Zero Degrees of Separation – Stéphanie d'Oustrac and Thomas Dolie

This audio clip features yesterday's Dido from Calvados and Aneas from Amsterdam as Rosina and Figaro in Bordeaux.

Purcell: Dido and Aneas Times Two

A video of a semi-staged performance featuring Stephanie d'Oustrac and Nicolas Rivenq with William Christie and Les Artes Florissants (with gowns by Lacroix, sweetie. Lacroix!)

…and a concert performance from 2009 on Concerthuis 4, with the wonderful Ann Hallenberg as Dido and Thomas Dolie as Aneas. (Unfortunately, I cannot get this broadcast to play all the way through. I don't know if it's a local internet issue, or a question of trying to listen to it in the wrong country. I am hoping my readers in the UK and Europe may get to hear the whole thing.)

Another Gratuitous Daniel Behle Post

So, Daniel Behle just got a recording contract with Decca (who hasn't, you ask? Well, JK for one...) And since it's the year of the Gluck, he has a brand new recital of Gluck arias, both rare and familiar. The first video is a promo clip with some chatting and rehearsal moments. 

The second video is a complete performance of “Quercia annosa sull'erte pendici” from Antigono (no, I've never heard of it either.) Finally, we have an audio-only clip of a more familiar aria (unfortunately for him—and I do love you, Daniel—he has a ton of heavy competition on this one, including (to name but two) the recent La Monnaie performance by Stéphanie d'Oustrac, and an awesome Richard Croft recording. But we won't write him off for that. He has a lot to offer, and (hopefully) many more years of singing ahead of him!

Die Winterreise im Sommer – Daniel Behle and the Oliver Schnyder Trio

In honor of this Daniel Behle Winterreise post hitting the top 10 this month (even though it was originally posted nearly a year ago), here is the video of the live performance associated with that rehearsal clip.

I noted last September that it must have been strange singing this chilly cycle in the heat of an Austrian summer. We notice that Herr Behle takes off his jacket early in the program. Will he take anything else off? (He doesn't, but it did make you stop and wonder for a second, didn't it?)

Sunday Brunch – Miah and Ann and John Eliot and Wolfie

Miah Persson, Ann Hallenberg, Peter Mattei, John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir...

...and Mozart. Need I say more? *

*Probably, but I wanted to make sure you had a chance to hear it. Then we can talk!

(If you don’t have a lot of time, at least take a few minutes to check out the soprano duel duet that starts at about 16 minutes in.)