Monday, January 30, 2012

The week in NY opera (Jan. 30-Feb. 5)

Last week in New York opera was rather eventful, with of course the premiere of the last installment of the Lepage Ring at the Met. This week turns more bel canto...

Metropolitan Opera
Enchanted Island (M), Götterdämmerung (T/F), Anna Bolena (W/SM), Ernani (Th), Barber (SE)
Five different shows this week. Enchanted Island ends its run tonight, while Ernani -- with a starry cast -- returns for the first time this season. Twilight features Deborah Voigt again tomorrow and Katarina Dalayman (excellent in 2009) on Friday. Meanwhile Anna Bolena and Barber return from the fall, the former with Anna Netrebko again (Angela Meade, who did well, is in Ernani) and the latter with Diana Damrau.
I'm of course seeing Twilight, but this revival of Verdi's deliriously and infectiously fatalistic early masterpiece Ernani is the show I've been most looking forward to this season.

Carnegie Hall
Susan Graham recital (W)
Europa Galante concert (Th)

Graham sings mostly German and French songs connected to Ophelia, Mignon, and other classic Romantic figures, while Europa Galante showcases another mezzo -- Vivica Genaux -- in a mostly-Vivaldi event.

Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater (Juilliard School)
Rossini double-bill (F/SuM)
Juilliard Opera offers two one-act Rossini operas: La cambiale di matrimonio and La scala di seta.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

The week in NY opera (January 16-22)

Metropolitan Opera:
Faust (M/Th), Enchanted Island (T*/SM), Tosca (W/SE)
Aleksandrs Antonenko brings his forceful tenor to Tosca.
* Tuesday's (starred) Enchanted Island is the one just before this Saturday's matinee moviecast, which means that the camera equipment and lights will be out in force. Do not sit in side orchestra, front orchestra, or side parterre -- the house is not interested in optimizing patron experience on these nights, but in making the eventual broadcast go well.

Carnegie Hall:
Megan Hart/Elliot Madore recital (Monday 5:30PM)
Mireille Asselin/José Rubio recital (Wednesday 5:30PM)
The Song Continues... Annual Recital (Th)
American Symphony concert (F)

Most of the interest this week is in the events of "The Song Continues...", which include the above duo recitals by young singers, masterclasses by Marilyn Horne, Renee Fleming, and Graham Johnson, and Friday's concluding mixed recital with, among others, guest star Joyce DiDonato. Friday's ASO concert is mostly non-operatic vocal material by Stravinsky, but it does include his short neo-classical opera Mavra.

Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Thomas Hampson recital (Sunday 7PM)
A program of American songs to coincide with the opening of the (other) Met's New American Wing.

Monday, January 09, 2012

The week in NY opera (January 9-15)

The calendar is slowly, slowly coming out of holiday slowness.

Metropolitan Opera:
Faust (M/F), Tosca (T/SM), Enchanted Island (Th/SE)
Although Calleja dropped out ill after the first intermission of his first scheduled Faust, he's again on the calendar this week. Tosca -- with Racette, Alagna, Gagnidze, and new conductor Mikko Franck -- starts its season tomorrow. My own bit of illness has kept me from writing up a full Enchanted Island post, but for now I'll just say it's terrible theater with some good singing.

Carnegie Hall:
Met Orchestra concert (Sunday 3pm)
Not exactly opera, though there's a fair amount of singing: Mahler songs on the first half and Barber and Herrmann opera excerpts in the second. Renee Fleming seems reasonably well suited to the latter and not at all to the former. Perhaps more interesting is the one-off return of former Met Orchestra principal clarinet Steve Williamson, who was poached by the Chicago Symphony before this season. Williamson's remarkable way with a romantic phrase made the much-discussed departure of his predecessor Ricardo Morales (to Philly) a change rather than a loss. Now, though the Met's other excellent clarinet principal Anthony McGill (also soloing in this program) remains, the orchestra is no longer two-deep in the same way, and events like the first-cast run of Faust -- without McGill -- are less for it. (If last week is any indication, McGill may be playing in these latter Fausts.)

Monday, January 02, 2012

The week in NY opera (January 2-8)

Metropolitan Opera:
Fille (M/F), Hansel&Gretel (T/SM), Enchanted Island (W/SE), Faust (Th)
Although there aren't any new shows this week, there are two notable turns: first, Wednesday's first regular (non-holiday, non-gala) chance to see The Enchanted Island, and second, Thursday's debut of the season's third Faust cast. Joseph Calleja, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Kate Lindsey are exciting additions to the latter who might perhaps offset Marina Poplavskaya's excessively humorless Marguerite.