Feature: ONLINE OPERA VIRTUAL TOUR AUGUST 22-29

In a new "Living Room Recital" on LA Opera's website, bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos and pianist David Holkeboer perform songs by Schubert, Brahms and Cole Porter. The recital is available both on LA Opera"s homepage and on its Facebook page.

Mezzo-soprano Gabriela Flores, accompanied by Head Coach of LA Opera's Young Artist Program Nino Sanikidze, gives a recital devoted to Spanish language song from Spain, Cuba, Argentina, and Mexico. While the language is basically the same, the musical style of each country is quite different.

Cocorinos: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1154275044944891

Flores: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhIP25PfsAg&feature=emb_title

We leave Los Angeles aboard the Magic Opera Flying Carpet on Friday evening and arrive in Leeds, England, the next day. For dinner we have steak and ale pie with mashed potatoes, mushy peas, and gravy from the Little Yorkshire Pie Co. To prepare this popular dish, chefs cook the steak in ale before enclosing it in crust and baking it. I liken the flavor to a fancy beef pot pie. Yorkshire serves it with the veggies on the side.

Opera North of Leeds is performing Wagner's Ring Cycle so we will be stopping here every week for the next month. Tonight's show is Das Rheingold, the cycle's one-act prologue that opens with Alberich stealing the Rheinaidens' gold. In the cast are Michael Druiett as Wotan, Jo Pohlheim as Alberich, Richard Roberts as Mime, James Creswell as Fasolt, Mats Almgren as Fafner, and Claudia Huckle as Erda. Titles are in English.

Ring Cycle Page: https://www.youtube.com/user/SeeMoreOpera/videosapp=desktop

Entire Cycle in one click: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWhRThHJGoE

Das Rheingold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EYW49Ru_F4&t=49s

We were thinking of leaving for Germany right after the one act opera, but many tour members wanted to have an English breakfast, and I don't mean just the tea. As a result, we are leaving at 11 AM with tummies full of eggs, sausages, and pastries.

For dinner in Berlin, we had gemüsedöner from Mustafas, a local eatery. Despite the word gemüse (vegetable), the döner can include thinly sliced chicken spiced with a secret sauce the chef won't talk about. Mustafa's tops off their döners with deep fried potatoes, peppers, and carrots as well as fresh cabbage, onions, sheep's cheese and a sprinkle of lemon.

The Berlin Philharmonic is performing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Medieval Latin lyrics interspersed with pieces in Bavarian dialect. Orff's large, rhythmic, musically colorful orchestration requires an enlarged percussion section. The performance is at the Philharmonie, on Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Carmina Burana cast includes Kathleen Battle, Thomas Allen, Frank Lopardo, and the Shin-yu Kai Choir. The Berlin Philharmonic is conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

Text: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/orff-cb/carmlyr.php

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GifxbGICwCA

We sleep on the Magic Opera Flying Carpet with a restless Manon-la-Chat who has not been allowed out of the cabin since California. I worry about her straying too far alone. She now promises to wear a leash and resist the urge to climb while we go out together. "Bien sûr, je marcherai sur la terre comme les humains." Charlemagne, the Spanish cat, has found a home with one of last week's Spanish-speaking tour members, so he is out of the picture.

As dawn reddens the sky over Berlin, we take off for Italy. Arriving near Milan, we board an Italian bus for the city. Our driver seems to think we want to race the other vehicles on the autostrada, but each of us arrives in one piece, if a bit frazzled. We enjoy a fine dinner of osso buco, a marrow-rich veal shank braised in veggie stock and white wine. Served with polenta, it solves every problem.

Based on a story from Homer, Mozart's opera Idomeneo tells what happens to the king of Crete following the Trojan War. The cast of Idomeneo at La Scala includes: Monica Bacelli, Camilla Tilling, Francisco Meli, and Steve Davislim. The conductor is Daniel Harding and the director Luc Bondy.

Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idomeneo

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba9K_T5ivTQ

Arriving in Naples in the heat of the afternoon, we opt for ices and freezing caffé granita. San Carlo Opera's offering is Verdi's Nabucco, a four-act opera that Giuseppe Verdi composed in 1841 to an Italian libretto. The text, by Temistocle Solera, is based on both the Old Testament and the play, Nabuchodonosor, that Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois wrote with Francis Cornu. The 1997 San Carlo cast includes Lauren Flanigan, Monica Bacelli, Renato Bruson, Maurizio Frusoni, and Carlo Colombara. Paolo Carignani conducts the Teatro's orchestra and chorus.

Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabucco

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_85Af4lDjM

Manon is excited about returning to Paris to see old friends and she is dancing around like a three-month-old kitten. I remind her that those friends did not treat her well last time, but she wants to see them anyway. When we arrive at the airfield, Mlle. Manon is first on the bus to the city.

In Paris, we seeVincenzo Bellini's I Capuletti ed I Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues). Librettist Felice Romani used Italian sources rather than Shakespeare's play, so the story varies from that of the Bard of Avon. Because time was short, Bellini reworked considerable music originally written for his opera Zaira.

The cast of the 2008 Paris production of the Bellini opera includes Anna Netrebko, Joyce Di Donato, and Matthew Polenzani. Evelino Pidò conducts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHW2ujnaoLs&t=145s Part 1 Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28t-t2i0TiY&t=228s. Part 2

When we board the Magic Opera Flying Carpet for Norway, we unpack our heavy coats and Manon puts her pink sweater on. Oslo could be a bit chilly for spoiled Angelinos. On arrival, we take a bus driven by a sensible Norwegian driver to the city, and we chow down on the city's fresh seafood. For dessert, we order tilslørte bondepiker (veiled farmer's daughters), a parfait made with cinnamon-infused breadcrumbs, whipped cream, and apples or plums. Mashed fruit is placed on the bottom of each glass. The dessert is built up with layers of whipped cream and toasted breadcrumbs topped with almonds and chocolate.

After dessert and some strong, black Norwegian coffee, we head for the Oslo Concert Hall where Klaus Mäkelä leads the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Its choral movement is the first example of a major composer using voices as part of a symphony. Basically, the text of the final movement is taken from Friedrich Schiller's Ode to Joy, with a few additions by the composer. Beethoven's Ninth is one of the world's most performed symphonies. Singing the final movement are Laura Fagan, Hanna Hipp, Thomas Katajala, Shenyang and the Oslo Philharmonic Choir.

Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Joy

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkQapdgAa7o

Oslo is a fascinating city and I want to come back sometime when we can see the northern lights. Now, it's home to the City of Angeles aboard the Magic Opera Flying Carpet.

Photo of Philip Cocorinos by Sarh Shatz.

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