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.)

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.)

Watching the Radio – Domingo This Week; Veracini Next Week on Ö1

Saturday night (tonight), Domingo explores more of the baritone repertoire in a live broadcast from the Theater an der Wien of Verdi’s I due Foscari.

Placido Domingo (Francesco Foscari)

Arturo Chacón-Cruz (Jacopo Foscari)

Davinia Rodriguez (Lucrezia Contarini)

Roberto Tagliavini (Jacopo Loredano)

Andrew Owens (Barbarigo)

Gaia Petrone (Pisana); 

Arnold Schoenberg Chor

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester

Conducted by James Conlon

PD as uno Foscari

Gratuitous Friday – Ann Hallenberg is Ariodante

The post called belief in a higher power, over at parterrebox.com, is a wonderful appreciation (adulation?) of the Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg. It's exciting to know there are other Ann-fanns out there. DeCaffarrelli also mentions another handful of marvelous, but less-superstar-famous sopranos from the past, most of whom we True Opera Fans already know. If you don’t know them, check them out. But first, watch/listen to the clip below, then go read DeCaffarrelli’s great post. 

Gratuitous Friday - Ann Hallenberg Sings Handel

I mentioned my "discovery" of Ann Hallenberg earlier this week. I actually picked up that recording because of Sonia Prina and Pavol Breslik. And of course, I admire the early music adventures of Emmanuelle Haim. But I really fell for Ann. I also mentioned Monday that there were some familiar tunes in Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. One of them is the aria Lascia la spina, which also appears, reworked into Lascia ch’io pianga in Rinaldo. Below is the Il Trionfo recording.

Handel Wants More Time – Voglio tempo

We all want more time. And this seemed like a good theme for New Year's Eve. This is a promo video from the lovely and talented (but annoying to watch at work) Emanulle Haim's recording of Handel's Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (The Triumph of Time and Enlightenment).