The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: University Opera announces a new season that is politically and socially relevant to today. The two shows are a virtual revue of Marc Blitzstein and a live operatic version of “The Crucible.”
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By Jacob Stockinger
David Ronis (below), the director of the University Opera at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, has posted the following notice about its upcoming season on social media.
The award-winning Ronis is known for being creative both in programming and staging. The new season is yet another example of that. It features one virtual original production about an American composer to see and hear online, and two live performances of a mid-20th century American opera.
Both works seem especially pertinent and cautionary, given the times we currently live in in the U.S.
Here are the details:
FINALLY!!!
Things have fallen into place for the University Opera 2020-21 season and we are happy to announce our productions:
“I Wish It So: Marc Blitzstein — the Man in His Music”
“A biographical pastiche featuring songs and ensembles from Marc Blitzstein’s shows, spoken excerpts from his letters and working notes, and a narration.
“Oct. 23, 2020
8 p.m. Video Release
____________________________________________________________________________________
“The Crucible” (1961)
Music by Robert Ward
Libretto by Bernard Stambler
Based on the 1953 play by Arthur Miller
March 19 and 21, 2021
Shannon Hall, Wisconsin Union Theater
_____________________________________________________________________________________
We will post more information as we get it. For now, we are very excited about both projects! Stay tuned.”
(Editor’s note: To stay tuned, go to: https://www.facebook.com/UniversityOpera/)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
And what does The Ear think?
The revue of Marc Blitzstein seems a perfect choice for Madison since his papers and manuscripts are located at the Wisconsin Historical Society. For details, go to: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-us0035an
Focusing on Blitzstein (1905-1964) also seems an especially politically relevant choice since he was a pro-labor union activist whose “The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles,” was shut down by the Works Progress Administration of the federal government.
For more about Blitzstein (below in 1938) and his career, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Blitzstein
“The Crucible” also seems an especially timely choice. In its day the original play about the Salem witch trials was seen as a historical parable and parallel of McCarthyism and the Republican witch hunt for Communists.
Read about the Salem witch trials here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
Now that we are seeing a time when Democrats and others with progressive ideas are accused of being radical leftists, socialists and destructive revolutionaries, its relevance has come round again. Like McCarthy, President Donald Trump relies on winning elections by generating fear and denigrating opponents.
For more about the operatic version of “The Crucible” (below, in a production at the University of Northern Iowa) — which was commissioned by the New York City Opera and won both a Pulitzer Prize and the New York Music Critics Circle Award in 1962 — go to this Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crucible_(opera)
You can hear the musically accessible opening and John’s aria, from Act II, in the YouTube video at the bottom. For more about composer Robert Ward (1917-2013, below), go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ward_(composer)
What do you think of the new University Opera season?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Madison Opera travels to the jungle for the local premiere of the Spanish opera “Florencia en el Amazonas” this Friday night and Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
This weekend, the Madison Opera travels to the jungle to present the Madison premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas (with sets from the production by the Arizona Opera, below) by Daniel Catán on Friday night, April 27, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, April 29, at 2:30 p.m. in the Overture Hall at the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State Street.
The opera will be sung in Spanish with English supertitles. Running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission.
Tickets are $18-$130 with discounts available for students and groups. For more information about tickets and the production, go to www.madisonopera.org
Mexican composer Daniel Catan’s lush and accessible orchestral soundscape brings the Amazon River to life in this magical and mystical journey.
Set in South America at the turn of the 20th century, the story begins when Florencia Grimaldi, a famous opera singer, embarks anonymously on a voyage down the Amazon River to sing a concert in Manaus, Brazil.
She is traveling to the concert incognito; her real hope for the journey is to be reunited with the lover she left behind, a butterfly hunter.
On the boat with her are a young journalist, Rosalba, who is writing a biography of Grimaldi; a couple feeling the strain of their long marriage, Paula and Alvaro; the boat’s captain; the captain’s restless nephew, Arcadio, who falls in love with Rosalba; and a man who is a rather mystical presence, Riolobo.
Over the course of the journey, the passengers encounter a storm, piranha, and ultimately cholera.
“Florencia en el Amazons is simply gorgeous,” says Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill), Madison Opera’s General Director. “I heard only wonderful things about it following its 1996 premiere, and when I saw the opera 10 years ago, I realized why audiences love it so much.
“The music is ravishing, the setting is physically beautiful, and the characters are fascinating. I am delighted to be presenting it in Madison, as part of our vision of sharing operas from all time periods and in all languages.”
Florencia was the third opera composed by Daniel Catán (below, in a photo by Gina Ferazzi for the Los Angeles Times) and the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by a major U.S. opera company. Houston Grand Opera premiered the work in 1996; it has since been performed across North America and Europe, with companies like Houston, Los Angeles, and Seattle producing it multiple times due to audience demand.
The opera’s libretto, while an original story, was inspired by the writings of the Nobel Prize-winning Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez (below) author of 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. Librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain was a protégé of Márquez; according to Catán, he and Fuentes-Berain would show García Márquez parts of the libretto as they were finished. Elements of the author’s trademark magic realism pervade many parts of the opera.
Catán’s music was acclaimed for its lush writing. The New York Times said, “Mr. Catán’s writing for the voice is luxuriously lyrical; and he orchestrates with skill.” (You can hear the opera’s opening scene in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Catán wrote two more operas before dying at age 62 of a heart attack. At his sudden death in 2011, Plácido Domingo called him “one of the great opera composers of our time, beloved by audiences and especially by the musicians who had the privilege of performing his incredible work.”
“I am so happy to have the opportunity to perform this absolutely gorgeous opera,” says John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad), Madison Opera’s Artistic Director. “I had the pleasure of knowing Daniel Catán, and commissioned an orchestral suite from this opera for the Madison Symphony Orchestra, which we performed in 2003.
“We all were struck by the power and sweep of the music. This story of the power of love and music in all of our lives will be sung by a great cast of singers, and the orchestral fabric will lift audiences out of their seats and transport them to the magical world of the Amazon. This is an opera written in our time, with a musical score that will leave audiences wanting to hear it again and again.”
Madison Opera’s cast features a number of returning favorites. For revealing 10-question interviews with cast members, go to the MadOpera blog at: http://madisonopera.blogspot.com
Elizabeth Caballero (below) sings Florencia Grimaldi, a role she has sung for New York City Opera and Nashville Opera. The Cuban-American soprano debuted with Madison Opera at Opera in the Park in 2007 and returned in Carmen, La Traviata,and Don Giovanni. Last month, she sang Mimì in La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera.
Rachel Sterrenberg sings the journalist Rosalba; she debuted in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird here last season.
Adriana Zabala (below), who sang in The Tales of Hoffmann and at last summer’s Opera in the Park, sings Paula, a role she has also sung at San Diego Opera and Arizona Opera.
Nmon Ford (below, in a photo by Guy Madmoni), who sang Scarpia in Tosca with Madison Opera in 2013, sings the mysterious Riolobo.
Mackenzie Whitney, who debuted as Rodolfo in La Bohème with Madison Opera in 2015, returns as Arcadio, the Captain’s nephew. Levi Hernandez, who debuted in The Magic Flute here in 2005, returns as Alvaro. Bass Ashraf Sewailam (below) makes his Madison Opera debut as the Captain of the El Dorado.
Kristine McIntyre (below) returns to direct this Madison Opera premiere. She has directed many successful productions for Madison Opera, including Dead Man Walking and The Tales of Hoffmann. Recent work includes productions at Pittsburgh Opera, Utah Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Kentucky Opera.
The production prominently features members of Kanopy Dance Company, playing spirits of the river. Lisa A. Thurrell, co-artistic director of Kanopy, has created choreography for her dancers and this production.
The set (below) comes from Arizona Opera, with costumes designed by Madison Opera’s Karen Brown-Larimore, who designed the costumes for The Abduction from the Seraglio in February.
As always, the opera features the Madison Opera Chorus and the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Madison Opera’s production of “Florencia en el Amazons” is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Thompson Investment Management, Inc., Carla and Fernando Alvarado, Thomas Terry, the Ann Stanke Fund, Kennedy Gilchrist and Heidi Wilde, and Charles Snowdon and Ann Lindsey.
Tags: #AbductionFromtheSeraglio, #AmazonRiver, #ArizonaOpera, #ChadHutchinson, #CharlieParker'sYardbird, #ChoralMusic, #ClaudeDebussy, #Cuban-American, #DanielCatan, #DonGiovanni, #EnglishLanguage, #FlorenciaenelAmazonas, #GabrielGarciaMarquez, #GeorgesBizet, #GiacomoPuccini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #HoustonGrandOpera, #JacquesOffenbach, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnDeMain, #KanopyDanceCompany, #KathrynSmith, #KristineMcIntyre, #LaBoheme, #LaTraviata, #LosAngeles, #LoveintheTimeofCholera, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #magicrealism, #MarcellaFuentes-Berain, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MexicanMusic, #MexicanOpera, #NashvilleOpera, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NewYorkCityOpera, #NobelPrize, #NorthAmerica, #OneHundredYearsofSolitude, #OperaInThePark, #PlacidoDomingo, #SanDiegoOpera, #SpanishLanguage, #StephenShewan, #TheMagicFlute, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheTalesofHoffmann, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Abduction From the Seraglio, accessible, Arizona Opera, Arts, Bach, Baroque, beautiful, Beethoven, biography, blog, boat, Brahms, Brazil, butterfly, captain, Carmen, cholera, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, costume, Cuban, dance, dancer, Daniel Catan, Debussy, Don Giovanni, Europe, Franz Schubert, free, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Houston, investment, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, journalism, journalist, journey, jungle, Kristine McIntyre, La bohème, La Traviata, language, libretto, lives, Los Angeles, Love, lover, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marriage, Mexico, Mozart, Music, mystical, Nashville Opera, New York City Opera, New York Times, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, Overture Center, Piano, piranha, Plácido Domingo, power, Seattle, set, Sonata, Stephen Shewan, storm, strain, supertitle, surtitle, symphony, The Magic Flute, The Tales of Hoffmann, tickets, time, Tosca, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, voyage, weekend, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: New Orleans seeks to once again become an American opera capital with an emphasis on diversity
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By Jacob Stockinger
When you think of opera in America, chances are good that you think of New York City with the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Houston Grand Opera; the Santa Fe Opera; and countless other opera companies in many major cities.
And when you think of New Orleans, you understandably think of jazz.
But the truth is that for a long time, New Orleans was an American capital for opera, more important than many of the other cities mentioned above.
Consider the fact that the first opera performed in the United States was performed in New Orleans in 1796. And that at one point, New Orleans was home to five opera companies.
Plus, the opera that was performed there in the past brought racial, cultural and gender diversity to an art form that often lacked it and was largely Euro-centric. (You can hear the company sing “We’re Goin’ Around” from ragtime great Scott Joplin‘s opera “Treemonisha” in the YouTube video at the bottom,)
Now some singers and others (below) have formed an organization – OperaCreole — with the aim of correcting racism and restoring New Orleans’ reputation for opera, especially that of the many African-American and Creole opera composers who were native to New Orleans.
A fine story, with an illuminating interview, recently appeared on NPR (National Public Radio).
Here is a link:
Another excellent story, with more focus on repertoire and history, appeared in The New Yorker magazine:
And here is a link to OperaCreole’s own website with more information about the company and its productions:
Tags: African American, America, Arts, Baroque, Chicago, choral music, cities, city, Classical music, composer, Creole, cultural, diversity, ethnic, gender, History, Houston, Houston Grand Opera, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Music, New Orleans, New York City, New York City Opera, New Yorker magazine, NPR, opera, Opera Creole, OperaCreole, race, racial, racism, Radio, rag, Ragtime, repertoire, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Opera, Scott Joplin, The New Yorker, Treemonisha, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Van Cliburn biopic is in the works with young star Ansel Elgort to play the late, great American pianist. Plus, Madison maestro John DeMain remembers opera maestro Julius Rudel.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear sees that something for both the ears and the eyes is coming down the pike.
Hollywood sources have confirmed that a biographical film –- yes, a biopic -– about the American pianist Van Cliburn (below) , who died last year at 78 of bone cancer, is in the works.
That is as it should be, despite what some classical musicians see as shortcomings in Cliburn’s artistry.
Here is a post The Ear did before about the opinions that members of the public and musicians have concerning Cliburn:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/classical-music-how-good-was-pianist-van-cliburn/
Cliburn was the first classical artist to make a million-selling record -– he played the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 — on the RCA label (below and at the bottom). It was the same work with which, at age 23, he unexpectedly won the First International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958.
His victory during the height of The Cold War was an event that led to a ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City (bel0w) and a meteoric career, then to premature burn-out and an early retirement from the concert stage. (You can see an archival historic footage at the bottom in a YouTube video. Complete performances by Van Cliburn of the same concerto are also on YouTube.)
And, if The Ear recalls correctly, Van Cliburn became a phenom or superstar who sold out houses, and was the first classical artist to get paid a fee of $10,000 for a one-night performance.
Not many classical musicians have the stuff to become the subject of a biopic.
Some composers, especially Ludwig van Beethoven and Frederic Chopin, have lent themselves to such a treatment, several times in the latter case. (We will overlook the case of the mentally ill performer David Helfgott in “Shine,” which seemed more a pathology than a biography.)
But The Ear can’t think of another individual performer, although he remembers more general subjects like “The Competition.”
The young actor Ansel Elgort (below), who The Ear thinks resembles the young Cliburn (who resembles fellow Texan Lyle Lovett), has been cast in the leading role, which focuses on Cliburn’s early years and his victory in Moscow. Apparently, Elgort himself also plays the piano quite well -– but my guess is that he does not play well enough to play it the way that the Juilliard School-trained Cliburn did.
But Elgort’s star is on the ascent, given his performance in the much praised and popular current release (“The Fault In Our Stars,” about two teenagers with cancer who fall in love.
Anyway here are some links to stories about Van Cliburn, Ansel Elgort and the forthcoming movie:
To CBS News:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ansel-elgort-to-star-in-van-cliburn-biopic/
To the Dallas Morning News, in Cliburn’s hometown:
To TIME magazine with a good video accompanying it:
http://time.com/2917530/ansel-elgort-van-cliburn/
To another video with good comparison photos of Cliburn and Elgort:
http://www.hitfix.com/news/ansel-elgort-playing-van-cliburn-in-new-biopic
To Norman Lebrecht’s tweet-like comment on his popular blog Slipped Disc:
http://slippedisc.com/2014/06/ansel-is-picked-to-play-van-cliburn-in-biopic/
What other classical music performers would you like to see treated on a biopic?
I nominate the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, a closeted gay man who led a dramatic life including encounters and confrontations with Soviet leaders and his American tour plus his eccentric late-life habits that included touring around Europe in a van playing in schools and old churches and using out-of-tune pianos. And perhaps also the legendary operatic soprano Maria Callas, who was known for being tempestuous and temperamental as well as supremely gifted in both singing and acting. (There was a Broadway play about her, “Master Class” by Terrence McNally, the same writer who did the “Dead Man Walking,” the opera by Jake Heggie.)
Your nominations?
The Ear wants to hear.
JOHN DeMAIN ON JULIUS RUDEL
And speaking of celebrities, John DeMain (below, in photo by Prasad), the music director and conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the artistic director of the Madison Opera, sent in his remembrance of the late, great opera conductor Julius Rudel, who led the now-defunct City Opera of New York and who died a week ago at 93:
Here is a link to the Rudel posting:
And here is John DeMain’s remembrance:
“It was my great honor to be chosen for the Julius Rudel Award at the New York City Opera in 1971. The purpose of the stipend was to allow an American conductor to work closely with Maestro Rudel to learn how to become an artistic director of an opera company.
Rudel (below) was far and away the best conductor in the house. His performances were vital, theatrical, and intensely musically expressive. His “Marriage of Figaro” was an unforgettable experience for me. I prepared the auditions of singers for the company, and got to sit in on the casting conversations, and learned the criterion for casting a singer in an opera.
Rudel was extremely demanding musically, and, of course, expanded the repertoire of the company in all directions. He had great flair for American opera and musical theater.
The bottom line for me, however, was he delivered totally engrossing performances night after night. He also was a mentor to me, and provided counsel and advice as new career opportunities presented themselves to me.
I consider Julius Rudel’s time at the City Opera as the “golden age” of that company. It was during that time that Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Norman Treigle, Beverly Sills, and many other greats were singing on that stage.
I’m grateful to have had him in my life.
Tags: Ansel Elgort, Arts, Beethoven, Beverly Sills, Broadway, CBS, Chopin, City Opera of New York, Classical music, Cliburn, Cold War, Compact Disc, concerto, Dallas Morning News, David Helfgott, Frédéric Chopin, Hollywood, International Tchaikovsky Competition, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, John DeMain, Juilliard School, Julius Rudel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maria Callas, master class, mental illess, Moscow, Music, New York City, New York City Opera, Norman Lebrecht, opera, Peter Tchaikovsky, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky), Shine, Tchaikovsky, The Fault in Our Stars, United States, Van Cliburn, YouTube
Classical music: Conductor Julius Rudel, longtime director of the defunct New York City Opera, has died at 93.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Julius Rudel (below, in a 2010 photo from The New York Times), the longtime artistic director of the now defunct New York City Opera, has died at 93.
By all accounts, Rudel was a knowledgeable, impeccable and insightful musician, and a generous man and instructive role model. And that is how he comes across in an interview for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) you can listen to at the bottom in a YouTube video.
An unassuming man and a populist for the arts, Rudel, who was a native Austrian and a refugee from Adolf Hilter’s Nazi Germany at 17 in 1938, had the misfortune to outlive the opera company that he so nourished but which went bankrupt and defunct eight months ago.
He had a local tie in that, early on, he recognized and encouraged the talent of a young piano and conducting graduate of the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York City who was also a student at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s famed Tanglewood Festival.
That man was John DeMain (below), who is the music director and conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the artistic director of the Madison Opera. Before coming to Madison, DeMain led the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Huston Grand Opera.
Here is a link to the story where John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) talked briefly about his link and debt to Rudel.
Rudel lived a long and productive life, filled with nurturing many famous opera singers, including Beverly Sills who is seen below, at left, in 1976 talking to Rudel) and Placido Domingo, and with guest stints around the world conducting all kinds of music.
Here is a great story from the Deceptive Cadence blog on NPR:
And here is an impressively comprehensive obituary from The New York Times:
And here is the NEA interview on YouTube:
Tags: Arts, Beverly Sills, City Opera, City Opera of New York, Classical music, George Frideric Handel, Germany, Hitler, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Juilliard School, Julius Rudel, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, National Endowment for the Arts, Nazi, NEA, New York City, New York City Opera, New York Times, NPR, The New York Times, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Easter Sunday is a fitting time to think about death, forgiveness and redemption — and about the Madison Opera’s upcoming premiere production of Jake Heggie’s famed opera “Dead Man Walking” next Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
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By Jacob Stockinger
It is Easter Sunday — a day when Christians and many others around the world think about the spiritual meaning of death, redemption and forgiveness. That also makes it an appropriate time to think about certain pieces of music — say, the Passions and Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach — and certain operas.
Take, for example, the Madison Opera’s upcoming production of the contemporary opera “Dead Man Walking.”
Later this week, The Well-Tempered Ear will feature interviews that arts critic Mike Muckian did with “Dead Man Walking” composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally. (Below in a photo by James Gill are Daniela Mack as Sister Helen Prejean and Michael Mayes as the convicted killer facing execution Joseph DeRocher.)
PLEASE NOTE: The real Sister Helen Prejean and composer Jake Heggie will be in Madison and offer a FREE public discussion this Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue. No reservations are needed.
But on this special day, to whet your appetite and set the stage, so to speak, with basic facts, here is an official press release:
“The Madison Opera will present Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 25 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 27 in Overture Hall at the Overture Center for the Arts.
Sets and costumes come from the Eugene Opera’s acclaimed production in Oregon.
The opera will be sung in English with project text in surtitles. Tickets are $18 to $121. Call (608) 258-4141 or visit www.madisonopera.org.
The opera does carry a Parental Advisory because it contains nudity, graphic violence, and explicit language; it is not recommended for anyone under age 18.
The production is a Madison Opera and Upper Midwestern premiere, and “Dead Man Walking” is cathartic and humanizing, set to a stunning American score that ranges from hymns to zydeco.
With a libretto by Terrence McNally, “Dead Man Walking” is based on the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean, which also served as the inspiration for the critically acclaimed 1995 film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.
The opera tells of a nun’s journey as the spiritual advisor of a convicted murderer on Louisiana’s death row. From its shocking beginning to its emotionally searing final scene, this opera changes everyone who encounters it. Its stunning score and intense story combine into a work that the San Francisco Chronicle says, “must be reckoned something of a masterpiece – a gripping, enormously skillful marriage of words and music to tell a story of love, suffering and spiritual redemption.”
At bottom is a YouTube video of the production by the Houston Grand Opera, where Madison Symphony Orchestra music director and Madison Opera artistic director John DeMain worked before coming to Madison 20 years ago) with Joyce Di Donato, Frederica von Stade and Philip Cutlip in the title roles.
“Dead Man Walking is, for me, unquestionably one of the greatest operas ever written,” says Madison Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith (below in a photo by James Gill). “When I saw it in 2002 at New York City Opera, I was completely blown away by its music, its dramatic power, and the sheer theatrical intensity that seared particular scenes in my mind for a decade. I am thrilled to produce it in Madison with this stunning cast, and particularly honored that Jake Heggie and Sister Helen Prejean are coming to Madison for opening night and to speak with our community the evening before.”
“Dead Man Walking” also has special significance to conductor and Madison Opera Artistic Director John DeMain (below, in a photo by Harper Fritsch), who has a long history with the opera.
“From my very first encounter with “Dead Man Walking” at its 2000 premiere in San Francisco, I knew it was an opera for the ages, and one that I wanted to conduct and present to an ever-widening audience,” recalls DeMain. “I was fortunate to be able to create the second new production of the work, and conduct it in Orange County, Detroit, New York City, and its first international production in Australia.
“In every instance, this new opera connected viscerally with its audience for all the right reasons. It was a powerful, immensely moving drama with lyrical, memorable music, and a fine libretto. The playwright, Terrence McNally, knew exactly how to handle a sad and tragic situation with pathos, great humanity, and a wonderful sense of humor. “
Maestro DeMain encourages local audiences, whether long-time devotees of opera or completely new to the art form, to experience “Dead Man Walking.”
“It is deeply spiritual, deeply moving, and deeply human with a score steeped in the American vernacular including the blues, which is so appropriate to New Orleans and the protagonist’s world,” he says. “This is a real opera that works the way all operas that we cherish work. Powerful arias, duets, and ensembles, sung by a variety of characters, all of whom we can identify with. I assure our Madison audiences that this is a riveting evening, a great moment in our history, and an occasion not to be missed.”
Tags: Arts, Australia, Bach, cantatas, capital punishment, Classical music, Dead Man Walking, death, Detroit, Easter, film, forgiveness, Frederica von Stade, Helen Prejean, Houston Grand Opera, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, Joyce Di Dobato, Joyce DiDonato, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, movie, Music, New York City, New York City Opera, opera, Orange County, Orchestra, Overture Center, Passion, passions, Philip Cutlip, redemption, San Francisco, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Terrence McNally, YouTube
Classical music: The Minnesota Orchestra will play again – at last — because the long lockout is over. Is this good news in general for classical music? New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini sees optimism amid crises as a lesson of the past year.
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By Jacob Stockinger
By now you have probably heard the good news:
The lockout of the Minnesota Orchestra (below, playing with its Grammy-nominated conductor Osmo Vanska who has resigned) is over. It was ended by an agreement, long sought after and long disputed, between the musicians and the administration.
Here are several stories about the ending of the unfortunate situation that even led the superb and acclaimed conductor Osmo Vanska to resign. (You can hear Osmo Vanska’s farewell speech in a YouTube video at the bottom, in which he plays with the musicians an performs the “Valse Triste” or Sad Waltz of his fellow Finn Jean Sibelius as a final encore. The sadness of him, the musicians, the audience and the music is palpable.)
The first is a fine summary story from NPR’s outstanding blog “Deceptive Cadence”:
And here is a reaction story from NPR about what’s next that “All Things Considered“:
Here is a story from The New York Times about the same situation followed by another summary:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/minnesota-orchestra-contract-ends-long-lockout.html?_r=0
Of course, the Minnesota Orchestra is just one of several American orchestras that faced serious financial crises. You may recall that last year saw problems for other orchestras, and the New York City Opera (below, with its final production, the world premiere of “Anna Nicole”) even went bankrupt.
Yet one longtime and perceptive observer of the classical scene – New York Times senior critic Anthony Tommasini – see good news amid the rules and dire predictions.
Here is a column he wrote recently about “The Lessons of 2013” for classical music. In his column he doesn’t downplay the many difficulties, which mostly concern finances and smaller, aging audiences. But he does suggest that if you take a longer view, the future of classical music doesn’t look quite so bleak or dismal.
Read it and see what you think and whether you agree. Then tell The Ear by sending in your remarks in the COMMENT section of this blog:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/arts/music/lessons-in-a-year-of-crises.html?_r=0
Tags: All Things Considered, American Record Guide, Anna Nicole, Anthony Tommasini, Classical music, Finland, Grammy Award, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Sibelius, Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, Music, New York City Opera, New York Times, NPR, Osmo Vanska, United States, valse triste, YouTube
Classical music: It was the best of years and the worst of years. Here is NPR’s year-end national wrap-up of the state of classical music in 2013.
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By Jacob Stockinger
As I said in yesterday’s post, even though we are now into 2014 there is some unfinished business to wrap up for 2013 for reasons that I also explained yesterday. Here is a link:
Most media outlets, from old-fashioned newspapers to high-tech blogs, tend to take a year-end look back at the high points and low points of classical music as well as other forms of art and culture. But they tend to favor local performances and trends – even the venerable and first-class New York Times, the national newspaper that sets the media’s agenda, nonetheless generally focuses on The Big Apple as the center of the cultural universe.
So imagine my delight when I found a really good wrap-up of national trends, and even international events, on NPR’s great classical music blog “Deceptive Cadence.” It even opens up your eyes to what The Industry considers to be classical music by revealing the “classical” music that made it onto the Billboard charts of best-sellers.
The post was compiled and documented on by the blog’s director, Tom Huizenga, (below top) with, I suspect, help from the always informed and creative Anastasia Tsioulcas (below bottom).
What is especially praiseworthy is that it is comprehensive with much food for thought; it also seems to The Ear to be fair and balanced, neither boosterish nor alarmist; and it includes a lot of photos and a lot of links to develop any particular story that grabs you even further.
So here it is — from the mixed state of symphony orchestras (the locked out Minnesota Orchestra, which lost its conductor Osmo Vanska to labor strife, is below top) to the demise of the New York City Opera with the world premiere of the new opera “Anna Nicole” (below bottom) to the issue of bullying LGBT teenagers to various anniversaries of works and composers including the centennials of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and of the birth of Benjamin Britten.
It should easily provide you with some fine reading on what promises to be a bitterly cold and mean January weekend and work week.
Enjoy. And now it is onward to the high notes and low points of 2014!
Classical music: The final curtain falls tonight on the “People’s Opera – the City Opera of New York while across town the Metropolitan Opera launches the new season of the globally successful “Live in HD” satellite broadcasts.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This will be a memorable and historic day, especially in New York City, for opera.
It is memorable on two counts.
It is ironic that this afternoon marks the opening of the new season, the eighth since it started in 2006, of “The Met Live in HD,” a spectacularly successful program, that will open this season of 10 Metropolitan Opera productions with soprano superstar Anna Netrebko and globe-trotting conductor Valery Gergiev in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin.”
The very profitable “Live in HD” series helps to explain the financial success of the world-famous Metropolitan Opera. The series, show in thousands of cinemas around the world, has changed the opera scene world-wide.
Here is a story from this blog with links to other stories:
(In Madison, the live satellite broadcast starts at 11:55 a.m. at Point Cinemas and Eastgate Cinemas. Admission is $24 for adults, $18 for children.)
But by far the more memorable and historic event will no doubt be the final curtain falling on the historic 70-year-old City Opera of New York. That will come tonight at the Brooklyn Academy of Music — lately the City Opera has left its home venue in Lincoln Center and traveled around the city to perform in a vain attempt to save money and fundraise from new audiences — where the company will give a performance of the new opera “Anna Nicole” (below) by Marc-Anthony Turnage, which some critics see as a fast-food, high calorie and low nutrition, work of art that helped cause the fall of City Opera. (See the YouTube video at the bottom.)
By all accounts, the City Opera has been plagued with financial problems for a few years. But the immediate cause of the failure was the company’s inability to raise $7 million by last Monday.
The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s longtime music director and conductor, maestro John DeMain (below, in a photo buy Prasad) has had a long history with the City Opera, ever since he was a student at the Juilliard School, as he discussed in an interview last summer with The Ear:
Here are three pieces I think that will giver you a good ideas of the City Opera and the fallout from its failure.
Here is a link to the story by Jeff Lunden that aired on NPR:
Here is a background story from The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/04/arts/music/new-york-city-opera-files-for-bankruptcy.html?_r=0
And here is another New York Times story with recollections of the opera company by staff and performers reported by senior music critic Anthony Tommasini (below is a 1976 photo with star soprano Beverly Sills on the left, stage director Sarah Caldwell in the center and City Opera then-director Julius Rudel:
There are a lot of devoted opera fans in the Madison area an around the world and especially in New York City.
What do they think of the demise of City Opera?
I hope they will leave an observation in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Anna Netrebko, Anna Nicole Smith, Beverly Sills, Brooklyn Academy of Music, City Opera, Eugene Onegin, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Julius Rudel, LIncoln Center, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Met Live in HD, Metropolitan Opera, New York City, New York City Opera, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Valery Gergiev, YouTube
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