Gratuitous Friday Part 2 – Jonas Kaufmann's Other Test Drive

Apparently, the video in my previous post was not the first time JK test-drove a Bimmer. This clip was posted to YT in 2010 and by all appearances, it was filmed that year. It seems that driving helps him learn his music. 

I have to admit I melted a bit when he started singing the flower aria from Carmen (that and when he patted the car on it's rear fender). Thanks to reader Cecily K for sending me the link to this clip.

Gratuitous Friday – Jonas Kaufmann's Test Drive

Finally! My two favorite obsessions—cars and opera (and JK in particular)—in one place: In this six-minute clip, Jonas Kaufmann test-drives the latest top-luxe BMW 7 series limo. (Although I think this clip actually is a few years old, as JK seems to still be wearing braces and they show a clip of his concert with Erwin Schrott and Anna Netrebko.) 

Why didn't someone think of this sooner? Cars and opera! Perfect!

From Kasarova to Lehtipuu via Other People's Blogs

Today, for some reason (probably because I saw the CD on the shelf), I decided to listen to Vesselina Kasarova's Lieder recital from 1999. Then I decided to see if I had ever gotten around to ripping it to iTunes. 

Aha! There it is in iTunes, but there's no cover photo (iTunes is not great at tracking down classical album covers.) So, of course, I Google images for "Kasarova Lieder."

The first image was the CD cover (now duly saved and linked to the files in iTunes). The fourth image linked me to a blog post by Smorgy called Why I Love Vesselina Kasarova. That Smorgy loves Kasarova is not news, but why Smorgy loves Kasarova was a new story for me. And it's a wonderful story. Her post also touches on indiscriminate "music criticism" that has little to do music or with actual criticism.

Placido Domingo – Both Baritone and Tenor in Verdi (Now and Then)

Nabucco, Vienna 2014

Ö1 Radio is allowing us a "what a difference 30 years makes" comparison. We have Placido Domingo in his tenor heyday (1984) as Manrico in Il Trovatore, and in the new Wiener Staatsoper production of Nabucco (2014 – 47 years after his Vienna debut!) in his new career as a baritone.

Il Trovatore, Rome 1984

Some might wonder if Domingo 2.0 would be singing at all if not for the fabulous career of Domingo 1.0. Is he stealing roles from other deserving baritones? Are the opera houses using him as audience bait? There's no doubt he's an excellent musician, and he still sings pretty darned well, so debate may be beside the point. 

We have lots of time to ponder these and other possibly imponderable questions (and to listen to that Trovatore—a commercial recording—which is his second, I think). But we have only a few more days to listen to the Nabucco on Ö1 .  

Nixon In China at the Met

John Adams' Doctor Atomic (2005) just received a brand new production by the Opéra National du Rhin. Here's the first opera by John Adams—essentially the original 1987 production revived at the Met in 2011.