Feature: FREE ONLINE OPERA AND SONG MAY 8-15 on Home Computer Screens

Los Angeles Opera's website www.laopera.org has a plethora of short "At Home" recitals for opera lovers to enjoy during our time of theatrical drought. The newest entry is Theo Hoffman's program of songs by Bernstein, Rachmaninov, Sondheim and Schubert. Accompanied either by Jeremy Frank's pre-recorded piano or by his own guitar, Theo treats listeners to a different song for each day of the week.

Lyric Baritone Lucas Meacham is accompanied by his wife Irina in a recital of songs that range from Aaron Copeland's Boatman dancing on the Ohio River to Robert Schumann's Ich grolle nicht and Stille Tränen to Franz Schubert's divine An die Musik.

Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis sings songs by composers, mostly non-white and/or female, whose works are underrepresented on today's stages. She sings with several pre-recorded accompanists whom she names as she announces the songs. Raehann sings Amy Beach's songs, Spirituals, and contemporary songs. The highlight of her recital is a Jamaican dialect delight, This is my Word. It's great fun.

https://www.laopera.org/discover/laoathome/

Pacific Opera Project (POP) is a smaller Los Angeles Opera company that offers interesting, well sung renditions of both popular and less well known operas at reasonable prices. On Wednesday May 13 at 5 PM Pacific Time, POP will hold a free interactive watch party for the online return of its 2019 Flute. Below is an excerpt from its original BWW review:

"On March 3, 2019, Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented its more-than-a-little-bit-zany version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE (DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE) at Los Angeles's El Portal Theatre. POP Director and Designer Josh Shaw and Baritone E. Scott Levin premiered a new English version of Emanuel Schikaneder's German libretto in which the characters resembled those of a 1990s video game."

The cast sang Mozart's music just as it is sung on any other opera stage, but some spoken lines and the translation seen above the singers' heads put everyone in video game land. Papageno was a plumber with a huge mustache instead of a bird catcher, but Tamino was still a prince. Sarastro, a bit of a gorilla, revealed that he and the scantily clad Queen of the Night had once been married. Pamina was the child over whose custody they fought. Monostatos, who caught and chained Pamina in his tiny dungeon, was a mini plumber."

Join the fun on May 13th at the watch party for POP's hit 2019 production of The Magic Flute (now known as #Superflute) on Facebook and Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvWlshkmqfU

Let's continue our armchair opera travel with a visit to Liège, Belgium. Some Belgian chocolate might help us arrive in the best of shape. The two hundred year old Opéra Royal de Wallonie - Liège is a small but robust company with excellent productions. Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera's staging of The Barber of Seville will keep you laughing even though the titles are in French. Conductor and pianoforte player Guy Van Waas leads a brisk pace and Jodie Devos is an adorable soprano Rosina who hits every note in its center. OperaWire described her coloratura as "lightening in a bottle."

https://vimeo.com/398516452 Liège Barber

https://vimeo.com/398528034 Liège Trovatore

On to Vienna and perhaps some coffee with cream. The Vienna State Opera offers a different performance of opera or ballet free online each day.

click here

May 9: The Magic Flute for children; Conductor, Seiji Ozawa; Director, Diana Kienast.

May 9: Der Freischütz; Conductor, Sebastian Weigle; Director, Christ ian Räth.

May 10: The Barber of Seville; Conductor, Evelino Pidò | Director: Günther Rennert; with Juan Diego Flórez as the Count Almaviva.

May 12: Ariadne auf Naxos; Conductor, Christian Thielemann; Director, Sven-Eric Bechtolf; with Soile Isokoski as Ariadne and Johan Botha as Bacchus.

May 13: Don Pasquale; Conductor: Evelino Pidò; Director: Irina Brook; with Adam Plachetka as Doctor Malatesta and Juan Diego Flórez as Ernesto.

May 14: Das Rheingold; Conductor, Axel Kober; Director, Sven-Eric Bechtolf.

May 15: Die Walküre; Conductor, Adam Fischer; Director, Sven-Eric Bechtolf; with Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde.

The Teatro alla Scala of Milan put together an impressive concert version of the Act I Finale to Verdi's Simone Boccanegra. Take a few minutes to watch it before you head for the cool waters of the Rhein. https://artsandculture.google.com/project/la-scala-theatre

Oper am Rhein, which serves the German cities of Düsseldorf and Duisburg, offers Handel's Xerxes. Opera lovers might want to indulge in a bit of Rhein wine while viewing. After the opera, readers can fly to Philadelphia for a dish of pork and cornmeal, better known in Pennsylvania as "scrapple."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PwgiZJriCg

Known for its contemporary presentations, Opera Philadelphia also shows fans it's traditional side. Lisette Oropesa sings a poignant Violetta in this rendition of La Traviata.

click here

Leonardo Vinci's early 18th century opera seria, Artaserse, has an all male cast as was required in Rome in that era. The online presentation is by L'opera de Nancy, Diego Fasolis conducts and Silviu Purcărete directs. The cast, which includes five countertenors, is headed by Philippe Jaroussky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCTiqj2lrTs

Photos:Theo Hoffman as Papageno in The Magic Flute at Los Angeles Opera and a scene from The Magic Flute at Pacific Opera Project.

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