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Opera
Sundays, 7pm
NPR World of Opera
Program Website: http://www.npr.org/programs/worldofopera/
World of Opera with host Lisa Simeone brings listeners the world
of tragedy and triumph, passion and seduction, intrigue and disaster,
jealousies and dreams -- the world of opera. Featured are the best in
opera performances from around the world, both historical and contemporary.
May 4
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU: Castor and Pollux
Les Talens Lyriques (Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam)
Christophe Rousset, conductor
CAST: Finnur Bjarnasson (Castor); Henk Neven (Pollux); Veronique Gens
(Phoebe); Anna Maria Panzarella (Telaira); Thomas Oliemans (High Priest
of Jupiter); Nicolas Teste (Jupiter); Judith van Wanroij (Cleone/Follower
of Hebe)
When Rameau died, a French periodical praised the composer as "the
God of Harmony." In the era between the groundbreaking dramas of
Monteverdi and the revolutionary works of Mozart, few composers wrote
more brilliant operas than Rameau, and Castor and Pollux is among
his finest.
May 11
W.A. MOZART: Cosi fan tutte
Vienna State Opera
Riccardo Muti, conductor
CAST: Barbara Frittoli (Fiordiligi); Angelika Kirchschlager (Dorabella);
Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (Guglielmo); Francesco Meli (Ferrando); Laura Tatulescu
(Despina); Natale De Carolis (Don Alfonso)
Deceptively complex, Cosí fan tutte is a comic farce that
leaves many of its listeners more than a little bit queasy -- and pondering
the future of their most treasured relationships. The libretto may spring
plenty of jokes, but Mozart's music tells you to hold on to your heart;
you never really know which way the romantic winds are blowing.
May 18
VINCENZO BELLINI: Norma
Vienna State Opera
Friederich Haider, conductor
CAST: Edita Gruberova (Norma); Jose Cura (Pollione); Elina Garanca (Adalgisa);
Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Oroveso); Marian Talaba (Flavio); Caroline Wenborne
(Clotilde)
In the title role of Bellini's most popular opera, the legendary soprano
Edita Gruberova proves that the bel canto tradition is well-served by
mature artistry, as well as vocal brilliance.
May 25
G.F. HANDEL: Ariodante
Grand Theatre of Geneva
Kenneth Montgomery, conductor
CAST: Joyce DiDonata (Ariodante); Patricia Petibon (Ginevra); Sandrine
Piau (Dalinda); Antonio Abete (King of Scotland); Charles Workman (Lurcanio);
Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Polinesso)
Handel was nothing if not cosmopolitan -- a German-born composer who became
a superstar as the most popular composer of Italian operas in 18th-century
London. Completed in 1734, Ariodante premiered at what was then
a brand new opera house in a place now synonymous with opera in England
-- Covent Garden.
June 1
GAETANO DONIZETTI: Maria Stuarda
Royal Opera of Wallonie, Liege
Luciano Acocella, conductor
CAST: Patrizia Ciofi (Maria Stuarda); Marianna Pizzolato (Elizabeth);
Diana Axentii (Anna); Danilo Formaggia (Leicester); Federico Sacchi (Talbot);
Mario Cassi (Cecil)
In operas from Elizabeth at Kenilworth to Anna Bolena, Donizetti seemed
fascinated by the intrigues and rivalries of British royalty. This opera,
Maria Stuarda, deals with the complex relationship between Elizabeth
I and Mary Stuart -- also known as Mary, Queen of Scots.
June 8
GIUSEPPE VERDI: I Vespri Siciliani
Washington National Opera
Placido Domingo, conductor
CAST: Maria Guleghina (Elena); Franco Farina (Arrigo); Lado Ataneli (Montforte);
Vitalij Kowaljow (Procida); Erin Elizabeth Smith (Ninetta); Robert Baker
(Danieli); Corey Evan Rotz (Tebaldo); J. Austin Bitner (Manfredo); James
Shaffran (Roberto); John Marcus Bindel (Bethune); Benjamin von Atrops
(Vaudemont)
If you've ever wondered why some people think an opera's not over until
all the characters are dead, this piece may be the reason. It has enough
deadly plotting, and enough of Verdi's finest music, for several evenings
in the opera house. We hear it from Washington, in a production led by
legendary tenor (and now conductor and administrator), Placido Domingo.
June 15
DANIEL CATAN: Salsipuedes, a Tale of Love, War and Anchovies
(World Premiere production)
Houston Grand Opera
Guido Maria Guida, conductor
CAST: Ana Maria Martinez (Lucero); Zheng Cao (Magali); Chad Shelton (Ulises);
Scott Hendricks (Chucho); James Maddalena (Colonel/Madame Collette); Oren
Gradus (Captain Magallanes); Nicholas Phan (El Chino); Laquita Mitchell
(Orquidea); Heidi Stober (La China); Joseph Evans (General Garcia); Pablo
Bracho (Sergeant Guzmán)
A thumbnail synopsis of this opera by Daniel Catán reads like a
cross between Mozart's Cosí fan tutte and Mel Brooks'
fictional broadway creation Springtime for Hitler! Salsibuedes
joins Catán's popular previous opera Florencia en al Amazonas
among the many Houston Grand Opera world premieres to have been featured
on World of Opera.
June 22
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS: Samson and Delilah
The Washington National Opera
Giovanni Reggioli, conductor
CAST: Olga Borodina (Dalila); Karl Tanner (Samson); Alan Held (High Priest);
Kyle Ketelson (Abimelech)
Ella Fitzgerald once sang a tune with the line "Delilah was a floozy!"
-- or at least she was until she met "this buckaroo named Sam."
And that?s not a bad summation of Saint-Saens's colorful biblical blockbuster.
The Washington National Opera brings it to us in a production featuring
the splendid soprano Olga Borodina as the one-time floozy, and Karl Tanner
as the man who brings down the house -- literally.
June 29
GIUSEPPE VERDI: La Traviata
Vienna State Opera
Renato Palumbo, conductor
CAST: Krassimiria Stoyanova (Violetta); Piotr Beczala (Alfredo Germont);
Zeljko Lucic (Giorgo Germont); Sophie Marilley (Flora); Gergely Nemeti
(Gastone); In-Sung Sim (Douphol); Eijiro Kai (D'Obigny); Alfred Sramek
(Doctor Grenvil)
When the diva dies just as the final curtain falls, it may seem like an
operatic cliché -- but not in the hands of Giuseppe Verdi. He made
the final scene of La Traviata one of the most profound of them
all, and also created one of opera's greatest romantic characters, Violetta
Valery.
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Program Website: http://www.lyricopera.org/
Live performances of the world-renowned Lyric Opera of Chicago are heard
from one of North America's most beautiful opera houses, the Civic Opera
House.
LA Opera on Air
Program Website: http://www.losangelesopera.com/index.htm
LA Opera on Air is a program of live recordings presented at
the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Introduced by Plácido Domingo and
hosted by Duff Murphy, LA Opera on Air will include commentaries
and interviews with cast members, directors andconductors.
San Francisco Opera
Program website: http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=1,1,41,46
This series of nine operas is from the San Francisco Opera's past season,
hosted by Elain Warner. They are performed in the War Memorial Opera House,
their home since October 1932.
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