Something for the birds
UPDATE: The results are in, and the topic for this afternoon’s chat session will be Maria Stuarda. Please look after the jump for details.
La Cieca (left) invites you to listen to the broadcast beginning at 1:00 pm EDT on the BBCiPlayer or else check the Operacast page for more options.
Mary Stuart: Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)
Queen Elizabeth: Antonia Cifrone (soprano)
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester: Bülent Bezdüz (tenor)
Sir William Cecil: David Kempster (baritone)
George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury: Frédéric Bourreau (bass)
Hannah Kennedy: Michelle Walton (soprano)
Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North conducted by Guido Johannes Rumstadt.
The live chat will be, as always, at La Casa della Cieca.
PREVIOUSLY: It was the perhaps aptly named Cleveland Bent (1866-1954) who described the song of the bobolink as “a bubbling delirium of ecstatic music that flows from the gifted throat of the bird like sparkling champagne.” La Cieca could not improve upon that description as it applies to the latest outpouring of the gifted throat of our own drunken songbird, BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK. For it is she (pictured above, just over Tippi Hedren‘s left shoulder) who has nominated the operas for this week’s vote on our Saturday chat.
For more information on casting, times, etc. please see the invaluable Operacast.
The “Maria Stuarda” isn’t from Covent Garden but from Opera North and it’s more “Mary Stuart” since it’s in English and given Sarah Connolly is the Mary, presumably it’s the mezzo version.
Will change the poll to reflect this.
It’s not in English. They called it Mary Stuart but sang it in Italian.
I’m not seeing a lot of those in Operacast, so where do I look to see the casts.
Sorry, Sanford. here’s a more complete rundown: (Times are EDT)
1:00-4:30 BBC MARIA STUARDA – Opera North (mea culpa) Connolly, Cifrone, Bezduz, Rumstadt conducting.
1:00-5:00 CBC TWO CAPRICCIO – Opera Victoria — Erin Wall (includes a Bill Richardson tribute to Maureen Forrester)
1:00-5:30 ESPACE TWO LITTLE WOMEN – Canadian Opera Okulitch, McHardy, Gordon Gerrard conducting
1:30-5:00 FRANCE MUSIQUE BILLY BUDD Glyndebourne, Ainsley, Imbrailo
1:30-4:30 LATVIA RADIO KLASIKA OTELLO Lausanne Opera John Osborn and Olga Peretyako.
2:00-5:00 HR2 KULTUR IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE from La Monnaie Nadja Michel and Stephane Degout
2:00-6:00 KLARA MACBETTO from La Munt Brussels; Iano Tamar and Scott Hendricks.
Iano Tamar? I tremo…
I voted for the Otello, because the Rodrigo (assuming Osborn is Otello) is Maxim Mironov. Very nice, sweet, high-flying voice (not bad looking , either)
I don’t think I can take anymore Rossini this year.
Blasphemy!
Actually, I voted against Rossini, too, but my candidate (Macbeth) doesn’t seem to be winning. Unfortunately, I voted before the cast lists were released.
Yes, I know, but really, Billy Budd would be refreshing.
God, Cruz, make me feel guilty, why doncha.
No, no! I would never harm a bobolink. I just meant: who is Iano Tamar?
If Billy Budd wins then I’m just going to pretend Peter Mattei is singing.
Is everyone on this blog insane
Rossini WISHED he had written Maria Stuarda.
But he did write Otello, which is what they were talking about.
Kind of a ‘tweenie,” flirting with Amneris while mostly doing the big spinto roles at most of the major European houses, without much registering on the Richter scale. She’s slated for the Scotttish Lady in SF this coming season. I’ve heard broadcasts of her Elisabetta and Lina and she strikes me as somewhat generic.
You must mean the other SF. I see that I missed Iano a couple of years ago when she visited San Francisco for Idomeneo…
Sorry, the websites weren’t dated.
Ooohhh
Stéphane Degout!
Orest! O-re-e-st!
The Maria Stuarda is in Italian.
Thank god. OK. I’d like to change my vote.
There are some good pictures of the Stuarda here. Sarah Connnolly with riding crop:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ss1w3
Am at “Manon” dress. Gelb in the stalls.
To keep the voting honest, I’ll make the following offer. All seven operas on the ballot are being recorded. In fact, three are already in the can (OTELLO, LITTLE WOMEN, and IPHIGENIE.) Barring unforeseen technical glitches, I will provide copies to anyone contacting
I was at performance when Maria Stuardawas recorded last week. It will also be avail for 7 days to listen again via the BBC