Opera Chic

Buy Esa-Pekka's House For Only $4.1 million: Call NOW

Look, Brentwood's OK, even if OC would rather live in the Hollywood Hills -- the houses up there always looked cooler to her (and yeah, Beverly Hills with those huge houses is a bit too much; Bel Air way too much). Same for hotels: the Bel Air is wonderful but really too swanky with a OPEC oil baron vibe (Michael Jackson stayed there, after all), the Four Seasons kind of meh, the Peninsula in fact, yes, adorable. But still, despite the evident douchiness of the surroundings -- not to mention Bar Marmont, the epitome of douche -- the Chateau Marmont remains pretty cool, with all its ghosts (and bungalow 3 gives you a private parking space back on Marmont Lane, and possible John Belushi sightings). Desserts at Chateau Marmont are pretty delicious, too. The Sunset Tower is also a favorite destination -- restored to perfection, with a smaller pool but much better French fries (and those big bay windows).

Anyway, that's why Opera Chic turned down Esa Pekka's offer (he would make it a cool 4 mil, with a nice 100,000 dollars discount for all the time OC babysat his kids). Still, four.point.one is a good deal, if 5 1/2 baths are not too many for you (just restocking the Kiehl's soap bars and the toilet paper must be a bit of a nightmare):

The current house sits on 0.21 acres of land and features nearly 4,700 square feet of living space, with six bedrooms and 5 1/2 baths. Inside, there is a floating staircase, 2 1/2 story windows and a wine room. Outside is a garden courtyard, swimming pool and a spa. (We're told the spa bears an inscription from Jean Sibelius' "Finlandia.")

Now why would anyone keep bears in the spa and why would anyone want to think about Sibelius when naked and sweating.

German Bass In Yo' (Sweaty) Face

Via ChelseaMia, unmissable blog (in Italian) about the arts, politics, and much else from Corriere della Sera, this photo depicts the fearsome powah of René Pape's voice -- the big man is sweating for his art in Verbier.

Mousie Mousie Mousie!

"Talented musical rats strike up a tune with their miniature instruments". Here's the backstory: One time I woke up after a killer hangover and I was a tiny mouse playing a miniature flute. Only thing is that I'm that awesome mouse and I chew on that little flute every day.

Click for mousies.

Salzburger Festspiele Poised to Open with Theodora.

Salzburger Festspiele's 2009 stage opens on Saturday, July 25 with Handel's 1750 oratorio, Theodora. Chief conductor of Mozarteum Orchestra, Ivor Bolton, spirits away director Christof Loy's vision of the rebel's martyrdom and her love, Didymus. P-Diddy(mus).

Christine Schäfer sings Theodora, Bejun Mehta is Didymus, Johannes Martin Kränzle is Valens, and Joseph Kaiser is Septimius.

(Above: Joseph Kaiser & Bejun Mehta)

(Above: Joseph Kaiser & Johannes Martin Kränzle)

(Above: Joseph Kaiser & Bejun Mehta)

(Above: Christine Schäfer & Bejun Mehta)

Click the link below for many more photos

It Gets Even Better From Baden-Baden! More Iolanta Recaps.

Edda from blog Dich, teure Halle was at the Tchaikovsky Iolanta premiere in Baden-Baden, rubbing shoulders with Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, and Valery Gergiev. Who else was there? Petey the Gelbster! Go here for the post and more pictures, including a much bigger one of the big one above.

Susan Graham Sparkles & Bubbles!

American mezzo Susan Graham entertains at Caramoor's 64th Gala. Singers should be able to enjoy every recital with a flute of Bollinger. The audience, too.

Last weekend's Gala concert for Caramoor's 64th International Music Festival -- with cocktails, dinner, a performance in the Venetian Theater, and an after-hours party with desserts and dancing -- kicked-off the six week music festival in Katonah, NY.

The first of the two concert-version operas, L’Elisir d’Amore, exited to great reviews, thanks to Will Crutchfield's inspired conducting and perfect leads Georgia Jarman and Lawrence Brownlee.

OC can't wait for the next offering on July 31st, Philip Gossett's critical edition of Rossini's Semiramide with super-awesome reconstruction, undertaken by Maestro Crutchfield. We're dusting-off the classic Sutherland/Horne/Bonynge recording in anticipation!

(sauce)

Novus Ordo Seclorum

A new era in Bayreuth.

Roberston & Admas = LOL

Typical typo nukes John Adams CD:

Classical music fans who were looking forward to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's world-premiere CD release of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic Symphony" on Tuesday are going to have to wait another week -- and they can thank a typo for the delay.

That's because a minor printing error at Nonesuch has caused the shipment to be pushed back to July 28. A misspelling of the conductor's name meant that the cover art had to be reprinted, resulting in the one-week postponement, according to the music company.

Cover photo and more here.

Frederick Wiseman's "La Danse"

Cinéma vérité maestro Frederick Wiseman  -- who's so cool that even Jean Luc Godard bows down to his majesty -- has made another ballet film after his awesome 1995 documentary appropriately called "Ballet".

It's "La Danse -- Le Ballet de l'Opera de Paris", and opens this October in Europe and in  November in the U.S.

Says the great man himself:

I’m a big ballet fan, and they gave me permission and access to everything, and so it was too good an opportunity to resist.

More here.

Frank McCourt's Music

Don't tell Opera Chic you didn't cry when you read Angela's Ashes, because she won't believe you. 

The best way to remember the late Frank McCourt, writer man, teacher man, music man, in this blog can only be this: let's listen to his music (because OC is assuming you're already familiar with his books) and let's be grateful for the stories he shared with us -- after all how many writers are mourned by their readers the way people usually mourn for their friends? How many of them take over Twitter?

When Bill Met Normy

Norman Lebrecht interviews the great maestro William Christie tonight and the BBC will keep the audio file for a week here.

"Exemplary" Opera Chic -- Charlotte Higgins

Greek scholar and 360-degrees awesome Charlotte Higgins generously namechecks Opera Chic today in her Guardian blog -- the blood-and-guts spillage of David Pountney's production of King Roger at Bregenz left her quite appalled, too.

Villazon: "My Surgery Went Very Well"

The good news:

“I am very happy to tell you that my surgery went very well, and that everything looks even better than we could have hoped. I have begun the re-training process, and am in very good spirits.”

The bad news:

“I can’t wait to sing for you again.”

There he goes again...

Conlon (et al) Conducting In Colorado's Musical Summer

Conlon, Falletta, Gilbert, Robertson, Slatkin, van Zweden... Colorado's summers are not only made of glorious woods and creeks and lakes and mountains (and the Jesus-loving Colorado Rockies games): they're also chock-full of conducting goodness. Opera Chic's more accustomed to oceany or Mediterraneany summers (Montauk @ land's end, Pantelleria, Isola del Giglio) and winters in the mountains: but Colorado's clearly not all about the skking holidays. The full list of performances is here.  

Netrebko's Iolanta: Recap from Baden Baden

 

(Above: Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala at a press conference for Tchaikovsky's Iolanta @ Festspielhaus Baden-Baden)

OC has heard from our dear Swiss correspondent, who gave her the skinny (figuratively, Netrebko being Netrebko) on Anna Netrebko's premiere last night live from Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, where the Russian soprano sang her first Tchaikovsky "Iolanta" for the theatre's Sommerfestspiele (in a double feature with Rachmaninoff's Aleko).

Our Swiss fan-on-the-scene reported a wonderful evening, Anna's comfort with the Russian repertoire making for a touching and captivating performance. Piotr Beczala's Vaudémont also impressed the crowds along with Sergei Aleksashkin as Rene, and Gergiev led the Mariinsky in perfect paces. Anna & Piotr's duets garnered the most applause of the evening, which was all enhanced by video projections featuring snowflakes and twinkling stars. Most everything on stage was given a black and white treatment to set the color palette and referencing Iolanta's blindness.

After the performance, Anna dashed away the post-opera gala dinner, sponsored by Deutsche Bank, in a polka-dot black dress, loads of red lipstick, ad bright green high heels!

Below are two pictures from the event, although none from the production. Our reporter says that the Baden-Baden ushers were on absolute lock-down with a scarily tight ~camera patrol~ throughout the entire evening.

~*~

(Above: The Baden-Baden Cartier store window display features Anna glaring-up from the jewels)

The Old Skool Will Still Teach You A Thing Or Two: Felix Weingartner (1863-1942) Conducts Brahms' Third Symphony

He's Not Horsing Around: Bocelli of Arabia

omg yaes! Andrea Bocelli arrives on horseback for his Friday night concert (with guest Placidone Domingo) in Pisa's Teatro del Silenzio Lajatico. [Edit: Not only was Placidone a special guest, but he also invited new BFF, Katherine Jenkins, and brasilian singer Toquiño. Bocelli sang excerpts from Tosca and Meyerbeer's L'africaine.]

~*~

~*~

Bullish About Opera: Bregenz Festival's King Roger

If David Pountney's production of Karol Szymanowski's Król Roger doesn't turn you vegetarian, we don't know what will. Bregenzer Festspiele's gore & blood-filled King Roger stars Scott Hendricks as the König, Olga Pasichnyk as Roxane, and John Graham-Hall as Edrisi. Sir Mark Elder conducts the Wiener Symphoniker.

~*~

We hope no one in the audience had a steaming hamburger pre-opera dinner!

Click the link below to see more (bloody) photos

New York Philharmonic Concert in the Parks Surrenders To Nature

The NY Philharmonic "Concerts in the Parks" summertime festival should have gone out with a bang -- literally, by colorful Grucci fireworks (we prefer Gucci, tbh). Instead, it went out with a soggy, curt, almost panicky "that's all folks" issued from a microphone after Mahler's 1st Symphony was suddenly silenced halfway between 3rd base and home plate. To be fair, there was lightning and a large brass/horns section.

And so the 45th season of Concerts in the Parks comes to a close (the "parks" part, at least...there are still two more indoor, free performances in Queens and Staten Island) fireworks halted, and Mahler's 1st symphony still hanging unfinished in the muggy July evening air.

Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert, incoming beast master/lion tamer of the New York Philharmonic, conducted the concert series for the second time, a teasing showcase of his Beethoven, Mozart, Copland, and Mahler that rounded out the series (comprising of two performances in Central Park, one in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and one in Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park).

Though the free outdoor concerts really aren't about the music (as much as we might pretend they are) -- reverberating as they are in uneven waves from the inelegant amplification system that swallow the orchestra and regurgitate blocks of noise in a bullying wall of sound. It's not about the precision or the nuance that Gilbert extracts from the talented Phils (that we know he's capable of) because really, the sound's way too manipulated. No, the concerts are more about New York City supporting their home team players, the NY Phils, the Yankees of classical music, the gorgeous spectrum of NYC's truly diverse crowds converging -- and the way that the massive crowds self regulate in the face of such insurmountable chaos.

Native son Gilbert showed-up in a cream-colored jacket and black pants, while his orchestra took a more relaxed and appropriate route...we saw black jeans and leggings, white tunics and crisp cotton shirts that peppered the players.

Baritone Nathan Gunn was the soloist for the first work, Aaron Copland's "Old American Songs", the highlight being the final work of five, "Ching-a-Ring Chaw" to which Gunn threw himself into with great cadence and enthusiasm.

The final work was Mahler's First Symphony: an overall languid, sort of distracted reading, which perfectly matched the swampy mid-July weather. We wished that the generously organized season could have gone out with a bang, but we'll take the NY Philharmonic anyway we can get them, be it on a soggy stage, in the middle of Central Park, or in a house, with a mouse, in a box, with a fox.

Now here's Whoopie Goldberg munching on a sub!

 

Click the link below for more pictures from the event!

Pump Up The Volume: Verdi's Requiem With Rock & Fireworks, Barenboim's P'ssed Off!

Drama, drama everywhere.

It really attaches to La Scala wherever it goes -- La Scala's current Israeli tour (a bunch of Aidas at the opera house in Tel Aviv, then a Verdi Requiem in the park) has generated a little, funny controversy the other night.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports today that Daniel Barenboim got extremely p'ssed then boycotted the official post-concert dinner because, right after the Requeim's end, for some reason the concert organizers started blaring rock music from the amplification system and a fireworks extravaganza was unleashed on poor Verdi's meditation on nothingness. And Barenboim, Corriere reveals, didn't like the pre-concert long speech by Tel Aviv's mayor, either:

"With the people, I have never have any problems. But every time I'm in Israel, something with the politicians and the media always goes wrong".

The newspaper's music critic who was sent to Israel to cover the event described the post-concert fireworks as a "surreal event".

 

~*~

Meet Tim Smith

If you're in Baltimore, the Sun's classical music critic Tim Smith will be at Artscape, at the Sun's tent (NW corner of Charles and Mt. Royal) on Sunday between 4PM and 5PM.

If Opera Chic were there she'd totes go thank him for the wonderful work he's doing at the Sun and on his blog.

Muti Returns To Sarajevo

Ten years ago, Riccardo Muti went to bombed-out Sarajevo with the Scala orchestra to conduct Beethoven's Eroica in the city that had just clawed its way out of a horrible war; the other night, a decade after that concert, Muti came back.

This time, with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra, and the same program, to pay hommage to the reconstruction and remember those who lost their lives in the siege.

Corriere della Sera's feature carries a headline that Opera Chic liked:

Muti Returns To Sarajevo: "Honor To These Heroes"

~*~

More photos after the jump-

2009 Proms: London Gets a Prince Albert

It's that time of the year again: London prepares for the BBC Proms, the only musical event in the world that takes place in a gasometer named after a genital piercing. The invaluable Jessica Duchen -- whose "Songs of Triumphant Love" Opera Chic is reading right now and it's soo good -- reports in The Independent. And she also adds, helpfully, a shed-youle of the concerts.

Julius Shulman, 1910-2009: Modernism's Eye

Julius Shulman, one of America's greatest artists, died yesterday in Los Angeles. If you care about architecture, and/or about photography, this is a major, major loss: no photographer has better understood architecture -- especially his beloved Modernism. And even if oddly-shaped, Space-Age, glass-and-air buildings aren't your thing, his talent as a photographer, his eye for lines and details and beauty just soars -- he's the Michelangelo of architectural photography.

Some of his clients? Neutra, Schindler, Ain, Wright, Eames, Soriano, Lautner, Saarinen, Frey, Koenig... His obituary is here, a photo gallery is here.

His archive will rest at the Getty -- high above L.A., surrounded by the blinding light he spent his working life in, great art all around him, only the cloudless smoggy sky above him.

He doesn't belong anywhere else.

Milan's Duomo Makes Music Under the Stars, La Madonnina Shines

The innovative concert series on the rooftop terrace of Milan's Duomo has come to a close. High above the thundering motorcycles and swarming pigeons below, the Milan-based Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia delle Opere performed on Wednesday night to end the series "Ascoltare la Cattedrale".

With a backdrop of the Duomo's gorgeous & intricate gothic spires and the golden la Madonnina glittering above, conductor Diego Montrone (who studied piano & viola at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano) led a program of all sacred music by Giuseppe Verdi (Laudi alla Vergine Maria, Ave Maria, Te Deum & Stabat Mater).

Tickets were reserved by donations starting at €200, which went towards the protection and restoration fees for the Duomo's delicate spires (anyone who has come to Milan for the past half-dozen years has seen the distracting scaffolding that constantly covered the Duomo's facade, a never ending rotation of workmen cleaning and restoring the delicate Candoglia marble). Records show that music hasn't been performed on the roof of the Duomo in over 600 years. What took so long?

Someone captured the (blurrrrrry) event on YouTube, with a singing of va pensiero:

~*~

~*~

~*~