onstage and said the performance would resume again, but they were going to leave the house lights up partially, the better to remove any other troublemakers. At least until I fell asleep again, there were no further problems. Someone at parterre.com posted this video from the first protest:

https://twitter.com/Bridget_McGarry/status/1730419479329325377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1730419479329325377%7Ctwgr%5E5e4197f52b1fb12317c4f22e06b443fa5678b03e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dparterret_i%3D9176720https3A2F2Fparterre.com2F3Fp3D91767t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fparterre.com2F20232F112F302Ftannhauser-82Ft_e%3DTannhC3A4usert_d%3DTannhC3A4user20C2AB20parterre20box20-2022The20most20essential20blog20in20opera2220E2809320New20York20Times207C20Where20opera20is20king20and20you2C20the20readers2C20are20queens.t_t%3DTannhC3A4users_o%3Ddefaultversion%3Dd5a9ab71279657946012542f2a6e0739

So, I guess the whole climate change problem is solved now? Hurrah! 🙄

[Wendell_E]

Metropolitan Opera presents semi-staged `Turandot' after stage malfunction

https://apnews.com/article/met-opera-stage-malfunction-e4ef30bcbea03c223f0c23fb30bfd7e4

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Metropolitan Opera presents semi-staged `Turandot' after stage malfunction

https://apnews.com/article/met-opera-stage-malfunction-e4ef30bcbea03c223f0c23fb30bfd7e4

Ouch!  Well, that was good of them to continue on spite of things.

PD

[brewski]

The Dallas Opera will be showing six productions on its YouTube channel over the next few months, all free of charge. View the schedule here.

Rigoletto
Hansel & Gretel
Das Rheingold
Cosi Fan Tutte
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Elektra

-Bruce

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The Dallas Opera will be showing six productions on its YouTube channel over the next few months, all free of charge. View the schedule here.

Rigoletto
Hansel & Gretel
Das Rheingold
Cosi Fan Tutte
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Elektra

-Bruce

I'm out of the loop with most of the contemporary opera singers.  Any favorites performing of yours here?  The Diving Bell is also a new-to-me opera.

PD

[brewski]

I'm out of the loop with most of the contemporary opera singers.  Any favorites performing of yours here?  The Diving Bell is also a new-to-me opera.

PD

The Diving Bell is new to me, too. I did read the book, years ago, and liked it. But that said, I'm perhaps a little different from some opera fans, in that I don't necessarily follow singers; more interested in the score, the production, and the reputation of the company.

After seeing Elektra live a few weeks ago (would watch again), I will probably consider viewing most any of these.

How's that for a "non-answer"! 

-Bruce

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The Diving Bell is new to me, too. I did read the book, years ago, and liked it. But that said, I'm perhaps a little different from some opera fans, in that I don't necessarily follow singers; more interested in the score, the production, and the reputation of the company.

After seeing Elektra live a few weeks ago (would watch again), I will probably consider viewing most any of these.

How's that for a "non-answer"! 

-Bruce

Well, I'm also interested in the quality of the orchestra, what the director's vision is, etc. too.   

PD

[brewski]

Well, I'm also interested in the quality of the orchestra, what the director's vision is, etc. too. 

PD

I applaud that! Seriously, sometimes it seems like some opera fans are only interested in the singers — period. One of my most annoying times at the Met was at Wozzeck, which has some crucial orchestral interludes. When the singing stopped, the people next to me began talking.   

-Bruce

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I applaud that! Seriously, sometimes it seems like some opera fans are only interested in the singers — period. One of my most annoying times at the Met was at Wozzeck, which has some crucial orchestral interludes. When the singing stopped, the people next to me began talking.   

-Bruce

PD

[ganchan2019]

Metropolitan Opera presents semi-staged `Turandot' after stage malfunction

https://apnews.com/article/met-opera-stage-malfunction-e4ef30bcbea03c223f0c23fb30bfd7e4

When I was a theater student in college, an electrical outage threatened our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Fortunately, there was a large plaza and staircase in front of the auditorium, surrounded by lots of landscaped foliage, so we just moved the whole thing outdoors and it still worked (as long as you didn't mind watching A Midsummer Day's Dream instead).

[brewski]

Fantastic news: the noted countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (e.g., Akhnaten, Orfeo et Eurydice) will be Opera Philadelphia's next president and general director, replacing David Devan, who is retiring. Devan has been wonderful for the company, helping create imaginative seasons for years, and Costanzo is a more-than-worthy successor, who will likely up the ante.

-Bruce

[Florestan]

I applaud that! Seriously, sometimes it seems like some opera fans are only interested in the singers — period. One of my most annoying times at the Met was at Wozzeck, which has some crucial orchestral interludes. When the singing stopped, the people next to me began talking.   

-Bruce

That was common practice in Italy and France until well into 19th century --- actually, they talked all the time, including during singing, only exceptional numbers sung by exceptional singer(s) were listened to in silence. I guess you'd have hated being born there at that time --- or maybe not. After all, it's a matter of cultural conditioning. Looks like implanting the etiquette of symphonic concerts into opera houses is a difficult process which has not yet been completely successful.

I vividly remember an incident from a few years ago at the Bucharest Opera House: when the overture to The Magic Flute had just finished and Tamino had just appeared on stage, to the right of the row where we were seated a boy of around 15 suddenly popped up from the dark, calling in a voice mid-shout, mid-whisper: Dad, mom's arrived and asks for the car keys! So, daddy complied (he was seated a few seats left of us) and the car keys were handled from seat to seat until they reached the boy, who disappeared into the darkness whence he came, not before shouting/whispering a very polite Thank you!. 

[brewski]

That was common practice in Italy and France until well into 19th century --- actually, they talked all the time, including during singing, only exceptional numbers sung by exceptional singer(s) were listened to in silence. I guess you'd have hated being born there at that time --- or maybe not. After all, it's a matter of cultural conditioning. Looks like implanting the etiquette of symphonic concerts into opera houses is a difficult process which has not yet been completely successful.

I vividly remember an incident from a few years ago at the Bucharest Opera House: when the overture to The Magic Flute had just finished and Tamino had just appeared on stage, to the right of the row where we were seated a boy of around 15 suddenly popped up from the dark, calling in a voice mid-shout, mid-whisper: Dad, mom's arrived and asks for the car keys! So, daddy complied (he was seated a few seats left of us) and the car keys were handled from seat to seat until they reached the boy, who disappeared into the darkness whence he came, not before shouting/whispering a very polite Thank you!. 

Of course, it's absolutely true that we are taught to "be quiet" while the music is happening. And generally, I think this is a good thing — if nothing else, out of respect for the musicians and the time they have taken to rehearse. In the jazz world, it took me awhile to get used to the convention of applauding after a great sequence from someone in the group, while the other musicians are still playing.

Anyway, the example you cite is amusing. I hope everyone got home safely. 

-Bruce