Speaking of La Clemenza di Tito... (Tito Tuesday – Audio Only)

As if I am ever NOT speaking of La Clemenza di Tito (well, except when speaking of Idomeneo, Orfeo ed Eurydice, Le Nozze di Figaro, etc., etc.) 

But...Holy Cats! How did I miss this? We know I love Joyce DiDonato and Matthew Polenzani. And it turns out Amanda Majeski is no slouch either—a very mezzo-y sounding Vitellia indeed (and that’s not a bad thing)! 

My blog buddy Earworm saw this production in person and reviewed it. Would that there were a video, too!

Doctor Atomic Streaming Live from Strasbourg – May 6, 2014

A new production of John Adams' Doctor Atomic will be streamed live on Culturebox and Medici TV tomorrow at 2:00pm Eastern time; 8:00pm in France).

Doctor Atomic arose from a series of commissions by the San Francisco Opera House on the theme of Faust, and more precisely on what relevance this mythical topic could still have in a country like the United States. John Adams and his librettist Peter Sellars had the idea of linking up Faust's demiurge utopia with one of the greatest scientific and human adventures of the 20th century – the Manhattan Project, which was to end in developing the most excessive, most Mephistophelean weapon in history: the atomic bomb. Mastering matter to make a weapon of destruction – what more could inspire these two artists who were so close to the daily reality of their contemporaries and the excesses of our world...

 – from the Opéra national du Rhin website

Update 5/7/2014: This is will be available for free on MediciTV for about a month or so, and for about a year on Culturebox. 

Dr. and Mrs. Oppenheimer will be sung by RnR favorites: Baritone Dietrich Henschel, seen and heard in Pelléas et Mélisande, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, and Capriccio, to name a few; and mezzo Anna Grevelius, who we developed a crush on when she appeared at La Monnaie as Annio in La Clemenza di Tito.

Monday Mozart – Charles Castronovo is Tito (Audio Only)

Big-voiced, but still agile, CC is a convincing and impressive Tito. Oh, and by the way this 2006 recording is commercially available...in Europe. Looky who else was in this performance!  (sigh)

Tito's other two arias are after the jump. Thanks, tenorgoodfellow (clearly a Castronovo fan – and why not?), for posting these arias!

Fierrabras Complete – You Know You're Curious, Go On, Check it Out

Yes this opera has its flaws—most of them dramatic. On the other hand, it has some really nice tunes, and this cast does a great job. While you're at it, you can try to suss out the reasoning behind the giant grand piano. Leave it to Claus Guth to give us something to chew while we listen to the pretty music.

You might be interested in reading my other posts about this production.

Trovatore Tuesday

Psst! Look what I found! Don't blink or you may miss it!