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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.
November 2
RICHARD WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman
Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Heinz Fricke, conductor
CAST: Alan Held (Dutchman); Jennifer Wilson (Senta); Gidon Saks (Daland);
Ian Storey (Erik); Janice Meyerson (Mary); Andreas Conrad (Steersman)
Wagner's stormy one-act opera requires lead singers with great power,
both dramatically and vocally. Alan Held and Jennifer Wilson fit the bill
in this turbulent opera focused on one of Wagner's favorite themes --
the redemptive power of love.
November 9
GIUSEPPE VERDI: Rigoletto
Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Giovanni Reggioli, conductor
CAST: Carlos Alvarez (Rigoletto); Lyubov Petrova (Gilda); Joseph Calleja
(Duke of Mantua); Maigoratza Walewska (Maddalena); Andrea Silvestrelli
(Sparafucile); Magdalena Wor (Giovanna); Robert Cantrell (Monterone)
It takes genius like Verdi's to successfully combine true, heartfelt sentiment
-- in the love between father and daughter -- with over-the-top passion
and appalling violence. Rigoletto has all of that, in spades. Lyubov Petrova
is a moving Gilda, and Carlos Alvarez gives a remarkable performance in
the complex title role.
November 16
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Tamerlano
Washington National Opera Orchestra
William Lacey, conductor
CAST: Placido Domingo (Bajazet); David Daniels (Tamerlano); Sarah Coburn
(Asteria); Patricia Bardon (Andronico); Claudio Huckle (Irene); Andrew
Foster Williams (Leone)
In the 126th role of his extraordinary career, Placido Domingo tackles
one of the earliest of the great tenor roles, and proves that a vocal
style steeped in romance and passion can be right at home in the sometimes
ethereal world of Baroque opera. David Daniels and Sarah Coburn also contribute
to a truly stellar cast.
November 23
RICHARD STRAUSS: Elektra
Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Heinz Fricke, conductor
CAST: Susan Bullock (Elektra); Christine Goerke (Chrysothemis); Irina
Mishua (Clytaemnestra); Daniel Sumegi (Orestes); Alan Woodrow (Aegisthus)
Surely, Clytaemnestra, Agamemnon and their kids Elektra and Orestes qualify
as one of the most dysfunctional families in all of literature, not to
mention opera. Elektra takes the lead n this chapter of their appalling
yet absorbing history, with a star turn by soprano Susan Bullock.
November 30
W. A. MOZART: The Marriage of Figaro
Houston Grand Opera
Patrick Summers, conductor
CAST: Oren Gradus (Figaro); Ana Maria Martinez (The Countess); Teddy Tahu
Rhodes (Count Almaviva); Isabel Bayrakdarian (Susanna); Zheng Cao (Cherubino);
Dorothy Bryne (Marcellina); Carlo Lepore (Dr. Bartolo); Joseph Evans (Don
Basilio)
Mozart called this one, "the best opera yet written!" -- or
at least the movie version of Mozart did, in the film Amadeus. Still,
even if the quote is apocryphal, the sentiment rings true. Mozart's Figaro
is surely one of theater's greatest blends of comic hijinks with the emotional
complexities bred by everyday, human foibles.
December 7
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI: The Coronation of Poppea
Houston Grand Opera
William Lacey, conductor
CAST: Susan Graham (Poppea); William Burden (Nero); Frederica von Stade
(Ottavia); Nathan Gunn (Ottone); Heidi Stober (Drusilla); Raymond Aceto
(Seneca); Norman Reinhardt (Soldier/Lucano/Friend of Seneca/Tribune);
Joseph Evans (Arnalta); Camille Zamora (Amore/Page); Rebekah Camm (Pallade/Ottavia's
Maid/Coro di Amori); Fiona Murphy (Venus); Jennifer Root (Ottavia's Nurse)
Monteverdi's Poppea proves that passion was plentiful in the opera house
long before Verdi and Puccini hit the scene. The opera brings us a love
so strong that it threatens to bring down an empire -- accompanied by
one of the steamiest love-duets ever composed.
December 14
GIUSEPPE VERDI: Otello
Philharmonie, Cologne
West German Radio Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov, conductor
CAST: Johan Botha (Otello); Nuccia Focile (Desdemona); Carlo Guelfi (Iago);
Paul Chalres Clarke (Cassio); Tiziana Tramonti (Emilia); Alfred Walzer
(Lodovico); Samuel Youn (Montano); Emanuele d'Auguanno (Roderigo)
Leave it to Verdi to take a classic tragedy by Shakespeare and, if anything,
make it even more powerful and heartrending. Otello, Iago and Desdemona,
three of literature's most compelling characters, come to life in what
many consider Verdi's most deeply moving opera.
December 21
GIUSEPPE VERDI: Don Carlos
La Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Daniele Gatti, conductor
CAST: TBA
Another Verdi blockbuster, and a rare chance to hear the composer's original
French version of this monumental drama, in a production from the cradle
of Italian opera, Milan's historic La Scala. It's the opening production
in La Scala's 2008-2009 season.
December 28
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI: La Cenerentola
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Grand Theatre Chorus
Giuliano Carella, conductor
CAST: Vivica Geneaux (Cenerentola); Maxim Mironov (Don Ramiro); Bruno
de Simone (Don Magnifico); Raffaella Milanesi (Clorinda); Giorgia Milanese
(Tisbe); Giovanni Furlanetto (Alidoro); Fabio Maria Capitanucci (Dandini)
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.
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