Legendary music producer, Milt Okun along with composer Lee Holdridge are bringing some of the most famous names in opera to John Denver's famous hit songs on the new album 'Great Voices Sing John Denver'.
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 regular season just ended for the Metropolitan Opera--all that's left is a series of HD rebroadcasts on Lincoln Center Plaza and a couple of low profile concerts in New York City parks--and it's time for a look back at what kind of season it was. With seven new productions and 21 other operas in rep during a season that ran from the end of September to mid-May, the Met was nothing if not far-reaching in its repertoire. And that's the way it should be. But how did its ambitions work out?
What would the Metropolitan Opera (and its audiences) do without its production of Francis Poulenc's DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES, which opened for the season with Saturday's matinee, May 4? As created in 1977 for its Met premiere by director John Dexter, this CARMELITES is unlike anything else in the company's repertoire--simply designed and a showcase for a brilliant ensemble of female voices. It is a reminder that opera productions can be moving, effective and, yes, thrilling in the most understated ways.
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.
Dialogues des Carmelites, Poulenc's opera about a group of nuns whose faith is tested under the Terror of the French Revolution, will return to the Met repertory on May 4 for the first time since 2002. In role debuts, Isabel Leonard will sing the naive aristocrat Blanche de la Force and Patricia Racette will sing Madame Lidoine, the imposing Prioress of a Carmelite convent. Felicity Palmer will reprise her portrayal of the ailing Madame de Croissy, a role she sang to acclaim in the most recent Met revival of the opera. Louis Langree conducts his first Met performances of the work, with a cast that also includes Elizabeth Bishop as Mother Marie, Erin Morley as Sister Constance, and Paul Appleby as Blanche's brother, the Chevalier de la Force. The opera will be presented in John Dexter's acclaimed 1977 Met premiere production.
Douglas Carpenter, baritone, of New York, won the $15,000 First Prize in the finals of the 15th annual Lotte Lenya Competition, held on April 13, 2013, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Maren Weinberger, soprano, of New York, received the Second Prize of $10,000, and two Third Prizes of $7,500 each were awarded to Alison Arnopp, soprano, of County Cork, Ireland, and Lauren Roesner, soprano, of Cincinnati. Founded in 1998 to celebrate the centenary of Lenya's birth, the Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest that recognizes talented young singer/actors, ages 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire.
Washington National Opera presents German soprano Diana Damrau in recital as part of its Celebrity Concert Series tonight, April 8 at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Accompanied by harpist Xavier de Maistre, Damrau will perform selections from Schubert, R. Strauss, Hahn, Chausson, Duparc, and more. Both artists make their WNO debuts with this performance.
The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Big doings at Broadway In Chicago, 'Othello: The Remix,' world premieres from Pride Plays, The Second City and two from composer Kevin O'Donnell, 'Spamalot,' 'I Can Get It For You Wholesale' and so much more!
Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, will present stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. 54 Below also launches its new series of late night events this March. Joining Tuesday nights' popular "Backstage" with Susie Mosher will be the "54 Piano Bar," a new vocal competition - 'The Callback," and more.
Twelve exceptionally talented young singer-actors, with previous stage experience ranging from roles on Broadway to the Metropolitan Opera House, have been named finalists in the 2013 Lotte Lenya Competition. They will compete for top prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Acclaimed soprano and 2010 Opera News Award winner Patricia Racette, British opera and musical theater conductor James Holmes, and Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President and American Theater Wing Vice-Chairman Theodore S. Chapin will serve as judges.
Expect the unexpected from cabaret stylist Patricia Racette. Yes, I said 'cabaret.' If you've only heard her at the Met or San Francisco Opera as Tosca or Madama Butterfly, you'll probably find her performance in 'Diva on Detour' a revelation. It's 'a high-note-free zone'--which doesn't give a hint that its owner spends most of her time on some of the world's great opera stages.
Washington National Opera presents German soprano Diana Damrau in recital as part of its Celebrity Concert Series on Monday, April 8 at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Accompanied by harpist Xavier de Maistre, Damrau will perform selections from Schubert, R. Strauss, Hahn, Chausson, Duparc, and more.
54 BELOW has announced the debut of cabaret, film & television actress and theatre legend Bebe Neuwirth and the return of opera great Patricia Racette this March.
Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2012-2013 season with Puccini's Manon Lescaut, tonight, March 2 to 23 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. American soprano Patricia Racette makes her role debut as the title character, and Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato sings the role of Chevalier des Grieux.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will feature 10 productions in the 2013-14 season, offering a significant portion of the Met season to opera lovers around the world.
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