|
|
ypradio.org
> YPR Program Guide
> Program
Listings > Opera
Opera
Sundays, 7pm
NPR World of Opera
Program Website: http://www.npr.org/programs/worldofopera/
World of Opera with host Lisa Simeone brings listeners the world
of tragedy and triumph, passion and seduction, intrigue and disaster,
jealousies and dreams -- the world of opera. Featured are the best in
opera performances from around the world, both historical and contemporary.
June 29
GIUSEPPE VERDI: La Traviata
Vienna State Opera
Renato Palumbo, conductor
CAST: Krassimiria Stoyanova (Violetta); Piotr Beczala (Alfredo Germont);
Zeljko Lucic (Giorgo Germont); Sophie Marilley (Flora); Gergely Nemeti
(Gastone); In-Sung Sim (Douphol); Eijiro Kai (D'Obigny); Alfred Sramek
(Doctor Grenvil)
When the diva dies just as the final curtain falls, it may seem like an
operatic cliché -- but not in the hands of Giuseppe Verdi. He made
the final scene of La Traviata one of the most profound of them
all, and also created one of opera's greatest romantic characters, Violetta
Valery.
July 6
GEORGE GERSHWIN: Porgy and Bess
Washington National Opera
Wayne Marshall, conductor
CAST: Gordon Hawkins (Porgy); Indira Mahajan (Bess); Terry Cook (Crown);
Angela Simpson (Serena); Laquita Mitchell (Clara); Marietta Simpson (Maria);
Eric Greene (Jake); Jermaine Smith (Sportin' Life)
In celebration of Independence Day weekend, this week's program presents
a splendid production of the great American opera from the Washington
National Opera. A stellar cast brings us all the hits, from "Summertime"
straight through to "I'm On My Way," from the Kennedy Center
Opera house on the banks of the Potomac in the nation's capital.
July 13
VERDI: I due Foscari
Vienna Konzerthaus
Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Bertrand de Billy, conductor
CAST: Leo Nucci (Francesco Foscari); Francisco Casanova (Jacopo Foscari);
Manon Feubel (Lucrezia Contini); Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Jacopo Loredano);
Jorg Schneider (Barbarigo); Nina Bernsteiner (Pisana)
One of Verdi's darkest dramas, I due Foscari is also one of his most striking
-- a compelling story of deadly intrigue and political treachery set against
the vivid, historical backdrop of 15th-century Venice.
July 20
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK: Iphigenie en Tauride
Opera Garnier, Paris
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Ivor Bolton, conductor
CAST: Mireille Delunsch (Iphigenie); Stephane Degout (Orestes); Yann Beuron
(Pylades); Franck Ferrari (Thoas); Salome Haller (Diana)
Gluck's 18th-century "reform operas" were an entirely new breed
of musical drama -- compact and straightforward, with every note intended
to precisely express the intense emotions of the characters. Premiered
in Paris, in 1779, Iphigenie en Tauride is one of his finest.
July 27
HANDEL: Julius Caesar in Egypt
Metropolitan Theatre of Lausanne
Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne
Ottavio Dantone, conductor
CAST: Andreas Scholl (Julius Caesar); Stephanied'Oustrac (Cornelia); Elena
de la Merced (Cleopatra); Max Emanuel Cencic (Sextus); Christophe Dumaus
(Ptolemy); Riccardo Novaro (Achillas)
There was a time when people were surprised to learn that Handel was among
the most acclaimed opera composers of his time. Now, he's quickly becoming
a favorite of our own time, as well. This production of Handel's Julius
Caesar stars one of the world's foremost countertenors, Andreas Scholl,
in the title role.
August 3
GIUSEPPE VERDI: Falstaff
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Carlo Rizzi, conductor
CAST: Bryn Terfel (Falstaff); Janice Watson (Alice Ford); Imelda Drumm
(Meg Page); Anne-Marie Owens (Mistress Quickly); Anthony Mee (Dr. Caius);
Neil Jenkins (Bardolph); Claire Ormshaw (Nanetta); Rhys Merion (Fenton);
Christopher Purves (Ford)
Adapting Shakespeare successfully for the opera house proved an impossible
task for countless composers. But it didn't phase Verdi. He wrote three,
hit Shakespeare operas: Macbeth, Otello, and this week's opera, Falstaff,
which ranks among the most brilliant of all Verdi's masterpieces. Shakespeare's
outwardly comic play tells reams about the human condition, and Verdi
took the deceptively profound tale and made it still richer, and more
rewarding.
August 10
JULES MASSENET: The Portrait of Manon
JULES MASSENET: The Portrait of ManonGlimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra
Andrew Bisantz, conductor
CAST: Kristine Winkler (Aurore); Theodore Baerg (Des Grieux); Colin Ainsworth
(Jean); Bruce Reed (Tiberge)
FRANCIS POULENC: The Human VoiceStewart Robertson, conductor
CAST: Amy Burton (Elle)
Ever wonder what happened to poor old Des Grieux, after he lost the love
of his life so tragically in Massenet's Manon? Well, the first work in
this double-bill answers the question. It's followed by a dramatic and
vocal tour de force for a single singer -- Poulenc's emotional roller-coaster
The Human Voice.
August 17
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI: The Barber of Seville
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra and Chorus
David Angus, conductor
CAST: Aaron St. Clair (Figaro); Katharine Goeldner (Rosina); John Tessier
(Figaro); Eduardo Chama (Bartolo); Daniel Sumegi (Basilio); Judith Christin
(Berta)
Glimmerglass Opera's jewel-like theater is the perfect venue for the crystalline
textures and intimately-detailed vocals of Rossini's comic masterpiece.
In short, it's the perfect place to hear why many consider Barber a nearly
perfect operatic comedy.
August 23
GAETANO DONIZETTI: Lucie de Lammermoor
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Beatrice Jona Afron, conductor
CAST: Sarah Coburn (Lucie); Chad A. Johnson (Arthur); Earle Patriarco
(Henri); Raúl Hernández (Edgard); Craig Phillips (Raymond);
Bryon Grohman (Gilbert)
With Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti translated a celebrated tragedy by
Sir Walter Scott into Italian, and came up with one of bel canto opera's
greatest hits. But he also translated it into French, and that's the version
we hear in this program. Sarah Coburn's performance of the famous "mad
scene" is a can't-miss moment.
August 31
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Death in Venice
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Stewart Robertson, conductor
CAST: William Burden (Aschenbach); David Pittsinger (The Traveller/Fop/Manager/Barber/Leader
of the Players/Dionysus); Bruce Reed (Hotel Porter); Craig Phillips (Clerk);
John Gaston (Apollo); Nicola Bowie (Lady of the Pearls)
Few if any 20th-century composers mastered opera as thoroughly as Benjamin
Britten, and this Glimmerglass production brings us one of his finest
efforts -- a bleak, beautiful and extraordinarily moving work based on
the short novel by Thomas Mann.
September 7
W. A. MOZART: Idomeneo
Bavarian State Opera, Munich
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Kent Nagano, conductor
CAST: John Mark Ainsley (Idomeneo); Pavol Berslik (Idamante); Juliane
Banse (Ilia); Annette Dasch (Elettra); Rainer Trost (Arbace); Guy de Mey
(High Priest); Steven Humes (Oracle)
Idomeneo is a masterpiece that's only beginning to gain its rightful place
in Mozart's canon. The opera does have an outlandish plot -- complete
with conniving gods and a carnivorous sea monster -- but it's also blessed
with some of Mozart's most beautiful music and a troupe of opera's most
touchingly human characters.
September 14
P. I. TCHAIKOVSKY: Eugene Onegin
Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa
Teatro Carlo Felice Orchestra and Chorus
Juanjo Mena, conductor
CAST: Fabio Maria Capitanucci; Svetla Vassileva (Tatyana); Tiziana Tramonti
(Larina); Dmitri Korchak (Lensky); Askar Abdrazakov (Prince Gremin); Ambra
Vespasiani (Filipyenva); Marina Pardo (Olga); Marco Signorini (Zaretsky)
A brooding masterpiece, Tchaikovsky's dark drama deals with a caddish
aristocrat whose indifference towards others turns full circle, and comes
back to destroy him. This is the first of back-to-back productions from
one of Italy's most prestigious theaters on the program.
September 21
JULES MASSENET: Werther
Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa
Teatro Carlo Felice Orchestra and Chorus
Alain Guingal, conductor
CAST: Giuseppe Filianoti (Werther); Sonia Ganassi (Charlotte); Adriana
Kucerova (Sophie); Giorgio Caoduro (Albert); Gianfranco Montrosor (Le
Bailli); Enzo Peroni (Schmidt); Vittorio Prato (Johann)
This one might be considered Massenet's "other opera." His Manon
is certainly more famous, but Werther is surely worthy of wider attention
that it gets. Based on an influential, early novel by Goethe, the opera
is the story of a man whose lost love proves more vital to him than life
itself. Another stirring production from Genoa's historic Teatro Carlo
Felice.
September 28
NICOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: The Legend of the Invisible City
of Kitezh
Teatro Lirico, Cagliari
Teatro Lirico Orchestra and Chorus
Alexander Vidernikov, conductor
CAST: Tatiana Monogarova (Frevoniya); Vitaly Panfilov (Yuryevich); Vsevolodovic
Kazakov (Prince Yuri); Mikhail Bubsky (Grishka); Gevorg Hakovyan (Fyodor);
Marika Gulordava (Yuri's Page); Stefano Consolini (Bear Trainer); Alessandro
Senes (Beggar); Rosanna Savoia (Sirin); Elena Manistina (Alkonost)
From another of Italy's many, superb regional opera companies, it's a
fanciful concoction by Rimsky-Korsakov. The Legend of the Invisible City
has all the orchestral brilliance of the composer's familiar concert works,
complementing a charming story blending Christian mysticism with age-old
folk beliefs.
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Program Website: http://www.lyricopera.org/
Live performances of the world-renowned Lyric Opera of Chicago are heard
from one of North America's most beautiful opera houses, the Civic Opera
House.
LA Opera on Air
Program Website: http://www.losangelesopera.com/index.htm
LA Opera on Air is a program of live recordings presented at
the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Introduced by Plácido Domingo and
hosted by Duff Murphy, LA Opera on Air will include commentaries
and interviews with cast members, directors andconductors.
San Francisco Opera
Program website: http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=1,1,41,46
This series of nine operas is from the San Francisco Opera's past season,
hosted by Elain Warner. They are performed in the War Memorial Opera House,
their home since October 1932.
|
