Feature: ONLINE VIRTUAL OPERA TOUR No. 44 at Home Computer Screens
A Week of Opera from the LA, San Francisco, New York, Rennes, Modena, and Oslo
By: Maria Nockin Feb. 06, 2021
In celebration of Valentine's Day, on Saturday, February 13, at 5:00 P.M. PST, Russell Thomas, Los Angeles Opera's new Artist in Residence, welcomes Ashley Faatoalia, Tiffany Townsend, Alaysha Fox and pianist Leonard Hayes to the On Now digital stage for the first episode in its After Hours series, "Black Love." The three artists will perform love songs by renowned Black composers in a program curated by Thomas. Enjoy sweet renditions of works by composers such as H.T. Burleigh, Undine Smith Moore, and Margaret Bonds.
Los Angeles Opera has a plethora of operas online for their audience's viewing pleasure. They include: A work by an 18th century Black composer, The Anonymous Lover, the Pulitzer Prize- winning P r i s m, Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves, and an original work by 13 composers called Modulation. Their digital shorts include: The West is a Land of Infinite Beginnings, Lumee's Dream, and The Five Moons of Lorca. Also available on the site is a plethora of Living Room Recitals by fascinating artists.
Tour members, most of whom live in the Los Angeles area, are meeting at LAX on Saturday afternoon to fly the Magic Opera Flying Carpet to its usual parking spot north of San Francisco. We bus into the city for dinner at the Radhaus, a Bavarian beer hall with panoramic views of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gatge Bridge. Located at Fort Mason Center, Radhaus features German beer on draft and German wines, pairing them with pretzels, currywurst, and chicken schnitzel sandwiches.
San Francisco Opera features Wagner's Lohengrin on February 6 and 7. In David Slater's production, the designer is Robert Innes Hopkins, and tenor Brandon Jovanovich sings his first Lohengrin. Camilla Nylund is Elsa von Brabant, Kristinn Sigmundsson is King Heinrich, Gerd Grochowski is Telramund and Petra Lang is Ortrud. Nicola Luisotti conducts. Titles are in English. The free opera stream is viewable on demand with registration at sfopera.com, beginning at 10 am Pacific Time on the first streaming date through 11:59 pm the following day. Current San Francisco Opera subscribers as well as donors of $75 or more retain access to opera streams after the window of public access. For more information, visit sfopera.com.
https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/
Having purchased beer from 's-Hertogenbosch, the capital city of Lohengrin's home district of Brabant to serve onboard, our tour takes off for northern New Jersey, where we are told the snow has melted. It seems that the gentlemen of the tour have formed a Männerchor and they begin to sing German drinking songs once we level out aloft. I wish I had a film of The Student Prince. Actually, after the exertion of singing and the influence of the beer, our gentlemen are asleep by 2 A.M.
Having been to New Jersey in the snow earlier, Manon-la-Chat says she is wearing both a sweater and a weather-proof cat-coat because she remembers how cold the wind can be on the palisades above the Hudson River. Actually, she wants me to keep her inside my coat while I do the walking for us both. "That doesn't work, kitty." She will not go to Les Troyens because the complicated production does not allow for extra spectators on the bridge above the stage.
Since last week, we missed our trip to Shut Up and Eat, we make a point of getting there for breakfast this time even if some of the Männerchor were a bit bleary-eyed after only five hours sleep. Our bus took off at 9 A.M. in order to catch the fast-disappearing breakfast menu.
For our pre-opera meal, we are bussing to Chinatown and allowing tour members to choose their restaurants and stroll back to the bus by sunset.
At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on Saturday, February 13, Berlioz's 1983 production of Les Troyens directed by Fabrizio Melano stars Tatiana Troyanos, Jessye Norman, and Plácido Domingo. James Levine conducts. In this French masterpiece, Hector Berlioz dramatizes the aftermath of the Trojan War and Aeneas's exploits in Carthage. His composition stands as one of the most ambitious works in the operatic canon. Director Melano offers a production that gets to the heart of the drama while also providing spectacular visuals.
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/week-48/
Tonight we leave for Italy, but many tour members are asleep before we even get to the Magic Opera Flying Carpet. Silently, the group files onto the vehicle and few have any interest in coffee and cake or beer and pretzels after takeoff. The night surrounds us with a commanding silence that blots out the noise of day. Peace pervades the vehicle as it speeds across the silken waves that conceal the terrors of the open ocean. Day will come soon, but not until the soothing dark balm has healed some of the wounds of yesterday.
As the sun rises, we view the clouds over the Eastern Atlantic and fly above the shore of Brittany. Rennes, the capital of Brittany, is a city in northwestern France. From the early sixteenth century until the French Revolution, Rennes was a parliamentary, administrative, and garrison city of the historic French province. After a destructive fire of 1720, the medieval wooden center of the city was partially rebuilt in stone. During the 1980s, Rennes became one of the main centers of telecommunications and high technology. Labeled a city of art and history, Rennes has preserved its important medieval and classical heritage within its historic center.
Since we land early in the day, we look for breakfast in town. In Rennes, the specialty is crepes, both savory and sweet. We choose Restaurant La Gavotte for its musical name. Their Galette de Bretagne is a thin buckwheat pancake offered with a "complet" that includes ham, egg, and fresh cheese. It's rather like a French McGriddles. We stroll around the city for an hour and return for a siesta before dinner.
We order dinner from the Baron Rouge (Red Baron), consisting of hors' d'oeuvres, and three choices of entrée. Fresh-caught fish comes with buttered potatoes and salad. The Baron's Pièce du boucher (Butcher's Choice of Meat) is served with Sauce Rossini, and crisp roast potatoes that are soft inside. The Hamburger du Baron is served with fried onions, fresh tomato slices, cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce and home fried potatoes. Manon and I enjoy this French version of the American favorite.
The stream of Boieldieu's La Dame Blanche is available through 2021. Performed by Les Siècles, Nicolas Simon conducts and Louise Vignaud directs. Yannis Francois is Gaviston, Fabien Hyon is Dickson, Sandrine Buendia is Jenny, and Caroline Jestaedt is Anna.
Modena is famous for olive oil, Parmesan cheese, prosciutto (ham), and various types of vinegar. They also like to stuff their pasta with cheese and a variety of meats. Small tortellini are served in brodo (chicken broth), and sometimes da passeggio (in a cup to go). Moderately sized tortelloni filled with spinach and ricotta can be served simply with butter and a hint of sage. Large tortellacci stuffed with spinach and ricotta can be appetizers before another entree. We enjoy a selection of these pasta dishes with both meat and marinara sauces for dinner onboard the Carpet.
In Modena, we enjoy a concert version of Verdi's Don Carlo. Jordi Bernacer conducts. Andrea Caré sings Don Carlo, Luca Salsi is Rodrigo, Anna Pirozzi is Elizabeth, Michele Pertusi is Philip II, and Judit Kulasi is Eboli.
After the opera, we return to the Magic Opera Flying Carpet in order to retrieve our warmest clothing and head north for Oslo, Norway. Our chef makes Norwegian waffles with eggs and Brunost brown cheese to go with our breakfast lattes. The cheese is brown because it's caramelized. Brunost, known to Americans as Ski Queen, is created by boiling milk, cream, and whey until their sugars become that familiar caramel color. Norwegians eat about 100 hot dogs a year per person! A Norwegian polse (hot dog) is a boiled sausage wrapped in a lompe (potato tortilla) topped with condiments of your choice. Ketchup and mustard are the most popular toppings, along with crispy onions and shrimp salad.
I phoned Den Norske Opera (Norwegian National Opera) to ask if there is any way Manon could attend The Barber of Seville. They are allowing her to sit in the wings in a place where no one will trip over her. She will also come with us in her see-thru shopping bag for our pre-opera dinner of grilled salmon steaks, French fries, and salad.
Den Norske Opera's new production shows the audience that comedy is always close to tragedy. Figaro is Hubert Zapiór, Rosina is Angela Brower, Lindoro is Jack Swanson, and Bartolo is David Stout.
https://operavision.eu/en/library/performances/operas/barber-seville-den-norske-opera#
For our last opera of the week we return over night, by way of the north pole, to San Francisco for opera, tacos, and warm if not sunny weather.
For February 13-14, San Francisco Opera offers Mozart's Così fan tutte in its 2013 presentation. In the staging by Jose Maria Condemi, Don Alfonso is Marco Vinco, Ferrando is Francesco Demuro and Guglielmo is Philippe Sly. Fiordiligi is Ellie Dehn, Dorabella is Christel Lötzsch, and Despina is Susannah Biller. Music director Nicola Luisotti conducts. English subtitles.
https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/
After delightful desserts delivered to the Magic Opera Flying Carpet from San Francisco's Original Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop, we fly the short hop home to the sunshine of Los Angeles.
Painting of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, courtesy of Los Angeles Opera. Photo of Rebecca Loeb as Lumee in P r i s m also courtesy of LA Opera.
Comments
.png)
|
.png)
|
Videos
