Rarely performed in the US opera by Anton Rubinstein is part of the SummerScape 2018 program on July 27 – August 5 at Bard College
Bard SummerScape presents Anton Rubinstein’s Demon / Photo by Maria Baranova
Bard SummerScape is well known for its daring and adventurous streak offering to its audiences a delicious yet rarely performed music. Last year the program included A. Dvorak’s Dimitrij.This year it presents Anton Rubinstein’s opera Demon. Rubinstein’s work will complement the rest of the SummerScape program lineup celebrating the music of the The Mighty Five, the Russian composers of the late 19th century whose ambition was to write compositions rooted in Russian folk songs and traditional tonalities. The resulting trove of music literature enriched the sound palette and expanded the music language.
As for The Demon, with an all-Russian cast directed by Thaddeus Strassberger and accompanied by the American Symphony Orchestra with Mr. Botstein, current president of Bard College, conducting the opera will surely delight and amuse by its vibrant music and opulent choral arrangements. The performance are taking place at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
Vibrant production by Sir David McVicar of the beloved Verdi’s opera on January 22 – February 15, 2018
Anita Rachvelishvili as Azucena in Il Trovatore/ Image courtesy of the Met Opera NYC
This year repertoire at the Met Operais clearly dominated by Sir David McVicar’s productions. Il Trovatore, which first had opened here in 2009, is returning to the Met stage with a formidable cast under the baton of Marco Armiliato. The title role in this production is forcefully performed by Yonghoon Lee, the role of his lover Leonora is sung by Jennifer Rowley and the role of Count Di Luna is performed by the baritones Quinn Kelsey and Luca Salsi. After the opening on Monday, January 22, the praising reviews were given to the magnificent Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili performing the most complicated part of the opera, a gypsy Azucena. Book your tickets here.
Jennifer Rowley as Leonora in Il Trovatore / Image courtesy of the Met Opera NYC
Il Trovatore’s catchy, disturbing and at the same time melodic music score is overplayed on a macabre plot of medieval rivalries, superstitions and love stories. It is based on a successful play El Trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutierrez. Verdi had started the work on this opera sometime in 1850 first with the librettist Salvadore Cammarano and later after Cammarano’s death in 1852 with young poet Leone Emanuele Barware. In his correspondence with Cammarano Verdi kept asking him for packing more actions in the libretto to make the most effect on the public. The librettists seem to succeed in that regard. Notwithstanding opera’s great acclaim by the audiences around Europe, the plot was mocked in numerous satires in Italy and elsewhere, which in itself was a sign that its a hit. The twists and turns of the original tale are transformed in this production from the very distant beginning of 15th century Aragon, Spain to the time of the Spanish War of Independence (1807-1814) fought against Napoleonic France. The bitterness and horrors of that period are memorialized in Goya’s “Desastres de la Guerre.”
The creators of this production felt that the time of Peninsular War “fits with Verdi’s tinta, the dark palette he creates for Spain” as McVicar pointed out in an interview with the New York Times. However, some critical elements of the plot in Il Trovatore particularly those surrounding Azucena and her fate seem to be mooted for early 1800. While in the gypsy folk tradition the fire is believed to be the means of communication with the dead, it makes sense for gypsy Azucena’s story and its horrific prominence in the original play set in the 15th century as burnings of sorceresses at the stake were widely practiced. At the time of Napoleon, the use of that practice is highly questionable.
Quinn Kelsey as Count Di Luna, Yonghoon Lee as Manrico, Jennifer Rowley as Leonora in Il Trovatore / Image courtesy of the Met Opera NYC
Despite the pitfalls of historic transposition, Anita Rachvelishvili as Azucena is taking a center stage with her dramatic performance. It’s one thing for Azucena to sing “It makes my blood run cold”, and its very different when the delivery of the lines makes the listeners’ blood cold. “Well, it fairly freezes in your veins while watching and listening to Anita Rachvelishvili” observes Z. Wolf in his New York Times review. Rachvelishvili powerful stage presence masterfully switching from the chilling scenes of tormenting madness to the touching desperation is particularly important here. Verdi himself was thinking about Azucena as a main female character in this opera and even wanted her name to be in the title. The Met orchestra under Armiliato conducting provides superb and inspiring music. With the rest of the main cast being well-placed, the production delivers a deep and spirited theatrical impression.
Starting from 1853 when it was first performed at the Teatro Apollo in Rome, Il Trovatore entered the repertoire of every major opera house in the world. There is a rich and diverse discography with multiple variations of the best singers and conductors. Its catchy melodies had even entered the popular culture and were used in the movie and TV productions.
Discounted Tickets to the Christmas-themed concerts on December 13 and December 14, 2017
Andrea Bocelli, an Italian classical and pop music singer returns to Madison Square Garden in New York City to celebrate the holidays with his fans and followers. Bocelli will be sharing a stage with the conductor Eugene Kohn, soprano Larisa Martinez, and guest artist Heather Headley.
Bocelli grew up in the village La Sterza in Tuscany, Italy just south of Pisa where his family had a farm. Andrea started playing music from age 6. He took piano lessons and later learned to play a flute, saxophone, drums among other instruments. At about the same age after listening to a record of Franco Corelli, he showed an interest in opera music. Starting from age 14 he began participating in the singing competitions which came to establish his fame and followers. A connection to Corelli continued with Andrea attending Corelli’s master class in Turin in 1986 and later taking private voice lessons with him.
While studying and graduating with Law degree from the University of Pisa, he continued to sing performing at the bars and making tape recordings. One such tape got the attention of Italian rock star Zucchero who in 1992 was holding a tape competition among tenors for the recording of his song Miserere. Bocelli’s tape recoding of Miserere was shared with the best known Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who got very impressed with Bocelli’s singing. Bocelli was invited to perform in duets at Zucchero’s European tours. The duets from that tour including Misererewere released in 1994. That year the young singer became a sensation after winning a newcomer prize at Sanremo Music Festival.Pavarotti took a deep interest in Bocelli’s career and since then they sang in duets at multiple charity concerts around the world. Bocelli is recording prolifically. His discography already includes 16 operas, numerous collections of arias and songs and music videos. His latest opera recording, Aida, was released in 2016 after Turandot in 2015. It is interesting that the role of prince Calaf from Turandot was among Bocelli’s initial solo selections back in the early 1990s.
The concert at Madison Square Garden will raise everyone’s holiday spirit and will surely include many Christmas classics and popular arias sang with utmost elegance and grace. With the NewYorkPass your can enjoy a free tour of the legendary MSG arena and more!
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An eternal tale of seduction and religious devotion
By Manuel Orazi – Gallica, Public Domain
MetOperarevival of Thaïs production from 2008 is a passionate story about love and faith aptly delivered by Ailyn Perez in the title role and Gerald Finley as Athanaël, the holy monk. It is centered on a timeless struggle between the allure of the flesh and the piety of the spirit. The narrative and the score are charged with high emotions and endless desperation in search of harmony and salvation accentuated by Massenet’s highly recognized Meditation, the entr’acte for violin and orchestra.
Jules Massenet (1842-1912) wrote his wildly popular opera Thaïs, a comédie lyrique when his career as the most prolific French operatic composer was already well established. Thaïs has premiered at Opera Garnierin Paris in 1894 and gained widespread recognition shortly after at its first revival four years later. A libretto by Louis Gallet was based on the novel of the same title by Anatole France (1844-1924), a French poet, journalist and novelist. While Massenet’s other operas, Manon and Werther, are among the most performed, Thaïs holds its place for its exotic musical renditions, curious historical elements and the depth of emotions.
A scene from Act III of Massenet Thais, Photo: Ken Howard / Image courtesy of Metropolitan Opera
Anatole France’s story of the rich courtesan living in Alexandria, Egypt in around 4th century AD followed a legend known in Christian literature as the life of Saint Thaïs of Egypt. A servant of goddess Venus, she used her sensuality to seduce an ascetic Cenobite monk who was persuading Thaïs in his own efforts to convert her to Christianity. The plot is revolving around a power play between the earthy pleasures and a blind faith. And while in France’s story the Christian devotion takes a firm hold on the volatile spirit of a former sinner ultimately leading to her repentance and a vision of heaven, it could be interpreted as a dead-end in itself. On the other hand, the very earthy feelings awaken in the heart of a former monk, are showing a passage to real experiences and with that a possibility of reawakening. Some of the former productions of the opera led to a controversy around religious eroticism and irreversible tenets of belief. The role of Thaïs, which is notoriously difficult to sing, was written by Massenet for an American soprano Sibyl Sanderson.
A memorable performance of Thaïs on the MetOpera stage in 2008 season with Renee Fleming in the title role and Thomas Hampson as the desperate Athanaël, is released by Decca records.
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succeed in that regard. Notwithstanding opera’s great acclaim by the audiences around Europe, the plot was mocked in numerous satires in Italy and elsewhere, which in itself was a sign that its a hit. The twists and turns of the original tale are transformed in this production from the very distant beginning of 15th century Aragon, Spain to the time of the Spanish War of Independence (1807-1814) fought against Napoleonic France. The bitterness and horrors of that period are memorialized in Goya’s “Desastres de la Guerre.”
