OK, so if it's not a master class blog, is this becoming a blog full of
gratuitous mentions of JoyceDiDonato
and Thomas Hampson? Probably.
But don't worry, I am not forgetting my other
obsessions! It's just what's happening now is you can hear both TH's and JDD'srecent orchestral programs online in the radio archives, thanks to NPO Radio 4 in the Netherlands and WQXR in New York, NY.
Thomas Hampson recently participated in Mariss Jansons'farewell concertwith
the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (March 20), singing Mahler (natürlich),
Copland (of course), and Berio (not as surprising as you might think).
And Joyce DiDonato brought her Carnegie Hall residence to a close on March 18 with a wonderfulbel canto concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra, sharing the stage with Laura Claycomb and Lawrence Brownlee.
I caught most of TH's program (including a fine orchestral reading of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra) but I totally zoned out and missed JDD's concert. Now we all can relive (or live for the first time these two outstanding programs!
Of course, all of them have a Figaro! Here are five fine performances of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro—each with its own particular charms—courtesy of
our fellow opera lovers over at YT. (And there are several more, if you're so inclined.)
Happy Monday!
Ludovic Tézier, Barbara Frittoli, Ekaterina Siurina, Luca
Pisaroni, Karine Deshayes
Philippe Jordan, Opéra national de Paris orchestra and chorus (2010)
Knut Skram, Ileana Cotrubas, Benjamin
Luxon, Kiri Te Kanawa, Fredirica Von Stade
John Pritchard, Glyndebourne (1973)
Hermann Prey, Mirella Freni, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kiri Te Kanawa, Maria Ewing Karl Böhm, Wiener Philharmoniker (1973)
Lucia Popp, José van Dam, Gabriel
Bacquier, Gundula Janowitz, Frederica Von Stade
Georg Solti, Opéra de Paris
Orchestra and Chorus (1980)
And, of course:
Dorothea Röschmann, Bo Skovhus, Anna
Netrebko, Ildebrando d'Archaneglo, Christine Schäfer Nikolaus Harnoncourt,
Salzburg Festspiele (2006)
Is this
becoming a Master Class blog? Maybe. But that's not important right now. What's
important is this interview with Joyce DiDonato, in which she reflects on her
residency at Carnegie Hall as it draws to a close. From the WNYC.org website:
Celebrated mezzo-soprano Joyce
DiDonato discusses her Carnegie Hall
"Perspectives" series, ranging from the Baroque and bel canto eras to
new works by Jake Heggie. She completes the series on Wednesday, March 18
with The Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Maurizio Benini, singing
the rarely heard bel canto arias and ensembles with soprano Nicole Cabell
and tenor Lawrence Brownlee.
It's interesting to hear the interviewer. He does a good job, but from his questions, he doesn't seem too tuned into music in general or opera in particular.
Listen to
the interview here. The Carnegie Hall concert airs tonight, on WQXR. P.S. If you haven't watched the Master Classes yet, do so. Now. Or soon.
The Julliard School has finally posted Thomas
Hampson's2015 Master
Classes. If you missed them back in January, here's your
chance to get caught up. Or,
if you saw them back in January, here's your chance to go back and savor the
special moments.
Like, "Let's pretend that this country has opera houses in
sizes that are actually about opera and not about ticket sales." And the wonderful, unexpected coaching that accompanist Valeriya Polunina received as a
bonus for playing for (amazing young) tenor William Goforth.
OK, so stop reading this blog post, and go watch and learn! (And be entertained, too.)
