Renée Fleming Presents A Taste Of Winter Wonderland In New Video

October 30, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Diana Damrau Dives Into Unfamiliar Territory With Kent Nagano

≪ Previous: Joyce DiDonato Goes Patriotic With National Anthem For World Series

$

0

0

With the release of Renée Fleming's new Christmas-themed recording, Decca Classics now releases a video featuring performance clips of selections from the album. "Following her acclaimed performance at Super Bowl XLVIII, America’s favourite soprano Renée Fleming releases her first-ever holiday album, Christmas In New York. The album celebrates the sparkle and sophistication of the beloved Christmas season in New York City, with music conjuring such iconic scenes as the holiday windows lining 5th Avenue, the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center and carriage rides in Central Park. A richly collaborative album, Christmas in New York finds Renée Fleming singing with a relaxed intimacy and freedom distinct from her soaring classical voice. Holiday evergreens and nostalgic favorites are both featured with fresh arrangements, joined by a wish list of guests from jazz, pop and Broadway including Gregory Porter, Chris Botti, Kurt Elling, Kelli O’Hara, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, and Rufus Wainwright. Highlights include 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,''Silver Bells,''Winter Wonderland,''Sleigh Ride' and 'Central Park Serenade,' a brand new duet by songwriting legend Diane Warren." [Source] To listen to tracks off the album, including the exclusive bonus track available when you purchase the MP3 album, click here. Watch the promotional video, and find some beautiful new publicity photos of Renée Fleming, after the jump.

---

Diana Damrau Dives Into Unfamiliar Territory With Kent Nagano

October 30, 2014, 7:02 am

≫ Next: Dimitri Caceaune Photographs Angela Gheorghiu For Christmas CD

≪ Previous: Renée Fleming Presents A Taste Of Winter Wonderland In New Video

$

0

0

Chant Japonais: Listen to Diana Damrau's interpretation  of Japanese songs for children by clicking here and  purchase the recording here.

"One day, Kent Nagano listened carefully when his wife was singing a children’s song to his daughter. The song told a chapter of Japanese history previously unknown to him: It told of emotion, tenderness, love – and bitterness. The song originates from a period when Japan had to open up to the West. At this time, Japan was suffering from over population, starvation and poverty. “These songs came to me very late. Though of Japanese heritage, my family came to America at the end of the 19th century leaving me three generations away from Japan. I came down one morning to breakfast and found my daughter listening to these songs on a little recording, and my wife was singing along with the songs to try to teach them to my daughter.” His daughter Karin Kei was three years old on the day she inspired one of her father’s most ambitious projects. Kent Nagano was so touched by the lyrics and sounds of the songs that he immediately started researching their source. “After quite a while, I’d say six weeks or two months, after listening every morning to these intriguing and beautiful melodies, it occurred to me that due to my limited Japanese, I had no complete comprehension of what they were about, and so I asked my daughter to explain the texts. Her translation, confirmed by my wife, revealed a complex and profoundly poetic collection of texts. They were at once both intensely moving emotionally and disturbing. Their haunting, mysterious beauty has continued to entice all generations since their creation making them actual and vividly relevant to our modern world.” In Japan, the songs that enchanted Nagano are commonly known as 'Shoka', or school hymns. They are based on famous Japanese poetry, but are composed in the Western musical style. The songs emerged during the era of the Meiji-Restorations in the outgoing 19th and early 20th centuries. It was the time when Japan finally opened itself to the West after close to 250 years of reclusiveness. The backward feudal state transformed into a modern imperial world power. It was in this period of economic and cultural upheaval that the children’s 'Shoka' came into being. Sometimes the lyrics deal with day to day

life, while other songs tell of the strangers coming ashore in Japan. Some tell the stories of Japanese who went overseas to flee the poverty at home. The songs from ancient times have left a deep impression on the American conductor and rekindled his interest in his Japanese roots. Kent Nagano wanted to bring them to public attention by a performance with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. His friend, Peter Schmidt, a famous designer from Hamburg, created animated short films to support the musical event." [Source] Read more about the recording, and hear four full tracks off the recording, after the jump.

"Un jour, Kent Nagano écoutait avec attention sa femme qui chantait un air enfantin à sa fille. Celui-ci narrait un chapitre de l’histoire japonaise qui lui était jusque-là inconnu : une histoire d’émotion, de tendresse, d’amour – et d’amertume. Le chant avait été conçu à une période au cours de laquelle le Japon avait dû s’ouvrir à l’Occident, le pays souffrant alors de surpopulation, de famine et de pauvreté. 'Ces chants me sont parvenus très tard. Malgré un héritage japonais, ma famille est venue s’établir en Amérique à la fin du 19e siècle. Trois générations me séparaient du Japon. Je suis descendu déjeuner un matin et ai trouvé ma fille en train d’écouter ces chansons sur un petit magnétophone et ma femme chantait, afin de les lui enseigner.' Karin Kei avait trois ans quand elle est devenue la source d’inspiration d’un des projets les plus ambitieux de son père. Kent Nagano était si touché par les paroles et les sonorités de ces chansons qu’il se mit aussitôt à faire des recherches pour remonter à leurs sources. 'Après un bon moment, je dirais six semaines ou deux mois, alors que j’écoutais chaque matin ces mélodies intrigantes et magnifiques, je me suis rendu compte qu’en raison de ma maîtrise limitée de la langue japonaise, je ne pouvais avoir une compréhension complète de ce dont elles parlaient. J’ai alors demandé à ma fille de m’expliquer les textes. Sa traduction, confirmée par mon épouse, mettait en lumière un recueil de textes à la fois complexes et profondément poétiques, en plus d’être intensément émouvants et bouleversants. Leur beauté mystérieuse et envoutante continue de séduire, toutes générations confondues, depuis leur création. Ils sont ainsi toujours d’actualité et d’une vive pertinence dans notre monde moderne.' Au Japon, les chants qui avaient enchanté maestro Nagano sont connus sous le nom de 'shoka' ou hymnes scolaires. Ils sont basés sur des poèmes japonais célèbres, mais composés dans un style musical occidental. Ces chants ont vu le jour à l’époque de la Restauration de Meiji à la fin du 19e et au début du 20e siècle. À cette époque, le Japon s’était enfin ouvert à l’Occident, après quasi 250 ans de repli. L’état féodal rétrograde s’était transformé en une puissance impériale moderne mondiale. C’est à cette époque de bouleversements économiques et culturels que le ;shoka' pour enfants est né. Les textes traitent parfois du quotidien, à d’autres moments évoquent les étrangers débarquant au Japon. Certains parlent aussi de Japonais ayant vécu outre-mer pour fuir la pauvreté. Ces chants du passé ont fait grande impression au chef américain et ravivé son intérêt pour ses racines japonaises. Kent Nagano souhaitait attirer l’attention du public en les donnant en concert avec l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Son ami Peter Schmidt, célèbre designer de Hambourg, avait alors créé des courts-métrages d’animation pour soutenir le propos musical. Avec l’ouverture du Japon, les missionnaires chrétiens américains et européens sont venus au pays. Des églises ont été construites et sont bientôt devenues le centre de la société, un endroit où les nouvelles chansons pour enfants pouvaient souvent être entendues. La poupée aux yeux bleus vient d’Amérique et est faite de celluloïd. Quand elle arrive au port, ses yeux sont

pleins de larmes. 'Je ne comprends rien. Que dois-je faire si je me perds?' Généreuses fillettes japonaises, soyez douces et gentilles quand vous jouez avec elle! Soyez douces et gentilles quand vous jouez avec elle! Les paroles furent d’abord publiées en 1921 dans une revue pour enfants. Un missionnaire américain inspiré par la chanson a eu l’idée de demander aux enfants des États-Unis d’envoyer des 'poupées aux yeux bleus' au Japon en témoignage de leur amitié. Mais en 1941, quand les États-Unis et le Japon sont entrés en guerre, les poupées sont devenues symboles de l’ennemi. Avec leurs grands yeux bleus, elles étaient perçues par les Japonais comme des "espionnes" et la majorité des poupées a été brûlée.

Souliers rouges
Portant des souliers rouges, une jeune fille est partie avec un étranger.
Portant des souliers rouges, une jeune fille est partie avec un étranger.
Du port de Yokohama, à bord d’un bateau, elle est partie avec un étranger.

Le chant enfantin akai kutsu raconte l’histoire d’une fillette adoptée par un missionnaire américain et sa femme, qui les accompagnera de Yokohama aux États-Unis. Écrit en 1921, akai kutsu est l’un des chants enfantins les plus populaires au Japon. Les paroles et la musique transmettent l’envie du lointain, mais aussi la jalousie ressentie envers cette fillette qui a pu se rendre dans 'l’Ouest promis,' portant les souliers rouges. On y perçoit aussi la pitié ressentie pour celle qui habite à l’étranger et s’ennuie du Japon." [Source]

Dimitri Caceaune Photographs Angela Gheorghiu For Christmas CD

November 5, 2014, 10:41 am

≫ Next: Christine Goerke Converses With OPERA America President

≪ Previous: Diana Damrau Dives Into Unfamiliar Territory With Kent Nagano

$

0

0

As a follow-up to her Romanian holiday album,  O, ce veste minunată!, Angela Gheorghiu's latest release, Guardian Angel, is a collection of 11 traditional Christmas carols from around the world. Featured tracks include: “Silent Night,” “White Christmas,” and “O, Tannenbaum.” Two special duets on the recording are "It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” with her daughter Ioana Dan and “I'll Be Home For Christmas” with Romanian pop-star Loredana Groza. "'For years I dreamed of Romanian and international carols recording. Last year the dream came true, Romanian carols CD was released. This year I am happy for my new disc, this time with international carols, which I love as much as the Romanian ones. I kept much as absolutely all the songs on this album to be re-orchestrated especially for my voice. We appealed to musicians in Romania and in the world: Steven Mercurio, Julien Painot and Andrei Tudor, and the result is exceptional,' said Angela Gheorghiu....'Eclectic repertoire is chosen, you will find pieces in English, French, German and even Russian. There are carols everywhere we wanted to include beauties of this music so popular worldwide. Christmas is the favorite holiday

of millions of people who are dreaming and in good faith, in harmony and peace, who want to be close to family and friends....I consider both a gift to the public in Romania, but also for the worldwide" said the soprano.'" The photographs taken for the cover and accompanying publicity materials were taken by Dimitri Caceaune. At 20-years old, the self-taught experimental photographer lives in Bucharest, Romania and prefers to shoot friends over models. Read an interview with the photographer here and see more of his fashion photographs by clicking here. [Source, Source] Complete album cover art is after the jump.

Christine Goerke Converses With OPERA America President

November 5, 2014, 5:53 pm

≫ Next: Alyson Cambridge Sings At 2014 Soul Train Awards In Las Vegas

≪ Previous: Dimitri Caceaune Photographs Angela Gheorghiu For Christmas CD

$

0

0

Eine große neue dramatische Stimme:  Christine Goerke discusses new opera repertoire

On November 5, 2014, dramatic soprano Christine Goerke visited The National Opera Center to discuss her career resurgence in dramatic new repertoire with OPERA America President Marc Scorca. The dialog from the evening includes her discover of opera at age 13; transferring her woodwind skills to her vocal training; experience working with young artist programs; the transition from lyric coloratura to a larger voice category with the help of Diana Soviero; the pressure of living up to opera legends in her repertoire; being a self-professed "music theory geek"; how she came to her acting skills in opera; copying text into notebooks to learn music; winning the Richard Tucker Award; breaking into the Wagner fach; her love of Astrid Varnay's voice; how much time she takes with an orchestral score while learning a role; returning to Glimmerglass to give advice to young singers; the future Ring cycles that she will be performing; and a myriad of questions from the audience at the event. "American soprano Christine Goerke is a Grammy Award-winning artist who has performed with many of the world's top opera companies, orchestras and musical ensembles. Goerke has been acclaimed worldwide for her opulent voice and her regal command of the Strauss, Verdi and Wagner repertoire. She has won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award for exceptional artistic promise and continues to astonish audiences with her outstanding vocal and dramatic artistry. Her basic approach to singing is marvelously anchored by an ample voice that has grown measurably in the past years, making her one of the most exciting dramatic sopranos of our time." Take a look at the evening's program by clicking here. Watch a video of the whole event, plus Ms. Goerke singing "Ah! Du wolltest mich nicht" from Salome by Strauss under the direction of Christian Thielemann,  after the jump.

Soprano Christine Goerke with OPERA America President Marc Scorca

Alyson Cambridge Sings At 2014 Soul Train Awards In Las Vegas

November 8, 2014, 7:56 am

≫ Next: Top Singers Commemorate The Fall Of Berlin Wall 25th Anniversary

≪ Previous: Christine Goerke Converses With OPERA America President

$

0

0

Fresh from performances as Musetta in Puccini's La bohème at Washington National Opera, soprano Alyson Cambridge was in Las Vegas last night to sing at the 2014 Soul Train Awards along such luminaries as Chris Brown, Missy Elliot, Lil' Kim, Bobby Brown, and more. The singer announced the news yesterday on Facebook stating: "Trying to duo [sic] the opera world proud! Bringing legit opera to primetime and then fusing it with hip hop too!" Press release "Chris Brown is set to kick off the 2014 Soul Train Awards, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. The musician, who leads this year's nominees list with seven nods, will take the Orleans Arena stage in Las Vegas on Nov. 7. Also slated to sing at the annual ceremony are Aloe Blacc, Nico & Vinz, Lisa Stansfield, Kem, Jeremih and Liv Warfield. Jodeci are also set to

Alyson Cambridge on the red carpet

reunite for a medley of their hits. Wendy Williams will host the event, airing Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. on Centric and BET networks. The 2014 show will celebrate the history of dance with choreographer Fatima Robinson and her seasoned troupe, as well as producers 1500 or Nothin’ on board as music directors. 'This slate of performances is another example that Soul Train Awards 2014 is the only place where soul music lovers can find the diverse combination of current chart-topping performers and reunions from their favorite hit-making groups,' said Paxton Baker, general manager and executive vp, Centric, in a statement. 'We are pulling out all the stops this year and are thrilled to have Chris Brown and Jodeci lead the big surprises we have in store.' The 2014 Soul Train Awards is directed by Tony McCuin and produced by BET Event Productions and Sunseeker Media. Executive producers include Centric's Baker, Tami Arasli and Derek Lewis; Sunseeker's Bart Phillips; Soul Train Holdings' David Koff and Jerry Letter; Doug E. Fresh and Wendy Williams Productions' Williams and Kevin Hunter." [Source] Read more about the singer on the event's website by clicking here. A photo of Alyson Cambridge in rehearsal for the event is after the jump.

Top Singers Commemorate The Fall Of Berlin Wall 25th Anniversary

November 8, 2014, 9:10 am

≫ Next: AHS Makes Clowns More Terrifying Than Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci"

≪ Previous: Alyson Cambridge Sings At 2014 Soul Train Awards In Las Vegas

$

0

0

The Brandenburg Gate Quadriga

On November 9, 2014, conductor Daniel Barenboim will step onto the podium in front of the Brandenburg Gate to conduct the Staatskapelle Berlin in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling. Soloists will include Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann, and René Pape. "The performance is part of a three-day, city-wide celebration of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, which includes a 15 kilometer Lightgrenze, or Light Frontier, from the Wall Memorial to the Brandenburg Gate. The Lightgrenze, by artist Christopher Bauder and filmmaker Marc Bauder, comprises 8,000 illuminated white balloons, each with its own story and patron. The installation also includes large-screen projections of historical film collages, along with guided tours and public exhibits. Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin’s performance will coincide with the release of the 8,000 balloons as they sail above the German capital. The performance will be broadcast on ARD and rbb beginning at 6.50 p.m. CET. Tell the world about your experiences of witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall and what the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 means to you today. Use the hashtags #fallofthewall25 or #fotw25 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and your message will appear in the virtual web portal here." [Source]As we look back to that historic moment in 1989, let's remember the concert that marked the original event: "On December 25, 1989, Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin celebrating the end of the Wall, including Beethoven's 9th symphony ('Ode to Joy') with the word 'Joy' (Freude) changed to 'Freedom' (Freiheit) in the lyrics sung." The quartet of soloists were comprised of singers from around the world: soprano June Anderson, mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker, tenor Klaus König, and bass Jan-Hendrik Rootering. Conductor Leonard Bernstein led a chorus and orchestra was comprised of members from the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks & Members of the

American soprano June Anderson and British mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker singing at the historic event in 1989.

Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris. "The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 1989 unleashed a wave of democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe that radically transformed the world order. In a typically grandiose yet eloquent gesture, Leonard Bernstein spontaneously accepted an invitation to conduct a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to celebrate this freedom....In a typically grandiose yet eloquent gesture, Bernstein spontaneously accepted an invitation to conduct a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to celebrate this freedom. It was only fitting that East Germany’s new-found freedom should be celebrated with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The monumental works, perhaps the world’s most famous Symphony, was inspired by Schiller's poem “Ode to Joy”, a passionate paean to freedom. Adding to the symbolism of the event, Bernstein conducted an orchestra and chorus formed of musicians from both East and West Germany (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden), as well as the United States (New York Philharmonic), Great Britain (London Symphony), France (Orchestre de Paris) and the Soviet Union (Orchestra of the Kirov

Polish-born and German raised tenor Klaus König and German-born of Dutch ancestry bass Jan-Hendrik Rootering sing Beethoven for Bernstein.

Theater). Recorded at the Schauspielhaus, Berlin, December 25, 1989, the German label Deutsche Grammophon would commemorate the event by issuing multiple CD versions with different title and one limited edition copy that contained a piece of the Berlin Wall for collectors. "The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier that existed between 1961 and 1990, constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on August 13, 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in 1989. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the 'death strip') that contained anti-vehicle trenches, 'fakir beds' and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the 'will of the people' in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period....In 1989, a series of radical political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalization of the Eastern Bloc's authoritarian systems

Lucky collectors were able to get a recording of the event with a piece of the Berlin Wall inside

and the erosion of political power in the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on November 9, 1989, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of what was left. Contrary to popular belief the wall's actual demolition did not begin until Summer 1990 and was not completed until 1992. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990." [Source, Source] Watch the finale of that historic concert from 25 years ago, and see the different packaging for the DG recordings, after the jump.

AHS Makes Clowns More Terrifying Than Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci"

November 8, 2014, 6:39 pm

≫ Next: Dorothea Röschmann Delivers Package Of German Lieder For Sony

≪ Previous: Top Singers Commemorate The Fall Of Berlin Wall 25th Anniversary

$

0

0

John Carroll Lynch plays the murderous kidnapping  clown in American Horror Story: Freak Show

"American Horror Story: Freak Show caps off centuries of suspicion towards Bozo & co. 'You know, Dave,' Chicago children's entertainer Pogo reportedly said over dinner with two cops who'd been tailing him, 'clowns can get away with murder.' Pogo would know, because outside of his clown identity he was John Wayne Gacy, the notorious 1970s serial killer and maybe one of the worst things to happen to clowns since the 1892 opera Pagliacci. Clowns, it's fair to say, are not currently having the best time of it, PR-wise. The fourth season of American Horror Story, which debuted Wednesday, features Twisty the Clown as the primary antagonist: a terrifying perversion of the profession with a mask of grinning, oversized teeth and distorted black lips. In the opening episode, Twisty bounds up to a young couple in broad daylight, knocks them both out with juggling clubs, stabs the young man over and over again, kidnaps the woman and locks her up with a young boy in a decrepit old school bus, and forces them both to watch him craft balloon animals (there being clearly no limits to his malevolence).

Even a dandy can turn into an evil clown with the right  accessories: Finn Wittrock stars as the twisted Mr. Mott

In addition to this new incarnation of the monstrous, murdering clown trope, rogue scary clowns have been spotted recently stalking the streets of Wasco, California. In July, a 'creepy' clown wearing a red wig and clutching a handful of pink balloons was sighted walking through Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. The professional clown industry, for once, isn't smiling. Membership of the World Clown Association, a U.S.-based trade group for performers, has fallen from 3,500 to 2,500 over the last 10 years. In the UK, a similar group, Clown International, has lost almost 90 percent of its members from its peak in the 1980s. Earlier this year, Butlin's holiday camp, in the popular destination of Bognor Regis, withdrew its annual offer to sponsor the group's annual gathering thanks to a decline in overall clown approval ratings....Despite all this, clowns were typically viewed in a positive light for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, even though Leoncavallo's aforementioned 1892 opera, Pagliacci, told the story of a clown who murders his unfaithful wife and her lover with a knife. ('Se il viso è pallido, è di vergogna,' the clown sings, or, 'If my face is white, it is for shame.') The turning point, culture-wise, appears to have been the arrest of Gacy, dubbed "the Killer Clown" by the media, whose grisly string of sexual assaults and murders contrasted so vividly with his alternate clown persona. As Pogo, Gacy

Tears of a Clown: Plácido Domingo as Canio in the opera Pagliacci

performed at parades, parties, and charitable events, even meeting First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 1978 thanks to his role as director of Chicago's Polish Constitution Day Parade. While on death row, he painted a number of portraits of clowns, many depicting himself as Pogo, claiming that he wanted to use the paintings 'to bring joy into people's lives.'" [Source] After the jump, find portraits of over 100 tenors who have sung the role of Canio over the last century and watch tenor Jonas Kaufmann record the famous aria "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. An interesting article from 2008 showing how often popular media use the famous aria in advertising can be read here. Most recently Wendy's referenced it in their new "99¢ Right Size Menu" campaign. Watch the video below:

César Vezzani

José Cura

Jose Luccioni

Allan Glassman

Amadeo Bassi

André Ferrier

Antonello Palombi

Assis Pacheco

Beniamino Gigli

Beno Blachut

Bradley Daley

Carlo Bergonzi

Carlo Guichandut

Daniel Sutin

David Rendall

Dimiter Uzonow

Edmond Rambaud

Edward Johnson

Emil Marinescu

Enrico Caruso

Eric Audouin

Erik Enderlein

Ermanno Mauro

Ernesto Rodriguez

Eugène Regnier

Fabio Sartori

Fernand Ansseau

Fernand Ansseau

Fernando de Lucia

Francesco Battaglia

Francesco Fazzini

Francesco Signorini

Franco Corelli

Franz Volker

Fritz Windgassen

Gé Korsten

Giacomo Lauri-Volpi

Gilbert Py

Giovanni Breviario

Giovanni Consiglio

Giovanni Martinelli

Giuseppe di Stefano

Giuseppe Gaudenzi

Giuseppe Giacomini

Gregory Carroll

Gustavo Lopez Manzitti

Helge Roswange

Herman Malamood

James McCracken

Jay Hunter Morris

Jean Arnold

Johan Botha

Johannes Sembach

Jon Vickers

José Carreras

Josef Mann

Joseph Schmidt

José Lens

Jussi Björling

Karel Burian

Lauri Volpi

Lauritz Melchior

Leo Slezak

Luciano Pavarotti

Marcelo Álvarez

Mario del Monaco

Mario Lanza

Mario Ortica

Max Hirzel

Michael Robert Hendrick

Miguel Fleta

Mihai Muntean

Modest Menzinsky

Otakar Marak

Paul Althouse

Pedro Mirassou

Philip Mondinos

Ramon Vinay

Raoul Jobin

Ricardo Ledesma

Riccardo Martin

Richard Kubla

Richard Leech

Richard Margison

Richard Tucker

Roberto Alagna

Roy Cornelius Smith

Salvatore Licitra

Salvatore Puma

Sydney Rayner

Théo Beets

Thomas Salignac

Timo Calio

Tony Ponchet

Ulysses Lappas

Umberto Sorrentino

Vasili Damaev

Vladimir Atlantov

Vladimir Galouzine

Yusif Eyvazov

Dorothea Röschmann Delivers Package Of German Lieder For Sony

November 9, 2014, 6:15 pm

≫ Next: Uncovering Elena Obraztsova Treasures As 75 Years Is Celebrated

≪ Previous: AHS Makes Clowns More Terrifying Than Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci"

$

0

0

"Gefeiert auf den wichtigsten Opernbühnen der Welt - als Susanna, Ännchen, Eva, Fiordiligi, Micäela und in vielen anderen Rollen - ist die deutsche Sopranistin Dorothea Röschmann auch eine der großen Liedinterpretinnen unserer Zeit. Für ihre neue CD wählte sie wunderschöne Lieder von Schubert, Schumann, Strauss und Wolf, die von berühmten Frauengestalten aus Literatur und Geschichte inspiriert wurden. Von Malcolm Martineau gefühlvoll am Klavier begleitet zeichnet sie subtile StimmungsPortraits, welche die fein schattierten Nuancen der Figuren widerspiegeln, die in den Liedern dargestellt werden. Das Ergebnis sind sorgfältig konzipierte, einfühlsam gesungene Miniaturen mit Höhepunkten wie Schuberts 'Gretchen am Spinnrad' und 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt,' Strauss 'Die Nacht' oder 'Morgen' und den Mignon Liedern von Hugo Wolf." [Source] Get more information about the album including track listing, and listen to the samples from the recording, after the jump.

"Dorothea Röschmann releases her new recital album including well known songs by Schubert, Schumann, Strauss and Wolf. She is accompanied by Malcolm Martineau who is recognized as one of the leading accompanists of his generation. 'The idea for this program of female portraits took seed a long time ago, when I was studying in London with the wonderful teacher, Vera Rozsa. I used to make frequent pilgrimages to the extraordinary National Portrait Gallery where one is surrounded by the most imposing portraits of British personalities and royalty, such as the Tudors and Queen Elizabeth I, as well as countless figures from British history – poets, physicians and so on - all concentrated and condensed within the confines of the building. A portrait represents a very intense encounter with a person and you believe you know them better after having studied the picture for some time. It can only give you a glimpse of the personality, but also creates an impression of how the person wanted to be portrayed. In songs, a portrait is the musical interpretation of a fictionalized person from literature (Gretchen, Mignon), or real life (Mary Stuart), but the process of character portrayal and trying to get deeper and deeper through different layers, has to happen musically. As a portrait, it can only attempt to portray a snapshot of all the emotions of the character but the longer you live with a song, the more you find in it, as in all music. This fascination with character interpretation in song and in opera, led to my desire to put together a programme with portraits that reflect the finely shaded nuances of the figures presented here. In the same way, female characters such as Mignon and Gretchen, created by Goethe, and Mary, Queen of Scots, have stimulated the imagination of poets, composers and artists alike. We have included songs by Richard Strauss as every one of them can be regarded as a miniature mood portrait. The original Schubert setting of ‘Gretchens Bitte’ is only a fragment of Goethe’s poem so we have chosen Benjamin Britten’s ‘complete’ version as it gives a more comprehensive characterization of Gretchen.'" [Source]

---

Uncovering Elena Obraztsova Treasures As 75 Years Is Celebrated

November 10, 2014, 8:40 pm

≫ Next: Regardez Tout Le Gala Du Tricentenaire De l'Opéra Comique

≪ Previous: Dorothea Röschmann Delivers Package Of German Lieder For Sony

$

0

0

Operatic Tsaritsa: The legendary  Elena Obraztsova

For over 50 years, Elena Obraztsova has been a fixture on the operatic scene. Her debut was at the Bolshoi Theater in a production of Boris Godunov in 1963 and as of last week the performer was still singing with plenty of full voice during a gala celebrating her 75th birthday with stars like Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Maria Guleghina, José Cura, Julia Lezhneva, Hibla Gerzmava and Olga Peretyatko. In her native Mother Russia, Ms. Obraztsova recorded a trove of music for the label Melodiya over the years. The label was later acquired by EMI and many of the recordings never made it to the CD format barring the arias disc with Giuseppe Patanè that first appeared in Japan and eventually on Russian import. Thanks to the scrupulous work of Melodiya digitizing much of the mezzo-soprano's back catalog, these albums are now available in MP3 format and reveal a surprising depth for the song repertoire by this monumental artist. The majority of her recorded legacy features the works of Soviet neo-romantic composer Georgy Sviridov. Music recorded between 1977-1983, with the composer at the piano, shows how the opera singer placed her esteem of his work alongside Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff whose works she also laid down for posterity. Whether arias,

One of the prized solo recordings to  make a commercial release worldwide.

romances, or folk songs, it is clear that Ms. Obraztsova was first and foremost a nationalist. The most surprising treat in the discography is a disc of Schumann lieder featuring the complete Frauenliebe und leben alongside excerpts from Liederkreis, 12 Gedichte, Myrthen, and 6 Gedichte von N. Lenau und Requiem. Her rendition of "Mondnacht" rivals that of German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Next to the contributions of fellow Russian stars Irina Arkhipova and Galina Vishnevskaya, the collection of music put forth by Elena Obraztsova is admirable. There are still albums of hers not available to the public, including a disc of Bach & Händel arias, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Vivaldi's Gloria, Cavalleria Rusticana with tenor Zurab Sotkilava, Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Brahm's Rhapsody for Alto, and a collection of Viennese operetta with conductor Algis Ziuraitis, but there are others still in print on various labels including Deutsche Grammophon (Un Ballo in Maschera, Aida, Alexander Nevsky, Werther, Samson et Dalila, Rigoletto), Sony (Adriana Lecouvreur), Decca (Cavalleria Rusticana, Andrea Chénier), EMI (Nabucco), as well as a slew of recordings on private labels and live performance documents. After the jump: Learn more about Elena Obraztsova, see all of the recordings currently available digitally, and watch the 75th birthday concert in its entirety.

Elena Obraztsova stands center stage as international opera stars pay hommage last week.

Click on the covers to listen to excerpts 
and purchase each album:

"Elena Vasiliyevna Obraztsova (Russian: Елена Васильевна Образцова) (born July 7, 1939 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Russian mezzo-soprano, widely recognised as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, thanks to her outstanding stage presence and the vocal abilities. As a child Obraztsova lived in Leningrad through the long siege (August 1941-January 1943) during World War II. In 1954-1957 Obraztsova studied in the Tchaikovsky musical college in Taganrog and frequently participated in concerts onstage of Taganrog Theatre. In 1957-1958 Obraztsova studied in Rostov on Don's music school. In August 1958 Yelena Obraztsova passed the examinations and became a student at the Leningrad Conservatory. In 1963 she was invited to perform in a Bolshoi Theater production of Boris Godunov in Moscow. Her introduction to the opera houses of Europe and the world was a recital in the Salle Pleyel in Paris. She has played many roles throughout her career, including performances under the baton of such leading conductors as Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan. In December 1977 she opened the 200th opera season in La Scala singing Don Carlos's Eboli with Abbado as conductor. In 1978 she played the title role of Carmen opposite Plácido Domingo in Franco Zeffirelli's television production of the opera. She also appeared as Santuzza in Zeffirelli's film version of Cavalleria rusticana in 1982. On 27 December 1990 she was awarded the title of the Hero of Socialist Labor (mark of distinction - 'Hammer and Sickle; gold medal ), Order of Lenin by the President of USSR for her contribution to the development of Soviet Music. In June 2007 Obraztsova was appointed artistic director of opera at the Mikhaylovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. She also trains young soloists in her own cultural center in St. Petersburg. Obraztsova still appears regularly on stage at the Mikhailovsky in the role of the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. In 2008 Obraztsova ended her artistic director contract with the Mikhailovsky to concentrate on the competition of her name and the recently announced project of International Academy of Music in St Petersburg. Obraztsova continues her collaboration with the Mikhailovsky in a capacity of the General Director's Artistic Advisor. On 7 July 2009, Obraztsova's 70th birthday was marked with a special program at the Mikhailovsky Theater that included ballet performances, opera arias, excerpts from films, and jazz and piano recitals. Elena Obraztsova expresses her support for the International Delphic Games. Greetings with her signature came to the III Delphic Games 2009 in Jeju / South Korea, under the motto 'In Tune with Nature,' and to the IV Junior Delphic Games 2011 in Johannesburg / South Africa with their motto 'Provoke, Innovate, Inspire.'" [Source]

PRIZES and AWARDS
Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1st prize) (1962)
1970 - Viñas prize (1st prize, International Vocal Competition in Barcelona)
Honoured Artist of the RSFSR
1970 Tchaikovsky prize (1st prize)
Order of the Red Banner of Labour, twice (1971, 1980)
Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR - for concerts and theatrical activities 1971-1972 period (1973)
People's Artist of the RSFSR (1973)
Lenin Prize - for concert programs in 1973-1974 and the roles of Froska, Carmen, Azucena in the Operas "Simeon Kolko", Prokofiev's "Carmen" by Bizet, "Il Trovatore" by Verdi (1976)
People's Artist of USSR (1976)
Hero of Socialist Labour (27 December 1990) - for outstanding contributions to the development of Soviet musical art
Order of Lenin (27 December 1990)
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (17 June 1999) - for outstanding contribution to the development of musical art
Casta Diva prize (2002)
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class (10 June 2009) - for outstanding contribution to music and many years of fruitful creative activity
Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2009) - in consideration of his labours for the good of the Church and in connection with her 70th birthday

Regardez Tout Le Gala Du Tricentenaire De l'Opéra Comique

November 13, 2014, 8:58 pm

≫ Next: Natalie Dessay Basking In The Glow Of Her Second Singing Career

≪ Previous: Uncovering Elena Obraztsova Treasures As 75 Years Is Celebrated

$

0

0

Watch the entire gala celebrating 300 years of the l'Opéra Comique with opera stars Anna Caterina Antonacci, Sabine Devieilhe, Patricia Petibon, Julie Fuchs, Stéphane Degout, and more. "Carmen, Lakmé, Pelléas et Mélisande, La Fille du régiment... Autant de chefs d'oeuvre de l'art lyrique nés sur les planches de l'Opéra Comique. Depuis sa création en 1715, cette prestigieuse maison fait rayonner l'opéra à la française, accueille des artistes de renom, programme des oeuvres de tous les répertoires. Un lieu chargé d'histoires que cette soirée de gala ambitionne de résumer. A grand renfort d'images d'archives, d'interventions et bien évidemment de chants, apprêtez-vous à voir défiler trois siècles de création artistique. En maître de cérémonie, Michel Fau. Avec son impertinence habituelle, l'homme de spectacle redonnera vie aux petits et grands moments de la célèbre institution. A ses côtés, chanteront Anna Caterina Antonacci, Sabine Devieilhe, Julie Fuchs, Patricia Petibon, Frédéric Antoun, Stéphane Degout et Vincent Le Texier. Des chanteurs d'envergure internationale, familiers de la Salle Favart, qui interprèteront les airs qui ont marqué l'Opéra Comique et l'art lyrique en général. Ils seront accompagnés dans ce voyage dans le temps par Jérôme Deschamps, des chanteurs de l'Académie de l'Opéra Comique, le choeur Accentus et l'orchestre Les Siècles dirigé par François-Xavier Roth. « Si l’Opéra Comique m’était conté », une soirée exceptionnelle pour un lieu qui l'est tout autant. Le 28 décembre, Arte diffusera une version enrichie de ce Gala du tricentenaire. Sujets documentaires et témoignages viendront s'ajouter à la captation du 13 novembre. La soirée sera également diffusée en direct sur France Musique." [Source] More photos and the video are after the jump.

Natalie Dessay Basking In The Glow Of Her Second Singing Career

November 14, 2014, 7:04 am

≫ Next: Patroness Gets Opera Center Named After Her By Madison Opera

≪ Previous: Regardez Tout Le Gala Du Tricentenaire De l'Opéra Comique

$

0

0

No High Notes Required: Natalie Dessay sings with the band at Château de Versailles

"This new collection showcasing 20 years of recordings from this most versatile of artists including classical, opera and songs from musicals – includes previously unreleased track 'Bebe'. Natalie Dessay defies categorisation. Over a 20-year career the multi-faceted soprano has risen to the most diverse challenges, brilliantly fleshing out the great Romantic coloratura roles,

savouring the delights of the Baroque, and moving with equal aplomb from comic opera to bel canto and from French art song to French (and Brazilian) pop song. An uncommonly human Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, she has sparkled lovingly in Lakmé and descended into harrowing madness as Ophélie and Lucia di Lammermoor; and just as she has brought Manon to vivid life, she has experienced all Violetta’s passion and pain in La traviata. With her shining eyes, Dessay is a tiny slip of woman who radiates charisma. She has often taken a stand against operatic convention and diva clichés, impudently daring to talk about the trials of her profession, including stagefright and the frantic demands of juggling the roles of star, woman and mother. Then there is her recurring frustration at the essential mismatch between a dramatic temperament suited to the great tragic heroines and a voice predisposed to the roles of singing doll or willing victim. But though her voice has always been light, it has never been lacking in juice, and the purity of her top notes – cleaving like daggers – her quicksilver virtuosity, and her supreme musicianship have given her the power to cast an irresistible spell. It took years for her to accept herself for what she had always been. In 1997, when she told an interviewer that 'There is more

to life than top notes', people thought she was being precious; she was in fact expressing profound disquiet. Over the course of a career that imposed operations on her vocal cords in 2003 and 2005, Dessay has come to the conclusion that 'the interplay of physiological skills and characterisation is as about as thrilling as something can get.' A perfectionist who is also prone to impulse, this great French singer has brought something new to her roles through her still unfulfilled passion for the straight theatre, an art form that remains a defining force for her: it was, after all, as a student actress that she first discovered her talent as a singer. She has now succeeded in resolving the dichotomies within her, uniting her personality and her voice by choosing to move away from opera. Since 2013 she has reinvented herself with recitals of French art song (notably Debussy with the pianist Philippe Cassard), with popular song and musicals (above all in her collaboration with the pianist and composer Michel Legrand), and even with Brazilian music (in the company of three sisters-under-the-skin, the singers Helena Noguerra and Agnès Jaoui and the guitarist Liat Cohen). Her commitment to each genre has been characteristically unreserved. Of one thing we can be sure: Natalie Dessay, in all her

infinite artistic variety, has many more delicious surprises in store." [Source] And out soon is a new DVD of the chanteuse in concert: "Two icons of French song – Natalie Dessay and Michel Legrand – follow the huge worldwide success of their album Entre Elle et Lui with a DVD of the very special concert on the 11th June 2014 at the Orangerie of the Château de Versailles. This is a unique collaboration from two giants of French music. The CD release in 2013 was hotly anticipated and received great critical acclaim upon its release. Natalie Dessay brings her lyrical voice and fresh interpretations to a selection of some of Michel Legrand’s best-loved songs including 'La Valse des Lilas', 'Les moulins de mon cœur' (Windmills of Your Mind), 'Duo de Guy et Geneviève', 'Papa Can You Hear Me' and many more." [Source] Watch highlights from the concert, and see a few more photos, after the jump. 

Dessay à la Streisand: The soprano sings "Papa can you hear me?"

Patroness Gets Opera Center Named After Her By Madison Opera

November 15, 2014, 6:46 pm

≫ Next: Photo Flashback: Leona Mitchell, Renata Scotto, Virginia Zeani, Tito Capobianco

≪ Previous: Natalie Dessay Basking In The Glow Of Her Second Singing Career

$

0

0

Helping the Arts: A photo of Margaret C. Winston in the 1940s at Stanford University

"Finally, one of Madison's most generous 'anonymous friends' has a name. Dr. Margaret Winston, a ground-breaking radiologist, world traveler, astute financial manager and deeply passionate supporter of the arts, lived most of her 86 years in Madison. When she died on Sept. 12, she requested no obituary or memorial service. Born in Seattle and raised in the Twin Cities and the San Francisco Bay area, Winston never married or had children. Family members live on the West Coast. So it wasn't until Sunday, Nov. 2, when Madison Opera renamed its home at 335 W. Mifflin St. as the Margaret C. Winston Opera Center, that the myriad local nonprofits Winston supported began to come together. 'The depth and breadth of her giving we'll never know,' said Kathryn Smith, general director of Madison Opera. 'She was an anonymous donor to so many organizations...we don't know what they all are.'....'None of the people she made things accessible for knew who she was,' said Stephen Fleischman, director at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. 'She didn't care about the physical world, objects and trappings, about collecting things. Those weren't her interests. Her interests were art and intellect.'....A devoted opera lover, Winston gave directly to UW Opera and the School of Music's new Performance Center. In 2003, through the UW School of Music, Winston funded a fellowship for a graduate student in voice. Recipients have included James Kryshak, a tenor now singing with the Vienna State Opera, soprano Shannon Prickett, about to make her role debut in as Micaela in Carmen, and tenor J. Adam Shelton, a local arts educator who recently appeared in Madison Opera's Dead Man Walking. 'Margaret wanted to be anonymous,' said UW-Madison voice professor Mimmi Fullmer. 'But if I would ask her, 'Do you want students to come see you?' she'd say, 'That would be OK.' By all accounts, Winston was a deeply private person. She didn't like having her picture taken, and she was cautious about where she gave her money. According to Smith, Winston's gifts made possible the purchase of Madison Opera's current building. 'We said to her, wouldn't you like to name the building after you?' Smith said. 'And she said no, but she also said, 'What you do after I'm gone, I can't do anything about,' kind of with a wink. 'We took that to be permission, to finally have something that acknowledges who she was and how important she was.'....'Margaret was a person who was ahead of her time in so many ways,' Fleischman at MMoCA said. 'She was a person who loved crossing disciplines, before it was really viewed as the thing to do. She was not a person who was in it for name recognition, that was the furthest thing from her desires. She was in it for the beautiful civic and cultural reasons. She wanted to make sure what was important in her life, cultural opportunities, would be given to other people and in her community.'" [Source] Check out The Margaret C. Winston Madison Opera Center by clicking here.

Kathryn Smith, General Director of Madison Opera, sits in The Margaret C. Winston Opera Center

Photo Flashback: Leona Mitchell, Renata Scotto, Virginia Zeani, Tito Capobianco

November 17, 2014, 8:45 pm

≫ Next: Sonya Yoncheva Heralded As Mimì At MET By New York Times

≪ Previous: Patroness Gets Opera Center Named After Her By Madison Opera

$

0

0

Power Quartet: Tito Capobianco, Leona Mitchell, Virginia Zeani, and Renata Scotto, post-recital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on February 22, 2014. Details of the evening are after the jump. (Photo: Venetian Arts Society/Facebook)

The Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale featuring the kaleidoscopic mural "Acid Free" that covers the west and north side of the building resembling rainbows, fractals or topographic maps, by Miami-based Jen Stark.

"Soprano soars at Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale. No, it was not the Met. It was the modest stage of the Horvitz Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale – but it was clear to hear from her intimate concert there last night how soprano Leona Mitchell could have held sway for 18 consecutive seasons from the grand stage of that renowned New York opera house. Mitchell, the Met’s leading spinto-soprano beginning with her 1975 debut in Carmen, performed as part of Venetian Arts Society’s Up Close and Personal series at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, which featured last night’s salon concert and reception with a master class and conversation with the artist Friday morning (2/21) at 10 a.m. The dramatic mastery of her still-soaring voice – especially a rapturous vibrato in the higher registers – shone brightest in the selection of arias sung in various languages, but she also enchanted with spirituals and standards like 'Summertime,' the mere introduction of which elicited 'aahs' from the highly appreciative audience. Another crowd-pleaser was her interpretation of the habanera from Bizet’s Carmen. Because she played the role of Micaela, this most familiar of arias was never hers to sing at the Met; but she makes up for it beautifully now in her many recitals. Wearing her signature red wrap, the soprano was accompanied exuberantly on piano by Dr. Robert Sharon of Palm Beach Atlantic University. The evening was graced by the attendance of three of opera’s superstars: stage director Tito Capobianco, and Legendary Prima Donnas Virginia Zeani and Renata Scotto." [Source] In addition to the selections mentioned, the evening's program included arias from Tosca, La Forza del Destino, Die Tote Stadt, Rusalka, Otello; songs by Rodrigo and Duparc; and spirituals.

Leona Mitchell during the recital in Fort Lauderdale at the Museum of Art

Sonya Yoncheva Heralded As Mimì At MET By New York Times

November 18, 2014, 8:20 pm

≫ Next: A Soubrette Dilemma: Where Have All The Pretty Voices Gone?

≪ Previous: Photo Flashback: Leona Mitchell, Renata Scotto, Virginia Zeani, Tito Capobianco

$

0

0

Ms. Yoncheva in rehearsal (Photo: Jonathan Tichler/MET Opera)

"In the third act of Puccini’s La Bohème, Mimì, the tubercular seamstress, says goodbye. 'Addio,' she tells Rodolfo, her poet lover, at the end of the aria 'Donde lieta usci,' and then repeats it for emphasis: 'Addio, senza rancor.' Many Mimìs keep this moment simple, singing both iterations of 'addio' roughly the same. But at the Metropolitan Opera on Friday, the Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva first sang the word in a voice straightforward and resolute, trying desperately to project strength. The second time, she sounded wispy and vulnerable: a poignant revelation of her true feelings. Subtle, thoughtful and heart-rending, the passage seemed like the work of a veteran artist. But astonishingly, this was Ms. Yoncheva’s first staged performance of the role. Her delicate, dreamy, detailed Mimì has arrived more or less fully formed — and, for good measure, with less than two weeks’ notice and just a month after she gave birth to a son....Her voice is not huge, but her precise articulation of the text and the slightest metallic glisten in her warm tone allow it to penetrate. Her first-act aria built to a gently riveting reverie, and she grew in tragic stature as the opera went on, with her soft-grain echo of Rodolfo’s earlier melody a textbook lesson in tender nostalgia near the end. The rest of the performance was not at her level." [Source] Her debut recording, "Paris, Mon Amour," will be released on Sony Classics in January 2015.

As the delicate Puccini character Mimì in La Bohème, Sonya Yoncheva receives a triumphant review.

A Soubrette Dilemma: Where Have All The Pretty Voices Gone?

November 21, 2014, 6:21 pm

≫ Next: Grace Bumbry Will Perform To Honor Martin Luther King Jr.

≪ Previous: Sonya Yoncheva Heralded As Mimì At MET By New York Times

$

0

0

Kathleen Battle sang the soubrette role of Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte during January 1982 at the MET. (Photo: Winnie Klotz/Metropolitan Opera)

When people talk about opera sopranos, many immediately conjure up the caricature of a Rubensian figure wearing viking horns with the vocal amplitude of an diaphone foghorn. Fortunately for audiences these high voices come in all shapes and sizes. On the more petite end of the spectrum is a specialized fach known as the soubrette. Often categorized as light and lyric, this voice type is more likely to caress the listener's ear drum rather than penetrate it. The last century has seen a radical shift in the characteristics of this genre. Marcella Sembrich was a late 19th-century Polish soprano who often made appearances onstage as Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). These roles were a sharp contrast to her typical fare of dramatic coloratura roles of Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Elvira (I Puritani). This fascinating cross-pollination of repertoire certainly brought a radiant sound and identity to her characterizations in the opera house. At the end of her career, the soprano taught at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where one of her students, Eufemia Gregory, would go on to teach another famous soubrette of the 1970s & 1980s: Judith Blegen. It was in the latter half of the 20th-century that sopranos really began to give the vulnerable and sweet women in the soubrette repertoire their own distinct sound that didn't always carry over to other vocal categories. They were interpreters from around the globe like Rita Streich, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Norma Burrowes, Reri Grist, and Patrice Munsel, starting to emerge as leaders in this repertoire. But the silky floating tones of a coquette didn't mean she could not be strong in her own right. These roles became more crafted and unique under the domination of singers like Edith Mathis, Helen Donath, Elly Ameling, Judith Blegen, and Kathleen Battle. This group was heavily influenced with the stereo advancements in the recording industry which begged for a delicate immediacy from a voice in front of a microphone

Vocal Spectrum: Anna Netrebko as Adina* [top] and Lady Macbeth** [bottom]. (Photos: Ken Howard* & Marty Sohl**/Metropolitan Opera)

that didn't need to carry over a wave of 4,000 audience members in the opera house. Did all this saccharine give way to a more vanilla tone in the 1990s when voices seemed to be more precise and pointed than brilliantly sensuous in the likes of Sylvia McNair, Dawn Upshaw, Barbara Bonney, and Heidi Grant Murphy? This latter group of ladies was distinctly musical, possessed superb instruments, and sang musically. But something was lacking in the timbre of the sound that seemed to bloom in the previous generation. As opera crosses into its fourth century in existence, have interpreters of the soubrette roles become even more watered-down with a non-distinct sound lacking lushness and identity leaning more toward an early music style by sopranos like Danielle de Niese and Mojca Erdmann? Society today favors an individual who can "do it all" and this may lead to the demise of the specialized singing in soubrette repertoire. Take for instance superstar soprano Anna Netrebko who sang the role of Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'Amore at the Metropolitan Opera in January 2014 and then took on one of the heaviest soprano roles in opera,  Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth at the Bayerische Staatsoper in June 2014. This blurring of lines can produce dramatic reinterpretations of roles by bringing new colors, not to mention volume, to a character in opera and certainly harkens back to the old-school voices that could tackle multiple ranges of repertoire. Read more about soubrettes and listen to audio samples of 20 sopranos in soubrette repertoire after the jump.

19th-Century Coquette: Marcella Sembrich sang  Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the  Metropolitan Opera in 1883.  (Photo: Erwin Raupp/Dresden)

Merriam-Webster defines soubrette as: "a soprano who sings supporting roles in comic opera." The origin stems from the Latin word verb superare (conjugation of supero), which means "to surmount, surpass, remain, survive." Ottican, a Romance language from the south of France, adapted the word as soubreto (feminine of soubret "coy" and soubra "surmount or exceed"). The first known use of the term soubrette was in the mid-18th century. "Soubrette, in theatre, comic female character usually in the role of a chambermaid. The soubrette role originated in French comedy, one of the earliest examples being Suzanne in Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais’ Le Mariage de Figaro (1784)." The aria database offers a large range of roles that fall into the soubrette category including Cis (Albert Herring/Britten), Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos/Strauss), Ännchen (Der Freischütz/Weber), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas/Purcell), Nannetta (Falstaff/Verdi), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel/Humperdinck), and Elisa (Il Rè Pastore/Mozart). Additional roles that the public commonly correlates when they hear the term soubrette are many of the "ina" roles such as: Despina (Così fan tutte/Mozart), Zerlina (Don Giovanni/Mozart), Norina (Don Pasquale/Donizetti), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia/Rossini), Adina (L'Elisir d'Amore/Donizetti), and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte/Mozart). Often times sopranos in this special voice type will also sing: Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier/Strauss), Adele (Die Fledermaus/J. Strauss), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro/Mozart), and Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera/Verdi). Wikipedia expounds further: "In classical music and opera, the term soubrette refers to both a soprano voice type and a type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, and

Light Lyric: Brazilian soprano Bidú Sayão  balanced the roles of Adina, Susanna, Zerlina, with the heavier lyric repertoire of Mimì, Gilda,  and Manon, during the 1930s-1950s at  the Metropolitan Opera.

with no extensive coloratura. A soubrette's range extends approximately from middle C (C4) to 'high C' (C6). The voice has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre. Many young singers start out as soubrettes but as they grow older and the voice matures more physically they may be reclassified as another voice type, usually either a light lyric soprano, a lyric coloratura soprano, or a coloratura mezzo-soprano. Rarely does a singer remain a soubrette throughout her entire career. The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano. The soubrette roles are typically found in comic operas or operettas and they usually portray good-looking, youthful girls who are flirtatious, saucy, and street-wise. Typically these roles are sung by younger singers and both sopranos and mezzo-sopranos are cast in them. Many soubrette roles have a considerable amount of spoken German dialogue, and therefore the soubrette singer must possess both an excellent comprehension of the German language and considerable acting skills. It is rare today to find true soubrettes singing in major opera houses as their voices are typically unable to carry over larger orchestras in larger halls. Often lyric, coloratura, and mezzo sopranos are cast in soubrette roles, especially in the early part of their singing careers. This does not mean that these singers are soubrette sopranos but it does mean they can play soubrette roles. The coloratura soprano has a higher range, can sing more

Next Generation Diva: Lisette Oropesa, seen here  as Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at the  Metropolitan Opera in 2007, is already singing  Verdi and Wagner.  (Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)

dexterous vocal passages and has a somewhat brighter sound than the soubrette. The lyric soprano has a richer voice and higher range than the soubrette soprano. The mezzo-soprano can sing as high as a soubrette but with a darker timbre and heavier weight in the voice. Mezzos also have a much more extensive range in the lower register. In addition, the beautiful light voice of the soubrette is ideal for baroque music, early music and baroque opera, as well as many art songs. However, the soubrette soprano voice is limited even in this repertoire by its lack of coloratura skill and relatively limited range. Many operettas and musicals include soubrette characters, such as Valencienne in The Merry Widow and in Gilbert and Sullivan, the Jessie Bond mezzo-soprano roles such as Cousin Hebe (H.M.S. Pinafore) and Lady Angela (Patience). Another example is the character Ellie Mae Chipley, who sings 'Life Upon the Wicked Stage,' in Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat." [Source, Source, Source, Source, Source, Source]

LISTENING SAMPLES:

Elisabeth Schumann "Deh vieni non tardar" Le Nozze di Figaro Mozart

Rita Streich "Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen" Der Freischütz Weber

Mattiwilda Dobbs "Batti, batti, o bel Masetto" Don Giovanni Mozart

Norma Burrowes "Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln" Die Entführung aus dem Serail Mozart

Reri Grist "Una voce poco fa" Il Barbiere di Siviglia Rossini

Patrice Munsel "Mein Herr Marquis" [sung in English] Die Fledermaus J. Strauss II

Graziella Sciutti "Quel guardo il cavaliere...So anch'io la virtu magica" Don Pasquale Donizetti

Edith Mathis "Se il pardre perdei" Idomeneo Mozart

Lucia Popp "Oh war' ich schon mit dir vereint" Fidelio Beethoven

Helen Donath "Ein Männlein steht im Walde" [with Anna Moffo as Hänsel] Hänsel und Gretel Humperdinck

Elly Ameling "Vedrai, carino" Don Giovanni Mozart

Judith Blegen "Vorrei spiegarvi, o Dio, K.418" Mozart

Ileana Cotrubas "Prendi Prendi, per me sei libero" L'elisir d'Amore Donizetti

Kathleen Battle "Quel guardo il cavaliere...So anch'io la virtù magica" Don Pasquale Donizetti

Sylvia McNair "Alla selva, al prato" Il re pastore Mozart

Dawn Upshaw "Ach, ich fühl's" Die Zauberflöte Mozart

Barbara Bonney "Sul fil d'un soffio etesio" Falstaff  Verdi

Heidi Grant Murphy "L'ho perduta... me meschina!" Le Nozze di Figaro Mozart

Danielle de Niese "Una donna a quindici anni" Così fan tutte Mozart

Mojca Erdmann "Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben" Zaide Mozart

To get a sense of what type of soprano has sung these roles over the years, look no further than the archives of the Metropolitan Opera for a cast sampling:

Adina (L'elisir d'Amore by Donizetti)
Bidú Sayão

Elisabeth Söderström

Mirella Freni

Sona Ghazarian

Hei-Kyung Hong

Youngok Shin

Ruth Ann Swenson

Angela Gheorghiu

Diana Damrau

Anna Netrebko

Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini)
Amelita Galli-Curci

Lily Pons

Patrice Munsel

Roberta Peters

Costanza Cuccaro

Erie Mills

Carmen Oprisanu

Despina (Così fan tutte by Mozart)
Lucrezia Bori

Patrice Munsel

Roberta Peters

Teresa Stratas

Mariella Devia

Julia Hamari

Betsy Norden

Cecilia Bartoli

Nuccia Focile

Danielle de Niese

Pamina (Die Zauberföte by Mozart)
Jarmila Novotna

Eleanor Steber

Lucine Amara

Gloria Davy

Anna Moffo

Judith Raskin

Teresa Zylis-Gara

Pilar Lorengar

Benita Valente

Leona Mitchell

Lucia Popp

Marvis Martin

Joyce Guyer

Joan Rodgers

Barbara Bonney

Angela Maria Blasi

Esther Heideman

Lisa Milne

Isabel Bayrakdarian

Susanna Phillips

Heidi Stober

Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss)
Eleanor Steber

Erna Berger

Hilde Güden

Nadine Conner

Anneliese Rothenberger

Elisabeth Söderström

Edith Mathis

Laura Aikin

Christine Schäfer

Erin Morley

Norina (Don Pasquale by Donizetti)
Hilde Güden

Roberta Peters

Reri Grist

Adriana Maliponte

Beverly Sills

Gail Robinson

Anna Netrebko

Rachelle Durkin

Adele (Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss II)
Patrice Munsel

Roberta Peters

Laurel Hurley

Patricia Welting

Judith Blegen

Gail Dobish

Barbara Kilduff

Harolyn Blackwell

Janet Williams

Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz

Rosemary Joshua

Marlis Petersen

Jane Archibald

Zerlina (Don Giovanni by Mozart)
Marcella Sembrich

Fritzi Scheff

Geraldine Farrar

Editha Fleischer

Marita Farell

Bidú Sayão

Nadine Conner

Genevieve Warner

Laurel Hurley

Teresa Stratas

Rosalind Elias

Jeanette Scovotti

Judith Raskin

Jeannette Pilou

Huguette Tourangeau

Roberta Alexander

Maria Ewing

Dawn Upshaw

Myra Merritt

Ruth Ann Swenson

Hei-Kyung Hong

Maria Bayo

Rebecca Evans

Anna Netrebko

Camilla Tilling

Isabel Bayrakdarian

Magdalena Kozená

Isabel Leonard

Mojca Erdmann

Ekaterina Siurina

Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart)
Frieda Hempel

Bidú Sayão

Licia Albanese

Frances Greer

Irmgard Seefried

Dolores Wilson

Hilde Güden

Elisabeth Söderström

Anneliese Rothenberger

Mirella Freni

Benita Valente

Marie McLaughlin

Barbara Bonney

Heidi Grant Murphy

Cecilia Bartoli

Joyce Guyer

Korliss Uecker

Dorothea Röschmann

Andrea Rost

Lisa Milne

Lisette Oropesa

Ekaterina Siurina

Danielle de Niese

Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Mozart)
Pierrette Alarie

Mimi Benzell

Norma Burrowes

Kathleen Battle

Judith Blegen

Erie Mills

Barbara Kilduff

Jennifer Welch-Babidge

Aleksandra Kurzak

Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss)
Jeanette Scovotti

Joy Clements

Betsy Norden

Marvis Martin

Gail Robinson

Korliss Uecker

Alexandra Deshorties

Nicole Heaston

Erin Morley

Lei Xu

Ännchen (Der Freischütz by Weber)
Bella Alten

Queena Mario

Ellen Dalossy

Editha Fleischer

Edith Mathis

Nannetta (Falstaff by Verdi)
Zélie de Lussan

Lola Beeth

Frances Alda

Marisa Morel

Licia Albanese

Judith Raskin

Jeanette Scovotti

Judith Blegen

Benita Valente

Mariella Devia

Barbara Bonney

Heidi Grant Murphy

Camilla Tilling

Lisette Oropesa

Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel by Humperdinck)
Teresa Stratas

Christine Weidinger

Carol Malone

Catherine Malfitano

Gail Robinson

Betsy Norden

Judith Blegen

Dawn Upshaw

Clare Gormley

Christine Schäfer

Miah Persson

Aleksandra Kurzak

Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi)
Stella Andreva

Frances Greer

Pierrette Alarie

Roberta Peters

Laurel Hurley

Jeanette Scovotti

Joy Clements

Judith Blegen

Harolyn Blackwell

Sumi Jo

Heidi Grant Murphy

Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz

Youngok Shin

Lyubov Petrova

Kathleen Kim

---

Grace Bumbry Will Perform To Honor Martin Luther King Jr.

November 26, 2014, 7:03 pm

≫ Next: Happy Thanksgiving From Mary Garden And Her Native Friends

≪ Previous: A Soubrette Dilemma: Where Have All The Pretty Voices Gone?

$

0

0

La Bumbry: The legend will make a rare appearance for this celebratory concert in New York City this January.

The concert, titled Celebrating a King, will mark a rare performance by the legendary opera star Grace Bumbry. "Fill your Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with thrilling music. On January 17 and January 19, 2015 Courtney's Stars of Tomorrow honors the life and singular achievement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in music. Legendary mezzo-soprano and 2009 Kennedy Center honoree Grace Bumbry makes an all too rare US appearance to sing Brahms' masterwork, Alto Rhapsody (Op.53), conducted by Ted Taylor. Adding to the celebration are three magnificent singers who command the stage in these special concerts, which showcase their tremendously expressive powers. This tour de force will be co-conducted by rising star conductor Ramon B. Braxton. Please call 1-800-838-3006 for special seating arrangements or wheelchair access." [Source] Purchase tickets by clicking here. The concert poster with details of the additional singers on the program can be found after the jump.

Happy Thanksgiving From Mary Garden And Her Native Friends

November 26, 2014, 7:14 pm

≫ Next: Diva Renée Fleming Gets Captured By Rock Band KISS At Parade

≪ Previous: Grace Bumbry Will Perform To Honor Martin Luther King Jr.

$

0

0

"The Chiefs and the Prima Donna" (Photo: Underwood & Underwood)

In a photo, originally published in the 1913 edition of The Outlook Magazine, soprano Mary Garden is seen greeting new friends: "A company of Indian chiefs from the Glacier Park National Reservation in Montana who recently came to Chicago to present a pair of moccasins to the Indian maid Natomah, in the opera of that name, a part taken by Mary Garden. The moccasins contained 200,000 beads, and it took two months' work by ten squaws to make them." [Source] Natomah is an opera in three acts by Victor Herbert. "First performances on any stage at the Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, February 23, 1911, with Miss Mary Garden, Miss Lillian Grenville, Mr. Huberdeau, Mr. Dufranne, Mr. Sammarco, Mr. Preisch, Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Nicolay, Mr. McCormack." A full synopsis, information about the opera and the Natomas, as well as audio excerpts from the opera, can all be found after the jump.

"The time is 1820, under the Spanish régime. The scene of Act I is laid on the Island of Santa Cruz, two hours' sail from the mainland. Act II takes place in the plaza of the town of Santa Barbara on the mainland, in front of the Mission Church. Act III represents the interior of the Mission Church. At the beginning of the opera Don Francisco is awaiting the return from a convent of his only child, Barbara. His reverie is interrupted by the arrival of Alvarado and his comrades Castro, Pico, and Kagama. Alvarado wishes to marry his cousin Barbara in order to gain possession of the estates left to her by her mother. Caster is a half-breed. Pico and Kagama are vaqueros and hunters. All three have come to the island ostensibly for a wild-boar hunt, but Alvarado has timed his arrival with the return of his cousin. Lieutenant Paul Merrill, an American naval officer, and Natomah, a pure-blooded Indian girl, appear together at the back of the stage. His ship has dropped anchor in the Bay of Santa Barbara. Natomah has never seen an American before and she is fascinated by him. She tells him of a legend of her people. She is the

Mary Garden as Natomah

last of her race. During their childhood she was Barbara's playmate. She tells him of the young girl's beauty, and imagining that when he sees Barbara he will fall in love, the Indian girl begs him to permit her to be at least his slave. Barbara and Father Peralta enter. With the young girl and Paul it is a case of love at first sight. When all but Castro and Natomah have gone into the hacienda, the half-breed urges Natomah to cease spending her time with white people and to follow him, the leader of her race. Natomah turns from him in disgust. When they separate, Alvarado serenades Barbara who appears on the porch. Fearing to lose time he declares his love. But he does not advance his suit by taunting her with her infatuation for the American officer. When she leaves him he swears to have Paul's life. Castro suggest that it would be better to carry Barbara off. Natomah, hidden in an arbour, overhears them discussing their plans. The next day a fiesta will be held in honour of Barbara's return. When the festivity is at its height fast horses will be ready to bear the young girl away to the mountains where pursuit would be difficult. When all the guest have departed, Barbara speaks aloud in the moonlight of her love for Paul. He suddenly appears and they exchange vows. The next act shows the fiesta. Avarado dances the Habanera with the dancing-girl Chiquita. There is formal ceremony in which the Alcalde and leading dignitaries of the town pay tribute to the young girl on her coming of age. Alvarado begs the honour of dancing with his cousin. The American ship salutes and Paul arrives with an escort to pay tribute to the Goddess of the Land, Barbara. Alvarado demands that his cousin continue the dance. A number of couples join them and the dance changes into the Panuelo or handkerchief dance of declaration. Each man places his hat upon the head of his partner. Each girl retains the hat but Barbara who tosses Alvarado's disdainfully aside. During this time Natomah has sat motionless upon the steps of the grand-stand. When Castro approaches in an ugly mood, rails at the modern dances and challenges someone to dance the dagger dance with him, she draws her dagger and hurls it into the ground beside the half-breed's. The crowd is fascinated by the wild dance. Just as Alvarado is about to smother Barbara in the folds of his serape, Natomah, purposely passing him, plunges her dagger into the would-be abductor. The dances comes to a sudden stop. Alvarado falls dead. Paul and his escort hold the crowd at bay. Natomah seeks protection in the Mission Church at the feet of Father Peralta. At the opening of the third act Natomah is crooning an Indian lullaby to herself in the church. She wishes to join her people, but instead Father Peralta persuades her to enter the convent." [Source]







"Natoma is a 1911 opera with music by Victor Herbert, famous for his operettas, and libretto by Joseph D. Redding. It is a serious full-scale grand opera set in Santa Barbara, California in the "Spanish days" of 1820; the story and music are colored by "Indian" (Native American) and Spanish themes. It premiered in Philadelphia at the Metropolitan Opera House on February 25, 1911 and was later mounted at the New York Metropolitan Opera House on February 28, 1911. Herbert stated that 'I have tried to imitate Indian music. But I have used no special Indian theme. Indian themes are all very short and unharmonized. I have tried to get the effect of Indian music without using the thing itself. It is the same with some of the Spanish music which occurs in the score. There is Spanish coloring, but I have taken no special Spanish themes to start with.' Natoma was not quite the first American opera to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera—that honor belonged to The Pipe of Desire by composer Frederick Shepherd Converse and librettist George Edward Barton, which premiered March 18, 1910 — and in calling it an 'American' opera, some newspapers quibbled about Herbert's Irish origin. Nevertheless, great anticipation preceded the premiere of this 'American' opera with an English-language libretto, which featured first-rank stars Mary Garden and John McCormack and an unstinted production. (The production, in both Philadelphia and New York, was mounted by the Chicago Grand Opera Company, which did not present it in Chicago because the opera house there was fully booked for the season). Prior to the premiere the Times carried numerous articles, one being a full-page

Composer Victor Herbert autographed his portrait with a notation from the opera.

musical analysis quoting portions of the score in musical notation and analyzing their function within the structure of the opera. The opera was, according to Meredith Willson, 'probably the biggest flop of all time,' although the Chicago production company retained it in its repertoire for three seasons. The Times reported that the audience at the Philadelphia premiere evidenced 'positive excitement' after the first act, but that 'After the second act, however, which is evidently intended to be the principal feature of the opera, in which the effects are piled one upon another, the audience was curiously apathetic.' In New York, the reviewer commented on 'a fine production' and said 'the management was very much in earnest in its production of Natoma,' and that the opera 'has had an enormous amount of preliminary heralding and puffery, and ... the Opera House was filled with a very large audience.' Nevertheless, 'at the end, the audience seemed wearied and anxious to go.' He called the libretto 'amateurish,' the prose 'bald and conventional,' and the lyrics 'of the bad old operatic kind, constructed on Voltaire's theory that what is too foolish to be said is appropriate to be sung.' He spends two paragraphs picking out improbabilities in the plot. He called Herbert's music 'pointedly and strongly dramatic.' He questioned the value of the Indian 'color,' on the grounds that Indian music is not familiar to American ears, hard and uncouth, difficult and intractable.... Only in two cases has in introduced Indian songs in their original form: in the savage 'Dagger Dance' in the second act and the 'Hawk Song' that Natoma sings in the third. Mr. Herbert has been ingenious in his use of the Indian elements, to make their rhythmic and melodic characteristics count for their utmost. It may be that they count for too much. There is undoubtedly a monotony in their frequent repetition.... In some of his music written in neither Indian nor Spanish idioms Mr. Herbert is less fortunate. Some of them have slipped too easily from his pen, and there is the flavor of comic opera about them. In Meredith Willson's account—his having been born in 1902, presumably not at first hand— Oh, the lucky, lucky few thousands who were able to beg, steal, or forge tickets to the Metropolitan on that gala night! And of course the plans for the reception after the undoubted triumph included every kind of caviar, pheasant, and dignitary under glass that could possibly be squeezed into the banquet room at the Friar's Club.... The disaster became apparent early in the first act, and by the intermission all the people who were able to attend the reception... were clutching at their bosoms in agony, knowing they couldn't possibly go to this reception and that they couldn't possibly not go.... The opera got worse clear down to the last curtain, which finally fell, like the hopes of the customers praying for a last-minute miracle. In Willson's telling the situation was saved by Chauncey Depew, who made a speech in which he pulled out some clippings, saying it was appropriate to 'read these reviews.' Everyone froze in his chair as he read review after review saying things like 'what happened last night was neither opera nor drama,''the performance was disgraceful and never should have been allowed,' before revealing to the horrified audience that the reviews he was reading were not of Natoma, but actual reviews of the first performance of Bizet's Carmen. He saved the situation, but Willson opined that 'It would have taken the great Manitou himself to have saved Natoma. A three day event culminating in a July 13, 2014 reading of the complete opera was produced under the auspices of VHRP LIVE! All parts of the event were open to the public. The reading was performed with a 58-piece orchestra, a 36-member chorus, soloists and was conducted by Gerald Steichen. This reading was favorably reviewed by national press http://www.harryforbes.com/2014/07/natoma-victor-herbert-renaissance.html including a review for OPERA NEWS http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2014/10/Reviews/NEW_YORK_CITY__Natoma.html. There were also international articles about the event http://operalounge.de/features/musikszene-festivals/love-calls-aus-santa-cruz. [Source]

Our Native American Heritage
by Barbara Graichen

The first settlers arrived in the Sacramento Valley as early as 8,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of them in Sacramento County is found along the Cosumnes River near Rancho Murieta where crude stone tools were recovered from gravels estimated to be 12,000-18,000 years old. The first Natomas residents, sometimes called the Windmillers, were mainly hunters. They established villages in Natomas about 4,500 to 5000 years ago. However, some of the sites have not been fully evaluated so they may be older. Around four thousand years ago, the activities, language and cultural habits of Natomas residents changed. People began to spend more time gathering the abundant and tasty native food found in Natomas. They baked, made jewelry from shells, stones and crystals, and traded pelts and food for beads, obsidian, chert, greenstone, quartz, slate, and other materials not found in Natomas. By 500 A.D., the Maidu-Nisenan culture was firmly established. Many people were living in villages along the Sacramento and American Rivers along western and southern Natomas, and Dry and Auburn Ravine Creeks to the east and north. By the 1800s, over 100,000 native peoples lived in the Central Valley. As many as 10,000 Maidu-Nisenan people lived in Natomas. In 1832, John Work counted 1,500 people living at the confluence of the Sacramento and Feather Rivers near present day Verona. These people, the Maidu, gave Natomas its name. "Natomas" is a Maidu word meaning north place or upstream people. The Maidu were a branch of the Nisenan people. The word, "Nisenan," means our people or among us. Most of the Natomas Maidu lived on natural levees or high ground along our rivers and creeks. There were at least six villages along the American and Sacramento Rivers from Northgate Boulevard to Verona. They were called Wollack (near Verona), Leuchi, Nawrean (west of Power Line Road), Wishuna, Totola (in northern Natomas), and Pusune (southern Natomas). Other settlements were located along Dry Creek in eastern Natomas, and Auburn Ravine Creek in northern Natomas. Remnants of villages, cemeteries, ceremonial grounds, trading sites, fishing stations, seasonal camps and river crossings still remain in Natomas. Their locations are kept hidden from the public so they won't be disturbed. There have been several archaeological digs in Natomas, and beautiful pottery and other items from sites, like the now destroyed Bennet Mound (west of Power Line Road), are on display in various California museums. Natomas was considered the best place to live in Western North America because of the mild climate and abundant year round food resources. It was a bit like paradise, here. There was no need to work hard raising crops, tending livestock or going to work every day. There was ample shade in the forested areas. Rivers, creeks, ponds and lakes teemed with Salmon, Steelhead Trout, Tule Perch, crawdads, ducks, geese, turtles, mussels, freshwater clams and bullfrogs. Grasslands and forests supported pheasants, rabbits, doves, and quail. Elderberries, grapes, onions, sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, brodiaea bulbs, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, blackberries, nuts, roots and tubers, and grains grew wild in Natomas. They were easy to find and gather. There were forests and herds of elk, pronghorn antelope, and deer. Early explorers (Yount, 1837) wrote that the deer, antelope and elk were so tame that people could walk amid them without startling them. The Maidu built granaries and made or traded milling equipment, mortars and pestles, baskets, harpoons, fish spears, bows and arrows, quivers, mats, pipes, nets, ropes, antler wedges, balsa canoes, obsidian knives, and other stone tools. Villages or groups of villages were organized into a tribelet under the authority of a "headman." The office could be elected but was usually hereditary. The main functions of the headman were to settle disputes, host visitors, and oversee other activities. Maidu villages generally had 3-7 houses although larger villages housed up to 200-300 people. Dwellings were 10-15 feet in diameter and generally dome shaped. They were covered with bark or brush and placed over slight depressions. This kept residents very cool during hot Natomas summers. People also built 30 foot diameter or larger round houses for dances, gatherings and ceremonies. Natomas was a peaceful and marvelous place to live. Unfortunately, paradise was lost. In 1832, a group of Hudson Bay Company workers brought malaria to Natomas. Within a few months, seventy-five percent of Natomas' residents died. The gold rush brought miners and settlers, some of whom destroyed villages, killed people or forced them into slave labor. Many other Maidu people died of measles, consumption or from horrible working conditions. The herds of antelope, elk and other large mammals disappeared. Place names, like Elkhorn Boulevard and Natomas, provide some of the only reminders of Natomas' first settlers and the natural environment in which they lived. Perhaps, our "new" Natomas residents can think of ways to remember and honor those who came before us. If you would like to learn more about Natomas' history, help preserve and document our history and/or meet a lot of fascinating people, call 419-0509 (Natomas Historical Society).


Steelhead Creek in the Ueda Parkway?
by Barbara Graichen

Take a moment and imagine what Natomas was like twenty years before the gold rush. In those days, dozens of creeks and streams drained the eastern valley or Sierra foothills and meandered through Natomas. Some streams emptied into a motley assortment of year round lakes and marshes that were scattered throughout our basin. Others made it all the way to the big rivers. Herds of deer and antelope, fattened on lush grasses, tules and marsh plants, roamed the lowlands of Natomas. Salmon, Steelhead and other fish were abundant as were the plump water birds. River otter feasted on fresh water clams. Forests of huge oak and cottonwood trees were visible in every direction. This was the place that thousands of native Maidu-Nisenan people called home. Many made their homes on the natural levees that paralleled the Sacramento and American Rivers and Natomas’ larger creeks. Other natives simply enjoyed hunting and fishing trips along our creeks and streams. It was a bit like paradise. Times changed. By the early 1900s, an urge to farm or sell land for profit caused the promotion of remarkable plans to drain the land. Landowners and residents reacted favorably to expensive engineering proposals to tame the rivers and creeks that flooded the basin. Dreams turned into an enormous land reclamation effort that caused Natomas to earn national renown as "the Holland of California." Lakes and marshes were drained. Natural creeks were captured in canals, with portions of their channels shunted in unfamiliar directions. Between May 1912 and December 1914, a ring of levees rose around 55,000 acres of land blocking the natural waterways that once crossed the great basin. Our streams became captive creeks; at best called sloughs; at worst drainage canals. Some local residents and groups have decided that it’s time to begin to acknowledge our natural heritage by changing the name of the Natomas East Main Drain Canal (NEMDC), the eastern boundary of Natomas, to Steelhead Creek. Reasons vary. Some people simply don’t like the official name because it brings concrete to mind rather than wildlife viewing and recreation. Some, like County Parks Commissioner, Bob Bastian, think that it helps people focus on a local recreation opportunity. "The ponds just north of Sorento Road are a great place to spend a Sunday morning fishing with my son!” he said. “Two weeks ago, we saw Canadian Geese, Mallards and a variety of other birds." Many Natomas residents who support the new name want more people to appreciate the area’s history and learn about wildlife that live in and near the creek. Valley View Acres resident, Jeanie Brower, remembers her brother catching Steelhead in the NEMDC. Jack Alvarez remembers sitting under the old Sorento Road Bridge catching Black Bass while waiting for his future wife to finish dinner. Seventy-two year old Lou Lawrence relates stories from his boyhood when friends caught Steelhead in what they then called Steelhead Creek.Some people, like me, remember year round water in the northern NEMDC and more trees. We want others to share our vision of a restored creek. Most younger residents have only seen Steelhead Creek’s degraded northern channel and few people realize that the beautiful stream that enters the Sacramento River on the north side of Discovery Park in the American River Parkway is actually the NEMDC! Many of the volunteers who helped breathe life into the Ueda Parkway, like equestrian Mike Harriman, look forward to riding horses or bicycles on the many miles of trails planned to be constructed beginning in spring 2001. They would like to see more shaded trails. Many, like Beverly Dir, enjoy seeing the trees and shrubs that have already been planted and would like to see more. "The name 'Steelhead Creek' may serve as a reminder that captive Natomas streams can provide opportunities for education, wildlife viewing and recreation." said Alta Tura, president of the Sacramento Urban Creeks Council. "They need to be kept clean and attractive for wildlife and for us." The State passed SB 2261, which requires that, the State Department of Fish and Game double the natural production of Steelhead. Perhaps Natomas can further efforts to obtain state and federal dollars for restoring and enhancing Steelhead and Salmon fisheries in our creeks by supporting the new name for the NEMDC. This could mean more scenic places for picnicking, fishing and other recreation.


ABOUT STEELHEAD

Steelhead were once abundant in central California streams from Mexico to Oregon including Dry Creek and the NEMDC. For years, no one saw any Steelhead in our smaller creeks (Salmon runs continue in low numbers). In recent years, residents and scientists have begun to report Steelhead sightings. A Steelhead Trout is often called a Rainbow Trout that has the urge to travel to the sea. An adult Steelhead has a bluish back, silvery side, and small, sharply defined spots on the head, back, and sides, and on dorsal and tail fins. In fresh water, a reddish stripe can usually be seen from head to tail. Steelhead average 2 to 15 lbs. Six lbs. is considered large although a few have reached 40 lbs. Like the salmon that inhabit Steelhead (proposed) and Dry Creeks, Steelhead usually return to spawn in the upstream gravels where they were spawned. However, they do not die after spawning. Counts taken between 1943 and 1947 indicate that local Steelhead generally migrated in the spring although many Steelhead migrate between October and April. Young Steelhead spend from one to two years in fresh water before returning to the ocean. The ideal spawning location for a Steelhead is slower moving water with 2 to 14 inch depths available for babies (fry) and juveniles. Year round water temperatures need to remain below 60 degrees making Dry Creek’s spring fed upstream and higher elevation locations suitable habitat. [Source]

Diva Renée Fleming Gets Captured By Rock Band KISS At Parade

November 27, 2014, 8:41 am

≫ Next: Artwork For Sonya Yoncheva Debut Album On Sony Classical Revealed

≪ Previous: Happy Thanksgiving From Mary Garden And Her Native Friends

$

0

0

Lead singer of KISS, Paul Stanley, wraps his cloak around his favorite diva Renée Fleming. Watch the full video after the jump.

Artwork For Sonya Yoncheva Debut Album On Sony Classical Revealed

November 28, 2014, 1:16 pm

≫ Next: Support Coloraturafan On Crowdfunding Platform GoFundMe

≪ Previous: Diva Renée Fleming Gets Captured By Rock Band KISS At Parade

$

0

0

You can pre-order the album by clicking here. Compare and contrast this cover with a series of other memorable label-debut albums of artists from the last 30 years.

Support Coloraturafan On Crowdfunding Platform GoFundMe

November 29, 2014, 8:33 am

≫ Next: Puerto Rican Soprano Ana María Martínez Gets High Ranking

≪ Previous: Artwork For Sonya Yoncheva Debut Album On Sony Classical Revealed

$

0

0

Known to YouTube watchers as Coloraturafan, Dylan is now starting a campaign to fund a new video venture: "I am looking to expand my video collection to include a new segment 'A chat with Coloraturafan.' With this new project includes the necessity to produce my own videos, which means I need to invest and spend. In order to expedite the process I am starting a GoFundMe account. This future venture will include video segments where I interview people in the Opera Industry (singers, directors, conductors, designers, fellow fans) in order to further explore this wonderful art that I love so much, and I hope that the videos will prove both entertaining and informative to the viewers of my channel." With over 16,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel and thousands of videos posted, this young man deserves major support. Make a donation by clicking here. Watch his video after the jump.