Opera Music

La Scala formally announced its 2013-14 season today, confirming last month's leak. A full calendar and cast details are now available on the La Scala website. Another important announcement may be made by La Scala later today.

A small catalogue, and a huge impact. by Paul J. Pelkonen Composer Henri Dutilleux died May 22, 2013 in Paris, France. The great French composer Henri Dutilleux has died in Paris. He was 97. Dutilleux helped guide the path of concert music in the 20th century away from the serial techniques first practiced by Schoenberg and Webern. His two Symphonies and Cello Concerto are among his most important works, complex pieces that challenged the ear while fearlessly breaking ground in the use of modes and atonality. A fierce self-critic, Dutilleux published a small catalogue of pieces over a long compositional career. Henri Dutilleux was born in Algiers in 1916. Although he studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire and won the 1938 Prix de Rome, the outbreak of World War II put his music career on hold. The composer served a year as a medical orderly in the French Army, and then taught music, managed the chorus at the Paris Opera and worked at Radio France until 1963. He later taught at the Conservatoire. As the war continued, Dutilleux began to gain a reputation as a significant compositional voice with chamber music and songs. His 1950s output included the First Symphony (1951) which drew fiery criticism from a young French composer named Pierre Boulez. “He was very brutal," Dutilleux told an interviewer once, (as reported in an obituary published earlier today in the Daily Telegraph.) "When he was young, he didn’t like what I wrote, and I didn’t agree with his aesthetics at all. The problem was he had a lot more power than me." Listen to a performance of Dutilleux' Métaboles. Later works included the Symphony No. 2 (Le Double) and the Cello Concerto 'Tout un monde lointain...' inspired by the poetry of Charles Baudelaire (and the composer's favorite work among his output) were commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Slowly, Dutilleux began to make his reputation overseas. In 1985, Isaac Stern premiered L'arbre des songes, a violin concerto that he himself commissioned. Other works in his sparse catalogue were inspired by literature and art. Notable among these were The Shadows of Time which is dedicated to the memory of Anne Frank, and Timbres, espace, mouvement, a musical evocation of the Van Gogh painting Starry Night. In 2012, the New York Philharmonic held a special all-Dutilleux concert to commemorate the composer being awarded the first Marie-Josée Prize for New Music. That concert featured the composer's orchestral work Métaboles and the Míro String Quartet playing Ainsi la nuit, one of his few chamber pieces. The concert ended with Yo-Yo Ma playing the aforementioned Cello Concerto. A review appeared on Superconductor.

I will make every effort to stop reading like a Cecilia Bartoli fanzine now that the Whitsun Festival is over. Cecilia's contract has been renewed until 2016, because she has been wildly successful. A quote from the Salzburg Times:The Whitsun Festival in Salzburg has set a new record of visitors and revenue. Cecilia Bartoli, a popular soloist and the artistic director of the festival, was particularly popular.13,450 visitors from 43 countries attended the concerts and performances in Salzburg and bought tickets for 1.3 million Euros. The contract with the artistic director for the Whitsun Festival, Cecilia Bartoli, has been extended until 2016.“I am very happy to be able to bring music and pleasure to Salzburg until 2016”, Ms Bartoli said. She has been artistic director as well as soloist of opera and concert in the four-day festival.“I look forward to carry out many ideas at the Whitsun Festival, of which I have dreamt of for years. I am very thankful that such a huge and interested audience is so enthusiastic about us being adventurous”, Ms Bartoli said.In 2012 the attendance was 10,520, and in 2011, before Cecilia took over, it was 7,600. Next year it will be June 5 to 9, and will celebrate Rossini, including Otello and La Cenerentola. Cecilia sang Otello just last year, but I don't think she's done Cenerentola for quite a while, or at least since I began blogging. I don't know when the tickets go on sale.

Likely more than 30,000 people attended the ten-performance run of the Met’s recent Giulio Cesare (with many thousands more viewing its April 27 HD-transmission). Probably no more than 100 gathered Tuesday in a curtained-off space in the lobby of NYC’s Gershwin Hotel to witness the North American premiere of Rodrigo by operamission. But much of this wildly uneven version of Handel’s second opera felt more deeply genuine than the Met’s more polished, yet vapid “show biz” effort. Last year in the same space Jennifer Peterson’s group gave the US stage premiere of Handel’s first opera Almira. Perhaps they are planning to work chronologically through the composer’s oeuvre since this year we got his fifth opera as the three German-Italian works he composed for Hamburg to follow-up on the success of Almira have not survived. Handel’s trip to Italy proved the crucial moment in his development as a composer, particularly as a composer of vocal music, arriving in Florence in 1706 at the age of 21. By the next year he had moved on to Rome where he composed his first fully Italian opera Vincer se stesso è la maggior vittoria (To conquer oneself is the greatest victory), more easily known by its hero’s name—Rodrigo–for a premiere at Florence’s Teatro Cocomero in late 1707. After those performances, the work disappeared completely until its resurrection at the 1984 Innsbruck Festival, conducted by Alan Curtis, whose excellent 1997 complete recording far outshines a more recent effort by Eduardo López Banzo. Although Winton Dean in the first volume of his towering study of Handel’s operas gives Rodrigo a hard time, we do find the composer still finding his way, but the score, while not the masterpiece his next opera Agrippina would be, contains many memorable arias (some familiar from the many cantatas he wrote during this time) that could only be by Handel, plus the very first of his great duets for the hero and heroine “Prendi l’alma e prendi il core.” Part of Rodrigo’s problem is that that hero is quite an unlikeable chap—a King of Castille who has seduced and impregnated Florinda, the sister of his trusted general Giuliano who has been assisting his ambitions to conquer Aragon, whose king Evanco has been captured. Despite his ruthless political and erotic maneuvering, Rodrigo’s barren queen Esilea remains fanatically loyal to him, magnanimously offering to step aside and let Florinda and her child ascend to the throne. Of course, Rodrigo eventually sees the errors of his ways and returns to his faithful wife while a chastened Florinda (who spends most of the opera plotting vengeance on the duplicitous Rodrigo) turns her amorous attentions to the newly freed Evanco. Dean’s critique of the opera often has to do with problems with the libretto, one derived from Francesco Silvani’s for M.A. Ziani’s 1699 opera Il duello d’amore e di vendetta. However, many adjustments were made for Handel–due to the excellence of the tenor assigned to the role of Giuliano, his character’s music grew from two arias in the Ziani original to seven in Handel’s final version. Evanco has three arias in the first two acts of Rodrigo, then three more (all pretty much on the same subject—his hopeful love for Florinda) unhelpfully bunched together within the final six numbers before the final coro. Yet nearly all the arias are beguiling, moving and most of all revelatory of their characters, while still occasionally providing the opportunity for the singer to display his florid skills. Tuesday’s mostly-American cast—directed simply but effectively by Jeff Caldwell—was not the last word in virtuosity, yet it by and large gave committed, persuasive performances. The performance did not begin promisingly, however. As Peterson’s edition chose not to reconstruct music missing from the material rediscovered in the 70s and 80s, the performance began (after the nearly 20-minute overture) with Florinda’s first aria “Pugneran con noi le stelle” in which Madelin

COMMANDOpera has very little use for the many singing ‘competitions’ which are often fixed as to who wins what long before said competitions take place. For those who are long time global readers of this venue, they would know of a particular high profile Australian Soprano (now deceased) who was greatly offended when she was [...]

Paris can not compete with London for volume of musical activity - but they do great things in the opera and symphonic areas and yield nothing in quality to the great capitals of London and New York. At the Châtelet they have a production of John Adams' I was looking at the Ceiling.......  which opens next month. It has the advantage of having our friends Wallis Giiunta and John Brancy making their Paris debuts in the roles of Mike and Tiffany.  These are two talented singers, both ex-Juilliard, who are making international waves.  Wallis was of course in our Neue Stimmen event in Washington last month.  We had refreshment together at the Zimmer restaurant in the Châtelet building.  I love this place - and my connection with it goes back to the mid 1980s when I had the good fortune to be advising the management there on all things operatic when the restored Châtelet reopened. They were good days.  And it is good to see this theatre continuing to do important work. Théâtre du Châtelet 5:30 pm May 22 2013

Leonie Rysanek and George London in the terrifying finale of the Flying Dutchman. You have no idea what that was like..her FEROCIOUS attacks on the top notes..the acting by both of them.It was stupendous!!!! Happy 200th, great man!!!!!!!

Conductor: ? Claudio ABBADO (2012-fa)? John BARBIROLLI (2012-fd)? Daniel BARENBOIM (2012-fa) ? Thomas BEECHAM (2012-fd)? Leonard BERNSTEIN (2012-fd)? Karl BÖHM (2013-d)? Pierre BOULEZ (2012-fa)? Adrian BOULT (2013-d)? Sergiu CELIBIDACHE (2013-d)? Colin DAVIS (2013-d)? Gustavo DUDAMEL (2013-a)? Wilhelm FURTWÄNGLER (2012-fd)? John Eliot GARDINER (2012-fa)? Carlo Maria GIULINI (2013-d)? Bernard HAITINK (2013-r)? Nikolaus HARNONCOURT (2012-fa)? Mariss JANSONS (2013-a)? Herbert von KARAJAN (2012-fd)? Carlos KLEIBER (2012-fd)? Otto KLEMPERER (2012-fd)? Rafael KUBELÍK (2013-d)? James LEVINE (2013-a/r)? Charles MACKERRAS (2013-d)? Zubin MEHTA (2013-a)? Simon RATTLE (2012-fa)? Georg SOLTI (2012-fd)? George SZELL (2013-d)? Arturo TOSCANINI (2012-fd)? Bruno WALTER (2013-d)Singers:? Janet BAKER (2012-fr)? Cecilia BARTOLI (2012-fa)? Jussi BJÖRLING (2012-fd)? Montserrat CABALLÉ (2013-r)? Maria CALLAS (2012-fd)? Enrico CARUSO (2012-fd)? Joyce DIDONATO (2012-fa)? Plácido DOMINGO (2012-fa)? Dietrich FISCHER-DIESKAU (2012-fd)? Renée FLEMING (2013-a)? Thomas HAMPSON (2013-a)? Anna NETREBKO (2013-a)? Birgit NILSSON (2012-fd)? Luciano PAVAROTTI (2012-fd)? Leontyne PRICE (2013-r)? Elisabeth SCHWARZKOPF (2012-fd)? Joan SUTHERLAND (2012-fd)? Bryn TERFEL (2013-a)? Fritz WUNDERLICH (2013-d) Pianists? Leif Ove ANDSNES (2013-a)? Martha ARGERICH (2012-fa)? Claudio ARRAU (2012-fd)? Vladimir ASHKENAZY (2013-a)? Daniel BARENBOIM (2012-fa)? Alfred BRENDEL (2012-fa)? Emil GILELS (2013-d)? Glenn GOULD (2012-fd)? Vladimir HOROWITZ (2012-fd)? Wilhelm KEMPFF (2013-d)? LANG LANG (2012-fa)? Arturo Benedetti MICHELANGELI (2013-d)? Murray PERAHIA (2012-fa)? Maurizio POLLINI (2012-fa)? Sergey RACHMANINOV (2013-d)? Sviatoslav RICHTER (2012-fd)? Arthur RUBINSTEIN (2012-fd)String/brass/woodwind players ? Maurice ANDRÉ (trumpet)(2013-d)? Dennis BRAIN (horn)(2012-fd)? Julian BREAM (guitar)(2013-a)? Pablo CASALS (cello)(2012-fd)? Jacqueline DU PRÉ (cello)(2012-fd)? James GALWAY (flute)(2013-a)? Jascha HEIFETZ (violin)2012-fd)? Heinz HOLLIGER (oboe)(2013-a)? Steven ISSERLIS (cello)(2013-a)? Yo-Yo MA (cello)(2013-a)? Wynton MARSALIS (trumpet)(2013-a)? Albrecht MAYER (oboe)(2013-a)? Yehudi MENUHIN (violin)(2012-fd)? Anne-Sophie MUTTER (violin)(2013-a)? David OISTRAKH (violin)(2012-fd)? Emmanuel PAHUD (flute)(2013-a)? Itzhak PERLMAN (violin)(2012-fa)? Jean-Pierre RAMPAL (flute)(2013-d)? Mstislav ROSTROPOVICH (cello)(2012-fd)? Jordi SAVALL (viol)(2013-a)? Andrés SEGOVIA (guitar)(2013-d)? John WILLIAMS (guitar)(2013-a) Vocal and instrumental ensembles ? Alban Berg Quartet (string quartet)(2013-r)? Amadeus Quartet (string quartet)(2013-r)? Beaux Arts Trio (piano trio)(2012-fa)? The King's Singers (vocal ensemble)(2013-a)? Takács Quartet (string quartet)(2012-fa)? The Tallis Scholars (vocal ensemble)(2013-a)Producers/engineers/record label executives ? Bernard COUTAZ ? John CULSHAW ? Fred GAISBERG ? Klaus HEYMANN ? Walter LEGGE ? Goddard LIEBERSON ? Ted PERRY ? Kenneth WILKINSONkey--f=founding, a=active, r=retired, d=deadThe only name to appear in 2 lists is Daniel Barenboim.

or...Happy Birthday, Richard Wagner! by Paul J. Pelkonen Ernestine Schumann-Heink as Waltraute in Götterdämmerung.Original photograph © Bettmann/Corbis. Festive birthday cupcake added by the author. Today is Richard Wagner's 200th birthday, and rather than give you a listicle full of dubious recommendations for the best Ring Cycle or another review of a new recording of Die Walküre, I thought I'd talk about something important. Wagner takes patience. Endurance. Commitment. And yes, it takes a certain degree of physical (and possibly emotional) masochism to sit through the Waltraute scene from Götterdämmerung or the marathon first act of Parsifal. Don't get me started on Die Meistersinger, a six-hour comedy that ends with the public humiliation of the local bureaucrat and a speech on the importance of "holy German art." That's another column. From the very beginning, Wagner planned to be the biggest thing in the world. After a few false starts, the composer created Rienzi and soon after, Der Fliegende Holländer. That opera seized the imagination with its orchestral evocation of salt spray and ghost ships. Tannhäuser followed, a conflation of two German medieval tales with a heavy dose of Dresden-style liturgical music. Next came Lohengrin, the opera whose dubious cultural legacy includes phrases like "Sieg heil" (it's in the first act) and inspired Hitler to take the title of "Führer." That said, its Act III "Bridal Chorus" continues to be the soundtrack for most weddings in the Western world under its English title: "Here Comes the Bride." As he created these works, Wagner lived a vagabond life that would be the envy of any modern Hollywood celebrity. With his first wife, Minna, he bounced around Europe, looking for acceptance of his works. He settled in Dresden, only to get kicked out of that city for aiding an uprising in that city's streets. He fled to Switzerland and found shelter with Otto and Mathilde Wesendonck, only to lose it again when his love for Frau Wesendonck came to light. (That was the inspiration for Tristan und Isolde.) Finally, he ditched Minna and fell in love with Cosima von Bulow, the daughter of Franz Liszt and wife of conductor (and Wagner supporter) Hans von Bulow. Yeah, Wagner was kind of a jerk. To create the Ring, Wagner cheerfully bastardized the mythology of northern Europe, creating a hybrid saga that has effectively eclipsed the mythos on which it is based. To perform his four-part story, he demanded the construction of special instruments, stage props, and even a festival theater to house the whole megillah. (In doing so, he may have invented the practice of trekking out to the countryside in the summer to hear classical music and opera, thus making sure that we critics have employment in the hottest months of the year. Maybe he's not all bad.) At that theater, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, Wagner demanded total, almost slavish concentration on the music or the stage action that was being presented. He took steps to ensure that audiences in his new theater paid attention. He encouraged the practice of turning the lights down in theaters playing his operas, making the hand-held opera libretto an item of limited usefulness. And his opera acts that are played attacca, without pauses for the audience to applaud a fine singer or chorus until the lights came back on. That includes the two-and-a-half hours of Das Rheingold and the marathon first acts of Götterdämmerung and Parsifal which can easily stretch past the two-hour mark. With Parsifal, he attempted to ensure that this "stage-consecrating festival play" would only be performed at Bayreuth, an embargo that held until the Metropolitan Opera broke it in 1903. (The United States had not signed the relevant copyright agreement.) He also encouraged a cult of pseudo-religious devotion around this particular opera, adding to its mystic appeal while churning out pseudo-philosophical claptrap like Judaism in Music

Once more, as related by Cosima: During the night decorated the stairs and the vestibule, but I note by my mood that I am no longer up to festive occasions, and now, even before the day begins, here I sit, writing this and weeping. God grant my children joy today; whoever has suffered much loses the capacity to laugh. On festive days in particular one realises how sad life is! The unremarked pssing of days without unspoken fears is surely the best thing for sore hearts. God bless all whom I love, and give me rest soon! - The pleasure R. felt soon swept my melancholy mood away. At 8 o'clock I positioned the children with wreaths of roses: Loldi and Eva at the front door; farther down in the bower, beneath a laurel, Boni; at the bottom of the steps, beside the bust loaded down with flowers, myself and Fidi; at the end of the tableau Loulou. The music (Huldigungsmarsch) began at 8:30, the 45 soldiers grouped under the fir tree, at the conclusion R. emerged sobbing from the house and thanked the conductor; he was deeply moved, making me almost regret having arranged this little ceremony. Afterward the children recited poems to him, we breakfasted in gay spirits and then went off to rest. In the afternoon the birds were to be released and some fireworks lit, but a huge storm came up and we ended the day quietly. Many letters and telegrams (King, Richter, Standhartner, etc.), a fine poem from Hans Herrig (The Three Norns), a nice letter from Prof. Nietzsche. A telegram from my father ('Forever wth you, on bright as on gloomy days') pleased and moved me greatly.