Lieder in a Foreign Land – Two Recitals on Radio 4 Concerthuis

For about 20 more days you can listen to Austrian Florian Boesch singing in England and Michael Schade (oft described as German/ Canadian) singing in Switzerland.

Here is Herr Boesch's recent Wigmore Hall recital of Schubert and Wolf, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau.

And here is Herr Schade's Freiberg program of mostly Schubert and Beethoven, accompanied by Justus Zeyen and recorded in June 2013.

Happy Listening!

Gratis Lohengrins for Gratuitous Friday (In Case You're too Cheap...)

...to pay for the Wiener Staatsoper webcast today, here are a few other complete Lohengrins to keep you busy over the weekend:

One from Munich:

The recent Guth version from La Scala:

An earlier Wiener Staatsoper production:

...and a (literally) dark production from Paris:

Live Lohengrin aus Wien am Freitag

Live this Friday from Vienna:

It's a new production of Lohengrin; it's pay per view; and it's available in prime time—no matter where you live. (I think I just sprained my brain). 

Actually, it's live in Vienna at 5 PM, making it live in New York at around 11 AM (if I am calculating my Daylight Savings Time correctly). However, you can arrange see a delayed transmission in any time zone you want. Those innovative Austrians! 

Here is the link to the Wiener Staatsoper's website. And here's who we have to thank for this new production:

Günther Groissböck | Heinrich der Vogler

Klaus-Florian Vogt | Lohengrin

Camilla Nylund | Elsa von Brabant

Wolfgang Koch | Friedrich von Telramund

Michaela Martens | Ortrud

Detlef Roth | Heerrufer

Mikko Franck | Conductor

Andreas Homoki | Director

Wolfgang Gussmann | Stage and costume design

Franck Evin | Light Design

Werner Hintze | Dramaturgie

Thomas Bruner | Bühnenbildmitarbeit

Carl-Christian Andreasen | Kostümmitarbeit

Peter Sellars – Two of his Classic Mozart Productions on the Tube

Nearly everyone has an opinion about Peter Sellars' productions of...well everything he's ever directed. He's been around for a while, now and he is not going away—I think his work has really matured over the years. He surfaced as an opera director with his 1990-ish films of the three great Mozart/DaPonte operas. (You might argue with the term "classic" when describing his productions. However, like them or not, they are classics of their genre.) 

I encountered these three productions when they were first broadcast on PBS. I was fascinated by Le nozze di Figaro, a bit annoyed by Cosi fan Tutte, and completely put off by Don Giovanni (I switched it off in the middle of the "Champagne Aria," finding the production icky and some of the singing unbearable.)

Now, with more life experience, more opera experience, more experience with Regietheater (although I am not sure these two really count as regie—feel free to discuss/disagree in the comments section below), and a completely different world outlook, I re-approached these operas with curiosity. The good news is that we can experiment with and form our own opinions on Mr. Sellars' Cosi and Giovanni for free on YT (for now). Thanks to the enterprising Opera Nerd for posting them!

The Otterphile – Easter Edition

Anne Sofie von Otter with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert:

Happy Easter!