La Clemenza at La Monnaie

Check out this new production of La Clemenza di Tito online at La Monnaie's website for a limited time (through Nov. 30*). Kurt Streit is Tito, Veronique Gens is Vitellia and Anna Bonitatibus is Sesto. 

I've only seen the first two scenes. The set is a big bedroom/office (maybe a hotel room?) There's a big video screen over center stage that shares intriguing and/or significant closeups (often of someone who is not singing, but usually reacting to whomever is singing). Both Sesto and Annio look and move convincingly like guys, and Tito is on stage at a desk stage left from the start. I haven't gotten far enough in to find out how that's going to play out. 

Sometimes videos from La Monnaie appear elsewhere later. Sometimes not. So watch it now!

*Update 11/10/13 My original intelligence said Nov. 21, but I just noticed on the La Monnaie site it says the 30th. (Also, I now have a crush on Swedish mezzo Anna Grevelius as Annio, but I am not sure if I have a crush on her, or on him.)

Related Posts:
Servillia and Annio (Review, Part 1)
Personal Drama... (Review, Part 2)

Gratuitous Friday – Rosenkavalier Finale (Kirchschlager, Isokoski, and Kühmeier)

A heavenly Rosenkavalier finale with Angelika Kirschlager, Soile Isokoski, and the lovely Genia Kühmeier.  

Angelika Kirchschlager  (Octavian)

Soile Isokoski   (Marschallin)

Genia Kühmeier  (Sophie) 

Georg Tichy  (Faninal)

Wiener Staatsoper Anniversary Gala (5.11.2005)

Christian Thielemann, conducting

More Joyce – The Julliard Master Class 2013

Julliard baritone Emmett O'Hanlon with JDD

Now online, the wonderful, generous, funny, intelligent, (and, as always, super-humble*) JDD, offering wonderful advice via her wonderful (and fun...and educational) 2013 Julliard Master Class. My new favorite fantasy role for JDD is Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro).

Thank you, Joyce. And thank you, Julliard!

*Yes, I am a totally head-over-heels Joyce Fanboy!

There’s an App for That – Arte Live Web

Thanks to the magic of technology, you can now watch/listen to Arte Live Web programs on your Smartphone (iPhone, Android, or Windows.) All of the same programming is available on the go—if you can pick it up online, you can pick it up on your phone.

Obviously, the tiny screen is a disadvantage, but the sound quality is good, and it’s handy for those times you cannot sit glued to your desktop or laptop. Generally I am happy with this app (it’s free, so it’s hard to complain too much!)  However, currently, on my iPhone app, the image does not shift when I turn the phone to watch in landscape aspect—it stays in tiny letterboxed portrait. This may be an iOS 7 glitch, since it worked before the update. (Is that a familiar song, or no?) This is not as big a deal with instrumental concerts, but it absolutely suc is a pain in the neck when trying to watch an opera.

Gratuitous Friday – Pavol Breslik is Lensky