Thomas Hampson – Schubert Master Class in Heidelberg

Schubert master class in Heidelberg. Much good advice for singers. And Mr. Hampson also provides great guidance for the accompanist. I always find a few tidbits I can apply to my own music-making and/or life as well. Highly recommended! And there will be another one tomorrow morning. 

Check here for more information, too. 

More He Sang She Sang -- Michael Fabiano/Mefistofele Edition

Michael Fabiano appeared today on He Sang She Sang. Mr. Fabiano chats about Mefistofele, singing, his life philosophtm his new marriage, flying, and his ArtSmart foundation. 

He Sang She Sang – Podcast Reincarnated as Live Facebook Videos

I've  periodically harassed WQXR to ask them to bring back the one-season podcast He Sang She Sang, which presented wonderful insights into upcoming Met opera broadcasts. They've steadfastly ignored me.

Meanwhile, He Sang She Sang sneakily reappeared as video feeds on Facebook. They're now focused more on behind-the-scenes conversations with opera singers. They're a lot of fun; and they're informative. I think they're available only at Facebook; do check them out!

Gratuitous Friday* – Dorothea, Vesselina, and Luca, (and Mozart)

I just found a Luca Pisaroni fanpage on Facebook; joining the group made me look back at my Luca posts. Due to the ephemeral nature of YouTube and the fact that Dropbox abolished the Public folder, I am missing a lot of music from my old blog posts**. I am not sure I even posted this one before, but it’s worth a replay either way. 

This is that slightly kinky "I'm going to smell your hair and there's nothing you can do about it"** version of Publio. (And, of course, the amazing vocal and dramatic talents of DR and VK!)

Happy Weekend!

*It’s Friday somewhere!

**I'd love to go back and replace all the missing files, but my energy's probably better spent finding new stuff. 

***This is a paraphrase of the observation made by opera blogger, Earworm. I cannot find the particular post where she said this (it may have been in a comments section of my blog), but here is the link to her blog.

As Seen on Facebook – Devil, Dogs, and Discomfort

The devil you say!

Just when you thought Luca couldn't get any hotter.
(In Faust at the Houston Grand Opera.)

It's a dog's life.

Lenny and Tristan chillin!

This looks like it will be a dramatic and appropriately uncomfortable rendering of Mozart's problematic opera (though probably not as icky as the Bieito production!) After all, the it's not the Rescue from the Seraglio, it’s the Kidnapping (abduction is too romantic a word). This blogger looks forward to a video!

Pavol Breslik "rescues" Olga Peretyako in the new
Zurich production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail.  

Rameau's Les Indes Galantes – This Sunday on Staatsoper.tv

As seen on Facebook:

Live and free of charge from Prinzregententheater: The festival premiere of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Les Indes Galantes!

With Anna Prohaska, Mathias Vidal, Lisette Oropesa, dancers of the Compagnie Eastman a.o. 

Don't miss our online broadcast on www.staatsoper.de/tv!

Learn more: https://www.staatsoper.de/en/productioninfo/les-indes-galantes.htmll

Note: By my calculation, it should be on at 12:00 PM Eastern time in the U.S. 

I’m sure it will be great, but it’ll be hard to live up to the visuals of Laura Scozzi’s production from Bordeaux (this is one of the safe-for-work images):

P.S: Next Sunday (July 31) is the new Die Meistersinger with none other than Jonas Kaufmann...and some other singers, probably. That will be an earlier start. Looks like I should have gotten a substitute organist.

As Seen on Facebook – Happy Birthday to Thomas Hampson

Luca Pisaroni

19 hrs · 

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY!! to my AWESOMEST father-in-law Thomas Hampson.
You are a rockstar!!!! Love you loads!!!!

Catherine Pisaroni shared Luca Pisaroni's photo.

19 hrs · Edited ·

I have the best family EVER and today we celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday. Love you soooo much!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And what a nice photo. Catherine is so fortunate to have these two men in her life! (not to mention those two furry guys, Lenny and Tristan!) 

Lenny & Tristan

Page Liked · 17 hrs · 

Happy birthday!!! We love you!!! 💕💕💕💕 — withThomas Hampson.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hampson!

As Seen on Facebook – Opera Colleague, Fan, or Stalker?

OK to be fair, this is not new news. JDD posted this photo last fall. But when one of my favorite bass-baritones appears to be stalking one of my (and the world's) favorite mezzo-sopranos, who can resist sharing this classic photo? (Don’t you just want to go out for pizza and a beer with these two crazy kids?)

Is @lucapisaroni stalking @joycedidonato ?

Does @catecool know about her husband's mezzo-mania? 

LeporelloGram Tomorrow from the Met, Courtesy of Luca Pisaroni

If you haven't already signed up for Instagram to follow Joyce DiDonato (she's who finally drew me over to the dark side) here's another good reason to give it a try:

Luca Pisaroni

3 hrs · 

I’ll take over The Metropolitan Opera's Instagram account tomorrow and will post behind-the-scenes glimpses of Don Giovanni, my daily rituals on the days of a show... http://instagram.com/metopera ‪#‎LeporelloGram‬

Malin Hartelius as Armida (Photos As Seen on Facebook)

So, poor Netta Or got sick, and Malin Hartelius stepped into a new production of Rinaldo in Bonn. From the looks of it, she sexes things up—with a little something for everyone! Now if we can just get to hear her performance as the sorceress Armida.

See more photos at MH's Facebook Page

Just Curious...

...about all the traffic from Facebook to this morning's Rosenkavalier post. (Mr. Regie, we've noticed some unusual activity in your account.)

Mind you, I'm not complaining. Just wondering who posted it where on Facebook? Hmmmmm...

As Seen on Facebook – JDD's Newsletter and LP's Pep-Talk Video

Our Yankee Diva now has a newsletter! What are you waiting for? Go sign up!!

Joyce DiDonato

Liked · May 5 

 

As I continue to embrace the 21st Century, I invite you to sign up for a not-too-frequent Newsletter that will bring you up-to-date news, fabulous miscellany, and the chance for you to share the word with friends and family! Please sign up HERE (and rest assured, we will not share your information with ANY other sources.) http://eepurl.com/TL-q5

And Luca Pisaroni posted this short and sweet video right before today's Met in HD broadcast of La Cenerentola. 

As Seen On Facebook – Matthias Goerne Steps in for Thomas Hampson

Thomas Hampson

I am very disappointed to have to cancel tonight’s performance of Wozzeck at the Met due to bronchitis. I hope to be better soon and look forward to singing this challenging genius opera. What great luck that my friend and colleague Matthias Goerne is in town and is willing to add tonight’s performance to his busy schedule. Wishing my wonderful colleagues, Maestro Levine, and the whole Wozzeck team and of course the audience a thrilling opening night. I will miss being there, be sure.

I feel sorry for Mr. Hampson. I know from personal experience that having bronchitis is no fun. And I'm very certain (though I do not have personal experience in this regard) that missing one's role debut as Wozzeck at the Met is extraordinarily disappointing. Best wishes for a speedy and thorough recovery, Mr. Hampson! 

I am sure Thomas Hampson fans holding tickets for tonight's performance were rather disappointed, too. But hopefully they were able to get over it and revel in the opportunity to hear the man who stepped in at very short notice.

It just so happens Matthias Goerne is in New York this week. Last night he sang Die Schöne Müllerin at Carnegie Hall, and last week he sang...you guessed it: Wozzeck...in concert with the Wiener Staatsoper. Herr Goerne is only just an Awesome Wozzeck (and an awesome just about anything he sings!)

It was live streamed on from the Met's website. I got to hear part of it. (in between wi-fi dropouts! Argh!!!) With James Levine conducting and Deborah Voigt, Matthias Goerne, and other fine singers singing, this work sounded lush and nearly romantic! It was an extraordinary performance!

I am so glad I just happened to check my Facebook feed at dinner time tonight!

As seen today on metoperafamily.org (who are very good about keeping their website up to date. He only said yes at around 2:00 PM today!): 

Goerne Steps in as Wozzeck

Matthias Goerne will be singing the title role in tonight's performance of Berg's Wozzeck, replacing Thomas Hampson, who is ill. Deborah Voigt stars as Marie, and Music Director James Levine conducts.

As Seen On Facebook – The Always-Gracious Malin Haretlius

It’s not surprising that Malin Hartelius is such a gracious lady! And I agree with her: Luftansa rocks (even when they accidentally assigned the same seat to both My Dad and me—we do have the same name—at least they fixed it right away!)

Malin Hartelius

11 hours ago

A Huge Thank You to the lady at the check in desk and the rest of her colleagues at Lufthansa, who mede get on my connecting flight from Sochi today. After checking out my luggage, I had 1/2 an hour before departure to get to the next terminal, check in and get to the plane. I made it! God Bless You!!!

Unlike ·  · Share

• You and 3 others like this.

As Seen on Facebook...

This shout-out to Alban Berg by Thomas Hampson, who is preparing his Met role debut:

A rebuttal by David Daniels to a review of the UK version of the recent English Concert Theodora, (he's not participating in the UK/Europe run) and a candid rehearsal photo from Carnegie Hall, featuring our beloved Dorothea Röschmann:

And this from David Bižić (who is starring in Don Giovanni in Vienna with several other artists of interest):

FB is for Fanboy…and for Facebook

So, where is a good place for a fanboy to track down his 
favorite singers and find out what they’re up to? Well, if said singers have a Facebook page, that’s a good place to start. 
I found out about the New Year’s Eve Beethoven’s Ninth broadcast in Leipzig from Malin Hartelius’ Facebook page. 
A note on Ann Hallenberg's page alerted me to a stylish performance of Mozart's C minor Mass. And I keep up to date on Luca Pisaroni with his frequent posts. (Luca's dogs, Lenny and Tristan, post even more than he does!)