Opera Chic

Seventh Annual Opera News Awards in NYC

(Above: Blythe, Conlon and Hvorostovsky)

Mezzo soprano Stephanie Blythe hosted the seventh annual Opera News Awards at The Plaza's Grand Ballroom last night.

Five artists (four singers and one opera director) were awarded for their contributions to opera -- Karita Mattila, Anja Silja, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Peter Mattei and Peter Sellars. Opera News' Editor-in-Chief F. Paul Driscoll welcomed special guests James Conlon, Sherrill Milnes, Eric Owens, Kaija Saariaho, Deborah Voigt and HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden. Proceeds of the ceremony benefit the Metropolitan Opera Guild's educational programs.

Opera News live-tweeted the event with on-the-spot photos. Here's WQXR's Operavore on the festivities.

(Above: Conlon, Mattila and Hvorostovsky)

(Above: the whole mishpocha)

(Above: Peter Mattei, family and H.R.H. Princess Madeleine of Sweden)

Miuccia Prada: Fan of Ellis, Doesn't know Franzen

Rome's La Repubblica ran a monster interview with Miuccia Prada, the legendary Italian fashion designer who creates, season after season, coveted collections with heartbreaking (and heart stealing) stilettos and is the protagonist of an upcoming costume exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.

Miuccia didn't fall short of past character attributions such as "cerebral and iconoclastic" and "intelligent in a way that other designers couldn't even dream of," and the interview was a nice change-up from the predictable questions about wearing Yves Saint Laurent to Milan Communist rallies in the 70s and the Carsten Höller-designed slide in the courtyard of Prada's Milan headquarters.

But between flashes of brilliance, Prada admitted that although she worships Bret Easton Ellis, she's never heard of Ellis' contemporary, Jonathan Franzen:

Among the things Miuccia Prada admits she doesn’t know: who Jonathan Franzen is. She points out that she likes classic literature and cited Nineteenth century Russian and French novels. She says that she likes an American author but can't remember his name, so I suggested "The Corrections" and she said that she'd never heard of it, chortled, urged me to 'write it' (maybe she was pulling my leg) and at the end, in a sudden revelation, she mentions the contemporary novelist Bret Easton Ellis as a favorite.

Since we love Franzen and Ellis as much as we love our Prada bucket bags (and we love that she expanded into opera with costume design for The Met's Attila), we'll let this one slide and maybe one day she'll design an American Psycho raincoat inspired by Patrick Bateman's blood slicker.

Opera Chic & Grazia.it: Stiffelio at Teatro Regio di Parma

Good things come in small packages. Opera Chic went to Parma last weekend, Verdi country, to catch the final curtains of its 2012 season with Verdi's Stiffelio in the sweet jewel box theater, Regio di Parma. The cast got an A for effort and Andrea Battistoni, on the podium, gave us a well-narrated Verdi that began colorful and ended with great tension.

You can read the full review here, in Italian, on Grazia.it.

 

Riccardo Muti & the CSO Take Russia and Italy

Riccardo Muti's rounding third on the current Chicago Symphony Orchestra tour that has taken the American orchestra through Russian and Italian landmarks. The tour kicked off in Moscow on April 16 and continued to St. Petersburg. Italy was inaugurated with Rome's Teatro dell'Opera on April 22, continued to Naples two days later, landed in Brescia and finishes tomorrow in Ravenna with Rota, Strauss and Shostakovich.

The CSO website's running a blog from the current tour here so you can vicariously keep up with the trailblazing CSO, photos by Todd Rosenberg.

Update: Here's Andrew Patner's [APatz] piece for The Chicago Sun Times.

100% Pure Luchino Visconti Goodness: "Senso" Opening Scene

Mary Beard on Meet the Romans' Fallout

In a battle between a TV critic and a classicist, guess whose going to win? It's weak sauce, like if Chris Brown took a swipe at Jay-Z.
 
British classicist Mary Beard's OC's go-to source for Italy's ancient civilizations and she'll f**k up Cicero and Homer like you're back in high school Latin class in a lunch coma, falling asleep at your desk as your teacher sings the mnemonic rhyme declensions "O-S-T-MUS-TIS-NT" and "BO-BIS-BIT-BIMUS-BITUS-BUNT" and you're sweating as he calls your name to stand up and translate Book X of Virgil's Aeneid since you had your nose buried in a contraband Non-no swiped from your older (and painfully cooler) cousin for the past 40 minutes. 

We've been longtime worshippers of Saint Mary (we dutifully keep her slender Intro to Classics tucked in our Prada purse on short trips), the Cambridge professor of classics and the coolest living classicist who can make us lol with her cheeky British wit at even the bone-driest classics, and we're behind her counterargument aimed at a nasty misogynist who took a swipe at her looks during a new TV series that recently aired -- Meet the Romans, a three-part BBC2 TV series.

As Beard told Stuart Jeffries in a Guardian interview over the weekend: "Actually, that's what a 57-year-old woman looks like."

Battle of the looks? Ha ha let's just stop AA Gill there. If he really wants to start a sh*tstorm about physical appearances, that's a battle that he will fail.

Here's Beard's rebuttal on the Daily Mail.

Veriano Luchetti, 1939 - 2012

Italian tenor Veriano Luchetti passed away this morning in Rome at 73. He was married to soprano Mietta Sighele. Above, he sings Gabriele in Boccanegra from La Scala, 1978.

Vintage Karita and Dmitri

OC's got enough books to last a nuclear fallout and our marble mosaic floors are practically buckling from the weight. But it's all good, because we can whip out gems like a vintage Karita Mattila and Dmitri Hvorostovsky (and Hildegard Behrens looking like a Guy Bourdin portrait, below) from our La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera by Giorgio Bagnoli, before the Silver Fox turned totally silver and before the Finnish tomboy became a Nordic Princess.

A Mighty Mezzo Wins Spring For Music's 2012 Arts Blogger Contest

Everyone is a winner! But on the real, mezzo soprano Jennifer Rivera is today's biggest. The American opera singer just won the 2012 Spring For Music Great Arts Blogger Challenge for her thoughtful essays on the state of arts funding in North America, which she posted on her blog, Trying to Remain Opera-tional, an unedited account and insider's view of opera from around the world. 

The contest was organized by Spring for Music, a classical music festival which brings North American orchestras together for six concerts from May 7 - May 12 at NYC's Carnegie Hall, tickets just $25. Like OC, if you can't be there, 105.9 FM WQXR will be broadcasting/streaming the concerts live.

First prize of the Spring for Music challenge, which goes to Rivera, is $2,500 freedom dollars and two tickets to each contest. The final round included Rivera's blog, Seated Ovation, Operation Opera and Neo Antennae.

If you're still throbbing with contest fever, Spring for Music launches another contest on Monday called Fantasy Program where you can submit your dream version of the festival's set-list. The contest will be open to public voting (just like the arts blogger challenge), and the winner gets two tickets to this year's and next year's festival.

Spring for Music's artistic director Tom Morris will be speaking about the festival on WNYC's Soundcheck (93.9 FM and 820 AM) with host John Schaefer this Tuesday, April 24 at 2pm.

Congrats to all the participants, who got recognition from North America's online arts community.

La Scala's 2012-13 First Look: Verdi Wagner Love

Ready the antacids for opera's heavy hitters. In commemoration of the Verdi/Wagner bicentennials in 2013, La Scala dedicates next season almost exclusively to the Italian and German composing duo.

Wagner hits with productions of Lohengrin (which will open the season this December 7 with Barenboim in Guth's production with Kaufmann/Harteros/Pape), Der fliegende Holländer, Götterdämmerung, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried.

Verdi takes stage with Falstaff, Nabucco, Macbeth, Oberto, Un ballo, Don Carlo and Aida.

The exceptions are Alexander Raskatov's A Dog's Heart and Rossini's La Scala di Seta.

Next year's season opener will be Verdi's Travaita with Gatti on the podium.

Full name dropping season here, many casting details still TBA in this teaser, of sorts.

I'm a Stave 4 U

 
A Russian artist duo f**ks up sheet music (in an awesome way). Many more on their website.

[via]

Donizetti's Il Furioso

A freshly-uploaded full recording of Donizetti's two act Il Furioso all'isola di San Domingo, based on an episode from Cervantes' Don Quixote -- a tale of madness, infidelity and forgiveness, from this recording.

Classic Rock, French Hip Hop and Symphony for Siem

GQ asks Charlie Siem, the 26-year-old face of Dunhill (and violinist) what's on his iPod.

Thomas Hampson, Cultural Ambassador & Storyteller

Throughout his career, American baritone Thomas Hampson's sung against the world's best opera choruses and ensembles. Now he can add the awesomeness of singing with an all-male South African a cappella group with the airing of CNN International's Fusion Journeys.

Last fall, Hampson travelled to South Africa to meet Ladysmith Black Mambazo on behalf of the show. The group, best known to America through Paul Simon's Graceland era, taught Hampson popular Zulu songs and he reciprocated with American folk songs. 

The program aired yesterday during CNN's Connect the World and continues on Wednesday and Friday at 8:00pm GMT. Hampson's one of six hosts curated by CNN International for its show, which also includes Royal Ballet principal ballerina Tamara Rojo (she went to Beijing to work with up-and-coming Chinese choreographer Fei Bo) and a forthcoming episode with Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang.

Not Always as a Tenor: Grigolo at the Royal Opera House

Last night in London, Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo flexed his podium prowess as a presenter at the Laurence Olivier Awards at the Royal Opera House to toast the best of British theatre. With wife Roshi, Grigolo arrived uncostumed, in a suit (Giorgio Armani's our guess) and presented the award for the best new opera production.

Four nominees went to three of ENO's productions (Castor and Pollux, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Passenger) and Clemency (in association with the Scottish Opera). Castor and Pollux won! w00t ENO!

Grigolone's currently in London to sing the Duke in David McVicar's Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House.

Happy Birthday Leo Nucci

Probably, the greatest Rigoletto ever and one of the all time-great baritones. Mr. Nucci -- in his modesty, he doesn't like to be called "maestro" -- turns a splendid 70 today.

 

The New York Review of Books Interviews Jonas Kaufmann

(ph. Matthias Bothor /Decca)

As long as you’ve done a traditional production, then you can do whatever you want, because you have that in your head. No matter what goes on around you, you just create this moment for yourself. Whenever I say, “Listen, the story is different, what I’m singing is different, what the music tells us is different. Why are we doing that?” The answer is always, “Don’t be so literal.” I don’t think I am. I believe that when all arrows are pointing in the same direction, then this is a reason why you probably should go there.

There’s always this discussion. You see, the conductor believes that the audience is only coming to hear the orchestra and is not interested in the story, the sets, the singers, or anything. The director believes it’s an all-visual thing. So there is this constant fight over what each person believes is the most important part. I’ve seen semistaged or concert performances of operas that were more thrilling than staged ones. Why? Because it’s better to have nothing than to have something so disturbing that it distracts you from enjoying the music and that doesn’t allow the music to create its magic.

The NY Review of Books interviews Jonas Kaufmann.

 

 

 

Opera Royalty in a Dress Fit for a Queen

Principessa, Duchessa, Contessa, Viscontessa, Whateva! Everyone else tumbles from the throne.

Here's WWD's reportage on Renée Fleming's Douglas Hannant gown that she rocked for a Live from Lincoln Center performance recently.

The three-in-one ensemble consists of a black sequin column gown with detachable black-and-white organza petal ballgown skirt paired with a black crepe satin tuxedo jacket.

 

Spring For Music Blogger Challenge Heats Up for Round III

American Mezzo Jennifer Rivera has made us laugh with her Cherubino/Rosina, has turned us on with her Agrippina's Nerone -- frankly, a Christian Lacroix costume simply does that -- and has made us think (for years) through her personal blog, Trying to Remain Opera-tional.

She's one of the nine bloggers participating in the current Round III of Spring for Music's 2012 Great Arts Blogger Challenge and brought out the big guns for this week's post on arts in North America and the lack of a Secretary of Arts & Culture position in the U.S. 

Four of the nine bloggers will advance to Round IV Finals this Friday and the power of voting the bloggers ahead is in the hands of the public (well, 1/3 public opinion, 2/3 of three guest judges). Anyway, voting for Round III ends at noon on Thursday, April 12.

Forty-two bloggers originally registered to enter the competition. First prize is $2,500 and two tickets for each of the six Spring For Music concerts at Carnegie Hall May 7-12.

Three cheers for the remaining good sports in Round III: Operation Opera, Classical Beaver, Neo Antennae, Seated Ovation, Also Sprach FraKathustra, Proust Eats a Sandwich, ArtBLT and The Glass.

Sellars' on Bach's Matthäus-Passion

Recently uploaded, here's an hour-long interview of Peter Sellars with Simon Halsey (chief conductor of the Rundfunkchor Berlin) from April 2010 in the Berlin Philharmonie all about Bach's early music masterpiece, Matthäus-Passion. Happy Easter!

Gonnelli's Latest Manuscript Auction

Florence-based antiquarian bookshop and auction house Gonnelli rounds up another auction jewel with music manuscripts and other effects to go on the block April 27. 

Lots 33 - 60 of Auction 8 features letters and musical photograph/cards autographed by Busoni, Callas (photo above, from 300 euro) , Luciano Chailly, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Mascagni, Mercadante and Alessandro Rolla.

There's also autographed content, previously unpublished, of Tito Schipa's musical notes and a manuscript colletion from Carlo Guasco, Donizetti's and Verdi's go-to tenor.

Lastly there are music score abstracts and extracts from composers like Brahms, Chopin, Arcangelo Corelli, Niccolò Dothel, Donizetti, Haydn, Strauss, Rossini and Verdi.

Gant's 88 Ways to Keep Warm This Fall

Scandinavian clothing brand Gant (now Swiss, since Maus Frères owns 96%) includes a reversible, knitted piano scarf from its Fall/Winter 2012 line. We haven't seen one since Morello a few years back.

Opera Chic & Grazia.it: Carmela! Remigio!

While Italian soprano Carmela Remigio warms up her Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte for Teatro Regio di Torino, opening on April 10, we wanted the lowdown.

Go over to Grazia.it to read what she has to say about Mozart's women and singing in Italy, among other things.

Get Your Freak on with Gareth Pugh for the Royal Ballet

British-born, Paris-based Gareth Pugh, designer of eponymous fashion-as-costume remixes, premieres his costumes for The Royal Opera House's Royal Ballet production/premiere of Carbon Life tomorrow night. Above, a preview.

Pugh is joined by the Royal Ballet's Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor, whose moves are set to Mark Ronson's and Andrew Wyatt's music for a work "with pop and fashion as the theme".

Carbon Life premieres as part of a triptych of dance ensembles with Polyphonia and Sweet Violets.

We don't know it'll look onstage but here it reminds us of the Philippe Starck + Alessi Juicy Salif juicer.

Libiamo With Woody: "To Rome With Love" - Official Trailer (HD)