Following Earwormopera Around on YouTube

Lately it seems that every third interesting opera video I click on is posted by none other than the blogger known as Earwormopera, under the nom d'Tube musicalpunchlines. 

This is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a very good thing*. Clearly, Earworm and I have very similar tastes. In fact, many of my readers may know that I was greatly inspired by the Earworm to start my own blog. (Fans of this blog can thank Earworm. Non-fans can...well, non-fans can do whatever you want—so long as it's not illegal or immoral.)

Since I've been kind of stuck in Don Giovanni-land lately, I'd like to share one of my (many) favorite clips from the Claus Guth production in Salzburg, featuring one of Earworm's and my all-time favorite sopranos: Dorothea Röschmann.

*In fact, the only thing better would be if there were even more clips on the musicalpunchlines channel! (Hint, hint!)

Come on Manon, let's go!

I used to think (in my young childhood*) the opera was called Manon, Let's Go. And it's not totally nonsensical. I mean, when you think about it, that's basically what Des Grieux and Lescaut say to her in Act 2 while she's busy scooping up her jewelry instead of running from the police. 

Anyway, the reason for this post is to highlight the bounty of "making of" videos the ROH has posted for their new production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut. (This was Puccini's first big hit. Apparently, he could easily have retired and lived off his profits from Edgar and Manon. But fortunately, he didn't rest on his laurels, or he never would have written La Boheme, and a few other big hits!)

Blogger eyesometric provides us with a bunch of other links about this production, and also reminds us that the BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting a live performance of this new production from the ROH featuring Kristine Opolais, Jonas Kaufmann, and Christopher Maltman with Anthony Pappano waving the stick. 

Meanwhile, here are those videos:

*Yes, I was already listening to opera as a young child. I used to record the Met broadcasts on my reel-to-reel for frequent playback. One that I listened to over and over was an Ariadne with Tatiana Troyanos and…well, I didn’t care about who else was in it at that point. 

BBC 3 Offers Mass Gratuitousness – Rossini’s Stabat Mater

My colleague Eyesometric, over at The Eyes Have It, has been watching out for me. Franz Welser-Möst (left) and the Cleveland Orchestra are presenting a series of four programs on BBC 3 this week. (Yes, we have to listen to British radio to hear the Cleveland Orchestra in concert.) 

That's nice to know, but the truly awesome part is that today, the Cleveland Chorus joins the orchestra to perform Rossini’s Stabat Mater, with soloists:  

[Dramatic Pause]  

• Malin Hartelius 
• Luca Pisaroni
• Anna Bonitatibus (Dorabella to MH’s Fiordiligi at Zurich)
• and (last because I don’t know who he is…yet) Martin Mitterutzner.