August 9, 2020 • 9:24 am Comments Off on Don Giovanni at Finnish National Opera
Here’s a new production staged by Finnish actor-director Jussi Nikkilä for Finnish National Opera, with Patrick Fournillier conducting.
Cast
Don Giovanni: Tuomas Pursio
Donna Anna: Hanna Rantala
The Commandant: Koit Soasepp
Donna Elvira: Tamuna Gochashvili
Don Ottavio: Tuomas Katajala
Leporello: Markus Suihkonen
Masetto: Henri Uusitalo
Zerlina: Olga Heikkilä
August 6, 2020 • 10:13 am Comments Off on Sneak Peeks of Kate Soper’s Opera Romance of the Rose
The extraordinary composer, performer, and writer Kate Soper has completed an opera titled Romance of the Rose, which was to have had its world premiere in April at Montclair State University’s Peak Performances.
Romance of the Rose is named after a medieval French poem. As Soper explains, the opera and poem “start off pretty much the same way: a narrator warns us not to underestimate the significance of dreams.” See her latest discussion of the work here, which includes two sneak peeks of the music.
The clip above, meanwhile, is the first part of her five-part web series SYRINX, which is “about a woman who wakes up one day with an unusual affliction.”
Filed under: Kate Soper, new opera
August 1, 2020 • 4:59 am Comments Off on Archipelago: PassMúsica’s Prize for Best Album of Classical Music 2020
Hearty congratulations to Luís Tinoco and Drumming GP for winning this year’s award for Best Album of Classical Music in the recently announced Prémios da Música Portuguesa (Portuguese Music Prizes).
I reviewed the album, Archipelago, here last year. Delighted to see my high opinion of this music corroborated by the jury.
Filed under: CD review, Luís Tinoco, percussion
July 31, 2020 • 2:42 am Comments Off on Mahan Esfahani Today in Recital
Happening today at 2pm EST from 92Y.
The concert stream will be available to ticket buyers (just $10) for one full week from the time of broadcast. View it live, or at your convenience.
The program:
Selected Three-Part Inventions (Sinfonias), BWV 787-801
French Suite No. 3. In D Minor, BWV 812
Partita No. 6 in E Minor, BWV 827
Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971
Filed under: Bach, harpsichord, Mahan Esfahani
July 29, 2020 • 11:50 pm Comments Off on The AIDS Memorial Quilt Is Now Online
It’s startling to realize that the last time the AIDS Memorial Quilt could be displayed on the National Mall in its entirety was 24 years ago. It returned in 2012, but with smaller sections displayed each day over a two-week period. The Quilt has grown far too vast to be shown all at once on the Mall, as it was in 1996. But all 48,000 panels are now accessible online.
From Billy Anania’s report in Hypoallergenic:
While zooming out conveys the immensity of the overall project, focusing on specific panels shows the care and craftsmanship in each one. Many of the individual patches are color-coordinated within each panel, and some panels are even coordinated with their surroundings. Conducting broad keyword searches — like school, church, and prison — leads to panels contributed by collective groups and organizations affected throughout the years. Many of these memorials feel like time capsules from a previous crisis, particularly salient as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the US.
Reports Smithsonian magazine: “The newly launched digitization commemorates the International AIDS Conference, which was held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 40th anniversary of the first reported HIV cases in the United States. When viewing the interactive quilt, users can either appreciate the enormous mosaic in its entirety or zoom in on specific panels, which often include individuals’ names and messages of love. Additionally, virtual visitors can search the quilt for specific names, keywords or block numbers.”
Here’s John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1: Of Rage and Remembrance, which was inspired by the Quilt
Filed under: John Corigliano, miscellaneous
July 26, 2020 • 11:16 pm Comments Off on Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter
Such an inspiring concert: Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center tonight presented a virtual concert showcasing and celebrating great Black singers, with tenor Lawrence Brownlee as host. Available on YouTube and Facebook for the next 30 days.
Program notes here.
Cast list:
Lawrence Brownlee, Host and Artistic Advisor
Craig Terry, Pianist and Ryan Opera Center Music Director
Whitney Morrison, soprano
J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Will Liverman, baritone
Martin Luther Clark, tenor
Lunga Eric Hallam, tenor
Leroy Davis, baritone
Chris Reynolds, pianist
Members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra
Filed under: Lawrence Brownlee, Lyric Opera of Chicago
July 21, 2020 • 10:42 am Comments Off on Aeschylus: The Persians Streamed from Epidaurus
This looks intriguing: the first-ever live streaming from the ancient theater of Epidaurus. On 25 July at 21.00 Athens time (GMT +2), a performance of The Persians by Aeschylus will be streamed to a global audience via YouTube (donations welcome). All proceeds will benefit the National Theatre and Greek actors impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The performance will be in Greek with English subtitles. To stream, visit livefromepidaurus.gr, National Theatre of Greece, the 2020 Athens and Epidaurus Festival, the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, or the National Theatre of Greece’s YouTube channel.
(Thanks to Angelo Nasios for the tip.)
Filed under: ancient Greece, theater
July 17, 2020 • 11:26 am Comments Off on Shanghai Philharmonic Closes Its Season
On 18 July at 7:30p.m. (Beijing time), the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) closes its season with a concert that will be delay-streamed a week later, starting at 1:00p.m. EST (7:00p.m. Central European Time) on Saturday, 25 July, on Facebook and Twitter. The stream will remain available here for viewing for an indefinite period.
SPO Artistic Director Zhang Yi will conduct the orchestra in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”) — part of the ensemble’s complete Bruckner cycle — and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”), with Song Siheng as the soloist.
Filed under: music news, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra
July 13, 2020 • 12:11 pm Comments Off on Tippet Rise & Friends at Home
On Thursday, 16 July, Tippet Rise launches its monthly streaming series, Tippet Rise & Friends at Home, with a concert featuring pianist Behzod Abduraimov in a program of works by Liszt, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev.
I was able to visit Tippet Rise over the last two summers. Its unique landscape makes an indelible impression that can’t be replicated digitally, but a short film titled Tippet Rise from the Sky (a collaboration with the drone master Blastr) will be included with the stream and should at least suggest something of the flavor of this 12,000-acre art center in Montana. The series will be available on the Tippet Rise website at tippetrise.org/virtual-events.
Filed under: COVID-19 Era, music festivals, Tippet Rise
July 11, 2020 • 11:18 am Comments Off on Interview with Olga Neuwirth
Here’s a new interview with Olga Neuwirth conducted by Boulez Saal’s Philipp Brieler, discussing Pierre Boulez and Neuwirth’s new piece Naufraghi del mondo que hanno ancora un cuore — one of the new works premiered on Saturday’s program. The entire Festival of New Music: Distance/Intimacy is being streamed live and then archived for 30 days. You can find this program here (Neuwirth’s piece begins at 55:00).
Filed under: COVID-19 Era, new music, Olga Neuwirth, Pierre Boulez, Pierre Boulez Saal
Arts & Culture Stories from NPR
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 