White Shirt Weekend …… the Wedding Music

Wedding Fever ….. THE MUSIC

I don’t suppose it has escaped anyone’s notice that there is a wedding today. Wall to wall press and media coverage throughout much of the world will see to that. Some will want to watch the wedding on television for the spectacle and, let’s face it, we British do Pomp and Ceremony very well indeed having had many centuries of practice. But if you are visiting these pages then it is most likely that your interest won’t lie in the dignitaries, the Monarchy, the weather or THE DRESS but in the music. So, for we few who may wish to know here is a breakdown of all the music which will be featured at The Wedding.

Westminster Abbey has seen Royal coronations, funerals and weddings for a thousand years. It is a huge building and it will take hours to seat the guests so there will be ” entertainment ” whilst they are waiting for the main event. Before the service they will hear organ music played by James McVinnie, Assistant Organist of Westminster Abbey,

photocredit:goingtolondon.wikispaces

Fantasia in G (Pièce d’orgue à 5) by Johann Sebastian Bach

Veni Creator Spiritus by the Master of The Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

Prelude on St. Columba Op. 28 by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Sonata for Organ Op. 28 (Allegro maestoso and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar

The orchestra for the service is The London Chamber Orchestra,

conducted by Christopher Warren-Green and they will play ……

Serenade for Strings in E minor Op. 20 (Allegro piacevole, Larghetto and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar

Courtly Dance V: Galliard from Gloriana (Symphonic Suite) Op. 53a no. 7 by Benjamin Britten

Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Farewell to Stromness by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring by Frederick Delius

Touch Her Soft Lips and Part from Henry V Suite by William Walton

Romance for String Orchestra Op. 11 by Gerald Finzi

Processions are a large feature of ceremonies such as this as the isle is incredibly long and the music needs to be planned precisely to the second for the Queen, the religious leaders as well as the wedding party.

The Service will begin with a Fanfare by The State Trumpeters

of the Household Cavalry to mark the arrival of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

photocredit: The Telegraph

The Fanfare will be followed by three Processionals.  For the Procession of The Queen, Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen March from The Birds by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.  Prelude on Rhosymedre by Ralph Vaughan Williams will accompany the Procession of the Clergy, and was chosen for its Welsh echoes.  The couple have selected ‘I was Glad’, also by Parry, for the Procession of the Bride.

Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen three hymns for the Service: ‘Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer’, words by William Williams, translated by Peter Williams and others, and music by John Hughes.

video courtesy of thecopyist58

The second will be ‘Love Divine All Love Excelling’, and the third will be ‘Jerusalem’, by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, words by William Blake.

The Anthem, ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made’, has been composed specially for the occasion by John Rutter.  It was commissioned by Westminster Abbey as a wedding present for Prince William and Kate and will be performed by both the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal Choir. John Rutter is a British composer, conductor, editor and arranger who specialises in choral music.

The Anthem will be followed by the Motet ‘Ubi caritas’ by  Paul Mealor , a Welsh composer, who is currently Reader in Composition at The University of Aberdeen. Mealor’s composing studio is on the Isle of Anglesey, where Prince William and Miss Middleton live. This version of ‘Ubi caritas’ was written on Anglesey and premiered at the University of St. Andrews in November 2010.

During the Signing of the Registers, the choirs will sing ‘Blest pair of Sirens’, words by John Milton from At a Solemn Musick, music by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.

Following the Signing, there will be a Fanfare by the Fanfare Team

from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.

photocredit: Flickr. The Royal page

The Recessional, will be Crown Imperial by William Walton.

Toccata from Symphonie V  by Charles-Marie Widor.

Pomp and Circumstance March no. 5  by Edward Elgar will follow the Service.

Those with eagle eyes will have spotted that this service is a very British musical affair with only two non-British composers represented – J S Bach [ of course ] and the French composer Vidor, his Toccata having graced many a wedding ceremony. A British event watched and listened to by people around the world with British music past and present, British panache for ceremony and, most likely, British weather!

As I write the bride’s processional fanfare has just sounded from my television, Trumpets, orchestra, organ and choir in a wonderful crescendo, so I’m off to watch beautiful people get married amidst beautiful music. I’m by no means a Royalist but I have a lump in my throat of pure emotion – it is so lovely to see happiness, love and hope for the future.

Whether you are a wedding watcher or not

HAVE A WONDERFUL WHITE SHIRT [WEDDING] WEEKEND

PS. The Archbishop of Canterbury has just spoken about the union of a man and a woman and the deep meaning thereof – ah, well – we can only hope and keep working towards the day when those words might be very different.

Il Trovatore LIVE from the Met. on BBC radio

Verdi’s Il Trovatore

Live from the New York Metropolitan Opera

Saturday 30th April at 18.00 uk time on BBC radio 3

world time converter

Sondra Radvanovsky and Dmitri Hvorotovsky

photocredit: Pavel Antonov

LINK to BBC radio 3 for VERY DETAILED synopsis and good photos. This has NOT been archived for re-listening on BBC iPlayer

Presented by Margaret Juntwait

Leonora ….. Sondra Radvanovsky (soprano)
Count di Luna ….. Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone)
Manrico ….. Marcelo Álvarez (tenor)
Azucena ….. Dolora Zajick (mezzo-soprano)
Ines ….. Maria Zifchak (soprano)
Ruiz ….. Eduardo Valdes (tenor)
An Old Gypsy ….. Robert Mahler (bass)
A Messenger ….. Raymond Aparentado (tenor)

Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Conductor ….. Marco Armiliato.

Information from Wikipedia    Review from The NY Times     Synopsis from The Met.

ACCESS TO FREE SCORES

The “Anvil” chorus scene

photocredit: Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera

Approximate running time 2 hrs. 45 min.

Listen to this opera via other sources eg. Met Player, Toll Brothers, Sirius.

The shutters are coming down

Many people suffer from forms of dementia. It’s a terrifying thought and most of us would prefer not to address it. It’s not usually part of our everyday life   –  unless some one you care for is affected. In those circumstances you take a very deep breath indeed and prepare to travel a tortuous journey with your loved one. Generally speaking your battle is on a practical level for some of the time. Where are the lost items ? [ I read a wonderful book recently called "Knickers in the Fridge" ! ]  What can I do to make things better? Should I help my person to try to remember? or will it make things worse? How long can we continue without resorting to help from elsewhere? How do I stop myself from feeling resentful? and most of all ….

Oh God, why us?

     Weeping Woman – Picasso

This illness is a relentless, creeping monster, ever so slowly removing the loved one and replacing her with an alien being. The body is almost the same but the main difference, to me anyway, is in the eyes. Eyes speak without words. They sing without melody. They express feelings, fears, truths. They plead, jest, adore. They glow and burn. They crinkle and weep.

But dementia removes all this. The shutters start to descend. The window becomes obscure and eventually  there will be no way of looking in.

If it’s like this from the outside what the hell must it be like from the inside?

A question that sometimes drives me hazy:

am I or are the others crazy?

Albert Einstein  

 Support Alzheimer’s

A Bonney Easter Monday

Barbara Bonney – S’altro che lagrime

I have a fascination for the opera “La Clemenza di Tito” by Mozart. When you have a particular interest in a subject words tend to jump out at you from unexpected sources. Imagine my surprise when I was browsing a map of Italy and found a place called  Sesto Fiorentino in Tuscany.  Having looked that up in Wikipedia I was then faced on the same page with an artist named Santi di Tito.    [ Sesto and Tito are both characters in the said opera! ]

So to celebrate a couple of interesting finds here is the incomparable Barbara Bonney singing Servilia’s  S’altro che lagrime  from Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” I just love this aria and this singer’s interpretation …. enjoy.

video courtesy of getschi007

Servilla’s aria from La Clemenza di Tito

S’altro che lacrime Per lui non tenti,

Tutto il tuo piangere Non giovera.

A questa inutile Pieta che senti,

Oh quanto e simile La crudelta.

******

I see that Ms. Bonney  [ Visiting Professor of Voice ] is to give a VOCAL MASTERCLASS at  the David Josefowitz Recital Hall, Royal Acadamy of Music, London.

Friday 13 May 2011, 2:00 pm.    FREE  no ticket required.

and ….

can’t resist posting this lovely, informal shot.

screengrab from a YT video posted by wildbild007

White Shirt Weekend …….. Easter Music Special

Nothing in the way of  White Shirts this week [ unless you count surplices ]

Just beautifully ethereal music for reflection. Enjoy.

Easter Day choral music on BBC television

**********

EASTER DAY EUCHARIST FROM SALISBURY CATHEDRAL

Was on BBC 1 television at 10.00 uk time    

WAS AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AT BBC iPlayer –  time now elapsed

world time converter

Including Mozart “Coronation” Mass K.317

Salisbury Cathedral in the Spring.    photo from BBC web site

Easter Eucharist live from Salisbury Cathedral, introduced by the Dean, the Very Rev June Osborne. Salisbury Cathedral Choir, conducted by David Halls, sing  Mozart’s Coronation Mass  [information from Wikipedia]  and the congregation join in traditional Easter hymns, including Jesus Christ Is Risen Today and Thine Be the Glory

For those readers who don’t have access to BBC television programmes or iPlayer here is a movement from the Coronation Mass. The Vienna Philarmonic and Herbert von Karajan with Kathleen Battle. This is the Agnus Dei which leads into a final reprise of the Dona Nobis Pacem.

video courtesy of carosaxone

Free score of Mozart Coronation Mass in C major [ pdf ] The Agnus Dei starts on page 41

******************

EASTER FROM KING’S

EASTER DAY  at 17.45 uk time    world time converter

 on  BBC 2 television

WAS  AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AT BBC iPlayer  -  time now elapsed

including Allegri’s ”Miserere mei, Deus”

The ceiling of King’s College Chapel. photo from BBC web site

Passiontide and Easter music and readings from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge.

The story of Jesus’s death and resurrection is told in the well-loved words of the King James Bible and reflected on in poems by RS Thomas and Ted Walker.

The world-famous choir sing seasonal hymns, beginning with There Is a Green Hill Far Away, and well-known choral music, including Allegri’s Miserere [ information from Wikipedia ] Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus [ information from Wikipedia ] extracts from Handel’s Messiah and pieces by Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, Lotti, Gibbons, Bainton and Wood.

Again, for those who cannot tune in here is a version performed by The Sixteen

video courtesy of AnglicanDiest

Scores of Allegri’s ”Miserere mei, Deus”

Free score [ pdf ]   Free score in English [ pdf ]   Free score including keyboard reduction  [pdf ]

Whoever  and wherever you are – enjoy your Easter music

Capriccio LIVE from the Met on BBC radio

UPDATE: 

WAS  AVAILABLE ON   BBC iPLAYER   for on demand listening. Time now elapsed.

Richard Strauss’s Capriccio  Live from the Metropolitan Opera

on BBC radio 3

Saturday  23rd April at 18.00  uk time

world time converter

photocredit: Richard Drew/ Associated Press

LINK to BBC radio 3 page for synopsis and lots of lovely photos

Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff.

In Strauss’s last opera, a poet and a musician vie for the attentions of a young widowed countess. It opens with a string sextet prelude, the work of the hopeful young composer, Flamand. The poet Olivier is preparing a new play for the Countess’s birthday celebrations, and the two love rivals argue on a sensitive subject: which is of primary importance artistically – words or music? The Countess finds it impossible to choose between her two suitors. In one of Strauss’s most intimate operas, he explores the nature of his own art.

photocredit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Countess ….. Renee Fleming (soprano)

Clairon ….. Sarah Connolly (mezzo soprano)
Flamand ….. Joseph Kaiser (tenor)
Olivier ….. Russell Braun (tenor)
The Count . Morten Frank Larsen (bass-baritone)
La Roche ….. Peter Rose (bass)
Monsieur Taupe ….. Bernard Fitch (tenor)
Italian Singer ….. Olga Makarina (soprano)
Italian Singer ….. Barry Banks (tenor)
The Major-Domo ….. Michael Devin (bass)

New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus,  conductor Andrew Davis.

DURATION  2 hours and 45 minutes

Preview from Berkshire On Stage        Review from I Hear Voices       Review from the NY Times

Here’s a taster clip. Renee Fleming in the final scene

video courtesy of demonyangel

BONUS – Questions and answers with Renee Fleming ( from the Met.)

 and links to video clips from this performance.

Perfect

One dictionary definition of the word perfect is :- entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings.

For me yesterday was a perfect day. Everything felt right. Everything fell into place. Nothing could be improved. Quite a rare occurrence for most people I should say.

photocredit:SouthDownsCycling

Let’s start at the beginning with the weather. We British do like to talk about it so! I guess because it is unpredictable and often not as we would wish [ a sprinkling of winter snow anybody? ] Yesterday dawned silvery bright and the birds really went for it with their chorus. The temperature varied between 15 and 22 degrees – very pleasant indeed and not at all April-like.

I was looking forward to the main event yesterday – driving to the next County to  play music             [ I'm not this good yet! but that's my instrument in the middle. ] Not a rehearsal or performance, just for fun. I love driving, especially on my own. There’s something about a cosy space all to oneself which is most appealing and that is enhanced by having the time to stop and start a journey at will, pausing for coffee or stretching one’s legs. With this in mind I set off very early to make the most of the journey and boy was I glad I did. It brought home to me how utterly gorgeous my part of the world is and how privileged I am to be here. Spring here is just spectacular. I saw bank upon bank of primroses and that was just in the car park! The bluebells have made an early showing this year and were at that stage where they appear like a glowing blue mist under the beech trees. There were lambs aplenty making me smile idiotically as I drove.

I stopped in a small market town – the kind where people stop to let you cross the road and gentlemen wear hats which they raise as they say Good Morning. I had coffee and delicious lemon drizzle cake served by a charming lady cafe-owner whilst the hi-fi was playing Dave Brubeck numbers. Could life on a Tuesday morning in April get any better? Well, yes.

I drove to the town where the music was happening and stopped by the river to eat my packed lunch [ petrol is so expensive now that I try to economise on somethings ] On the river were the swans and other water birds but there was also a family of ducks – Mum, Dad and 10 ducklings. I sat and watched as they scooted hither and yon and my eye was caught by the sight of some boys playing football on the opposite bank. I could tell from their yells that they weren’t English and my curiosity was aroused. Looking down the road I saw a large coach with foreign number-plates and deduced that they were visiting students. Imagine my total delight when they gradually began to sing as they played football. It turned out to be a youth choir on tour – I think they were French although I was  too far away to catch the real nature of their song or the language. So – another thing to make me smile!

The music making was really enjoyable – it’s some time since I played just for the hell of it and had almost forgotten how good the camaraderie of ensemble playing can feel. These musicians are not friends of mine yet but they could be. I feel a lot more journeys like this coming on!

I won’t bore you with the drive back home. Suffice to say it was as good as the outward journey and my smiling muscles had another good workout.

So. There we have it. A perfect day.

In a way I regret not having my camera then I could share the images but I will keep them in my Mind’s Eye and bring them out when I need a smile. Yesterday taught me that I should stop whingeing, whining and wishing for the unattainable and be really thankful for the simple joys that I have right here on my doorstep.

McVicar’s ROH Aida on BBC radio

THURSDAY 21st APRIL at 14.00 uk time

world time converter

A recording of the controversial David McVicar Royal Opera House production of 2010

which had it’s first revival in March this year.

photocredit:Bill Cooper

Verdi’s Aida
From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

WAS  AVAILABLE TO LISTEN ON BBC iPLAYER time now elapsed

LINK to BBC radio 3 for extra photos and synopsis

Aida, an Ethiopian princess, is enslaved to the Egyptians and is secretly in love with the Egyptian soldier, Radames. Radames returns her feelings, but Amneris, daughter of the King, is in love with him too. As well as ceremonial grand scenes, Verdi’s opera has at its heart a finely expressed story of a secret love between cultures, and the anguish of divided loyalties between duty for ones country and personal feeling. Verdi had to be persuaded to compose the work for Cairo’s opera house once it had opened, and he created a world which combines exotic sounds and deeply felt expression.

Roberto Alagna As Radames

Aida ….. Liudmyla Monastyrska (soprano)
Radames ….. Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Amneris ….. Olga Borodina (mezzo-soprano)
Amonasro ….. Michael Volle (baritone)
Ramfis ….. Vitalij Kowaljow (bass)
King of Egypt ….. Brindley Sherratt (bass)
High Priestess ….. Madeleine Pierard (soprano)
Messenger ….. Ji Hyun Kim (tenor)

Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Conductor ….. Fabio Luisi.

Synopsis from ROH

Review from Opera Today

Review from MusicalCricicism.com

photocredit:Bill Cooper/ The Royal Opera

Choral music for Holy Week 2011 on BBC radio.

NB.  This post was written for Easter 2011

BBC RADIO 3 has a wealth of wonderful choral music to listen to in the approach to Easter.

Here is a link to the complete programme but may I suggest these highlights :- Click the green title of each piece for live stream or iPlayer    world time converter

Broadcast on Wednesday 20th April

19.00 – 21.15

Faure Requiem    

Although widely known for his chamber music and French songs, it is with his Requiem that Faure produced his magnum opus – a much-loved masterpiece. Serenely beautiful and deeply moving, it makes a profound impact on listeners and performers alike.

The BBC Singers perform the Requiem in a new version for choir and small instrumental ensemble arranged by David Hill.  It is preceded by a rarely-heard large-scale setting of Psalm 130, De profundis, by the great French organ virtuoso Marcel Dupre, who thought of himself as an organist first and composer second. This Psalm is richly textured and virtuosic.

Dupre: De profundis (info from Wikipedia)
Faure: Requiem ( ”    ”    ”   )

BBC Singers
Daniel Hyde (organ)
Amyn Merchant (violin)
Graham Bradshaw (cello)
Sioned Williams (harp)
conductor David Hill

I searched YouTube for a version of my favourite movement from the Requiem. Here, courtesy of drvarska, is the Libera Me –  the sixth of the seven movements. I love this in particular for the “heartbeat” pulse which runs through the accompaniment in the opening and closing sections. In this clip Laurence Equilbey conducts and I must say, as much as I admire her work and the results she achieves here, I really dislike her agressive, jerky style, head nodding and grim facial expression. However the choir, orchestra and baritone are fabulous. See what you think ……..

David Bizic, baritone
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Choeur Accentus
Laurence Equilbey, direction
Festival de Saint-Denis / Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Basilique Cathédrale 10 June 2010

Free me, Lord, from eternal death, on that day of dread, when the heavens and earth shall move, when you shall come to judge the world by fire. I am made to tremble, and to fear, when destruction shall come, and also your coming wrath.  O that day, that day of wrath, of calamity and misery, the great and exceedingly bitter day.  Grant eternal rest to them, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. 

*****

Broadcast on Thursday 21st April 19.00 – 21.15

St Matthew Passion

First performed on Good Friday, Bach’s St Matthew Passion sits at the summit of his achievements in sacred music.

The Bach Choir has a distinguished history, and its annual tradition of performing Bach’s St Matthew Passion in English dates back to 1930. The choir and its Music Director David Hill are joined by an eminent group of soloists, a ripieno choir of children drawn from schools in and around London, and the period instrument ensemble, Florilegium.

Johann Sebastian Bach:  St Matthew Passion  ( info )

James Gilchrist (tenor – Evangelist)
Jeremy White (bass – Christus)
Helen Jane Howells (soprano)
Iestyn Davies (countertenor)
Benjamin Hulett (tenor)
Roderick Williams (baritone)
The Bach Choir
Florilegium
conductor David Hill.

~~

Broadcast on Good Friday 19.00 – 21.15

Easter at King’s

Stephen Cleobury conducts music for Good Friday, live from King’s College, Cambridge. ( info )  Frank Martin wrote some of the most poignant sacred music of the 20th century and his large scale oratorio Golgotha is a powerful, rich and complex work. Martin was inspired to create his own Passion after seeing Rembrandt’s etching, ‘The Three Crosses’. Using texts from the Gospels and the writings of St Augustine, he creates a world in darkness and doubt in which the five soloists share the narrative and character roles. Martin builds on the legacy of Bach’s Passions by drawing on the finest 20th century heritage of Debussy, Poulenc and Stravinsky.

Frank Martin: Golgotha   ( info )

Ailish Tynan (soprano)
Susan Bickley (mezzo soprano)
Christopher Gillett (tenor)
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Mark Stone (bass baritone)
Philharmonia Chorus
BBC Concert Orchestra
Stephen Cleobury (conductor).

~~

Broadcast on Easter Saturday  23rd 1.00 – 2.00

Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross from 2009 Proms

Haydn, (Franz) Joseph [1732-1809]  

The Seven last words of our Saviour on the Cross  ( info)

for soloists, chorus and orchestra (H.20.2)
Elizabeth Watts (soprano),

Renate Pokupic (soprano),

Andrew Kennedy (tenor),

Darren Jeffrey (bass),

BBC Singers, Manchester Camerata, Douglas Boyd (conductor)

~~

Broadcast on Easter Sunday 16.00 – 17.00

Solemn Choral Evening Prayer from Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

Introit: Haec Dies (Byrd)
Responses: Michael Walsh
Hymn: Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour (St Helen)
Psalms: 110, 114 (Philip Duffy)
New Testament Canticle: Revelation 19 vv1, 5-7
New Testament Reading: Hebrews 10 vv12-14
Anthem: Ecce vicit Leo (Philips)
Gospel: John 20 vv19-23
Homily: The Rt Revd James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool
Magnificat in B flat for double choir (Stanford)
Marian Antiphon: Regina Coeli (Philips)
Organ Voluntary: Choral-Improvisation sur le Victimae Paschali (Tournemire)

Director of Music: Timothy Noon
Organist: Richard Lea.

~~

White Shirt Weekend …… to go or not to go.

TO GO, OR NOT TO GO ?

That is was the question

Julia Riley as Sesto in English Touring Opera’s La Clemenza di Tito in various venues Spring 2011

photo: Richard Hubert Smith for ETO

Some opera lovers are indeed fortunate.They live in areas of the world where going to live opera performances is commonplace or at least relatively easy to accomplish [if you've got the money!]  Some opera lovers have the means, the time and the personal circumstances which allow them to experience quality opera in their own locality or further afield and I’m very happy for them, even though I may sometimes grit my teeth with envy in a very non-British way!

Others, like myself,  live in places where live performance with professional companies,  including the trend towards HD, is virtually non-existent. They may also have circumstances which make travel difficult or impossible.   So .. we  feed off the exploits of the lucky ones. We read avidly, pour over photos, listen to recordings, work on scores from the library and watch videos. These recordings become well known and well loved,  like comfortable old slippers [ we do hate to throw those away, don't we? ]  They seep into the consciousness, embed themselves into the ears, eyes and emotions and we become reliant on them for soul nourishment.

So, when an unexpected opportunity arises to experience an unfamiliar version of  a very familiar opera a quandary  must be faced. Stay with the well-known, trusted and beloved? or risk it and face disappointment, not to mention the financial cost.

For instance – can anything at all come anywhere near ……

THIS ?

Sesto, tout seul  in Zurich [photo: Suzanne Schwiertz]

OR THIS

Sesto with Barbara Fritolli at the Royal Opera House [photo:Bill Cooper]

OR THIS

Sesto with Alexandrina Pendatchanska in Madrid. [photo:Javier de Real]

OR THIS

Sesto in Barcelona with a wicked looking knife.  [screengrab from YouTube video]

OR ESPECIALLY THIS

Sesto in Salzberg with Dorothea Roschmann. Photo is a screengrab from Salzberg production. Source unknown but it has made many a White Shirt drool smile –

thank you, whoever you are!

*****

Yes, I have a particular love for a particular opera, character and performer -

have you guessed who it is yet ?!!

I came across Vesselina Kasarova’s Sesto on various blogs last year. So much was said about the haunting beauty of Mozart’s music, the striking originality of the production and the stunning performances in La Clemenza di Tito, [ Salzberg  2003 ]  that I first absorbed all the excerpts I could find and then I bought the DVD. I was immediately smitten and fully understood why some people have raved that there can be no other Sesto but Kasarova.

Just imagine being a singer cast in that role with much of the opera loving world saying, or at least thinking,  ” follow THAT”   English Touring Opera are on the road this Spring with La Clemenza di Tito ( Mozart ) Fantastic Mr. Fox (Tobias Picker) and Il Tabarro/Gianni Schicchi ( Puccini) and I have decided to risk it on the Mozart.  I have booked my seat, read the reviews and will try VERY HARD to go with an open mind. After all if I don’t like the singers I can concentrate on the orchestra or the production or the scenery or the costumes or the conductor and avoid AT ALL COSTS making any comparisons!!

So … watch this space. Eyes [ that's me by the way if you're new around here ] will soon be writing her first review since going to Alcina at The Barbican last December.

And if you want to make up your own mind about Kasarova’s Sesto, put those two words into YouTube and enjoy the results that various people have put up there! Even if, in the end, you disagree with me and many others, you will enjoy finding out!

Whether you are going to the opera or not

HAVE A WONDERFUL WHITE SHIRT WEEKEND !

********

Brett Dean: “Bliss” on BBC radio.

If you don’t fancy listening to Wozzeck from the Met. then why not try ……

The broadcast premiere of Brett Dean’s BLISS

on BBC radio 3

Saturday 17th April at 21.00 uk time

world time converter

LINK to BBC radio 3

Was available for re-listening on BBC iPlayer. Time now expired.

photocredit:Murdo McCleod

Tom Service presents the broadcast premiere of Brett Dean‘s three act opera Bliss, based on the novel by Peter Carey. Peter Coleman-Wright stars as Harry Joy the advertising executive with a dysfunctional family, who sees his life for what it really is following a heart attack. Between the acts Tom talks to the composer, to the opera’s librettist Amanda Holden and to the critic Anna Picard.

Plus, a recording of Dean’s 2006 orchestral work Komarov’s Fall, commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and inspired by the story of Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov’s ill-fated mission at the height of the space race in 1967.

Duration: 150 minutes
Opera in three acts

Libretto by Amanda Holden after the novel by Peter Carey (1981)

Harry Joy ….. Peter Coleman-Wright
Betty Joy ….. Merlyn Quaife
Honey B ….. Lorina Gore
Alex Duval ….. Barry Ryan
David …..David Corcoran
Lucy ….. Taryn Fiebig
Johnny Davis ….. Kanen Breen
Reverend Des/Police Officer/Nurse ….. Shane Lowrencev
Aldo/Nigel Clunes ….. Henry Choo
Mrs Dalton ….. Milijana Nikolic
Nurses ….. Sharon Olde, Jane Parkin
Police Officer/Betty’s Doctor ….. Stephen Smith
Neighbour/Asylum Doctor ….. Malcolm Ede
Managing Directors ..Malcolm Ede, Christopher Hillier, David Lewis, Sam Roberts-Smith, Sam Sakker

Opera Australia
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Elgar Howarth ….. conductor

Recorded at the Edinburgh International Festival in September 2010

video by operaaustralia

Synopsis from Boosey and Hawkes
When the successful businessman Harry Joy suffers a heart attack, he is dead for nine minutes. Following resuscitation, his life – or rather his view on life, after his near-death experience – has changed radically: he believes he is in hell. He realises that his daughter is a communist, his son a drug dealer, and that the two of them are having an incestuous relationship. His company makes a large profit by selling chemicals which, as a side effect, cause cancer, and his wife Betty betrays him with his friend and colleague, Johnny.
Disgusted, Harry leaves his family and moves into a hotel. There he falls in love with Honey, a prostitute and Hippie, and decides to become a ‘good person’ with her help. In the meantime, Betty and Johnny have ordered Harry to be put into a psychiatric ward.
When he is there, a struggle between Betty and Honey for Harry’s ‘soul’ begins – instead of embarking on a new, morally upright life with Honey, Harry returns to his former, rotten advertising job, his partner once again being the career-orientated Betty.
When Betty learns that she has cancer, apparently a long-term consequence of the time she spent at her parents’ petrol station in her childhood, she runs amok and blows herself up during a meeting with managers from the oil industry. Harry eventually finds happiness at Honey’s side.

Brett Dean on the trials of getting his opera Bliss on to the stage … article in The Guardian

Wozzeck LIVE from the Met on BBC radio

* NB This was written in 2011 *

Berg’s Wozzeck

Live from the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Saturday  16th April 2011 at 18.00 uk time, 13.00 EDT

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Maestro Levine takes a bow at The Met.

photocredit:KenHoward/TheMet

Here we go: jealousy, humiliation, murder and suicide. It sounds as if it could be any night at the opera. But Alban Berg’s Wozzeck is one of the 20th century’s greatest dramatic works, the story of a man at the bottom of the heap who goes to pieces under unrelenting pressure.

It’s an opera of extraordinary power which combines traditional musical forms with a plot of crushing despair, leaving no hint of hope or redemption.

Berg’s masterpiece calls for great singer-actors on stage and a virtuoso orchestra and conductor in the pit. Things are set fair with baritone Alan Held in the title role, mezzo Waltraud Meier as his common law wife, and an equally impressive supporting cast including Australian tenor-of-the-moment Stuart Skelton. James Levine conducts: [ ??? ]  Over the past four decades some say he has been the driving force behind the Met Orchestra’s rise to the premiere league of US ensembles.

Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff.

Wozzeck ….. Alan Held (Baritone)
Marie ….. Waltraud Meier (Mezzo-soprano)
Drum Major ….. Stuart Skelton (Tenor)
Captain ….. Gerhard Siegel (Tenor)
Doctor ….. Walter Fink (Bass)
Andres ….. Russell Thomas (tenor)
Margret ….. Wendy White (contralto)
1st Apprentice .Richard Bernstein (bass)
2nd Apprentice .Mark Schowalter
Madman ….. Philippe Castagner (tenor)
A Soldier ….. Daniel Clark Smith (tenor)

Alan Held and Waltraud Meier

photocredit:Juliette Cervantes for the NY Times

photocredit:Cory Weaver/Metropolitan Opera

DURATION 2 hours

Review from Superconductor   Review from The Classical Review   Review from MusicalCriticism.com

Review from the New York Times

Massenet and Minkowski Matinee. Don Quixote on BBC radio.

Listen to Massenet’s  Don Quixote on BBC radio 3

Thursday 14th April at 14.00 uk time,  09.00 EDT

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Photographs courtesy of Johan Jacobs / La Monnaie

LINK to BBC radio 3. Was available on iPlayer. Time now elapsed

Regarded by many as the first true novel ever written, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes was published in two parts early in the 1600s. The first opera based on the book appeared later that same century, and Henry Purcell wrote some incidental music to accompany a dramatic version of the story. Later there were more operas, several ballets and Richard Strauss’s tone poem (which was included in Afternoon on 3 earlier this week – available via listen again until 19 April).

Massenet’s operatic version, Don Quichotte, while not having found its way into the repertoire with his most popular operas, is musically one of his most attractive works. It’s unashamedly melodic and evokes a strong sense of locale – one of Massenet’s most notable skills. He called his opera a “heroic comedy”: an appropriate description, as he creates a tone that acknowledges both the humor of the situation and the nobility of the Don’s character. The opera was first staged in Monte Carlo in 1910.

Louise Fryer introduces this opera in 5 short acts. Act 1 sees Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza introduced to Dulcinea, and the Don immediately falls in love with her. Don Quixote then practises a serenade for his new love in Act 2, before mounting an attack on group of windmills which he thinks are giants! In Act 3 the Don is captured by bandits, who later take pity on the old man, moved by his “final” prayer. The action of Act 4 returns to Dulcinea’s house where Don Quixote proposes to his love and is affectionately refused. In the final act he realises that his death is near – accompanied by a vision of Dulcinea.

In this production of the opera at the Monnaie Theatre in Brussels, the company’s chorus and orchestra are joined by leading soloists including native Belgian bass-baritone Jose Van Dam (Don Quixote) and mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafe (Dulcinea), under the baton of Marc Minkowski.

Dulcinea ….. Silvia Tro Santafe, mezzo-soprano
Don Quixote ….. Jose Van Dam, bass
Sancho Panza ….. Werner Van Mechelen, baritone
Pedro ….. Julie Mossay

Garcia ….. Camille Merckx

Rodriguez ….. Vincent Delhoume
Juan ….. Gijs Van der Linden
Lackey 1 ….. Andre Gregoire
Lackey 2 ….. Marc Coulon
Bandit chief ….. Bernard Villiers
Bandit 1 ….. Jacques Does
Bandit 2 ….. Aldo de Vernati
Bandit 3 ….. Gerard Lavalle
Bandit 4 ….. Pascal Macou
La Monnaie Chorus and Symphony Orchestra
Marc Minkowski, conductor

LINK to NPR Music World of Opera for full synopsis, photos and other links.

It’s opera Jim …. but not as we know it!

First  performance of  Will  Gregory’s  Piccard in Space

Out of this stratosphere

Wednesday 13th April at 19.00 uk time, 14.00 EDT

on BBC radio 3

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Link to BBC radio 3 for live stream.

Was available for re-listening on BBC iPlayer. Time now elapsed.

Presented by Martin Handley

Piccard in Space – the world premiere of Will Gregory’s spectacular balloon operatic adventure.

Jude Kelly directs the World premiere of Will Gregory’s debut opera: a classic adventure about the brilliant physicist August Piccard. Recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London on March 31st 2011.

Composer, saxophonist and keyboard player Will Gregory has long been known as one half of Electro-pop duo Goldfrapp, with whom he has achieved huge commercial success. His relationship with the BBC Concert Orchestra stretches back to 2007 when they teamed up for a performance of his score to Victor Sjöström’s 1924 silent-movie classic He Who Gets Slapped.

*****

On a mission to prove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Piccard takes to the skies with his assistant in an airtight capsule. Travelling to a record-breaking 51,000 feet, they survive being roasted by the sun, toxic balls of mercury and crashing into the Alps. Clearly not a blackboard and chalk type of scientist, Piccard became world front-page news in 1931 and the inspiration for Hergé’s cartoon character Professor Calculus in The Adventures of Tintin series.

Piccard in Space: out of this stratosphere!

Composer Will Gregory
Libretto Hattie Naylor
Video Design Kathy Hinde
Director Jude Kelly

photocredit: Tristram Kenton for The Guardian

Auguste Piccard: Andrew Shorer
Paul Kipfe: Robin Tritschler
Einstein:Leigh Melrose
Newton: Nicholas Clapton
Madame Kipfer: Mary Plazas

Will Gregory Moog Ensemble
Kipfer’s Cosmic Choir
BBC Concert Orchestra
Conductor Charles Hazlewood.

DURATION 2 hours 15 minutes

Review from The Times

“Exploration is the sport of the scientist.” (Auguste Piccard) 27 May 1931

Image courtesy of: Collection Musée du Léman, Nyon – Suisse

Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra on late night radio

Listen to Simon Boccanegra with Domingo on BBC radio 3

Early Tuesday morning 11th April at 01.00

( yes, that’s 1 in the morning uk time ) 20.00 EDT

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This performance was recorded at The Albert Hall, London at the 2010 Proms season

Curtain call at the BBC Proms 2010 for the cast of Simon Boccanegra (from left to right: Ferruccio Furlanetto, Joseph Calleja, Marina Poplavskaya, Plácido Domingo and Lukas Jakobski).

photocredits:Chris Christodoulou/BBC

This broadcast WAS available for re-listening on BBC iPlayer. Time now elapsed.

Presented by Karishmeh Felfeli.

Placido Domingo …… Simon Boccanegra

Marina Poplavskaya ………….….. Amelia

Joseph Calleja …………. Gabriele Adorno

Ferruccio Furlanetto …… Jacopo Fiesco

Jonathan Summers …….. Paolo Albiani

Lukas Jakobski …………………. Pietro

Royal Opera House Orchestra and Royal Opera Chorus

Antonio Pappano, conductor

Boccanegra (Placido Domingo) discovers that Amelia (Marina Poplavskaya) is his long-lost daughter.

LINK to NPR Music World of Opera with interesting details of this performance, synopsis, photos and many other links to Domingo and Verdi.

Access to FREE SCORES for this opera                VERDI in Wikipedia

White Shirt Weekend ……. Flying

Is it a Bird ?

Is it a Plane ?

No  - it’s La Kasarova gracefully flying to the place where she belongs – on a stage, dressed in a white shirt, beautifully singing beautiful music to a soprano.  White Shirt Bonus … shirt fabric, sleeve roll, Lacroix collar and gorgeous waistcoat  (but very, very strange glove! )

Unfortunately this scenario is not likely to happen any time soon as Frau Kasarova’s illness has prevented her singing in any of the Munich “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” performances.

Her next role is Dalila in the premiere performance of Camille Saint-Saëns ” Samson et Dalila”, Oper Berlin, Germany, on Sunday 15th May, which isn’t far away so let’s hope that her health improves enough for her to tackle the rigours of a role debut. After 3 concerts, a Rosina and a Carmen she returns to Munich to play Romeo for two performances in July ( Munich Opera Festival )

Her complete schedule can be found here. Thank you Smorg.

Meanwhile, here are a few images of the performances that might have been and,

hopefully, are yet to come.

Vesselina Kasarova as Romeo, with Eri Nakamura as Giuillietta  in Bayerische Staatsoper production of I Capuleti e i Montecchi 20011

All images are screengrabs from the rehearsal and production videos by Bayerische Staatsoper

Further images of the production starring Tara Erraught and Eri Nakamura can be found here, together with sound clips and videos.

*****

This weekend some very lucky White Shirts ( and a host of  other opera- lovers ) are in Munich to see this wonderful production and those of us who are not able to join them look forward to all the details when they return. Some accounts and impressions are already in!

Whether you are in Munich or elsewhere

HAVE A WONDERFUL WHITE SHIRT WEEKEND !

Listen to Le Compte Ory on BBC radio.

Live from The Metropolitan Opera New York

Saturday 9th April at  18.00 uk time,  13.00 EDT

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Act 2 trio comedy antics!  Video from Metropolitan Opera

LINK to BBC radio 3 web site for live feed, synopsis, good photos and information

Unfortunately this broadcast has NOT been archived for re-listening on BBC iPlayer

Count Ory is determined to win the countess Adele, and will do anything to get access to the castle where the women are, including disguising himself and his men as nuns. Rossini’s sparkling comedy Le Comte Ory has its Metropolitan Opera premiere with tenor star Jan Diego Florez as the count, Diana Damrau as Adele and Joyce DiDonato in the trouser role of Isolier.

Juan Diego Florez as Comte Ory and Joyce Didonato as Isolier.

photocredit:Marty Sohl /Metropolitan Opera

Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff.

 

Countess Adele ….. Diana Damrau (soprano)

Isolier ….. Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano)

Ragonde ….. Susanne Resmark (mezzo-soprano)

Count Ory ….. Juan Diego Florez (tenor)

Rimbaud ….. Stephane Degout (baritone)

The Prompter ….. Rob Besserer (baritone)

Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera.   Conductor ….. Maurizio Benini.

*****

DURATION 3 hours 15 minutes

*****

For extra ( White Shirt) perspective on this opera head over to  Towanda’s or   Anik’s

 

REVIEW from The New York Observer

REVIEW from Opera Today    

REVIEW from The Washington Post

INTERVIEW with Joyce di Donato about this production

Live Broadcasts Around the World

Le Comte Ory will be experienced by millions of people around the world this season in movie theaters, on the radio and on the internet, through distribution platforms the Met has established with various media partners.

This April 9 matinee will be transmitted to more than 1,500 movie theaters in 46 countries around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series.

The March 24 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 and XM channel 79, as will the April 5, 9 and 14 performances.

The March 24 and April 14 performances will also be available via internet streaming at the Met’s web site www.metopera.org.

This April 9 matinee will also be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.     LINK to radio station finder

BBC TV tonight. The world’s worst place to be gay?

TONIGHT  -  ( Tuesday 5th April )

BBC 1 television at 23.25 uk time

and now on iPlayer – link below

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Sorry for the short notice and to those of you who would like to watch but do not have access to BBC programmes.

Scott Mills travels to Uganda where the death penalty could soon be introduced for being gay. The gay Radio 1 DJ finds out what it’s like to live in a society which persecutes people like him and meets those who are leading the hate campaign.

This is a repeat of the powerful documentary film first shown earlier this year. If you have access to BBC television or, after the broadcast, BBC iPlayer, do watch. It makes horrifying and disturbing viewing.

Many think Stosh is a boy but she’s a lesbian. She was recently “outed” in a national newspaper and as a result was stoned by her neighbours. She fled her home in terror and is now in hiding. This is just the latest in a long line of incidents that have befallen Stosh because of her sexuality. When she was a teenager she was raped by a man to try and “cure” her of her lesbianism and as a result was infected with HIV.

Pastor Male is part of the self styled National Coalition against Homosexuality and Sexual Abuse in Uganda and claims he was the first person in the country to come out openly against gays. Male believes that no one is born gay and that through counselling they can be cured of this “affliction”, which leads to a very lively exchange with Scott.

LINK to BBC TV for direct viewing and related articles and clips

LINK .....this WAS available on iPlayer. Time now elapsed.

BBC 3 BLOG for extra information on the programme and playable clips

DURATION 1 hour

Listen to Rossini’s Sigismondo on the BBC

Rossini –  Sigismondo on BBC radio 3

Thursday  7th April at  14.00 uk time, 11.00 EDT

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Enea Scala, Antonio Siragusa And Daniela Barcellona (L To R) Perform In Sigismondo

Photocredits: Studio Amati Bacciardi

LINK to BBC 3 web site for extra photos.

This WAS available now on iPlayer. Time now elapsed

This Thursday’s  Opera Matinee features Rossini’s tantalising tale of how military defeat, private remorse and chance encounters help the King of Poland overcome the destructive advice of his minister.

Photocredit: Studio Amati Bacciardi

An unstable Sigismondo (Daniela Barcellona) cowers by his bed,  tormented by memories of the wife he sentenced to death. In this production, Act One is set in a mental institution.

Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano)…Sigismondo

Manuela Bisceglie (soprano)…Anagilda
Andrea Concetti (baritone)…Ulderico, Zenovito
Antonio Siragusa (tenor)…Ladislao
Olga Peretyatko (soprano)…Aldimira
Enea Scala (tenor)…Radotski

Bologna Municipal Theatre Chorus and Orchestra
Conductor Michele Mariotti.

Synopsis from Rossini Opera Festival

Information from Wikipedia

Review

LINK to excellent page at NPR World of Opera with photos, audio extracts, synopsis and much more.

Duration 3 hours

Beauty

***

In a world of violence and disaster thank your god

for moments of beauty.

***

 

videos from Bayerische Staatsoper

Production videos of  Bellini’s opera  ”I Capuleti e i Montecchi ”  2011

Opera House Munich. 3/6/9/12/ April.  Web site