Maria Nockin - Page 8

Readers can find the opera performances at http://www.teatromassimo.it/teatro-massimo-tv-567/ Teatro Massimo of Palermo, one of Italy's southernmost points, is on the Mediterranean shore of Sicily. Along with ballets, childrens' shows and concerts, more than a dozen popular traditional operas are available to watch online. Don't miss the Teatro Massimo Gala.

It's never going to compete with the thrill of being part of the audience at a one-of-a-kind live performance, but there are a great many possibilities for enjoying filmed live opera performances that can be streamed for free online these days. The most exciting presentation to date is the Metropolitan Opera's At-Home Gala featuring artists singing from their own homes, or where they find themselves, on Saturday, April 25 at 1:00 pm New York time.

Recently, Los Angeles Opera has had to announce the cancellation of the final performance of Roberto Devereux on the main stage as well as both performances of Angel's Bone, which was to have been presented in partnership with Beth Morrison Projects at the Broad Stage. At present, the governor's closure order for Los Angeles remains in place through April 19, and the opera has not yet canceled additional performances. Noting that they are vigilantly watching for updates that would affect the remaining May and June performances, the company is still holding out hope. The priority is, of course, the safety of patrons and company members, so they're taking it one day at a time.

POP is reconstructing Vivaldi's opera Ercole sul' Termodonte (Hercules in Thermodon) and hopes to premiere its version in July. Watch the Los Angeles page for more information.

On Saturday evening February 22, 2020, Los Angeles Opera presented a vocally glorious rendition of Gaetano Donizetti's Bel Canto opera Roberto Devereux. Roberto was one of the loves of England's Elizabeth I, so the opera is centered around their relationship and Roberto's forbidden love for Sara, the wife of the Duke of Nottingham.

On February 2, 2020, Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented Giacomo Puccini and Giovacchino Forzano's 1918 Gianni Schicchi with Maurice Ravel and Colette's 1925 L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells), a pair of lesser known operas, to a most receptive audience at Occidental

On February 1, 2020, Los Angeles Opera presented the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin's third opera, Euridice. He composed it together with Sarah Ruhl who wrote the original 2003 play. Aucoin, Ruhl, and this presentation's stage director, Mary Zimmerman, have been the recipients of the MacArthur Fellowships known as 'Genius Grants.' 

At the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall. on January 28, 2020, the Tucson Desert Song Festival presented Thomas Hampson, baritone, with Lara Downes, piano, and the Beyond Liberty Players: Stephen Buck, synthesizer; Judy Kang, violin; Jesus Morales, cello; and Alex Laing, clarinet; The show libretto was based on an original work by Royce Vavrek which first appeared in a Francesca Zambello production at the 2018 Glimmerglass Festival in upstate New York

On January 17, 2020, Los Angeles Opera presented Stefano Landi's 1619 opera, The Death of Orpheus, (La Morte d'Orfeo) at El Cid, a performance space usually known for dinner theater. Landi may have written his own libretto. In any case, the story of the five-act opera was inspired by Angelo Poliziano's 1484 pastoral tragicomedy La Favola d'Orfeo.  

On Sunday afternoon, Long Beach Opera (LBO) presented the world premiere of its adaptation of Henry Purcell's semi-opera King Arthur at the Beverly O'Neill Theater. A semi-opera refers to a Restoration entertainment that combines a spoken play with musical episodes that involvolomot, Darryl Taylor, e singing and dancing. Purcell's best known semi-operas are King Arthur and The Fairy-Queen. LBO presented its version of the latter in 2017. 

On Saturday afternoon January 11, 2020, Pittance Chamber Music presented a concert of infrequently heard music at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. Pittance is made up of members of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. Soloists included soprano Liv Redpath, pianist Paul Floyd, and Principal Clarinetist Stuart Clark.

On November 24, 2019, San Francisco Opera presented Giacomo Puccini's third opera, MANON LESCAUT with two spectacularly large-voiced singers, Liana Haroutounian and Brian Jagde. In a most forthright manner, Director Olivier Tambosi told the story of Renato Des Grieux' unrequited love for Manon, the socially repressed convent school graduate who suddenly discovers a new world of fashion, jewels, and predatory men

On November 23, 2019, the San Francisco Baroque opera company Ars Minerva, presented the modern world premiere of composer Domenico Freschi and librettist Francesco Maria Piccioli's 1680 comedy ERMELINDA. The opera gave local San Francisco audiences a chance to enjoy the diverse talents of mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz as well as the huge range and organ-like voice of contralto Sara Couden.

Ars Minerva is a Baroque opera company devoted to the resurrection of forgotten but eminently worthy Italian operas. On the weekend of Nov. 22-24, Are Minerva will present the modern world premiere of composer Domenico Freschi and librettist Francesco Maria Piccioli's Ermelinda. Originally heard in 1680, the opera was a lavish entertainment for Procurator of St. Mark's Marco Contarini and his guests at his country villa.

On Saturday evening, November 16, 2019, Los Angeles Opera presented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schickaneder's 1791 singspiel, The Magic Flute. The unusual production, which involved the appearance of screens reminiscent of 1920s silent films, was originally devised by Barry Kosky, Suzanne Andrade, and Paul Barritt for Berlin's Komische Oper. 

On the evening of October 20, 2019, Los Angeles Opera presented a recital by Javier Camarena and pianist Ángel Rodríguez at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Camarena is the Mexican tenor who made news at the Metropolitan Opera when he and the orchestra under Fabio Luisi repeated their rendition of Don Ramiro's aria 'Si, ritrovarla io giuro' (a?oeYes,  I'll find her, I sweara??) from Rossini's La Cenerentola.

On Monday October 14, 2019, Arizona Opera and its Valley Friends presented a concert of arias by the Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artists at the Mon Orchid Gallery, a small hall with excellent, if somewhat live, acoustics. As a rule, AZ Opera chooses six singers and one pianist to be their studio artists. The program helps bridge the gap between the protected environment of academic studies and the rigors of a professional career.

On Saturday Evening, October 12, 2019, Los Angeles Opera presented Adam Guettel's THE Light In the Piazza. A musical theater work rather than an opera, Piazza provided the audience with a nostalgic excursion to Florence and Rome in the 1950s. For opera star Renée Fleming it was a tour de force as she not only showed onlookers various stages of her character's complete change of heart, but also gave us the glorious high notes and legato singing of opera along with the snappy repartee of musical theater. 

Los Angeles Opera opened its 2019-2020 season with Barrie Kosky's production of that most popular of operas, Giacomo Puccini's LA BOHEME. With minimal scenery from Rufus Didwiszus, Kosky's cast made the audience believe they were in the garret and at the toll gate. Only the scenery for the Café Momus was completely fleshed out.

Since his appointment as General Director the end of the 2018 season, Robert  Meya has provided the utmost in forward-looking executive leadership and strategic direction for Santa Fe Opera. Only the fourth General Director in the company's 62-year history, Meya succeeds Charles MacKay who followed General Director Richard Gaddes and Company Founder John Crosby. I spoke with Robert Meya at Santa Fe Opera.