Bicentenarian
La Cieca it would be both fun and appropriate to get an early start celebrating one of this year’s two major 200th birthdays, that of Richard Wagner, and what better way to kick up our heels than with a parterre competition?
To celebrate the Meister’s anniversary, La Cieca invites you to create, in the comments section for this post, a “virtual festival” offering a complete cycle of Wagner’s 13 operas, music dramas and stage-consecrating festival plays. You should list major casting, conductor and stage director for each work.
You are invited to offer rationales for any or all of your choices, because you know if there’s anything La Cieca’s Blue Ribbon Panel loves, it’s rationales. The Panel will select the most fabulous Festspiele of them all, whose creator will receive Wagner: Complete Operas (Limited Edition)
All entries must be date-stamped prior to midnight on Friday, January 11, and the decision of your doyenne’s panel is, as always, utterly final.
To follow up on Gualtier’s praise for Elizabeth Bishop’s high B flats, I was interested to note that later this month she is doing a Wagner concert for North Carolina Opera in which she’ll be singing from Sieglinde and Isolde ( nothing other mezzos like Matzenauer and Meier haven’t done before, but…) Bishop was very good indeed in her Met Venuses. Jay Hunter Morris and Peter Volpe also take part.
Here’s from the press release:
NORTH CAROLINA OPERA TO PERFORM WAGNER CONCERT
FEATURING METROPOLITAN OPERA TALENT
RALEIGH, N.C.— North Carolina Opera will open its 2012-2013 season on Jan. 27, 2013 at 3 p.m., with a concert of the music of Richard Wagner , in honor of the bicentennial of the composer’s birth, in Meymandi Concert Hall in Duke Energy Center in Raleigh. The concert will include favorite selections from several of Wagner’s most popular operas, including Act I of Die Walküre, in what is thought to be the first performance from Wagner’s Ring Cycle in the Triangle, Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre, as well as excerpts from Die Meistersinger, Tristan und Isolde and The Flying Dutchman.
Internationally acclaimed talent will perform, including tenor Jay Hunter Morris, who sings the famously difficult role of Siegfried in Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Metropolitan Opera; Elizabeth Bishop, who has sung leading Wagner roles at the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera, as Sieglinde; and Metropolitan Opera bass Peter Volpe as Hunding. NCO Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Timothy Myers will lead 80 members of the North Carolina Opera Orchestra. The two-hour performance will be sung in German with English supertitles.
The Wagner program will include the following, in the order in which they will be presented: Prelude to Die Meistersinger, “Mögst du, mein Kind” from The Flying Dutchman, “Fanget an!” from Die Meistersinger, Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre, “Mild und leise” from Tristan Und Isolde, Intermission and Act I of Die Walküre.
Tickets are $27 to $85, and are on sale now by calling the North Carolina Opera Box Office at 919-792-3850, filling out the form available at http://www.ncopera.org or going to http://www.ticketmaster.com.
Bishop always was a Jugendlich, even early on, the voice is so similar to MJ Wray’s in weught and color (although nothing of her level) that is was expected she’d take this repertoire on and do something of interest, At this point, there’s not so much of interest: there are a large number of second string Sieglindes.
As I suspected. Thanks for the confirmation.
Much of the declamatory sections, and there was a lot of that, got lost as it was not projected with the requisite strength.
Kruno, I must have missed Gualtier’s post? What did he say about the Troyens?
Bianca, here is what I wrote on another blog:
“Bishop last night was quite impressive. All in all, Susan Graham is more accomplished,individual and beautiful in the role. But Bishop has two things over Graham -- she can hit the B flats in “Chers Tyriens” very securely and she has
more heft in the declamatory passages.
I was also glad to hear Hymel who has developed an attractive dark color in the middle register which used to be hollow and wooden. The top was always fantastic. Nice not to be obliged to tune out the tenor line in “Nuit D’Ivresse et D’Extase” as I was forced to with Giordani.
In response to Camille -- yes Bishop looks rather matronly but I actually think that Graham is older than her by a few years -- Graham is in her early fifties whereas Bishop is probably mid to late forties. So both ladies are cougars when paired with Hymel.
Grazie, Gualtier. I’m sorry to miss the Troyens this decade, but I am allergic to a certain Cassandre. I’ve seen Bishop 3 times now and she has always been impressive and competent (Iphigenie, Fenena and Norn).
Really Bianca, you can take John Yohalem’s advice and just skip Acts I and II and show up a little before 8 p.m. (or 1:45 for the matinee) and catch the Carthage acts. No Lil’ Debbie after Act II except that she will probably show up as the Ghost of Cassandre in Act V for the HD (Edyta Kulczak was doing the spectral chores for her after opening night).
A couple more tidbits -- Debbie actually is singing in tune and the nagging aunt quality is not there. But she just sounds like an empty toned washed out lyric soprano with no color or power. Actually she sounds small and pretty in places -- I wonder if she could do Mimi or Donna Anna except that the top is sort of pushed and effortful now.
Bishop to me has always sounded like a mezzo-soprano and Margaret Jane Wray like a short soprano. I think Didon (though Camille informed me that both Cassandre and Didon are listed as mezzo-soprano in the original score) has a higher almost falcon tessitura. In Didon’s Act III address to the Carthagineans, you can hear Bishop lightening her tone at the beginning to give it height. Also the French language kind of lends itself to a lighter, narrower tonal production. I thought Bishop was sympathetic and commanding in “Adieu, fière cité” but Graham broke my heart there.
Yes, seconded herewith, Bianca Dearie. Do NOT cheat yourself of the opportunity of hearing Monsieur Hymel, and frankly, povera Debbie didn’t sound that bad in the recreation room AKA List Hall.
Gualtier, you Veal Seduttore you, that is the Bärenreiter urtext score to which I made reference. NOW, in the Choudens score, which is currently languishing in the Juilliard Bookstore at $71.95 for each bookend, I do not know how they are categorized, but I would suspect it would be in similar fashion. One never knows, so see juilliardbookstore.com and or go there yourself and see. My old and ancient Kalmus scores may say a monkey may sing Dindon.
ON THE SUBJECT OF COUGARS:
One thing I LURVE about the French is that they allow low voices in females and women over forty to be Seeeeexxxxxy, inasmuch as they are admittedly able to be ~~ thinking of Angela now, who is fearlessly facing Le Divorce at the purported age of 47.
Didon ALS “Cougar” works very well, as far as I am concerned, as after all, she has been widowed for seven or eight years, so unless she was married at age 18, well, she could very well be the proverbial woman of a certain age. That would explain as well how readily she LEAPS upon the funeral pyre, as she knows if Enee leaves her there is very little chance of another Trojan coming down the pike. The problem with Bishop was that she did not, upon her entrance in the Saturday performance, promenade in a sufficiently QUEENLY manner! Any one of you dears would have been able to have shown her a thing or three.
By the next performance her confidence had increased to the point she made a much more secure impression upon her entrance. One can certainly not blame her, for g-d only knows what rehearsal she had, if any, She DID seem to know the stage directionals down cold.
The problem is, however, If you are a QUEEN, you are a QUEEN all the way, from your first entrance to your last dying day, Most certainly, MarshieMarkII will back me up on this one.
bisous —
Camille in transit tomorrow so she wishes all the parterriat a happy chat!
Mille Baci a Te CammiBelle del Universo!
Grazie, carini…
Regarding cougars, marshie, did you know our own CamilleBelle is one????? She snagged none other than the most eligible young (virgin) bachelor out there!!!!!!!!
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/celebrities/tim-tebow-camilla-belle-reportedly-split-1.4355309
Gualtier, I have not seen Graham yet, since Bishop went on for her in the Iphigenie, but my recollection is that she’s better than the short-topped and rather pedestrian MJ Wray (whom I saw as Ortrud — can’t recall who she was covering at the time). Unfort. I’ll not be able to catch the last Troyens this time so I’ll have to wait another 10 years…
Mille baci at te, carini.
Bianchisssssima, CammiBelle is teh only Cougar I’ll always love! now if you talk about that overweight Russian mezzo with the bloated face, ugggggggggh
Actually, in the other thread I was talking about Bernd Weikl ca 1980, now that was the Ildar of his day, dark, sultry and so handsome. Now we must wonder if Ildar is equally otherwise God-gifted
I’ve seen a couple of references to Gheorghiu’s ‘purported’ age: given that she was widely reported at the time as being 29 when she sang the first production of the ROH TRAV in 1994, I see no reason to believe she isn’t 47 now.
Armer,
Intermezzo more or less admitted to having launched the rumor after reading somewhere that Gheorghiu (whom she loathes) attended “colegiul Dinu Lipatti” in Bucharest from the age of 14 on. Intermezzo concluded that Gheorghiu couldn’t possibly have attend “college” at such a young age, and that she must be 5 years older. But lo-and-behold, “colegiul Dinu Lipatti” is a bona fide high school specializing in music education (“colegiul” doesn’t mean “college” in Romanian)! Would it be asking too much if I say Intermezzo should apologize or at least recognize she made a mistake?
To save money on the new MET Parsifal, here is a recoridng of the pickup orchestra the MET has engaged:
http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/650
“George Petean (Gerard) was the savior of the afternoon. A quick look at the provided biography shows that he’s been around for quite a few years without having broken into baritone-stardom. Maybe this performance will make the phones start ringing.”
Here is my turn:
Das Rheingold
Wotan: René Pape
Fricka: Veronique Gens
Freia: Christiane Karg
Froh: Jan Kobow
Donner: Bryn Terfel
Loge: Jonas Kaufmann
Erda: Ewa Podles
Fasolt: Georg Zeppenfeld
Fafner: John Tomlinson
Woglinde: Barbara Hannigan
Wellgunde: Elina Garanca
Flosshilde: Elisabeth Kulman
Alberich: Michael Volle
Mime: Klaus Florian Vogt
Die Walküre
Wotan: René Pape
Brünnhilde: Evelyn Herlitzius
Sieglinde: Anja Harteros
Siegmund: Jonas Kaufmann
Fricka: Veronique Gens
Hunding: Georg Zeppenfeld
Helmwige: Barbara Hannigan
Gerhilde: Christina Landshamer
Ortlinde: Christiane Karg
Waltraute: Waltraud Meier
Siegrune: Elina Garanca
Rossweiße: Joyce DiDonato
Grimgerde: Anna Larsson
Schwertleite: Ewa Podles
Siegfried
Siegfried: Jonas Kaufmann
Mime: Klaus Florian Vogt
Fafner: John Tomlinson
Alberich: Michael Volle
Wanderer: René Pape
Brünnhilde: Catherine Naglestad
Erda: Ewa Podles
Waldvogel: Christina Landshamer
Götterdämmerung
Siegfried: Jonas Kaufmann
Brünnhilde: Nina Stemme
Gunther: René Pape
Hagen: Georg Zeppenfeld
Gutrune: Renée Fleming
Waltraute: Waltraud Meier
1. Norn: Ewa Podles
2. Norn: Waltraud Meier
3. Norn: Veronique Gens
Woglinde: Barbara Hannigan
Wellgunde: Elina Garanca
Flosshilde: Elisabeth Kulman
Mariss Jansons: Concertgebouw Orkest
Stefan Herheim
Parsifal
Parsifal: Bryan Hymel
Kundry: Petra Lang
Amfortas: Christian Gerhaher
Gurnemanz: Georg Zeppenfeld
Klingsor: Michael Volle
Titurel: Matti Salminen
Pierre Boulez: Wiener Philharmoniker
Patrice Chereau
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan: Jonas Kaufmann
Kurwenal: Günther Groissböck
Isolde: Anja Harteros
Brangäne: Magdalena Kozena
König Marke: Johan Reuter
Junger Seeman: Jan Kobow
Hirt: Klaus Florian Vogt
Valery Gergiev: London Symphony Orchestra
Katie Mitchell
Lohengrin
Lohengrin: Piotr Beczala
Elsa: Anja Harteros
Telramund: Michael Volle?Ortrud: Evelyn Herlitzius
König Heinrich: Georg Zeppenfeld
Heerrufer: René Pape
Claudio Abbado: Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Katharina Wagner
Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Hans Sachs: Johan Reuter
Walther von Stolzing: Klaus Florian Vogt
Beckmesser: Christian Gerhaher
Eva: Veronique Gens
Magdalene: Waltraud Meier
David: Piotr Beczala
Veit Pogner: Georg Zeppenfeld
Christian Thielemann: Dresdner Staatskapelle
Dmitri Tcherniakov
Der Fliegende Holländer
Holländer: Michael Volle
Senta: Barbara Hannigan (the high version of course!)
Erik: Joseph Calleja
Daland: Günther Groissböck
Mary: Ewa Podles
Steuermann: Piotr Beczala
Marc Minkowski: Musiciens du Louvre – Grenoble
Krysztof Warlikowski
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser: Jonas Kaufmann
Elisabeth: Anne Schwanewilms
Venus: Nina Stemme
Hermann: Georg Zeppenfeld
Wolfram: Christian Gerhaher
Hirte: Christiane Karg
Walther: Piotr Beczala
John Eliot Gardiner: Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Vera Nemirova
Die Feen
Der Feenkönig: Georg Zeppenfeld
Ada: Christiane Karg
Farzana: Danielle De Niese
Zemina: Christina Landshamer
Arindal: Juan Diego Florez
Lora: Diana Damrau
Morald: Jean Francois Lapointe
Gernot: Hanno Müller-Brachmann
Gunther: Simon Bode
Drolla: Marlis Petersen
Groma: René Pape
Kent Nagano: Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Nikolaus Lehnhoff
Rienzi
Rienzi: Johan Botha
Irene: Adrienne Pieczonka
Steffano: Georg Zeppenfeld
Adriano: Elina Garanca
Paolo: Stephane Degout
Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Wiener Philharmoniker
Martin Kusej
Das Liebesverbot
Friedrich: Michael Nagy
Luzio: Klaus Florian Vogt
Claudio: Juan Diego Florez
Antonio: Simon Bode
Angelo: Thomas Hampson
Isabella: Catherine Naglestad
Mariana: Christiane Karg
Sebastian Weigle: Frankfurter Museums- und Opernorchester
Claus Guth
Well Gens as Fricka AND Eva is certainly interesting casting.
I know, but I want her as Fricka, I loved her as Eva, so she will be mine.
Vogt will be delighted to see this! He would make a very attractive Mime. On the tall side, though.
Nah, too many francophones!
And I very much doubt also the Harteros Isolde since first a Senta would have to come and that isn’t certain yet either. I was very disappointed after she decided against singing die Kaiserin. No Kaiserin, no Isolde. And at one point there was talk about Ariadne but haven’t heard anything about that either. She is so almost obsessed about Verdi, well she is going to be finished there soon since after the Ballo I wouldn’t know what else she could do.
Do you know who Barbara Hannigan is? Coloratura, and I chose her as Senta, but… with Minkowski, so she can be heard. Also, I don’t care that most of the singers will lose their voices after my festival. I think I’ll get Abbado to the point that Harteros and Kozena will be heard…
Yes Hannigan just sang Lulu somewhere to great acclaim. Was it in Dresden? She got raves. Silja sang the higher keys as well.
It was in Bruxelles. And yes, she got raves. Just watch it, it is amazing… And I’ll see her as Matsukaze in Berlin early February!
I loved the Warlikowski Lulu (I like most everything that Warli does) and I loved Hannigan in it. As a matter of fact, Hannigan can do no wrong by me after her role in Written on Skin.
Favorite Barbara Hannigan clip:
She is apparently beloved in Amsterdam.
Wah! Thanks for posting this, tornado. Enjoy Matsukaze!
I would love to see these productions as they are… especially the Ring and Holländer should be life-changing performances… Also I want the Parsifal… and the Lohengrin… I want all of these performances! And I certainly will enjoy Matsukaze. I can’t wait for these performances, just watched some trailers and am terribly excited! In the meanwhile:
Just listen to the pianissimo-b-flats by both of them…
Operacat’s Ultimate Wagner festival which takes place all year presents productions that represent the old and the new. Wagner’s operas are complemented with commissions and concerts. Wagner’s operas are presented in order of composition.
JANUARY — The New Year’s Day concert opened with the Overture to DIE MEISTERSINGERS (Operacat’s favorite piece by Wagner) followed by the Wesendonck Lieder sung by Karita Mattila, THE AMERICAN CENTENNIAL OVERTURE for orchestra, the three extant excerpts from DIE HOCHZEIT, the three reconstructed excerpts from MÄNNERLIST GRÖSSER ALS FRAUENLIST, ODER DIE GLÜCKLICHE BÄRENFAMILIE (Men are more cunning than women or The Happy Bear family), and DER LIEBESMAHL DER APOSTEL for male chorus.
-- Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch’s fully staged production of DIE FEEN is based on the 1888 world premiere production in Munich (designers Brischi / Burghart) and conducted by James Conlon. Cast includes Lludmilla Monastyrska (Ada), Michael Fabiano (Arindel), Diana Damrau (Lora), Angela Meade (Drolla) and Vladimir Ognovenko (Fairy King).
--The teenage Wagner’s turgid melodrama, LEUBALD, will be premiered as a puppet opera by composer Jorg Widman.
FEBRUARY – LIEBESVERBOT, Wagner’s adaptation of MEASURE FOR MEASURE, will have a production by Doris Dorrie and a cast including Patricia Racette (Isabella); Stephen Costello (Luzio) Falk Struckmann (Friedrich) and conductor Jesus Lopez-Cobos.
-- James Levine conducts RIENZI in a recreation of the 1954 production by Ludwig Sievert in Augsburg, Cast: Annette Dasch (Irene), Max von Cencic (Adriano – Wagner may disapprove of the gender switching but I want to see Max in Roman garb) and Ramon Vargas (Rienzi).
MARCH – William Kentridge’s new production of FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER visually focuses on alienation and obsession. The cast which includes Anna Netrebko (Senta), Anna Cargill (Mary), Roberto Alagna (Erik), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (the Dutchman), Ferrucio Furlanetto (Daland) will be conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.
-- Nico Muhly premieres his opera version of DIE BERGWERKE ZU FALUN (The Mines of Falun) based on a story by ETA Hoffmann which Wagner considered.
APRIL – The Dresden TANNHAUSER (Dresden version) has a new production by Calixto Bieto. Cast: Christine Goerke (Elisabeth and Venus), Robert Dean Smith (Tannhauser) and Matthias Goerne (Wolfram); conductor, Dennis Russell Davies.
-- A concert of excerpts from the operas of Silas Pratt (1846 – 1916) who was proclaimed by Wagner himself to be “the Richard Wagner of the United States” introduces a composer who is totally unknown today.
MAY – Wolfgang Wagner’s 1967 Bayreuth production of LOHENGRIN is revived with Latonia Moore (Elsa), Karita Mattila (Ortrud), Jonas Kaufmann (Lohengrin), Walter Holle (Telramund), Gunter Grossbieck (Heinrich) and Zelko Lucic (Herald) conducted by Phillipe Auguin.
-- On Wagner’s actual birthday (May 22), Peter Jackson / John Lassiter will present an all day showing of their uncut Pixar animated film version of the RING based largely on the design from Fritz Lang’s NIBELUNGENLIED. Cast: Angela Gheorghiu (Brunnhilde), Latonia Moore (Sieglinde), Renee Fleming (Gutrune), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Dolora Zajick (Waltraute), Jonas Kaufmann (Siegfried), Piotr Beczala (Siegmund), Gerald Finlay (Wotan), Eric Owens (Alberich), Simon Keenlyside (Gunther): conductor James Levine.
-- The month ends with DAS RHEINGOLD in a recreation of the sets for the 1876 Bayreuth production originally designed by Joseph Hoffmann / Max Bruchner with direction /choreography by Mark Morris. Cast includes Ekaterina Scherbachenko (Freia), Dolora Zajick (Fricka), Ewa Podles (Erda), Juan Diego Florez (Loge), Greer Grimsley (Wotan) and Dennis Owens (Alberich) conducted by Ivan Fischer.
JUNE – The run of RHEINGOLD is complemented with WALKURE in a recreation of Adolph Appia’s 1924 production from Basle directed by David McVicar. Cast includes Nina Stemme (Brunnhilde), Sandra Radvanovsky (Sieglinde), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Aleksandr Antonenko (Siegmund), Rene Pape (Wotan), (Hagan) conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
-- Rene Pape will also be featured in a concert of music that Wagner composed/ reorchestrated for other operas including Marschner’s DER VAMPYR, Bellini’s NORMA, Blum’s MARY, MAX UND MICHEL, Donizetti’s FAVORITE, and more, as well as his version of Wein, Weib und Gesang by Johann Strauss II.
JULY -- The Paris Version of TANNHAUSER recreates the 1954 Wieland Wagner production from Bayreuth. Conducted by Ivan Fischer, the cast includes Adrianne Pieczonka (Elisabeth), Anna Maria Antonacci (Venus), Gregory Kunde (Tannhauser), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Wolfram).
-- Concert performances of Jonathan Harvey’s WAGNER DREAM will feature the Welsh National Opera cast.
AUGUST -- Daniele Gatti conducts a revival of David Hockney’s 1987 TRISTAN UND ISOLDE directed by Stephen Pickover. Cast includes Nina Stemme (Isolde), Olga Borodina (Brangane), Aleksandr Antonenko (Tristan) and Rene Pape (Marke).
-- Stephen Hough will present the complete piano music of Richard Wagner over several concerts, including Wagner’s transcription of Beethoven’s 9th.
SEPTEMBER – Paul Andriessen’s setting of Wagner’s proposed opera, LUTHER’S WEDDING will be multimedia. — DIE MEISTERSINGERS VON NURNBURG, in a new production by Carlus Padrissa with Fura dels Baus, is conducted by Antonio Pappano with Ekaterina Scherbachenko (Eva), Susan Graham (Magdalene), Brian Hymal (Walther), Lawrence Brownlee (David), Gerald Finlay (Sachs) and Nathan Gunn (Beckmesser ).
OCTOBER -- Wieland Wagner’s 1951 Bayreuth SIEGFRIED, conducted by Marek Janowski, features Amber Wagner (Brunnhilde), Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried), Neil Shicoff (Mime) and Bryn Terfel(Wotan)
-- EINE KAPITULATION, Wagner’s satirical comedy concerning the 1870 siege of Paris, has been set to music by Wolfgang Rihm.
NOVEMBER – Stefan Herheim’s new production of GOTTERDAMMERUNG, conducted by Manfred Honeck, will feature Irene Theorin (Brunnhilde), Marina Poplovskaya (Gutrune), Sophie Koch (Waltraute), Christopher Ventris (Siegfried), Luca Pisaroni(Gunther), Hans Peter Konig (Hagen) and Gidon Saks (Alberich).
-- Oscar Straus’ DIE LUSTIGEN NIBELUNGEN provides a lighter evening in a production by David Boesch.
DECEMBER – The new PARSIFAL will be the ultimate “How far can one go” regie production. David Alden’s production presents Parsifal as a young man in a repressed middle America Bible Belt community exploring his sexuality and ultimately accepting his homosexuality, after receiving the “sword” from Klingsor. This all-nude production includes the farm girls / flower maidens chopping the heads off live chickens and plucking them, tossing the feathers into the air as they dance. The final image will require well-rehearsed timing as Amfortas pulls out of bottom Parsifal, turns to face the audience and ejaculates to the swelling final chord. Cconducted by Christian Thielemann (the orchestra is nude as well) with Jonas Kaufman (Parsifal), Simon Keenlyside (Amfortas), Gunther Grossbieck (Gurnemanz) and Keith Miller (Klingsor). Oh. . . some pretty mezzo as Kundry.
-- For the regiephobic there will be a semistaged concert PARSIFAL with Olga Borodina, Anthony Richards, Peter Mattei, Ferrucio Furlanetto; Kurt Masur, conductor.
-- The New Year’s Eve concert finishes our festival with newly HD enhanced videos of Hans Hotter singing Wotan’s Farewell and Birgit Nilsson singing the Immolation Scene; pixar generated recreation of Melchior and Flagstad singing the second act of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE; and a live concert version of the last scene from MEISTERSINGER with Serena Farnocchia, Jonas Kaufmann, and Rene Pape.