Opera Chic

Guth Vibrations: Così From Salzburg

A hard-to-please friend txt'd earlier today from Salzburg re: the premiere of the new Cosi Fan Tutte (earlier on OC) last night in Salzburg: "Best Cosi ever- seriously".

Apparently Guth rocked, Leonard too, Petibon did very well, Persson too, and the guys rawked, except Skovhus, but then he never does. Adam Fischer led a lightning-fast reading of the score, flaunting his Wiener.

Claus Guth's final installment in his Mozart-DaPonte trilogy for Salzburg, this time, blessedly, without Niki Harnoncourt in the pit and without heroin on stage, seems to be an elegant, unsettling take on the opera -- with iPods.

It was broadcast live on Austrian TV (a true sign of civilization), and Opera Chic will enjoy a nicely burned Region 0 DVD of it over the weekend, and you probably won't, but she'll report back. In the meantime, YouTube has some bits and pieces in the usual sorry YouTube lofi way.

Roberto d'Orange

Beatrice Uria-Monzon and Roberto Alagna perform in "Cavalleria Rusticana" directed by Jean-Claude Auvray @ Choregies d'Orange -- live broadcast next Tuesday on France 3.

The Fresh Prince of Milan: Diego Milito

Out with the old, in with the new: Diego Milito, aka "The Prince", Internazionale FC's new striker from Argentina.

Carter Burwell's "A Serious Man" (The Coen Bros, too)

Carter Burwell, one of America's coolest composers, wrote:

This is the Coen Brothers' film about a Jewish physics professor living in Minnesota in the late 1960s. The deterioration of his personal and professional lives leads to a spiritual crisis involving rabbis, F Troop, and The Jefferson Airplane. We're recording the score in mid-May.

The film should be released in October 2009.

The trailer for "A Serious Man" is here:

Because The Night Belongs To (Opera) Lovers: Patti Smith Wants To Be Tosca

Awesome little interview in today's Corriere della Sera (not online until tomorrow) with Patti Smith: the lanky prepunk, punk & postpunk chanteuse -- pictured above with former bff&e the late (and dearly missed) Robert Mapplethorpe -- comes out as a huge Puccini fan:

I'd love to step on a stage and sing Tosca. Tosca loves, and prays, with all her being. I'd love to sing Vissi d'Arte, one of the most strikingly beautiful arias in opera. My introduction to opera was an old LP, Eleanor Steber singing Butterfly... I was very young and it moved me to tears. Giacomo Puccini became my magic portal to enter the world of opera. I am so grateful to Puccini for this... What I love the most about his music is the melodic lines, and the way he builds up tension and emotion. The intensity of his arias represents a lesson to every singer... Puccini is, in the end, an composer whose music is very audience-friendly because he knew the people and he believed in them. His stories are simple, and they move you".    

And yes, Bohème at the Chelsea Hotel, circa 1977, is even too easy a concept.

What's New Pussycat? Peter Mattei Slays Tom Jones

Swedish baritone Peter Mattei sings Tom Jones' 1965 hit, "It's Not Unusual" with amazing flair. We hereby challenge the singer to a karaoke showdown when he's in Milan next February, where he'll be singing the big Don in the second cast of Don Giovanni (to Schrott's primary).

Mozart is my Homeboy: NYC's Mostly Mozart Festival Brings Back an Old Friend

Summer in NYC: A gaping maw of the dreaded, perennial classical music black hole, where opera hovers on the horizon of the Fall opening season. Sure, there's always Bard's SummerScape, Glimmerglass, Opera New Jersey, Caramoor, Tanglewood, and the smaller festivals (and the NY Philharmonic does a good job with their free, summer concerts) -- but sometimes you just feel like staying in your own backyard.

Just when everything looks bleak, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival opens and offers us a serious break from the classical doldrums. Last night, Avery Fisher Hall opened its doors for their 43rd Opening Night Gala of the Festival, which runs until August 22, 2009. The Festival was carefully planned by Music Director Louis Langrée (the position that he's held since 2002), and boasts not only Amadeux-my-Mozizy, but his contemporaries and composers who were later influenced by the Salzburg hitman. This summer is unique as it is the bicentenary of Josef Haydn's death and Felix Mendelssohn’s birth and explores the bonds between the three artists that transpired the generations. This year's festival is also the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Center, celebrated with two commissions for the Mark Morris Dance Group, Yo-Yo Ma, and pianist Emanuel Ax.

Opening night was program of Louis Langrée conducting the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra (the resident orchestra of the festival) through Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.3, played (cadenzas and all) by Norwegian pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes. Langrée also cut up Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, along with a 12-minute Haydn song scene from 1795 (with text by Metastasio) called, "Berenice, che fai?"

Other highlights of the Festival that Opera Chic is looking forward to? This weekend, future Prime Minister Edward Gardner conducts with pianist Piotr Anderszewski a Mozart lineup (overture of Die Zauberflöte, Piano concerto no.18 & Symphony no.39) & Britten (serenade for tenor, horn & strings with vocals by Toby Spence). Later in the Festival, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe will play Haydn's Clock, Ligeti's Chamber concerto, and Mozart's Piano Concerto no.19.

August 13th bring us the New York premiere of John Adams' A Flowering Tree. And OC is really looking forward to Robin Ticciati's New York premiere, conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in an all-Mozart program, featuring pianist Robert Levin. The festival closes shy of one month with Louis Langrée conducting Haydn's Creation. Mozart is your copilot and Mostly Mozart is your bombardier.

Breaking: Eric Owens Out of the NYC Premiere of Adams' A Flowering Tree

American bass-baritone Eric Owens has officially withdrawn from the New York premiere of John Adams' A Flowering Tree -- running on August 13 & 14 & 16 for the Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival -- due to illness. Owens was to sing the Storyteller, and won rave reviews for the role for the U.S. premiere in March 2007 at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall.

We are disappointed (as we're sure Eric is, Adams' muse & BFF), but we're glad Eric's stepping down to protect that gorgeous voice of his.

Robin Ticciati To Conduct Peter Grimes at La Scala in 2012

Cool.

Netrebko And Schwarzkopf

Schwarzkopf as in "shampoo", not as in "legendary soprano" (legendary soprano and legendary smart cookie who at the right time swapped her Nazi Party membership card for a really, really powerful husband, and lived not to tell the tale).

Because the career of Anna Netrebko as brand ambassador is progressing as well as Lang Lang's. First it was the Austrian mineral water; then the mafia-wife jewelry. And now, finally, the hair products.

Anna Netrebko will sing you an aria, then dye your hair a shiny shade of chestnut.

When Charlotte Met Merce

Charlotte Higgins remembers the time she met Merce Cunningham:

At the top of my transcript, which I looked up this morning, I wrote: "The long erect neck has folded in on itself a little. Eloquent hands a little clawlike, purple age spots. Bright eyes over big cushiony semicircular pouches - one drop of moisture edges down over course of interview." At one point in the interview, I asked how he felt about not being able to use his body fully. "Oh it's terrible!" he said, and laughed. "Because I would like to dance."

Hilary Hahn Chats up Norman Lebrecht

 

American violinist Hilary Hahn chatted with Norman Lebrecht for this week's The Lebrecht Interview on BBC Radio 3. The self-titled ~music nerd~ (no worries, Hilary, you're in good company with Lebrecht's other 2009 interviewees William Christie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Ian Bostridge) spoke about aspects of living on road, her rise as an artist, the importance of her privacy as a performer, and about the state of classical music during the financial crisis. No glimpses into that highly-guarded private life, tho...Lebrecht's too much of a gentleman.

Meet The New Boss

(ph. Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Malcolm 100wry: The Strauss Song We Used To Sing

Do you remember the Strauss song we used to sing? Once a year the dead live for one day. Oh come to me again as once in May.

Malcolm Lowry, the man who wrote the greatest novel of the post-WWII era, Under the Volcano, is 100 today. And even if suggesting a toast today seems a bit redundant given the circumstances of his life and death, may the memory of his drunken, genius ghost be for a blessing.

Dudamel Goes Home and Celebrates with a Free Concert in Caracas

Sunday found Gustavo Dudamel and the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra (one of Venezuela's 125 youth orchestras that comprise el Sistema) at the Simón Bolívar Acoustic Shell in Caracas. The free concert was one of the many events that celebrated the 442nd anniversary of the Venezuelan capital.

Yo-Yo Ma joined Dudi for the concert of Bizet's Les Toreadors, Franz von Suppé's Light Cavalry Overture, and Saint-Saëns's Danse Bacchanale, all under the ready smile of founder José Antonio Abreu...and many thousands of screaming Dudi fans.

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José Antonio Abreu on the right!

Anne Midgette's Chances of Being Elected Mayor of Santa Fe Approaching Zero

Anne Midgette's letter from Santa Fe:

Shots were fired again Saturday night, opening the world premiere of the opera "The Letter." But they sounded a little flimsy, as if fired from a cap gun.

***

But in adhering to the rules of opera -- we must have arias and ensembles -- Moravec and librettist Teachout repeatedly show a tin ear for the exigencies of drama. The arias keep obtruding at inopportune moments to spell out things that don't need spelling out ("What have I done? I've killed him. He is gone forever"). They bring the action to a screeching halt.

And Moravec's music, though adroitly written, stays behind the words, supporting the action rather than dictating it. The arias hardly emerge, and the music proceeds one phrase at a time.

The good news for the Letter posse is that she didn't like Traviata that much, either.

Abbado's Comeback @ Scala in June 2010: Mahler 2, Not 8

Claudio Abbado has changed his mind: he'll be back at la Scala in June 2010 after his loooooooong absence with Mahler's Second, not the Eighth as previously announced.

Whether this happened because, as he explains in today's Corriere della Sera, the Second is the perfect choice because it was his Scala debut back in 1963, or, as it is whispered in Milan, because the Eighth -- the "Symphony of a Thousand" -- is simply too large and logistically complicated a work to stage at la Scala, it doesn't really matter.

Whether it's the Resurrection, the Thousand, the Whatever, it's just so cool to have Claudione finally back.

Merce Cunningham, 1919-2009

"It is with great sorrow that we note the passing of Merce Cunningham, who died peacefully in his home last night of natural causes," the Cunningham Dance Foundation and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company said in a statement.

Così Fan Guth: A Cast So Hawt You Will Express Your Joy

French soprano Patricia Petibon is caught in the passion over a smoking Cosi' fan Tutte cast. The new Claus Guth production opens on July 30 for the Salzburg Festival. 

Miah Persson is Fiordiligi, Isabel Leonard (who looks so happy because she bagged Teddy Tahu Rhodes and you haven't) is Dorabella and Patricia Petibon is Despina. Rounding out the males is Topi Lehtipuu as Ferrando, Florian Boesch as Guglielmo, and Bo Skovhus as Don Alfonso. 

 

(Above & below: Miah Persson and Isabel Leonard)

 

You've seen the girls...now click the link below for the man candy!

Hallelujah

Opera Chic will post something naughty regarding Claus Guth in a short while: then, our more pious readers might as well pre-emptively enjoy some Christian redemption with Guth's stunning production of Haendel's Messiah from earlier this year.

Die Walküren

Bayreuth opens -- and Eva Wagner-Pasquier & Katharina Wagner's french manicure oversee the opening night gala. Katharina -- who is described as the "hip and tech-savvy" of the two new half-sister festival managers -- shows her wild side with freshly-styled p0rn curls. RAWR.

Angela and friends.

Kristin Chenoweth Loves Anna Netrebko, Pink Martini

Kristin Chenoweth loves Anna Netrebko, Pink Martini, sends shoutout to Florence Birdwell:

KC: Florence Birdwell is my biggest inspiration! She not only taught me to sing technically, but taught me to sing from the soul about what a song actually means. Don't sing it if ya can't mean it! My favorite singers are a wide variety:

I love Dolly. I love Reba. I love Julie Andrews and Judy of course. I love Sandi Patti and Amy Grant. I love Allison Krause. I love Eminem too. I absolutely love the opera star Anna Netrebko. And I love the lead singer from the group Pink Martini.

At The Beach With Vanity Fair & Roberto Bolle

Vanity Fair shows off the best of 24 years worth of shooting half-naked celebrities at the beach.

And among them...

(photo by Bruce Weber)

Alagna Live Telecast From Chorégies d'Orange

Did you enjoy the live telecast a couple weeks ago on France 2 of our dear Ciofolina and Vittorione Grigolo singing "Traviata", conducted by Maestro Chung? (Opera Chic's friends are so cool that she received a nice, freshly-ripped region-0 DVD of the proceedings -- and if your friends are less cool and less French and you're ready to resign yourself to bad Internet audio and worse video, it's all over YouTube now (see above).

Well, next Tuesday, this time on France 3, there's another live telecast: Roberto Alagna from Chorégies d'Orange in "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" (catch the hilarious blooper on Classiquenews site -- it happens). Besides the comedy gold that is Roburto, the cast list has nice names such as Inva Mula, Béatrice Uria Monzon, and Anne-Catherine Gillet.

David Lynch's Strauss

David Lynch on KCRW:

I’m going to go to Richard Strauss. We’re getting into long haired stuff now. I was in a really swank Mercedes Benz in Germany one night. Black, deep black and snow flakes the size of silver dollars coming down. And I'd been left in the car -- I forget who I was with but they had gone into a building and I had been left in the car -- and I turned on the radio and I heard this thing. And it thrilled my soul. This particular piece of music at that particular time, I saw in my minds eye, my four year old son coming down a flight of stairs and it made me start crying.

Opera Chic's favorite Im Abendrot?

All due respect to Renée's choice of Schwarzkopf, but by far Lisa Della Casa's "Vier Letze Lieder" is the closest to Opera Chic's heart. It's not on YouTube, but La Jessye is.

And she does thrill your soul, too.