The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Madison Opera performs Verdi’s popular “La Traviata” this Friday night and Sunday afternoon in Overture Hall
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
This weekend, the Madison Opera opens its 59th season with a traditional production of Verdi’s “La Traviata” (The Lost One), one of the most popular operas in history.
According to the website www.operasense.com — specifically at https://www.operasense.com/most-popular-operas/ — it has been the most performed opera in the world, beating out such perennial favorites as Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” Puccini’s “La Boheme” and “Madama Butterfly,” and Bizet’s “Carmen.” (Below are photos by Matthew Staver from the production by Opera Colorado in Denver, which features the same sets and costumes that will be used in the production by Madison Opera.)
Performances in Overture Hall are this Friday night, Nov. 1, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Nov. 3 at 2:30 p.m. The opera will be sung in Italian with projected supertitles in English. The running time, with two intermissions, is 2 hours and 45 minutes.
PRE-OPERA TALKS are on Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Studio of the Overture Center. One hour prior to performances, general director Kathryn Smith will give an entertaining and informative talk about “La Traviata.” The talks are free to ticket holders.
POST-OPERA Q&A’s are on Friday and Sunday and will also take place in the Wisconsin Studio of the Overture Center. Audience members can join general director Kathryn Smith immediately after the performance to ask questions about what they have just seen. The sessions are free to ticket holders.
Tickets are $18-$135 with student and group discounts available. For information about tickets, the production and the cast, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org
Set in mid-19th century Paris, “La Traviata” tells of Violetta, a courtesan who tries to follow her heart. But societal pressures force her to leave the man she loves, and an incurable illness takes care of the rest.
Glittering parties contrast with quiet desperation, and ravishing music underscores all-consuming emotions.
“Only a few operas ever achieve a truly beloved status — and “La Traviata” is one of them,” says Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill). For being over 150 years old, its story is quite modern: a young woman trying to overcome the limitations that society has placed on her because of her class and gender, searching for happiness yet willing to make sacrifices.
“Plus it is full of very famous music, from the ‘Brindisi’ to ‘Sempre Libera’ and more,” Smith adds. “It’s always a pleasure to have a new generation discover this work, and to share it with opera omnivores who know it well.” (You can hear Renée Fleming sing Violetta’s signature aria “Sempre libera” (Always Free) at the Royal Opera House in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“La Traviata” is based on the play and novel “La Dame aux Camélias” (The Lady of the Camellias) by Alexandre Dumas the son (below top), which were in turn based on his real-life relationship with the courtesan Marie Duplessis (below bottom), who died in 1847 of consumption.
The play was an instant hit when it premiered in Paris in 1852, and Verdi (below) turned it into an opera the following year.
While the first production of the opera was not a success, due to the poor singing of two cast members and the physical unsuitability of one singer, its second production was acclaimed, and the opera swiftly became one of the most performed operas in the world, a status it has not lost.
Both the opera and the play have inspired countless films, including “Camille” (with Greta Garbo), “Pretty Woman” (with Julia Roberts) and “Moulin Rouge” (with Nicole Kidman).
Madison Opera’s artistic director John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) says: “”La Traviata” has been a part of my artistic life since the very beginning of my career – it’s one of the reasons I so wanted to conduct opera. The heartfelt and tragic story of a love that was cut short by both health and cultural circumstances is still deeply moving today.
“The role of Violetta is a tour-de-force that ranges from high-flying coloratura to dramatic vocalism, with a strongly-etched character. I love this opera so deeply and look forward to conducting it for our audience.”
Returning to Madison Opera as Violetta is Cecilia Violetta Lopez (she played Carmen in Madison), whom The Washington Post reviewer called “as compelling a Violetta as I’ve seen.”
Mackenzie Whitney (below, who appeared in “Florencia en el Amazonas” for the Madison Opera) returns as Alfredo, the young man for whom she sacrifices everything.
Weston Hurt (below) debuts with Madison Opera as Alfredo’s father Germont, whose disapproval of his son’s relationship with Violetta has tragic consequences.
Madison Opera’s Studio Artists are featured: Kirsten Larson as Flora, Emily Secor as Annina, Benjamin Hopkins as Gastone, and Stephen Hobe as the Marquis d’Obigny.
Rounding out the cast are Benjamin Sieverding (Romeo and Juliet) as Dr. Grenvil and Benjamin Major in his Madison Opera debut as Baron Douphol.
Fenton Lamb (below) directs this traditional production in her Madison Opera debut.
Maestro John DeMain conducts the singers, the Madison Opera Chorus and the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The Madison Opera’s production of “La Traviata” is sponsored by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, Bert and Diane Adams, Carla and Fernando Alvarado, Chun Lin, Patricia and Stephen Lucas, Millie and Marshall Osborn, Kato and David Perlman, the Wallach Family, Helen Wineke, Capitol Lakes, and the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Tags: #19thCentury, #AlexandreDumasfils, #ArtisticDirector, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolLakes, #CapitolLakesRetirementCenter, #CastList, #CeciliaViolettaLopez, #ChoralMusic, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DenverColorado, #DrinkingSong, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FentonLamb, #FlorenciaenelAmazonas, #Fridaynight, #GeneralDirector, #GeorgesBizet, #GiacomoPuccini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GretaGardo, #HomeWebsite, #IncurableIllness, #InstantHit, #JohnDeMain, #JuliaRoberts, #KathrynSmith, #KatoPerlman, #LaBoheme, #LaTraviata, #MackenzieWhitney, #MadamaButterfly, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarieDuplessis, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MoulinRouge, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #NicoleKidman, #OperaAria, #OperaColorado, #OperaHouse, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #ParisFrance, #PerennialFavorite, #PersonalRelationship, #PleasantT.Rowland, #PopularMusic, #PrettyWoman, #QuietDesperation, #RenéeFleming, #RomeoandJuliet, #RoyalOperaHouse, #RunningTime, #SempreLibera, #Sickness, #SopranoSinger, #StateOfWisconsin, #Sundayafternoon, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheLostOne, #TheMagicFlute, #TheWashingtonPost, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WestonHurt, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinStudio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YoungMan, #YoungWoman, #YouTubevideo, 19th century, acclaimed, afternoon, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfredo, all-consuming, aria, Artistic director, artististic, artists, Arts, ask, audience, baron, beloved, Bizet, blog, Brindisi, Camille, Capitol, Capitol Lakes, care, career, Carmen, cast, Cecilia Violetta Lopez, character, choral music, chorus, circumstance, circumstances, class, classic, Classical music, classicalmusic, classism, Colorado, coloratura, composer, conduct, conductor, consequences, consume, consuming, consumption, costumes, courtesan, critically acclaimed, cultural, culture, death, debut, Denver, desperation, die, director, disapproval, discount, discover, dramatic, drinking song, Dumas, emotions, English, etched, Facebook, famous, father, favorite, feature, Fenton Lamb, film, first, Florencia en el Amazonas, flute, foundation, France, free, Friday, gender, General director, generation, Georges Bizet, Germont, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, glittering, Greta Garbo, group, happiness, Health, heart, heartfelt, high-flying, History, hit, Home, illness, incurable, information, instant, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Jula Roberts, Kathryn Smith, Kato Perlman, La bohème, La Traviata, lakes, life, like, limitation, limitations, link, lost, loves, Mackenzie Whitney, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, magic, man, Marie Duplessis, Mead Witter School of Music, modern, Moulin Rouge, movie, moving, Mozart, Music, music critic, music reviewer, Nicole Kidman, night, novel, old, omnivore, open, opera, Opera Colorado, Opera house, Orchestra, orchestral music, overcome, Overture Center, Overture Hall, Paris, parties, party, perennial, performer, personal relationship, photo, physical, play, Pleasant T. Rowland, pleasure, poor, popular, post, posting, premiere, pressure, Pretty Woman, production, projected, Puccini, Q&A, question-and-answer, questions, quiet, ravishing, reader, real, real-life, relationship, Renée Fleming, Retirement, review, role, Romeo and Juliet, royal, Royal Opera House, running, running time, sacrifice, same, Season, Sempre Libera, session, sets, Sexism, sexist, share, sick, signature, singer, Singing, social, societal, society, son, soprano, sponsor, State of Wisconsin, status, story, studio, subscriber, success, Sunday, sung, supertitles, surtitles, tag, talks, tenor, The Ear, The Lost One, The Magic Flute, The Washington Post, ticket, time, today, tour-de-force, traditional, Tragic, translation, tuberculosis, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Verdi, Violetta, vocal music, Website, weekend, well-known, Weston Hurt, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Studio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woman, world, year, young, young man, young woman, YouTube
Classical music: The Ancora String Quartet performs an all-Italian program four times this month starting this weekend and returns as an ensemble-in-residence at the First Unitarian Society of Madison
3 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following information to post:
The Ancora String Quartet (below) opens its 19th season with a program of works by three Italian composers more usually associated with opera, or solo violin music, than with string quartets.
Members of the Ancora String Quartet (ASQ, below from left in a photo by Barry Lewis) are violins Wes Luke and Robin Ryan; violist Marika Fischer Hoyt; and cellist Benjamin Whitcomb.
Violin virtuoso and composer Antonio Bazzini (below) led a rockstar’s life, touring Europe and hobnobbing with Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn. He later settled in Milan, winning first prize in the Milan quartet competition in 1864 with this piece. The Scherzo shows Mendelssohn’s influence, and the Andante sostenuto delivers breathtakingly beautiful passages of lyrical romance and tender passion.
Opera great Giaocomo Puccini wrote Chrysanthemums (Crisantemi) in one night, upon hearing the news of the death of his friend the Duke of Savoy in 1890. The six-minute piece expresses the composer’s sorrow, in themes that bring to mind the poignant melodies of “Madama Butterfly.” (You can hear “Chrysanthemums” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The String Quartet in E Minor (1873) by Giuseppe Verdi (below) opens with restrained moodiness, but the drama quickly leaps off the page. Written to pass the time while waiting for the delayed opening of his opera “Aida,” this quartet demonstrates Verdi’s mastery of purely instrumental writing — although the cello solo in the Trio of the Scherzo could pass for a tenor aria. The work ends, surprisingly, with an elaborate fugue.
The quartet is gearing up for four performances in September, listed below.
In related news, the Ancora String Quartet, like the Madison Bach Musicians, will become a Resident Ensemble at the First Unitarian Society of Madison (FUS) starting this fall. We are pleased to reconnect with our FUS audiences, and hope our Regent Street fans will make the trip as well.
Here is the September schedule of the Italian program:
- This Friday, Sept. 6, from noon to 1 p.m. in an interview on Wisconsin Public Radio’s The Midday with host Norman Gilliland. WPR is Madison station WERN 88.7 FM. The ASQ will perform the entire Bazzini quartet.
- This Saturday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the FUS, Landmark Auditorium, Madison. Tickets at the door are $15 for the general public, $12 for seniors and $6 for students.
- Sunday, Sept. 8, at 3 p.m. at FUS, Landmark Auditorium, Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, Madison. Tickets at the door are $15, $12 and $6.
- Next Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Germantown Community Library, N112W16957 Mequon Rd., in Germantown. The concert is FREE and open to the public.
Tags: #AncoraStringQuartet, #AntonioBazzini, #Artists-in-Residence, #BenjaminWhitcomb, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #Chrysanthemums, #CommunityLibrary, #CommunitySupport, #Ensemble-in-residence, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #GermantownWisconsin, #GiacomoPuccini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #InstrumentalMusic, #italianComposer, #ItalianComposers, #JohannSebastianBach, #LandmarkAuditorium, #MadamaButterfly, #MadameButterfly, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #NormanGilliland, #OperaAria, #OperaMusic, #RobertSchumann, #RobinRyan, #SeniorCitizen, #StringQuartet, #TenorSinger, #TheMidday, #UniversityofWisconsin-Whitewater, #ViolinMusic, #VocalMusic, #WERN88.7FM, #WesLuke, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, adult, Aida, Ancora String Quartet, Antonio Bazzini, aria, artists, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, beautiful, Benjamin Whitcomb, blog, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, classicalmusic, community, Competition, composer, composers, Concert, counterpoint, death, door, drama, duke, end, ensemble, Europe, event, express, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, First Unitarian Society of Madison, FM, forward, friend, fugue, FUS, Germantown, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, influence, instrumental, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Landmark Auditorium, library, like, link, lyrical, Madama Butterfly, Madame Butterfly, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marika Fischer Hoyt, mastery, melody, member, members, Milan, moodiness, Music, night, Norman Gilliland, opening, opera, page, passage, Passion, performance, piece, poignant, post, posting, prize, public, Puccini, Radio, restrained, return, Robert Schumann, Robin Ryan, Romance, Savoy, schedule, Scherzo, senior, September, share, solo, sorrow, String quartet, Student, subscriber, tag, tender, tenor, The Midday, theme, tickets, time, tour, United States, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, UW-Whitewater, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtuoso, vocal music, WERN 88.7 FM, Wes Luke, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, word, work, young person, YouTube
Classical music: Saturday afternoon, Live From the Met in HD closes this season with an acclaimed production of “Dialogues of the Carmelites.” Here is a background story, two rave reviews, and next season’s 10 operas
2 Comments
ALERT:The Brass Choirs of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will present an afternoon of brass music this Saturday afternoon, May 11, at 2:30 p.m. in Mills Concert Hall, 455 North Park Street, in Madison. Directed by Tom Curry, the program features brass musicians from WYSO’s Concert, Philharmonia and Youth Orchestras. The concert is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLC. Music to be played is by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Giovanni Gabrieli, Charles Gounod, Edward Elgar, Paul Hindemith, Alan Hovahaness and Karel Husa.
CORRECTION: The Madison Youth Choirs will perform its “Legacy” concerts this weekend in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center on Saturday and Sunday — NOT Friday, as mistakenly listed and then corrected in the original post, which is below: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/05/08/classical-music-the-madison-youth-choirs-will-explore-the-theme-of-legacy-in-three-concerts-this-saturday-and-sunday-in-the-capitol-theater-of-the-overture-center/
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday afternoon, May 11, the last production of this season’s “Live From the Met in HD” series, broadcast worldwide via satellite to cinemas, is Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites.”
By all accounts, it would be hard to end on a higher, stronger or more darkly dramatic note, given the outstanding music and performance of the score as well as the superb acting. (There is a brief preview of short scenes in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The world premiere of the opera took place in 1957 at La Scala in Milan, Italy. One of the most successful operas of the later decades of the 20th century, “Dialogues of the Carmelites” is a rare case of a modern work that is equally esteemed by audiences and experts, according to program notes from the Metropolitan Opera.
The opera focuses on a young member of the order of Carmelite nuns, the aristocratic Blanche de la Force, who must overcome a pathological timidity in order to answer her life’s calling. The score reflects key aspects of its composer’s personality: Francis Poulenc (below) was an urbane Parisian with a profound mystical dimension, and the opera addresses both the characters’ internal lives and their external realities.
The opera takes place between 1789 and 1794 in Paris and in the town of Compiègne in northeastern France, the site of the Carmelite nuns’ convent.
Its historical basis is the martyrdom of a group of 16 Carmelite nuns and lay sisters from Compiègne, who chose to offer themselves as victims for the restoration of peace to France during the French Revolution.
The Met uses the classic John Dexter production of Poulenc’s devastating story of faith and martyrdom.
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (below right) sings the touching role of Blanche and soprano Karita Mattila (below left), a legend in her own time, returns to the Met as the Prioress.
The conductor for the performance is the Met’s highly acclaimed new music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who also leads the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal.
The high-definition broadcast of the live performance from the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City starts at noon and runs until 3:10 p.m. with two intermissions. (It will also air at noon on Wisconsin Public Radio.)
The encore HD showings are next Wednesday, May 15, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The opera will be sung in French with supertitles in English, German and Spanish.
Tickets for Saturday broadcasts are $24 for adults and $22 for seniors and children under 13. For encore showings, all tickets are $18.
The cinemas where the opera can be seen are two Marcus Cinemas: the Point Cinema on the far west side of Madison (608 833-3980) and the Palace Cinema (608 242-2100) in Sun Prairie.
Here is a link to the Marcus website for addresses and more information. You can also use them to purchase tickets:
https://www.movietickets.com/movies
Here is a link to the Metropolitan Opera’s website where you can find the titles, dates, casts, production information and video clips of all 10 productions this past season — PLUS an announcement, with dates and titles, for next season’s 10 productions (which feature five new productions but no Verdi):
https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/
Here is a background story that focuses on the French-Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who leads the orchestra in this production and is the new music director of the Metropolitan Opera:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/arts/music/met-opera-dialogues-des-carmelites.html
Here is a rave review of “Dialogues of the Carmelites” by senior classical music critic Anthony Tommasini for The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/arts/music/dialogues-des-carmelites-met-opera-review.html
And here is another rave review from New York Classical Review:
http://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2019/05/met-closes-season-with-a-riveting-devastating-carmelites/
Here are links to a synopsis and program notes:
https://www.metopera.org/discover/synopses/dialogues-des-carmelites/
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/dialogues-des-carmelites/
And here is a Wikipedia history of the hi-def broadcast series that gives you more information about how many cinemas it uses, the enormous size of the worldwide audience – now including Russia, China and Israel — and how much money it makes for The Met.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Opera_Live_in_HD
Tags: #20thCentury, #AlanHovhaness, #AlbanBerg, #AnthonyTommasini, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOpera, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #BrassChoir, #BrassMusic, #CapitolTheater, #CatholicReligion, #CharlesGounod, #ChinaBroadcast, #ChristianReligion, #DialoguesoftheCarmelites, #EdwardElgar, #EnglishLanguage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrancisPoulenc, #FrenchCanadian, #FrenchLanguage, #FrenchMusic, #FrenchRevolution, #GaetanoDonizetti, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GermanLanguage, #GiacomoPuccini, #GiovanniGabrieli, #GiuseppeVerdi, #Hi-Definition, #HomeWebsite, #IsabelLeonard, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnDexter, #JulesMassenet, #KarelHusa, #KaritaMattila, #LaScala, #LiveFrom the MetinHD, #LivePerformance, #MadamaButterfly, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #Marcus, #MarcusTheaters, #MarcusTheatres, #MetLiveinHD, #MetropolitanOpera, #MetropolitanOperaLiveinHD, #MetropolitanOrchestraofMontreal, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MilanItaly, #MontrealCanada, #MovieTheater, #MusicCritic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkClassicalReview, #OperaMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PalaceCinema, #ParisFrance, #PaulHindemith, #PhiladelphiaOrchestra, #PhiladelphiaPennsylvania, #PhilharmoniaOrchestra, #PhilipGlass, #PointCinema, #PorgyandBess, #ProgramNotes, #RichardWagner, #RomanCatholicism, #SopranoSinger, #SpanishLanguage, #SunPrairie, #TheFlyingDutchman, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WorldPremiere, #YannickNezet-Seguin, #YouthOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, address, afternoon, Agrippina, air, Alan Hovhaness, Alban Berg, alert, Anthony Tommasini, aristocratic, Arts, aspect, audience, background, Baroque, basis, blog, brass, brass choir, Broadcast, calling, Capitol Theater, Carmelite, cast, Charles Gounod, China, choral music, Christian, Christianity, cinema, classic, Classical music, composer, conductor, convent, correction, dark, darkly, date, decade, devastating, dialogue, Dialogues of the Carmelites, dimension, Donizetti, drama, dramatic, Edward Elgar, encore, end, English, enormous, equal, esteem, expert, experts, external, Facebook, faith, forward, France, Francis Poulenc, free, French, French language, French Revolution, French-Canadian, georgegershwin, German language, Gershwin, Giovanni Gabrieli, global, Handel, HD, hi def, high, historical, History, information, inner, intermission, Isabel Leonard, Israel, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Dexter, Karel Husa, Karita Mattila, key, La Scala, language, last, lay, legend, like, link, Live From The Met in HD, live performance, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Madison Youth Choirs, Manon, martyr, martyrdom, Massenet, member, Met Live in HD, Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal, Mezzo-soprano, Milan, modern, money, Montreal, more, Movie theater, Music, music critic, Music director, Music education, mystical, new, New York City, New York Classical Review, New York Times, Nobel Peace Prize, noon, note, nun, opera, Orchestra, order, outer, outstanding, overcome, Overture Center, Palace Cinema, Paris, Parisian, pathological, Paul Hindemith, peace, Pennsylvania, performer, personality, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia, Philip Glass, Point Cinema, Porgy and Bess, preview, prioress, production, profound, program notes, public, Puccini, purchase, rave, realities, reality, Religion, restoration, review, role, Roman Catholicism, Russia, satellite, satellite broadcast, Saturday, scene, score, Season, share, short, showing, sisters, size, soprano, Spanish, story, strong, successful, Sun Prairie, sung, superb, supertitle, synopsis, tag, The Flying Dutchman, the Met, The New York Times, theatre, time, timid, timidity, title, Tosca, touching, Turandot, United States, urbane, Verdi, victim, victims, vocal music, Wagner, Website, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, work, world premiere, worldwide, Wozzeck, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, you, young, Youth Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: This Saturday the acclaimed German tenor Jonas Kaufmann returns to the Metropolitan Opera in Puccini’s “Girl of the Golden West. It’s the second “Live from The Met in HD” production this season
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE”) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
This Saturday, Oct. 27, the second production of this season’s “Live From the Met” in HD series will be broadcast worldwide: It is Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” (Girl of the Golden West), his last work that, for some reason, has never achieved the popularity of “La Boheme,” “Tosca,” “Madama Butterfly” and “Turandot.”
The production features acclaimed superstar German tenor Jonas Kaufmann (below top), who is returning to the Met stage after four years. Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek (below bottom) plays the gun-slinging title role.
The hi-definition broadcast of a live performance from the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City starts at 11:55 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. with two intermissions.
The encore showings are next Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The opera will be sung in Italian with supertitles in English, German, Spanish and Italian. (You can see the trailer preview in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Tickets are for Saturday broadcasts are $24 for adults and $22 for seniors and children under 13. For encore showings, all tickets are $18.
The cinemas where the opera can be screened are two Marcus Cinemas: the Point Cinema on the west side of Madison (608 833-3980) and the Palace Cinema (608 242-2100) in Sun Prairie.
Here is a link to the Marcus website for addresses and more information. You can also use them to purchase tickets:
http://www.marcustheatres.com/movies/met-aida-live
Here is a link to the Metropolitan Opera’s web site where you can find the titles, dates, casts, production information and video clips of all 10 productions this season, which includes operas by Bizet, Wagner, Donizetti, Saint-Saens, Puccini, Cilea and Poulenc plus a new work, “Marnie,” by Nico Muhly:
https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/
Here is a review from The New York Times, which right now has a technical glitch that makes loading it difficult (the Times said the problem should be fixed soon):
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/arts/music/review-jonas-kaufmann-met-opera-puccini-fanciulla.html
And here is a more positive review from Opera Wire:
http://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2018-19-review-la-fanciulla-del-west-jonas-kaufmann-edition/
Here is a link to a synopsis and cast list:
Here is a link to other information about the production of “Girl of the Golden West,” including photos and audiovisual clips:
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/la-fanciulla-del-west/
And here is a Wikipedia history of the broadcast series that gives you more information about how many cinemas it uses, the size of the worldwide audience – now including Russia, China and Israel — and how much money it makes for The Met.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Opera_Live_in_HD
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #ConcertSeason, #EnglishLanguage, #Eva-MariaWestbroek, #FacebookPost, #FrancisPoulenc, #GaetanoDonizetti, #GeorgesBizet, #GermanLanguage, #GiacomoPuccini, #GirloftheGoldenWest, #Hi-Definition, #ItalianLanguage, #JonasKaufmann, #LaBoheme, #LaFanciulladelWest, #LiveFromtheMetinHD, #MadamaButterfly, #MarcusTheatres, #MetropolitanOpera, #MetropolitanOperaLiveinHD, #MusicReview, #NewYorkCity, #NicoMuhly, #OperaCast, #OperaMusic, #OperaWire, #PalaceCinema, #PointCinema, #RichardWagner, #SpanishLanguage, #SunPrairieWisconsin, #SuperstarTenor, #TechnicalGlitch, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheWest, #TitleRole, #Wikipediaentry, #YouTubevideo, admission, adult, Arts, Baroque, Bizet, Broadcast, cast, Cello, children, China, choral music, Cilea, cinemas, Classical music, composer, date, Donizetti, encore, English, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Facebook, fix, Francis Poulenc, German, Girl of the Golden West, gun, hi def, History, intermission, Israel, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, Jonas Kaufmann, La bohème, La Fanciulla del West, Live From The Met in HD, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Marcus Theatres, Metropolitan Opera, Music, music review, new, New York City, New York Times, Nico Muhly, notes, opera, Opera Wire, Orchestra, Palace Cinema, performer, Point Cinema, Poulenc, problem, production, Puccini, Russia, Saint-Saens, Saturday, Season, senior, showing, singer, Singing, soprano, Spanish, stage, star, stars, Sun Prairie, superstar, synopsis, tenor, the Met, The New York Times, title, title role, Tosca, Turandot, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wagner, web site, Website, Wednesday, west, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, worldwide, YouTube
Classical music: Puccini’s gift for heart-touching melody allows both beginners and veterans to connect with his timeless operas in a way that has been largely lost in contemporary music, says John DeMain. He will conduct the Madison Opera’s production of La Bohème this Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
On this Friday night, Nov. 13, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Nov. 15, at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center for the Arts, the Madison Opera will perform its production of Giacomo Puccini’s evergreen “La Bohème.”
The opera will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Tickets are $18 to $129 and are available from the Overture Center Box Office (608) 258-4141 or from www.madisonopera.org. Student and group discounts are available.
Puccini’s classic opera tells of the lives, loves and losses of a group of young artists in a bohemian quarter of Paris.
La Bohème has been an audience favorite since its first performance on Feb. 1, 1896 ( below is the original poster from 1896 by Adolfo Hohenstein) at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, and is performed by opera companies around the world.
Its popularity over the past century is undiminished and its ravishing score has inspired generations of artists, including the composer Jonathan Larson, who used it as the basis for his award-winning 1996 musical “Rent,” and Baz Lurhmann, director of the 2001 movie “Moulin Rouge.” It also played a pivotal role in the movie “Moonstruck” with Cher and Nicholas Cage.
For more information about the Madison Opera’s production and cast, read the Q&A that The Ear did with Kathryn Smith, the general director of the Madison Opera. Here is a link:
By The Ear’s reckoning, John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad), has spent close to 50 years in opera. He is the artistic director of the Madison Opera and music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and will conduct the singers, orchestra and choruses for the two performances of “La Bohème.”
He graciously agreed to share his experience and knowledge in an email Q&A with The Ear:
What about the story makes “La Bohème” such an enduring classic for both first-timers and veterans?
First of all, it’s a love story involving young adults trying to make it through their young years living from hand to mouth. They are college or post-college age, and are living life on the edge, enjoying great camaraderie, as college roommates enjoy to this day.
We have all lived through the tragedy of disease or plagues affecting various parts of the world in our own time. Mimi has tuberculosis, and we have seen how HIV/AIDS, SARS and Ebola have taken young lives in our own time, robbing people of the chance to live out their lives and loves. So, there is always some part of a story like this for people, both old and young, to connect with.
And what about the same aspect in the music?
Once we enter into the world of Italian “verismo,”or realism, we basically have music that is timeless. The music vividly underscores the action of the drama in great detail from moment to moment.
The interplay of the various leitmotifs manipulates our emotions, leading us to enjoy a good laugh at the interplay of the guys, or Musetta’s outrageous carrying on to make her “ex” jealous and win Marcello back. Then the music engages us in the great sadness of losing Mimi to her disease and robbing Rodolfo of his loved one ( in the final scene below from a production by the Houston Grand Opera, which John DeMain used to head before coming to Madison).
Our great film composers and composers of musical theater all learned from Puccini how to connect the emotions of the drama to the music and vice-versa.
HGO La Boheme
Is Puccini’s reputation as a serious and innovative opera composer, not just a popular one, being reexamined and revised upward in recent years?
Puccini’s output as a composer was limited both in scope and in number. He focused primarily on opera and gave us 12 works in that form. To this day, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot and Tosca remain in the top echelon of opera’s most popular works.
Puccini (below) labored over each of his operas for long periods of time, rewriting to get these pieces as close as possible to perfection, creating librettos and music that soars emotionally, melodically and harmonically. His Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), Turandot and even parts of Butterfly are great examples of Italian Impressionism.
But while Bohème has a few touches of impressionistic harmony, most of the opera stays within a late Romantic harmonic vocabulary.
I think we appreciate more than ever Puccini’s capacity to write unforgettable melody that goes to the very core of our being. Indeed, we lament that most contemporary scores can’t achieve that, and therefore, they don’t have the same relationship with our audiences today. (You can hear that in the arias sung by Luciano Pavarotti and Fiamma Izzo in a YouTube video at the bottom. Listen for when the audience applauds Pavarotti singing a high C.)
Are there special things you would like the public to know about this particular production? Do you have comments about the concept and cast, sets and costumes?
I would like to encourage people who have never been to an opera to come and see La Bohème. There are still people out there who don’t know that we have English titles over the stage that simultaneously translate the opera into English.
The acts are not long, the drama flows at almost the same rate of time as it would if it were just spoken without music. And the young stunning cast we have assembled will thrill young and old alike.
This, like Carmen or Madama Butterfly, is the perfect opera for a first-timer. For the rest of us, it is a chance to thrill once again to one of the most beautiful scores ever composed for the operatic stage.
Tags: AIDS, Arts, Baz Lurhmann, Broadway theatre, Carmen, Cher, choral music, Classical music, Ebola, Giacomo Puccini, Girl of the Golden West, HIV, Houston Grand Opera, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, La bohème, Luciano Pavarotti, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Moonstruck, Moulin Rouge, Music, New York City, Nicholas Cage, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, Puccini, Rent, Romantic, Romantic art, Romantic music, Romanticism, SARS, Tosca, Turandot, Turin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verismo, vocal music, YouTube
Classical music: The Festival Choir of Madison performs “The Romance of Music” — featuring beloved favorites — this Saturday night. Plus, a concert of Indian music and Beethoven will take place SUNDAY night.
3 Comments
ALERT: A noteworthy new event — and perhaps a new tradition — will take place at 7 p.m. this SUNDAY night (NOT Saturday night as mistakenly first listed here) in Mills Hall. That’s when the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra welcomes sitarist Chitravina N. Ravikiran (below) in the third edition of the cross-cultural and world music Melharmony Festival. The music is by Indian composer Dikshitar and Ludwig van Beethoven, who were contemporaries at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century. Andrew Sewell will conduct.
For more information about the event, the players and tickets ($10-$35), visit:
http://www.wcoconcerts.org/performances/melharmony-festival/
By Jacob Stockinger
Friends at The Festival Choir of Madison have sent the following word:
The Festival Choir of Madison (below top) will perform “The Romance of Music,” conducted by Sergei Pavlov (below bottom), who also teaches at Edgewood College.
The concert is this Saturday night, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
Tickets are $15 for general admission; $12 for seniors; and $9 for students.
Do you remember when you fell in love with music? Was it a time and place? A person and feeling? Rediscover your love of music with trios of sacred songs, gypsy tunes and lullabies, straight from our heart to yours.
The program features such favorites as: “Jesu Meine Freude” (Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring) by Johann Sebastian Bach (at bottom in a YouTube video); “Hear My Prayer” by Felix Mendelssohn; “Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul” by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the “Humming Chorus” from “Madama Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini; the “Gypsy Chorus“or “Anvil Chorus” from the opera “Il Trovatore” by Giuseppe Verdi; “Cantique de Jean Racine” by Gabriel Faure; and more.
The Festival Choir is a mixed voice choir of 40 to 50 singers.
Special guest musicians — who often perform with the Kat Trio, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra — for this concert include: Victoria Gorbich (below top) on violin; Vladislav Gorbich (below second) on clarinet; Mary Ann Harr Grinde on harp (below third); and James McKenzie (below bottom) on percussion.
For more information and tickets, visit:
http://festivalchoirmadison.org
Tags: Anvil Chorus, Arts, Bach, Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, Beethoven, Chamber music, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, cross-cultural, crosscultural, Edgewood College, Faure, Felix Mendelssohn, festival, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, gypsy, harp, Il Trovatore, Indian music, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kat Trio, lullaby, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Melharmony Festival, Mendelssohn, Music, percussion, Piano, Puccini, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Romance, sacred, sitar, song, Tchaikovsky, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verdi, Violin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, World music, YouTube
Classical music Q&A: In the run-up to Madison Opera’s 13th annual FREE Opera in the Park this Saturday night, general director Kathryn Smith talks about the past season, the upcoming season, the new opera center and the outdoor concert.
2 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday night will bring the Madison Opera’s 13th annual FREE outdoor Opera in the Park. (Sunday is the rain date.)
It is a massive and complex event to stage, from choosing the right food vendors to supplying enough porta-potties and glow sticks.
The music starts at 8 p.m. and runs about two hours in Garner Park, on Madison‘s far west side off at the intersection of Mineral Point and Rosa Roads. It features four guest vocal soloists or singers, plus John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad), the artistic director of the Madison Opera and the music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, conducting members of the Madison Symphony and the Madison Opera Chorus.
The event is a chance for the opera company to preview the new season as well as to offer tried-and-true tidbits and hits, and even to offer some popular and classic Broadway show tunes.
It generally attracts more than 10,000 listeners — the record is about 14,000 — who can dine informally outdoors and then listen to the music.
For more details about Opera in the Park, here are some links:
This overview includes park hours and rules plus a schedule and address and affiliated events:
http://madisonopera.org/performances-2013-2014/park/
The repertoire or program that includes music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Ludwig van Beethoven, Giacchino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Franz Lehar, Charles Gounod, Georges Bizet (including the famous “Toreador Song” from “Carmen,” which you can hear in a YouTube video at the bottom), Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim and Richard Rogers:
http://madisonopera.org/uploads/PDFs/Opera%20in%20the%20Park%202014%20repertoire.pdf
This link features the biographies of the guest singers:
http://madisonopera.org/performances-2013-2014/park/index.aspx?ID=332
In the run-up to the event, Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill), the Madison Opera’s general director, agreed to a Q&A for The Ear. She covered the past season, the upcoming season and Opera in the Park as well as the role of the new Opera Center that is located only a block away from the Overture Center for the Arts in downtown Madison.
What kind of artistic and financial shape did the Madison Opera emerge from for the past season? How does it compare to past seasons and your expectations?
This was artistically one of our strongest seasons ever. Although it is only my third season –- and only the second that I planned –- I have heard from a number of long-time patrons that Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (below, in a photo by James Gill) was one of the greatest operas in the company’s history, and we all agree it was an artistic turning point.
That was my hope in programming the opera -– in my grant application to the NEA, I referred to it as “a stake in our artistic ground” -– so it is gratifying that it exceeded even my own goals in its impact.
I was also very proud of Puccini’s Tosca, as doing the classic operas well is the best way to make sure they thrive, and that The Daughter of the Regiment, by Gaetano Donizetti, was so well received. The latter was our first midwinter show in the Capitol Theater in five years, and its success lets people know that our February show is an important part of our offerings.
Our fiscal year doesn’t end until August 31, so it is too early to say definitively where we will end financially. We had some challenges this year, as we learned the costs of running the new Madison Opera Center (below) and saw ticket buyers lean toward less expensive tickets. But it has in general been a strong year, and we hope that our supporters will help us finish the fiscal year in the black.
Can you rank the shows in terms of popularity? Did you learn anything special from the season?
The Daughter of the Regiment was in a smaller theater, so it sold the best in terms of percentage of house, but Dead Man Walking was the best-seller in terms of number of tickets, slightly outselling Tosca. In fact, it outsold everything we have done but Don Giovanni in recent years, and even outsold operas like Faust and The Flying Dutchman — something I do not think anyone would have predicted for a 21st century American opera in Madison.
The main thing I learned from the season is to take chances.
Dead Man Walking was far from a sure thing: We lost many subscribers because of it, but single ticket-buyers, including a number of first-time opera-goers, made up the difference. I know that many people attended Dead Man Walking thinking they would not care for it, so it is a tremendous achievement that so many people were blown away, ranking it as one of the greatest artistic experiences of their lifetimes. There is no way to plan for that success, but if a company only offers Carmen and Madama Butterfly, it will never find the world beyond it.
The season also solidified a trend that every arts group in the U.S. is seeing: Last-minute ticket buying is now the norm. We sell around 20 percent of our tickets in the week before a show opens, regardless of the show’s title or what time of year it plays.
That is simply how arts ticket buying works these days, and I am guilty of it, too. So while it is nerve-wracking for me as a producer, it is something we need to learn to accept, rather than panic about.
What role did the new Madison Opera Center play in the past season’s productions?
The Opera Center, which officially opened only nine months ago, was designed to be both our administrative and artistic home, and it was certainly that. Apart from being a beautiful facility in which to work, it enabled us to do more outreach activities and hold multiple rehearsals simultaneously.
For example, during Dead Man Walking, John DeMain could work with cast members on music in the downstairs studio while Kristine McIntyre was staging the opening fight scene upstairs.
It also became a home away from the hotel for the artists, particularly on Dead Man Walking, which had a large cast, emotionally intense scenes, and long rehearsal days. They cooked in the kitchen, used the music library, and set up their laptops in our offices.
We were even able to let Michael Mayes’ dog, Pete, hang out in the Opera Center, so cast members could play with him on their breaks. That is very much what I wanted the Opera Center to be and why it is designed the way it is, so it was gratifying to see it used that way.
For example, below are photos of Dead Man Walking stars (below top, Michael Mayes, who sang Joseph De Rocher, and Alan Dunbar, who sang Owen Hart) on a break from rehearsals, playing their guitars in the Michael Klos Music Library of there Opera Center; and of Michael Mayes and his dog Pete (below bottom), who also seems to be singing as part of a photo shoot in our costume shop downstairs.
Will next season bring any major changes to the Madison Opera?
Next season is about building on the major changes of the past year -– the creation of the Madison Opera Center, which allows us to do more education programs such as Opera Novice, which proved very popular in its first iterations this year; the continued expansion of the repertoire; and a strategic look at how to build upon our recent success for the future.
How and why did you choose the operas for next season?
I aim for balance with every season: a mix of pieces with different plots by a variety of composers, with at least one classic piece and at least one Madison Opera premiere.
It has been 12 years since we last performed The Barber of Seville, so it was time to share this classic comedy with our audiences. For a new generation of opera-goers, our production might as well be a world premiere; I certainly remember the first time I heard Barber and discovered the glories of Giacchino Rossini (below).
To balance Barber, we wanted something more serious and not-as-classic. Madison Opera did a single performance of Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven (below) in concert 28 years ago, but has never staged the opera. Although it is Beethoven’s only opera, he was far from a rookie composer, and the score is just brilliant, with a powerful storyline and a truly moving choral ode to freedom.
Our middle piece, Sweeney Todd, is both a Madison Opera premiere and an American classic. Although it premiered on Broadway, it has lived in the opera house since 1984, when the Houston Grand Opera performed it, conducted by John DeMain. Both witty and tragic -– it has a higher body count than any opera we have performed recently –- the stunning score by Stephen Sondheim (below) requires powerhouse voices to sing, and we certainly have them in this production. Plus it is a delight to produce it with the full orchestra, rather than the reduced version many Broadway productions use. I look forward to offering Madison yet another side of what opera can be.
After I set the season, I noticed two things that no one will believe are coincidences: We are following up one opera set in a prison (Dead Man Walking) with another (Fidelio). And The Barber of Seville follows “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which is Sweeney Todd’s subtitle. None of this was deliberate, but it will perhaps make good marketing.
What else would you like to say or add about the past season, the next season and perhaps also the Opera in the Park this summer?
I am tremendously grateful to everyone who has been involved with Madison Opera in the past year. We have done so much, from building the Madison Opera Center to the vast amounts of outreach that led up to Dead Man Walking. There were literally hundreds of people who supported us, performed with us, and joined us for education events, and none of this would have been possible without them.
I am also, of course, very much looking forward to Opera in the Park on this coming Saturday, July 26. It is truly a highlight of what we do, and we have four exciting soloists this year: Jamie-Rose Guarrine (below top), Wallis Giunta (below second), Sean Panikkar, (below third) and Kelly Markgraf (below fourth), as well as our wonderful Madison Opera Chorus and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. It will be a great night. You won’t want to miss it!
Tags: Arts, Barber of Seville, Beethoven, Bizet, Carmen, Classical music, Cole Porter, Dead Man Walking, Donizetti, Faust, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Gounod, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, John DeMain, Lehar, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, Overture Center, Puccini, Richard Rodgers, Richard Rogers, Rossini, Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd, Tosca, Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Court victories favoring same-sex marriage equality and an extended Valentine’s Day weekend add up to a magical and loving mix for musical partners, including opera star Patricia Racette, who comes out as a lesbian.
3 Comments
ALERT: If you are undecided about going to this afternoon’s concert at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall by the Madison Symphony Orchestra with Norwegian trumpet soloist Tine Thing Helseth (below), here are links to positive reviews by John W. Barker for Isthmus and by Greg Hettmansberger for Madison Magazine’s blog “Classically Speaking”:
http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=42078&sid=4d977189e5be9d039af0d641c547219f
By Jacob Stockinger
Well, when a holiday falls on a Friday – like Valentine’s Day this year — one can be forgiven for prolonging it over the weekend, don’t you think?
But it seems a good chance to blend two recent stories and trend lines that are increasingly coming together.
And coming out.
One is the recent various court victories for marriage equality, or same-sex marriage, or gay marriage. Whatever you want to call it, it seems to becoming more and more a legal and social reality with every week that passes.
And those legal victories lead to more and more gays and lesbians coming out, including the star football player and top NFL draft possibility star Michael Sam (below top) and “Juno” actress Ellen Page (below bottom).
Here is a link to a New York Times story about Michael Sam:
And here is a link to a Washington Post story about Ellen Page:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/juno-actress-ellen-page-comes-out-as-gay/2014/02/15/f3327800-9627-11e3-ae45-458927ccedb6_story.html
As for Valentine’s Day, imagine what how rewarding it could be to work cooperatively in the performing arts with your life partner and love.
That is exactly what was documented in a recent story on NPR’s great blog “Deceptive Cadence.”
NPR highlighted various musical couples in classical music who met in a musical setting and fell in love while working, and who now get to work together.
And for good measure, they included the Metropolitan Opera star soprano Patricia Racette (below top, out of costume, and below bottom in the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca”), who openly talks about what a great marriage she has with her female partner. (You can hear Patricia Racette as the title character Cio-Cio-San sing the finale of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” at the Metropolitan Opera in a popular YouTube video at the bottom.)
Of course, most of the couples are heterosexual in the story just as they are in real life. And we have seen some of them – tenor Stephen Costello (below top) at the Madison Opera‘s Opera in the Park as well as cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han (below bottom) at the Wisconsin Union Theater, in Madison.
But it is both sensitive and brave of NPR, which is always under the gun and budget knife of the self-righteous and nutty right-wing extremists and homophobes, to do the story.
Here is a link:
One can only hope and imagine the chain reaction that is to happen as each coming out brings several more, as bravery and tolerance build, and as the visible becomes visible.
Saint Valentine -– at least my Saint Valentine — would be very pleased.
Tags: Arts, Chamber music, Classical music, David Finckel, Ellen Page, football draft, Friday, gay, Gay Lesbian and Bisexual, gay marriage, Giacomo Puccini, homophobia, Jacob Stockinger, lesbian, Madama Butterfly, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, marriage equality, Metropolitan Opera, National Football League, New York Times, NFL, NFL draft, NPR, opera, Patricia Racette, Puccini, right-wing, Saint Valentine, Same-sex marriage, Stephen Costello, Tine Thing Helseth, Tosca, Valentine's Day, Washington Post, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wu Han, YouTube
Classical music news: Did opera composer Puccini find inspiration – or even steal melodies – for his famous Asian stories from a Swiss music box?
3 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Composers have long been known for finding inspiration in all sorts of places. Sometimes they rework the material; sometimes they just appropriate it outright.
The sources range from folk songs and folk dances to borrowings from their own works, which Bach and Handel did often.
Now research suggests that perhaps the popular Puccini (below), who along with Verdi and Wagner makes up the Holy Trinity of opera – found inspiration for “Madama Butterfly” and even the unfinished ‘Turandot” in a Swiss music box.
The 1877 music box has Chinese tunes that Puccini might have listened to. It is located in the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey. Here is a view of one of the tune sheets:
Take a look and read the story from The New York Times:
Tags: Giacomo Puccini, Madama Butterfly, Morris Museum, Music, Musical box, New Jersey, New York Times, Puccini, Richard Wagner, Trinity, Turandot, Wagner
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 