Saturday Matinee – Cav und Pag mit Kaufmann

Several fans have posted this performance on the TOOB. This is the cleanest transfer I've seen so far, and they're both together in one file. I've always been more partial to Cav. Couldn't someone pair it with something like Gianni Schicci or another fluffier piece? 

But the opportunity to see/hear JK in both roles is hard to pass up. I confess I haven't sat through the whole double feature yet. (I had to re-watch the blue kool-aid Cosi first!) Maybe today's the day for Cav/Pag. Happy Saturday Matinee everyone!

Update 02/08/2018: because opera fugit, the Cav has disappeared; but Pag has shown up again. Here it is:

And here's the beginning of a playlist with some clips from Cav: 

Cosi fan Luca (and Martin and Gerald)

Thanks to the YouTuber who posted the opening sequence from last year's Salzburg revival/reworking of Sven-Eric Bechtolf's "don't drink the blue (in this case green) kool-aid" Cosi. Maestro von Eschenbach received generally bad reviews for this performance, but this bit seems to go well. (Note that the action begins before the overture ends.)

Speaking of the blue kool-aid, I notice there is more byplay with beverages in this opening scene than before. There seems to be some foreshadowing that Alfonso is gonna get it this time. 

Also note the nightgown exchange...already the boys are having trouble remembering which sister is his girlfriend. I must find the rest of this broadcast!

Ö1 Radio: Broadcasts of Mozart Past – Mitridate, Re di Ponto (1997)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Mitridate, Re di Ponto

Bruce Ford (Mitridate)

Cyndia Sieden (Aspasia)

Christiane Oelze (Sifare)

Vesselina Kasarova (Farnace)

Heidi Grant Murphy (Ismene)

Toby Spence (Marzio)

Larissa Rudakova (Arbate)

Camerata Salzburg

Sir Roger Norrington

Live recording from the 

1997 Salzburger Mozartwoche 

on Ö1 Radio now!

Salzburg 2013 Cosi Finally on Ö1 Radio. Hooray!

© Michael Pöhn

Guess why Ferrando and Guglielmo are jumping for joy? 

Tonight, Austria's Ö1 Radio is finally broadcasting the Salzburg Festival Cosi Fan Tutte! The broadcast is at 19:30 (which is about 1:30 PM Eastern Time), and it should stay in the archive for about a week on (the amazing and handy) 7 Tage Ö1 (A week of radio when you want it!)

The performances did not garner glowing reviews (the Maestro seems to have been lackluster at best). But the singing must be at least semi-stellar. I mean, look at this cast list:

Malin Hartelius – Fiordiligi

Marie-Claude Chappuis – Dorabella

Martina Janková – Despina

Martin Mitterrutzner – Ferrando

Luca Pisaroni – Guglielmo

Gerald Finley – Don Alfonso

Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor

Wiener Philharmoniker

Christoph Eschenbach

Recorded in the Haus für Mozart in August as part of the Salzburger Festspiele 2013

Gratuitous Friday – Thomas Ebenstein on "Open Mike Night"

From the Jedermann Bühne (Everyman Stage – kind of an “open mike in the plaza”) in Salzburg, Thomas Ebenstein sings Pedrillo's lovely little ballad from Act 3 of Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Im Mohrenland gefangen war. (The guitarist is not awesome, but then again, he’s not why I posted this clip, is he?) This was recorded this past summer, before the Hangar 7 TV production of Die Entführung.

Servus.TV präsentiert 

Thomas Ebenstein auf die Salzburger Jedermann Bühne

Die Entfürhung aus Hangar 7 – The Review

From the folks who brought you La Traviata in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof, this Servus TV production, which is part of this summer's Salzberger Festpielen, is novel and pleasant. But ultimately, it’s more of a spectacle than a drama-with-music. 

Clearly, from an acoustic standpoint, an airplane hangar is a less-than-optimal setting for the singers, and ensemble work is occasionally dodgy. On the other hand, given the obstacles, the singers do remarkably well. Of course, such flaws are part of the excitement of live performance. The acting and singing range from OK to quite good and the visuals are almost always fun, fascinating, or at least interesting. All that is to say it’s a fun cool experiment, and if it gets more people even superficially interested in opera, then job well done.

Abduction from Hangar 7 – Salzburger Festspiele Fernsehproduktion

On August 26, Hangar-7 at the Salzburg Airport was transformed into an event location resounding with culture, when Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, produced especially for TV viewers in co-production with ServusTV, was broadcast live from there. 

I just found this copy of the broadcast. Watch it before it disappears. We'll chat about it later.

(Updates 9/9/2013: 1. Rebecca Nelsen is Blonde in this production. 2. You can see a much higher quality video at the Servus TV website.) 

Jonas Kaufmann – No Limits

If he weren't the greatest tenor singing today, he’d sound arrogant. In this nearly-20-minute interview, Jonas Kaufmann talks about Verdi, Don Carlo, and Schiller, among others. Herr Kaufmann clearly has a good perspective on his career. He has brains as well as resonance; and he studies more than just the notes when he learns a role! 

JK also shares his thoughts about updated stagings (Verdi is pretty indestructible, while Puccini is much more tied to his original settings.) (Thanks to Intermezzo for drawing our attention to this fascinating interview.

Salzburger Festpiele Yearbook Photo – The Cast of Don Carlo

Because a lot of my facebook peeps are clergy and/or church-related folk, this photo kind of blended into my timeline. But something looked a little different—it mighta been that golden guy. This pic was nicked from Thomas Hampson's Facebook page. It's nice to see the whole gang together and smiling.

The cast of "Don Carlo" - Salzburger Festspiele | Salzburg Festival — with Mária Celeng, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Anja Harteros, Eric F. Halfvarson, Matti Salminen, Antonio Pappano, Marie J Johnson, Jonas Kaufmann, Robert Lloyd, and Benjamin Bernheim at Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg.

Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed – Salzburg Festival "Cosi"

© Michael Pöhn

SN: Sie haben alle Da-Ponte-Opern in Zürich inszeniert.... Stimmt, was Intendant Alexander Pereira versichert: In Salzburg wird alles ganz und gar neu?

Bechtolf: Das weiß ich noch nicht.* 

Now we know. The answer to the burning question (well, my burning question) is here. What did Sven-Eric Bechtolf do to upgrade his 2009 Zurich Cosi fan tutte for the 2013 Salzburg Festival?

Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco on Austria's Ö1 Radio – But Only for a Few Days

Austria's Ö1 radio has a great archive system called 7 Tage Ö1, which holds broadcasts for replay for ... um, 7 days. I highly recommend it for everything, but in particular, I enjoyed Saturday’s concert performance of Giovanna d'Arco with Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, and some other singers. (I'm being facetious  It's a strong cast all around.) Paolo Carignani conducts the Philharmonia Chor Wien and the Münchner Rundfunkorchester.

Sunday Brunch – Dorothea Röschmann sings Mahler at the Salzburg Festival

So I just “discovered” Austria’s Ö1 webradio. They broadcast a good bit (if not all) of the Salzburg Summer Festival. I found this out while searching for a broadcast of Cosi fan tutte. Not only do they broadcast live, but they hold recordings in archive for a short period of time. 

This is how I got to hear DR singing the last movement of Mahler's 4th Symphony – exquisitely as always – from the Salzburg Festival. And now you can hear it, too. 

I don’t always think of a timbre like hers for this particular song. Often we hear a lighter, more child-like voice. (And sometimes, even an actual child, though that does not usually work as well.) However, she evokes both the innocence and the odd Mahlerian darkness of this little piece. Yet another example of Dorothea Röschmann’s exemplary vocal artistry. Enjoy!

You can hear Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco at Ö1, too. 

Salzburger Festspielen – Workouts and Condiments

Luca in Guglielmo's Costumes

According to an article in der Standard in Austria, Franz Welser-Möst withdrew from the Salzburg Festival Cosi Fan Tutte (to be broadcast Saturday, August 24 on Ö1 Radio) due to the singer-unfriendly curtain time of 11 AM (This may not be news to anyone else, but I never heard exactly what his objection was.) Clearly, Herr Welser-Möst has no experience as a church musician. 

Luca Pisaroni is more pragmatic: "When I have to sing at 11 AM...I get up at 7 AM and go to the gym, or run a bit."* 

EZ-Pass to Herheim's Meistersinger

If, like me, you are having a difficult time (particularly in the U.S) accessing this performance of Die Meistersinger at 3sat.de TV (and/or keeping it from freezing), some enterprising soul posted it You-Know-Where. Thanks to La Cieca for the tip. 

It's rumored that this production soon will be coming to the Metropolitan Opera. This announcement, in connection with the name Stefan Herheim, has already ruffled the delicate sensibilities of some regie-0-phobes. Not surprisingly, the outrage exploded before anyone has heard much about the actual production, much less actually seen and heard it. What I’ve seen so far doesn’t look nearly as freaky as, say, Herheim’s Parsifal or La Boheme; in general, I find Herheim's Personenregie thorough and convincing; so far so good, here. 

Act 1

3sat Television Online – Salzburg's Seasons and Mastersingers

Dorothea Röschmann and Michael Schade 

I was watching Haydn's The Seasons from Salzburg again. It is an über-Austrian wonder of music making, with Nickolaus Harnoncourt, Dorothea Röschmann, Michael Schade, and Florian Boesch fronting the Viennese chorus and Philharmonic. Papa Haydn would be proud! The oratorio is a hymn of praise to God and nature. The libretto is kind of hokey—maybe naïve would be a nicer way to say it—but the three soloists give it their all.

Unfortunately, the 3sat Television feed kept freezing. The good thing is the screen-cap above. When the feed froze on this image, I just knew I had to share it—two singers who love what they’re doing, and seem to love singing together. Here is the link to the Seasons feed.

Sunday Brunch – Mozart: Idomeneo: Andrò rammingo, e solo

Salzburg 2006: Visually, this M22 production may seem a bit bizarre, but with these wonderful singers—Magdalena Kozena, Ekaterina Siurinas, Anja Harteros, and Ramón Vargas—and Sir Roger Norrington on the podium, there is musical magic. The whole production is wonderful. (Text and translation are below.)

Gratuitous Luca Pisaroni Post – Publio (La Clemenza di Tito)

This little aria from La Clemenza di Tito often is treated as a throwaway. In fact, the whole role of Publio—except for his participation in several significant trios—often seems nearly superfluous. However, Martin Kušej made the most of having handsome, young, bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni in the role.

This is not the school-principal Publio, the Cowardly Lion Publio, the stomping-around-shouting-commands Publio, or even the stand-around-and-be-ready-for-the-trios Publio. This Publio has just as many issues as the rest of this crazy group–maybe more. He may (or may not) have serious intentions towards Tito, Vitelia, and/or Sesto (and possibly any number of named and unnamed characters). 

Luca Pisaroni – A James Dean for Mozart (According to the Salzburg Festspielfreunde)

"Luca Pisaroni has a very special relationship with the Salzburg Festival. He has been performing here for as long as he has been an opera singer, and throughout his career he has had an association with the Festival. In 2013 he is singing Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, an opera in which he reads between the lines."

La Traviata, Salzburg 2005: I Have a Theory, and it's Mine

Probably no one needs to say anything more about the Willy Decker production of La Traviata. But I never let that stop me before, and with a blog called “Regie, or Not Regie?” I feel obligated to address it. In this post, I will present several theories, answer a few questions, and make a suggestion.

Handel: Theodora – Salzburg 2009: I Respectfully Dis-regie

I have nothing but praise for the musical quality of this performance of Handel’s oratorio. Each soloist is top notch (both singing and acting), the Salzburger Bachchor is outstanding, and I don’t think the Freiburger Barockorchester can do anything wrong.  However, I feel neutral-to-negative about the overall package.

Director Christof Loy thinks the oratorio has no narrative, so he doesn’t bother to deal with it. I happen to disagree with him, but he somehow forgot to consult with me.  The Groβes Festspielhaus is hardly an ideal venue for this intimate work. However, Loy notes that the massive stage helps him create an “installation” in which intimacy appears to be “threatened in the most extreme ways.” I admire him for attempting to turn a liability into an advantage, but I don’t buy this half-and-half, kind-of-staged approach. I say have more action; have less action; take a stand.  He keeps teasing me into thinking something is going to happen, but then it doesn’t.  If one is going to treat the piece as if there is no narrative, do a concert performance, or at least give us some nice tableaux to look at.