Richard Sasanow - Page 8

Whether he’s writing about soldiers in World War I (SILENT NIGHT with Kevin Puts) or immigrants landing on Ellis Island (A NATION OF OTHERS with Paul Moravec), setting a ‘penny dreadful’-inspired story (ELIZABETH CREE with Puts) or looking inside a mad genius of technology [THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS with Mason Bates], Mark Campbell brings his unique vision of the world to whatever he does. He gave us an inkling of the depth and breadth of his skills in the concert for the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS)—heard first the other night on YouTube and available through May 15.

If you need any convincing that a “simple” recital, with lots of breaks, isn’t easier for the performer than being in a full-fledged opera, you have only to look as far as Bulgarian soprano’ Sonya Yoncheva's concert--shown live from Germany on February 27 but still available on-demand from the Met’s website until March 12--to know that view is a fallacy. (And, of course, it’s a challenge for the accompanist as well, here, the well-schooled pianist Julien Quentin, who offered staunch support.)

I couldn’t help but admire Anna Netrebko’s taking on many of the pieces that comprised her concert from Vienna’s historic Spanish Riding School on February 6, which was part of the Met Stars Live in Concert. They may not have fit her voice to a tee but she almost made you think they did.

In the latest in the Met’s live, pay-per-view concert series from varied fascinating locales around the world, Radvanovsky boldly chose Verdi’s “Pace, pace” from LA FORZA DEL DESTINO as her “warm up”--a whopper of a piece under any circumstances--while Beczala went for the composer’s “Quando le sere al placido…” from LUISA MILLER to tune up his tonsils. The result gave us a good preview what lay ahead in the next 90 minutes.

When I interviewed David T. Little several years ago, he told me he told me that he “didn't even realize [SOLDIER SONGS] was an opera until [opera entrepreneur] Beth Morrison clued him in.” He probably didn’t realize it was a film either, until Singer-Director Johnathan McCullough brought him the idea--and Opera Philadelphia raised the funds to make it over for its new opera channel. The results are painfully spectacular.

Looks can be deceiving, as the New Year’s Eve edition of the Met’s “Live in Concert” series proved in abundance. But could even the talent of four wonderful singers--sopranos, Angel Blue and Pretty Yende and a matching pair of tenors, Javier Camarena and Matthew Polenzani-- breathe new life in a program filled with warhorses, from “Che gelida manina” from BOHEME to that Neopolitan classic, “O sole mio”? In a word: Yes.

In the latest installment of the Met Stars in Concert Series, soprano Diana Damrau and tenor Joseph Calleja took center stage in the Royal Palace of Caserta, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Italy, with the grand assistance of pianist Roberto Moresco. The performing space—the palace’s spectacular Palatine Chapel—is neoclassically elegant. So much for the architecture: What about the music? The performing space—the palace’s spectacular Palatine Chapel—is neoclassically elegant. So much for the architecture: What about the music?

When the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus folded its tent for the last time, I’m not sure whether they held on to its title of “the Greatest Show on Earth.” But Atlanta is showing that there’s still a big tent around with some great shows to be seen. It’s the Atlanta Opera, headed by General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, which starts its six-opera season with I PAGLIACCI on October 22.

Mezzo Joyce DiDonato set a new standard for the Met’s Live concert series (hosted by Christine Goerke) with a gorgeous recital from the Jahrhunderthalle in Germany that was broadcast live on September 12 and will be available on demand through the Met’s website, now extended through October 23.

By the time Lise Davidsen appeared in the Met’s December revival of Tchaikovsky’s QUEEN OF SPADES, the company had already scheduled the soprano for five other major roles in seasons to come. One opera they didn’t schedule was TANNHAUSER, with its spectacular aria for Elisabeth--“Dich teure Halle”--which Davidsen has made it something of a calling card. She did, however, use it to kick off her recital in the MET STARS IN CONCERT series at Norway’s Oscarshall palace, which can be heard on demand through September 9.

It's hardly a secret that during the Met's shutdown, the company has been treating audiences with nightly telecasts of everything from the company's current 'Live In HD' series to some scratchy videos that still had decent sound. All of them, however, can also be found on the Met's online subscription series, THE MET OPERA ON DEMAND, along with some audio highlights of extraordinary Saturday afternoon broadcasts. It's worth shelling out the money for this kind of quality.

Even though soprano Renee Fleming had a big farewell to her role as the Marschallin in DER ROSENKAVALIER in the Met’s recent production premiere, she seems far from the end of her career, not only continuing to concertize but even in opera. So, it was no surprise that she showed up on the roster of the Met’s pay-for-view concerts series, Met Stars Live in Concert.

When was the last time you heard a concert at the Met for $20? It could have been Saturday afternoon--with Jonas Kaufmann kicking off an online, live concert series, MET STARS LIVE IN CONCERT. It helped to remind us what we're missing without live opera and stars worth going out of the way for.

Here's a look at how 'Light Shall Lift Us; Singers Unite in Song' (for OPERA America), a video project featuring 107 opera singers in “a song of hope and solidarity” by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell, came together to help raise up the spirits of their communities as we deal with COVID-19. It went 'live' on May 14 at 1:30 pm EST.

Over the last five years, Opera Philadelphia has presented an impressive group of new operas it has commissioned, along with some classics from the standard rep. Starting tomorrow, we'll get a look at some of the best of them, with the company's Digital Festival running through May 29, available on YouTube and the company's website.

In the midst of this COVID-19 crisis that is gripping the world--and keeping so many people in quarantine--the Metropolitan Opera managed to pull off a brilliantly executed music coup. It connected stars, chorus members and orchestral musicians in an “At-Home Gala”--a combination fund-raiser for the Met with wonderful entertainment. And the technology worked!

For all you lovelorn, “live opera”-lovers, the Met is coming to the rescue from COVID-19 this afternoon, Saturday April 25, at 1pm New York time, with a gala concert featuring over 40 artists performing direct from their homes around the world.

Luckily for viewers on the Metropolitan Opera's “Met on Demand”—with selections available free in this time of COVID-19, on your laptop or as apps for your phone or tablet—there were a couple of knee-slappers thrown in among the drama of AIDA, PARSIFAL and ROMEO ET JULIETTE this week. Two of my favorites were there: Donizetti's DON PASQUALE and Verdi's FALSTAFF.

Some people dream of a White Christmas--or at least an end to the horrors of COVID-19 and a semblance of life returned to normal. I'll drink to that. But high on my list of events I'm hoping to hear in a world turned back on its feet, is the return of Richard Strauss's DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN to the Met.

The Met on Demand had another week of exciting performances, from the divine [Rossini's IL  BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA] to the, well, the divine [Adams's NIXON IN CHINA].