MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Music & the Arts

January 12, 2023 • 3:41 am Comments Off on Seattle Opera Announces 60th-Anniversary Season

Seattle Opera Announces 60th-Anniversary Season

Das Rheingold, Brian Staufenfels production; image (c) Cory Weaver

I’m delighted by the mix Seattle Opera has come up with for the 2023-24 season. Along with the first bit of Wagner’s Ring to be staged here in a decade (setting aside an abridged concert Walküre performed a couple years ago), the company makes a rare outing with Handel in its first-ever production of Alcina, directed by Tim Albery and conducted by Christine Brandes, with Vanessa Goikoetxea as Alcina, Randall Scotting as Ruggiero, Sharleen Joynt as Morgana, and Ginger Costa-Jackson as Bradamante.

Malcolm X, the milestone debut opera by Anthony Davis from 1984, to a libretto by Thulani Davis, also promises to be a highlight. Presented in co-production with Detroit Opera, Opera Omaha, the Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, it will be directed by Robert O’Hara, with a cast including Kevin Kellogg as the civil rights icon, Joshua Stewart as Street/Elijah Muhammad, and Leah Hawkins in her compay debut as Louise Little/Betty Shabazz. Kazem Abdullah conducts.

And even another go at Rossini’s Barber of Seville (directed by Lindy Hume, new head of Opera San José) gets an interesting new angle with the wonderful young conductor Valentina Peleggi making her Seattle Opera debut.

Das Rheingold kicks the season off in August, in Brian Staufenbiel’s production first introduced at Minnesota Opera in 2016. It will be a homecoming for Seattle Opera’s beloved Wotan of Rings past, Greer Grimsley, heading a mostly American cast that includes Michael Mayes as Alberich, Melody Wilson as Fricka, Frederick Ballentine as Loge, Kenneth Kellogg as Fafner, Peixin Chen in his company debut as Fasolt, and Denyce Graves as Erda. Ludovic Morlot will conduct.

As to whether this presages the beginning of a new complete Ring, Seattle Opera tweeted: “We have no plans to produce the full Ring in the near future, but Wagner will continue to be a regular part of our seasons.”

“I am thrilled to be able to celebrate 60 years of Seattle Opera with this first-rate lineup of artists and titles,” said Christina Scheppelmann. “60 years is a significant milestone for any American opera company, and it’s a testament to the strong tradition of opera and the performing arts in this city. This season will be both a reminder of that history and a promise of many more years to come.”

Performance information

Das Rheingold

·         Music and libretto by Richard Wagner

·         August 12, 16, 18, & 20, 2023

·         McCaw Hall (321 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109)

·         seattleopera.org/rheingold

Alcina

·         Music by George Frideric Handel, libretto by an unidentified poet

·         October 14, 15, 20, 22, 25, & 28, 2023

·         McCaw Hall (321 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109)

·         seattleopera.org/alcina

Holiday Chorus Concert

·         December 8, 9, & 10, 2023

·         Tagney Jones Hall at the Opera Center (363 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109)

X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X

·         Music by Anthony Davis, libretto by Thulani Davis, story by Christopher Davis

·         February 24 & 25, March 1, 3, 6, & 9, 2024

·         McCaw Hall (321 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109)

·         seattleopera.org/x

The Barber of Seville

·         Music by Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Cesare Sterbini

·         May 4, 5, 10, 12, 15, & 18, 2024

·         McCaw Hall (321 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109)

·         seattleopera.org/barber

60th Anniversary Concert & Gala

·         May 11, 2024

·         McCaw Hall

Filed under: music news, Ring cycle, Seattle Opera

January 11, 2023 • 12:43 am Comments Off on A Homecoming for J’Nai Bridges

A Homecoming for J’Nai Bridges

J’Nai Bridges stars as Delilah in Seattle Opera’s “Samson and Delilah in Concert.” (Todd Rosenberg Photography)

I spoke with J’Nai Bridges for the Seattle Times about her upcoming, long-awaited Seattle Opera debut. She will sing Delilah in two concert performances of Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila.

This is where it all started.

J’Nai Bridges treasures the memories of her youth in Lakewood just outside Tacoma. Growing up in a close-knit, supportive family, she was encouraged to pursue her exceptional musical talents early on. Even today, she can count on her parents and siblings to travel far and wide to see her perform on the world’s leading opera stages — whether at the Metropolitan Opera in New York or in Munich, where she made her European debut in 2017.

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Filed under: Seattle Opera, Seattle Times

January 9, 2023 • 10:20 am Comments Off on Amanda Forsythe Sings Bach with Apollo’s Fire

Amanda Forsythe Sings Bach with Apollo’s Fire

Soprano Amanda Forsythe sings Bach, with oboist Debra Nagy at left and Apollo’s Fire artistic director Jeannette Sorrell conducting from the harpsichord (all photos courtesy Apollo’s Fire)

I reviewed Heavenly Bach, Amanda Forsythe’s wonderful new release of Bach arias and cantatas with Apollo’s Fire, for Early Music America:

“Happiness writes white,” as the phrase goes—or, to borrow the formulation by Tolstoy that has become modernity’s default position: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Attempting to convey the condition of unadulterated joy in artistic terms is to risk a bland sentimentality; the bad news about the human condition is what sells. Part of J.S. Bach’s greatness lies in his ability to paint the full spectrum so convincingly, without compromise.

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Filed under: Bach, CD review, Early Music America

January 6, 2023 • 9:33 am Comments Off on Daniel Barenboim Ends His Tenure at Berlin Staatsoper

Daniel Barenboim Ends His Tenure at Berlin Staatsoper

The Berlin Staatsoper just released a statement by long-term general director Daniel Barenboim announcing the end of his tenure there for reasons of health: “Unfortunately, my health has deteriorated significantly over the past year. I can no longer provide the performance that is rightly demanded of a general music director. Therefore, I ask for your understanding that I am giving up this position as of 31 January 2023.”

It’s the sad culmination of what has been a very difficult period for the maestro. Over the last few months, he had to cancel the many celebrations that had been organized around his 80th birthday in November.

This will be a sea-change for Berlin in particular, whose musical life the indefatigable Barenboim has dominated for decades.

Filed under: Berlin Staatsoper, Daniel Barenboim, music news

December 31, 2022 • 10:02 pm Comments Off on A Double Bill of Boulanger and Beethoven Rings in the New Year in Seattle

A Double Bill of Boulanger and Beethoven Rings in the New Year in Seattle

David Danzmayr and the Seattle Symphony; photo (c) Jorge Gustavo Elias

I closed out 2022 with a review of the Seattle Symphony performing Boulanger and Beethoven:

The tradition of attending performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony around New Year’s in Japan — where it is known simply as daiku — has a counterpart in Seattle. That the score’s epic journey spans such a spectrum of human experience yet culminates in a message of overwhelming affirmation makes the Ninth ideally suited for the Janus duty of casting a retrospective glance over the highs and lows of the year drawing to a close while ringing in the one just beginning with hope-filled anticipation….

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Filed under: Beethoven, review, Seattle Symphony

December 28, 2022 • 11:56 am Comments Off on Celebrating San Francisco Opera’s Centenary at SFO

Celebrating San Francisco Opera’s Centenary at SFO

Company’s first production of The Ring of the Nibelung (1935)

SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport have unveiled a new exhibition in connection with San Francisco Opera’s centennial titled San Francisco Opera: A Centennial Celebration. The curated installation in the Harvey Milk Terminal 1 (located post-security in Departures Level 2) showcases the Company’s first century and the art of operatic stagecraft.

The exhibition, on view through 13 August 13, 2023, captures San Francisco Opera’s rich history through a selection of costumes, stage props, set models, video and archival photographs from the collections of San Francisco Opera, the Museum of Performance + Design and the Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Costumes worn by operatic superstars who have graced San Francisco Opera’s stage during the past century are the focus of the presentation.

SFO Museum’s Curator of Exhibits Daniel Calderon said: “SFO Museum is delighted to feature the history of San Francisco Opera during the Company’s Centennial Season. San Francisco Opera is such an important cultural and artistic institution, and their story is both local and international. With their support, along with loans from the Museum of Performance + Design and the Metropolitan Opera Archives, SFO Museum has assembled a vibrant exhibition of costumes, photographs and artifacts that span almost a century of opera history. We know the exhibition will spur the interest of our traveling public and hope it will make new opera fans in the coming months.”

San Francisco Opera’s Director of Archives Barbara Rominski said: “Working with Daniel Calderon and the entire SFO Museum team has been rewarding on so many fronts, not least for the opportunity to share our archival collections with the airport’s enormous daily audience. Whether travelers have only a few seconds to spend with the exhibits or a long layover to really dive in, these remarkable garments and artifacts have a way of inspiring wonder at the creative possibility of this lively art form.”

Highlights include:

  • The cape and hat worn by famed Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette during San Francisco Opera’s inaugural 1923 season.
  • Legendary Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad’s Brünnhilde costume from Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre in the 1935 Company premiere of the composer’s four-opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung.
  • The military outfit worn by French soprano Lily Pons in Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment during the 1940s.
  • A dress from Massenet’s Manon worn by soprano and inaugural recipient of the Company’s Opera Medal, Dorothy Kirsten.
  • American soprano Leontyne Price’s costume from the 1981 production of Verdi’s Aida. An iconic interpreter of the title role, Price sang her first Aida with San Francisco Opera in 1957.
  • Additional costumes from productions of Tosca, Un Ballo in Maschera, Tannhäuser and Rigoletto reflect the work of designers Thierry Bosquet, John Conklin, Paul Brown and Constance Hoffman.

For more information and to view the Exhibition Image Gallery, visit sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/san-francisco-opera-centennial.

Filed under: music news, San Francisco Opera

December 27, 2022 • 2:38 pm Comments Off on Byron Schenkman & Friends: Beethoven, Carlos Simon, and more

Byron Schenkman & Friends: Beethoven, Carlos Simon, and more

Byron Schenkman & Friends continue their 10th-anniversary season with a program on Thursday, 29 December (at 7pm at Benaroya Hall), juxtaposing the piano trio format with lieder. Beethoven’s Archduke Trio, a pinnacle of the piano trio from 1810-11, will be heard alongside 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence winner Carlos Simon‘s luminous be still and know, a composition from 2015 inspired by an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Filling out the program are songs by Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert featuring vocalist Martin Bakari, winner of the 2018 George London Competition.  

The complete program is as follows:

Carlos Simon (b. 1986): 

be still and know for piano trio

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): 

Abendempfindung (“Evening Thoughts”) (K. 523)
Zufriedenheit (“Contentment”) (K. 473)

Franz Schubert (1979-1828):

Du bist die Ruh (“You are Repose”) (D. 776)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): 

Adelaide, op. 46

Ludwig van Beethoven:
Trio in B-flat, op. 97  

Allegro moderato
Scherzo
Andante cantabile, ma però con moto
Allegro moderato

Filed under: Byron Schenkman, chamber music

December 23, 2022 • 5:09 pm Comments Off on Angela Merkel on Wagner’s Ring

Angela Merkel on Wagner’s Ring

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been channeling her passion for Richard Wagner into a podcast discussion on SWR2 in a three-episode series as part of Sprechen wir über Mord!? Merkel’s podcasts explore criminal contexts and motives in the Ring cycle. The podcasts are in German.


Episode 1: Greed

Angela Merkel: “The ring is so universally applicable to humanity that from family life to political life, you can always find things that just keep happening to us humans.”

Episode 2: Revenge

Angela Merkel: “”If you’re so affected by revenge or retribution that you can’t get that out of your head, then you should stop doing politics.”

Episode 3: Vanity

Angela Merkel: “To claim that anyone is completely free of vanity, well, I wouldn’t say that for me either. Vanity is something that is quite inherent in people, but it also has to be restrained.”

Filed under: music news, Ring cycle, Wagner

December 21, 2022 • 10:54 am Comments Off on Erin Jorgensen & Friends: The Saddest of All Keys

Erin Jorgensen & Friends: The Saddest of All Keys

UPDATE: Due to freezing rain and icy streets, The Saddest of All Keys with Richard Lefebvre & Rachel Kessler will be postponed to 14 January 2023.

Marimbist Erin Jorgensen joins forces with poet/Renaissance woman Rachel Kessler and ubiquitous front man Richard Lefebvre for a one-night-only-anti-holiday-holiday show. Expect dreamy visions, tales of kicking drugs, musings on seasonal depression and spiders, JS Bach, and amplified and acoustic marimba – all in the key of D Minor, of course.

Two shows on Friday 23 December at 6 and 9pm at Odd Sea | 1539 NW Leary Way. The venue is a new performance space made from a former auto-body shop in Ballard. Run time is approximately 50 minutes. Tickets here.

Filed under: music news

December 20, 2022 • 1:13 pm Comments Off on Chopin from Garrick Ohlsson: A Holiday Gift

Chopin from Garrick Ohlsson: A Holiday Gift

The Houston-based chamber music and jazz presenter DACAMERA is offering a holiday gift of Chopin performed by one of the leading interpreters of his music, the Grammy Award-winning Garrick Ohlsson. Listen to his Chopin recital, which opened DAMERA’s season, as a free stream for two weeks, available here with registration.

The program includes:

Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60

Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23

Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58

Encore: Waltz in C-sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2

Filed under: Chopin, pianists

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