Opera Chic

Counterpoint and Counterculture with Robert Wilson

Brilliant Bob chats with the FT about his new video exhibition at Torino's Palazzo Madama, and as always, interjects opera into the narrative. Queen Renée (above) makes a virtual appearance in one of Bob's video installations.

Axelrod Drops Science

Like Galileo dropped the orange. Slipped Disc publishes an exceprt from American-born, European-based conductor John Axelrod's German-language book that dropped earlier this month in the German press, "Wie großartige Musik entsteht...oder auch nicht" / "Making beautiful music together...or not!" Burn!

Between the pages, Axelrod sources his many years passed in Europe's opera and symphony halls in an anthropological dissection of policies and personalities. Here's a Der Spiegel review sourced with Brendel's book.

Check out Axelrod's responses to the ensuing discussion here and here.

Randomness Reigns at The Metropolitan Opera Season Opener

As OC was wrapping-up Milan Fashion Week spring 2013 coverage (tip: natural is the new black for beauty and streamlined Sixties is the buzz for collections), complete randomness reigned at last night's non-Wagner/non-Verdi opening night of The Metropolitan Opera's l'Elisir. Madonna's ex, Marc Jacobs' ex, a hockey player, a celebrity chef, models who weren't walking the Milan/Paris shows -- and when Courtney Love shows up, you know it's gonna be a paaaar-tay.

HBIC Austin Scarlett enchanted (above, with date, soprano Lisette Oropesa), Isabel Leonard devastated (below) and Placido mayored (with Marta) the random starlettes who rang-in The Met's new season. Randomness asidie, props to The Met for sourcing the It Crowd at the event that inaugurates eight months of culture (yay) -- we'll never pine for the pre-red carpet days when glitterati was crownded with NYC anchormen and Montauk retirees. At this rate, Gelb might finally have to spring for a new tux (sartorial advice -- go bespoke.) So how did Trebs sound as L'Elisir d'Amore's lead? Midgette sounded-off for her WP Classical Beat.

(Trebs & Co.)

Cheyenne Jackson!

Michelle Trachtenberg

Diane von Furstenberg

Patti & Jesse Smith

Valentino's NYC Ballet Gala

Sarah Jessica Parker: Valentino Collaboration with New York City Ballet “Was My Idea”

Der fliegende Holländer in Torino

Heads it's Wagner, tails it's Verdi as opera houses worldwide entrust 2013 seasons and opening nights to the Wagner/Verdi 200-year birthday anniversaries.

Teatro Regio di Torino called heads and opens its new season on October 12 with Der fliegende Holländer in Willy Decker's y2k production for Opéra national de Paris. Torino's MD Gianandrea Noseda conducts American bass-baritone Mark S. Doss as the flying lead.

Hommage à Valentino at the NYCB

Fashion superstar Valentino puts the final touches on the September 20th New York City Ballet gala, in which he was commissioned to design twenty costumes for four interludes, choreographed by Peter Martins and Christopher Wheeldon, set to music by Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire and Tchaikovsky’s Onegin (the ballet, not the opera).

Organized by his partner Giancarlo Giammetti and fashion swan Sarah Jessica Parker, Thursday's gala includes a post-performance, Italian-themed dinner for 800 tony guests (and their 800 untouched plates) created by Valentino's personal chef. The starry list includes glitterati (Anne Hathaway, Gwynnie Paltrow, Beyonce'), a slew of supermodels (Iman, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista), Valentino's fashion colleagues (Ralph Lauren, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg) and Roberto Bolle, who will show them all what’s what with his La Scala street cred.

So was Mariah Carey the creative consultant? NYMag has more photos here.

Opera's Awesome New Home in the Big Apple

Opera beefs-up its national profile and flexes its new National Opera Center of OPERA America, which officially bows on September 24.

The state-of-the-art headquarters for the 42-year-old non-profit org acts as the North American hub for all things opera and will host rehearsals, lessons, performances, auditions, seminars, workshops, concerts, meetings and more (!!), according to Dan Wakin for the NYTimes. 

At a cost of $14 million ($6 million in construction, $6 million towards the operating endowment and $2 million in relocation costs, which moved the headquarters from Washington, D.C. to NYC in 2005), OPERA America also signed a 20-year lease for the dual-level space (floor plan here), conveniently located at 330 Seventh Avenue (at 29th street) in a 21-floor office building dating from 1928 (google street view above).

We'll crack a bottle of Bollinger La Grande Année as we watch a live stream on the OPERA America website of the official ribbon cutting ceremony, which starts at 10:30am on September 28.

Damiano Michieletto Crosses Over to the Dark Side with Puccini's Trittico

"Murder, suicide and death tinged with black comedy," says Italian opera director Damiano Michieletto about the themes of Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, respectively. "I wanted to explore that dark side, to bring out the violence and cynicism of the human psyche."

On October 10, Michieletto unveils his new Puccini Trittico for Theater an der Wein in stark realism. Tabarro's set in an industrial harbor space, described as a world of pain where workers, oppressed like slaves, search for escape through ~sexual healing~. Suor Angelica's locked in a prison cell, incarcerated against her will, to serve out a sentence. Gianni Schicchi's players fight over the inheritance in "ferocious" and "deceitful" shades. Michieletto likes his slasher flix! 

The cast includes Patricia Racette (as Giorgetta and Suor Angelica) and Roberto Frontali (as Michele and Gianni Schicchi).

This past summer, Michieletto's Christmas-themed la Bohème set in a mall was a hit at the Salzburg Festival. 

William Eggleston, Vintage Leicas, and Bach

At home with William Eggleston:

Vintage Leicas were arranged on the shelves. The floor of the drawing room to the right was covered with Chinese rugs. An old reel-to-reel tape recorder stood on a trolley. “It belonged to Elvis,” muttered Eggleston, “but he couldn’t handle the controls.” Two vast speaker columns, built to Eggleston’s own design, dominated the room. He demonstrated their power and clarity with Baroque music. He had a passion for Bach organ pieces.

Bruno Tosi, Custodian of Callas Legend, Dies at 75

Bruno Tosi, the Italian music scholar and journalist, president of the Maria Callas Foundation (and former Renata Tebaldi spokesperson!) and creator of the "Una vita per la Musica" award who in 2007 bought the annotated scores used by Maria Callas, died earlier today in Venice at the age of 75.

Renée Rocks a Peek-a-Bewb

Princess Renée's not only flawless but on-trend. Above, the cover art of an 18-track retrospective that dropped today gives a naughty peek-a-bewb. The American soprano revisits career-defining roles and classic arias such as Casta Diva, O Silver Moon, O Mio Babino Caro and Ebben? Ne Andro Lontana, natch, while four bonus tracks include a reworking of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and a duet with Terfel.

Below, Renée's fellow New Yorker of comfortable age, success and notoriety -- J.Crew's president/executive creative director Jenna Lyons, who was photographed a couple days ago rocking the same demurely-unbuttoned, peek-a-bewb style at Opening Ceremony's 10th anniversary.

Walken! And Beethoven!

A starry cast -- Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener -- lead A Late Quartet, set to a soundtrack of Beethoven's String Quartet #14.

Sweet Nostalgia, Lenny Style

Revisiting Classic Lenny from The Library of Congress's Collection makes us nostalgic for a golden era that we didn't even live through. Gallery here.

Composers and Their Cats

 
From this month's Tatler, meet Andrew Lloyd Webber's cat, Ozzy. Happy Belated Caturday!

The Metropolitan Opera's Titles Gets a Makeover, Thanks to Dolce & Gabbana

 

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has revamped [some of] The Metropolitan Opera's Met Titles. The Made in Italy duo, based in Milan, have backed a new initiative that brings Italian translations to [Italian] opera librettos that are wired through the Lincoln Center opera house.

Titles were previously available only in English, Spanish and German, but on September 24, with the opening of Donizetti's L'Elisir d' Amore, Italian language will be available for all 28 operas of the 2012-13 season. [UPDATE: The Metropolitan Opera clarifies that Italian titles will only be available for Italian-language operas in it's entire season. Met Titles will not be available in Italian for operas sung in other languages.]

Domenico & Dolce have straddled the opera and fashion world frequently -- a 2009 collection evoked Maria Callas and Italian opera houses; a 20th anniversary celebration in Milan in 2010 blasted Verdi on the sound system; and earlier this year, we were at the Milan MFW runway show to a soundtrack of Pavarotti's La Traviata.

As for an opening night gala sighting of the Italian duo? Milan Fashion Week kicks off on September 19 with Gucci and ends on September 24 with Roberto Cavalli, with Dolce & Gabbana's runway show at 2pm on September 23. OC usually heads to Principe's spa to ease into post-Milan Fashion Week burn out, but those two are inexhaustible!

 

Cage's Centenary

Today, one hundred candles on John Cage's birthday cake. The American composer's centenary is marked best by Alex Ross's piece for The New Yorker (with mention to a recent Kozinn-inked NYTimes piece -- music is everywhere).

Also filling our iPods this first week of September -- Philip Glass. WQXR just kicked off a Philip Glass festival in honor of the composer's 75th birthday.  

And the Password is...Allan Kozinn

A "Save Kozinn" facebook page and a petition have sprouted overnight to rally the reinstatement of Allan Kozinn as music critic after it was reported yesterday that veteran New York Times journalist has been demoted to the newly-created general culture reporter beat. Will Kozinn become the Arrested Development of music critics?

Roberto Bolle's Giorgia Madness: "Tu Mi Porti Su"

The Italian etoile and world's hottest man has improvised a choreography, dancing to Italian pop number 1 song, "Tu Mi Porti Su" by Giorgia. An amateur video was shot, then posted to YouTube.

Luciano's Friends

A month ago we wrote about the upcoming, star-studded crossover concert to memorialize the fifth anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti's death on September 6. VanityFair.It, which will stream the event live on its website, has 30-odd vintage photos of Big Pav onstage and with glitterati such as Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Bono, Aretha Franklin, The Spice Girls, etc.