Our Own Joel Rozen in Slate ponders the “good gay vs. bad gay” politics of Zachary Woolfe‘s New York Times celebration of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
“She defines ‘extra.’ She pushes herself to her limits, and then goes a step further, usually in purple mink. She embodies an excess that lies at the molten core of opera, and which spills into the images she unloads online.” — Our Own Joel Rozen in the New York Times.
Director Ivo van Hove, in collaboration with Flemish opera company Muziektheater Transparant, brings his trademark physicality and stripped-down aesthetic to bear on Leoš Janáček‘s “pathbreaking, emotionally raw song cycle” (The New York Times) Diary of One Who Disappeared. Featuring bravura performances by tenor Andrew Dickinson and mezzo-soprano Marie Hamard and additional music by composer Annelies Van Parys, BAM presents the US Premiere of this contemporary update April 4—6 at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House.
In 1917, Czech composer Janáček became obsessed with a married woman 40 years his junior. In the throes of despair, he penned more than 700 love letters and a haunting 22-part song cycle, about a village boy who falls in love with a Romany girl. Van Hove’s contemporary reimagining of Janáček’s Diary of One Who Disappeared paints a deeply affecting portrait of identity, infatuation, and ultimately, alienation. Read more »
“The Valerie Masterson of our generation!”
Soprano Mirella Freni is under investigation by the Bologna District Attorney’s office of Bologna for money laundering and exportation of money abroad in connection with the BER bank. The artist from Modena, 76, will be heard by the magistrates in the next few days to clarify her position, now that the DA Antonella Scandellari has sent her a notice of the closing of the investigations. The singer has so far denied any wrongdoing. (Thanks to Our Own Ercole Farnese for the tip!) [Corriere della Sera]
Our Own Sanford graces the stage of Amore Opera tomorrow night as Dr. Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro, and you can get $10 off ticket prices using the discount code “opening10”. He further treads the boards on the October 22, 24 and 30.
Incredible, but true, I Puritani had not been performed in Great Britain since 1887 when Glyndebourne decided to stage it in 1960 with the main intention to showcase Joan Sutherland, who had been catapulted to international superstardom one year earlier in the legendary Lucia di Lammermoor at Covent Garden. Furthermore, Vittorio Gui, who had already been introducing the Glyndebourne audiences to Rossini, was eager to add more belcanto works to the repertoire of that opera company. This effort is now documented on the CD just released on the Glyndebourne Enterprise label.
And now, cher public, let’s put today’s singers, the Contemporary Divas, under the microscope. How do they stack up?
Cher Public