Gerald Finley News

It's a rare occasion when a concerto--even one as brilliantly played as violinist Lisa Batiashvili's performance of Prokofiev's First--takes a back seat to the second half of the program. But the New York Philharmonic's concert performance of Luigi Dallapiccola's IL PRIGIONIERO, conducted authoritatively yet sensitively by Alan Gilbert, was such an event. By turns thrilling, soaring and sorrowful, the 50-minute opera, written in 1948, was as exciting a night at the opera as we had this season.

Italian modernist composer Luigi Dallapiccola's serialist opera Il Prigioniero, featuring bass- baritone Gerald Finley as The Prisoner and soprano Patricia Racette (in her Philharmonic debut) as The Mother, highlights the next installment of Gilbert's Playlist - four weeks of programs conducted by Alan Gilbert showcasing themes and ideas that have become a hallmark of the Music Director's tenure - tonight, June 6, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 8 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Italian modernist composer Luigi Dallapiccola's serialist opera Il Prigioniero, featuring bass- baritone Gerald Finley as The Prisoner and soprano Patricia Racette (in her Philharmonic debut) as The Mother, highlights the next installment of Gilbert's Playlist - four weeks of programs conducted by Alan Gilbert showcasing themes and ideas that have become a hallmark of the Music Director's tenure - Thursday, June 6, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 8 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.

The June broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with the final program from The Bach Variations: A Philharmonic Festival, with Andras Schiff in his Philharmonic conducting debut and performing as the piano soloist.

The 2013 Juno Awards were announced last night in Regina, Saskatchewan. Three of the four classical categories were won by Naxos and its distributed labels including the first ever win for a composer in the new Naxos Canadian Classics series (http://bit.ly/ZH6hx4).

The Celebrity Series of Boston announced its 2013-2014, 75th anniversary season today, marking 75 years of bringing the world's greatest performing artists to Boston. Celebrity Series has a deep commitment to presenting vocal recitals by some of the most renowned singers in the genre, and the 2013-2014 season includes recitals by: soprano Deborah Voigt, baritone Gerald Finley, soprano Natalie Dessay, tenor Nicholas Phan and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Classical KUSC continue their annual radio broadcast partnership, reaching over half a million listeners in Southern and Central California. The 13 concerts, recorded during the LA Phil's 2012/13 season, feature the orchestra with an impressive roster of guest artists and conductors. The first broadcast features Gustavo Dudamel leading the LA Phil in Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess, the world premiere of Steven Stucky's Symphony and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, and airs locally on KUSC-FM 91.5 Los Angeles, tonight, April 7, 2013, at 7 PM.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Classical KUSC, in partnership with WFMT Radio Network in Chicago, have confirmed 202 markets nationwide will carry the LA Phil's annual radio broadcast concert series (a number that will grow throughout the coming year). The 2012 series was broadcast in 238 markets and reached over 2.8 million listeners.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Classical KUSC continue their annual radio broadcast partnership, reaching over half a million listeners in Southern and Central California. The 13 concerts, recorded during the LA Phil's 2012/13 season, feature the orchestra with an impressive roster of guest artists and conductors. The first broadcast features Gustavo Dudamel leading the LA Phil in Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess, the world premiere of Steven Stucky's Symphony and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, and airs locally on KUSC-FM 91.5 Los Angeles, Sunday, April 7, 2013, at 7 PM.

Many of today's biggest names in opera - such as baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Gerald Finley; mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina; tenors Stephen Costello, Marcello Giordani, and Giuseppe Filianoti; bass Ildar Abdrazakov; and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott - will light up TV screens across the country on Thursday, December 13 at 8 pm (check local listings) for the national broadcast of the Richard Tucker Opera Gala on PBS's Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center.

January 25, 2013 would have been the 100th birthday of Witold Lutos?awski, one of the most influential musical minds of the 20th century. To celebrate this anniversary, Esa-Pekka Salonen - a fervid devotee and mentee of Lutos?awski - the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Sony Classical continue their long-established relationship by recording Lutos?awski's Symphony No. 1 live at Walt Disney Concert Hall this December.

Following his recent visit to Walt Disney Concert Hall with his Philharmonia Orchestra, LA Phil Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to lead the LA Phil in its celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the 20th century's pre-eminent composers, Witold Lutos?awski. The Lutos?awski Centenary includes two orchestral concerts and one Green Umbrella event with the LA Phil New Music Group between November 30 and December 9. The celebration begins with performances Friday and Saturday, November 30 and December 1, at 8 pm, as well as Sunday, December 2, at 2 pm, featuring the composer's Symphony No. 1, which will be recorded live to complete a Salonen/LA Phil cycle of the composer's four symphonies to be released on Sony Classical in January 2013. Also to be recorded is Fanfare for Los Angeles Philharmonic, a short piece for brass and percussion, written by Lutos?awski in celebration of the LA Phil's 75th anniversary season. This quintessential Salonen program pairs Lutos?awski with Beethoven, as he had done for his Beethoven Unbound festival in the 2004/05 season - this time with King Stephen Overture and Symphony No. 2.

On Friday, November 30, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will offer a live webcast of the first of five performances of an updated version of the 16th-century Chinese Kunqu opera masterpiece Peony Pavilion that will take place in the Met's Astor Court, the courtyard modeled on a 17th-century Chinese garden. This 70-minute version of the opera has been developed and directed by celebrated composer Tan Dun, with a new score by Mr. Tan and choreography by Huang Doudou, one of China's most prominent dancers. It will be performed by Zhang Jun, one of China's most respected Kunqu performers, and the Shanghai Zhang Jun Art Center Company.

Tonight, November 11th at 6:30 pm, the New York Choral Society (NYCS), returns for its nineteenth year as guest artist at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala in Avery Fisher Hall. In an evening led by Maestro Patrick Summers, the Gala concert will feature Ailyn Pérez, soprano, winner of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award, which is conferred annually upon a single artist who is on the threshold of a major international career.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation holds its 37th annual gala, one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, tonight, November 11 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York's Lincoln Center. Soprano Ailyn Perez, winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award and the first Latina singer to be so honored, joins a dazzling array of special guests - including baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Gerald Finley; mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina; tenor Marcello Giordani; bass Ildar Abdrazakov; bass-baritone Erwin Schrott; and many more - in a program of favorite arias and ensembles, including selections by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, Mascagni, Handel, and Wagner. Maestro Patrick Summers, Artistic and Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, leads the lineup of luminaries, supported by members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society.

The Monday evening, October 29, performance of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro ("The Marriage of Figaro") at the Metropolitan Opera is cancelled due to the suspension of public transportation by authorities in preparation of the incoming storm.

On Sunday, November 11th at 6:30 pm, the New York Choral Society (NYCS), returns for its nineteenth year as guest artist at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala in Avery Fisher Hall. In an evening led by Maestro Patrick Summers, the Gala concert will feature Ailyn Pérez, soprano, winner of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award, which is conferred annually upon a single artist who is on the threshold of a major international career.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation holds its 37th annual gala, one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, on Sunday, November 11 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York's Lincoln Center. Soprano Ailyn Perez, winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award and the first Latina singer to be so honored, joins a dazzling array of special guests - including baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Gerald Finley; mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina; tenor Marcello Giordani; bass Ildar Abdrazakov; bass-baritone Erwin Schrott; and many more - in a program of favorite arias and ensembles, including selections by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, Mascagni, Handel, and Wagner. Maestro Patrick Summers, Artistic and Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, leads the lineup of luminaries, supported by members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society.

Emerging Pictures, North America's largest supplier of alternative content for movie theaters, today announced the launch of its Fall-Winter 2012 season of Opera in Cinema and Ballet in Cinema HD presentations that will be shown on screens in nearly 400 multiplexes, art houses, museums and performing arts centers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has declared Tuesday, August 28, 2012 "Richard Tucker Day" in New York City, marking what would have been the legendary Brooklyn-born tenor's 99th birthday.