English Touring Opera are delighted to announce a season of lyric monodramas to tour nationally from October to December. The season features music for solo singer and piano by Argento, Britten, Tippett and Shostakovich with a bold and inventive approach to making opera during social distancing.
This tenth of ten Live from London concerts was in fact a recorded live performance from California. It was no less enjoyable for that, and it was also uplifting to learn that this wasn’t in fact the ‘last’ LfL event that we will be able to enjoy, courtesy of VOCES8 and their fellow vocal ensembles (more below …).
Ever since Wigmore Hall announced their superb series of autumn concerts, all streamed live and available free of charge, I’d been looking forward to this song recital by Ian Bostridge and Imogen Cooper.
Although Stile Antico’s programme article for their Live from London recital introduced their selection from the many treasures of the English Renaissance in the context of the theological debates and upheavals of the Tudor and Elizabethan years, their performance was more evocative of private chamber music than of public liturgy.
Evidently, face masks don’t stifle appreciative “Bravo!”s. And, reducing audience numbers doesn’t lower the volume of such acclamations. For, the audience at Wigmore Hall gave soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and pianist Simon Lepper a greatly deserved warm reception and hearty response following this lunchtime recital of late-Romantic song.
For this week’s Live from London vocal recital we moved from the home of VOCES8, St Anne and St Agnes in the City of London, to Kings Place, where The Sixteen - who have been associate artists at the venue for some time - presented a programme of music and words bound together by the theme of ‘reflection’.
'Such is your divine Disposation that both you excellently understand, and royally entertaine the Exercise of Musicke.’
‘And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven … that old serpent … Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.’
There was never any doubt that the fifth of the twelve Met Stars Live in Concert broadcasts was going to be a palpably intense and vivid event, as well as a musically stunning and theatrically enervating experience.
‘Love’ was the theme for this Live from London performance by Apollo5. Given the complexity and diversity of that human emotion, and Apollo5’s reputation for versatility and diverse repertoire, ranging from Renaissance choral music to jazz, from contemporary classical works to popular song, it was no surprise that their programme spanned 500 years and several musical styles.
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields have titled their autumn series of eight concerts - which are taking place at 5pm and 7.30pm on two Saturdays each month at their home venue in Trafalgar Square, and being filmed for streaming the following Thursday - ‘re:connect’.
The London Symphony Orchestra opened their Autumn 2020 season with a homage to Oliver Knussen, who died at the age of 66 in July 2018. The programme traced a national musical lineage through the twentieth century, from Britten to Knussen, on to Mark-Anthony Turnage, and entwining the LSO and Rattle too.
With the Live from London digital vocal festival entering the second half of the series, the festival’s host, VOCES8, returned to their home at St Annes and St Agnes in the City of London to present a sequence of ‘Choral Dances’ - vocal music inspired by dance, embracing diverse genres from the Renaissance madrigal to swing jazz.
Just a few unison string wriggles from the opening of Mozart’s overture to Le nozze di Figaro are enough to make any opera-lover perch on the edge of their seat, in excited anticipation of the drama in music to come, so there could be no other curtain-raiser for this Gala Concert at the Royal Opera House, the latest instalment from ‘their House’ to ‘our houses’.
"Before the ending of the day, creator of all things, we pray that, with your accustomed mercy, you may watch over us."
The doors at The Metropolitan Opera will not open to live audiences until 2021 at the earliest, and the likelihood of normal operatic life resuming in cities around the world looks but a distant dream at present. But, while we may not be invited from our homes into the opera house for some time yet, with its free daily screenings of past productions and its pay-per-view Met Stars Live in Concert series, the Met continues to bring opera into our homes.
Music-making at this year’s Grange Festival Opera may have fallen silent in June and July, but the country house and extensive grounds of The Grange provided an ideal setting for a weekend of twelve specially conceived ‘promenade’ performances encompassing music and dance.
There’s a “slide of harmony” and “all the bones leave your body at that moment and you collapse to the floor, it’s so extraordinary.”
“Music for a while, shall all your cares beguile.”
The hum of bees rising from myriad scented blooms; gentle strains of birdsong; the cheerful chatter of picnickers beside a still lake; decorous thwacks of leather on willow; song and music floating through the warm evening air.
On May 4, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented a concert starring Russian soprano Anna Netrebko and her husband, Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazev. Led by Italian conductor Jader Bignamini, members of the orchestra showed their abilities, too, with a variety of instrumental selections played between the singers’ arias and duets.
The program opened with a dramatic rendition of the overture to Verdi’s La forza del destino. New to LA Opera, Bignamini’s interpretation included rough, loud chords at the opening followed by smooth legato playing in the overture’s more melodic sections. He drew a great variety of musical color from the ensemble and their sound often reminded me of multicolored Neapolitan ice cream. Thus, he notified California opera lovers that his interpretations are distinctive and architecturally strong.
Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Eyvazev opened with the ecstatic duet that ends Act I of Verdi’s Otello, “Già nella notte densa.” (“Now in the dark night”) The tenor had actually appeared at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion once before, singing the last performance of Pagliacci in the 2015-2016 season. Although not yet well known in the United States, Mr. Eyvazov, a pupil of Franco Corelli, is amassing fans wherever he sings. He has excellent stage presence and a full array of the skills most desired in a dramatic tenor. Ms. Netrebko was no stranger to the Pavilion audience, since she had already sung leading roles in Lucia di Lammermoor, Romeo and Juliette, and Manon at LA Opera. With the music from Otello, Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Eyvazov gave a delightful foretaste of what might some day be a good vehicle for both of them.
Maestro Bignami continued with the overture to Verdi’s early opera, Attila, and Ms. Netrebko began her interpretation of Lady Macbeth. Walking across the stage clad in blood red silk, she showed the predatory nature of her character’s personality as she read Macbeth’s letter. She sang a rousing rendition of the Act I aria, “Vieni t’affretta!” (“ Come, hurry!”) with it’s dramatic coloratura cabaletta “Or tutti sorgete.” (“All of you spirits rise up”) It is unusual for one singer to be able to contend with both the dramatic and florid aspects of the role of Lady Macbeth, but Netrebko handled each with ease.
Mr. Eyvazov countered with another blockbuster: “Ah si ben mio” (“Yes, my love”) and its exciting cabaletta “Di quella pira” (“From this pyre”) from Il Trovatore, which he topped off with a perfectly placed high C. The artists completed the first half of the concert with two selections from Verdi’s 1859 work, Un ballo in maschera: the prelude to Act II and the duet, “Teco io sto” (“I stand with you”). Verdi gave the harp a prominent part in this opera and JoAnn Turovsky played the music from Ballo with glistening silver tones. Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Eyvazov sang Amelia and Riccardo’s love duet with the red hot passion of irresistible attraction.
After the intermission, Mr. Eyvazov offered a complete change of pace with a memorable rendition of “Tu che m’hai preso il cuor” better known as Franz Lehar’s “Dein ist mein ganzes Hertz” (“Yours is my heart alone”) from Das Land des Lächelns. It took a bit of getting used to in Italian, but that melody still went straight to listeners’ hearts. Mo. Bignamini continued with the equally melodic Intermezzo from Macagni’s Cavalleria Ruticana.
Some of the less often performed operas by nineteenth and early twentieth century composers contain great arias. These artists presented memorable performances of arias from Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, Catalani’s La Wally, and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. I think many people will want to hear these exquisite pieces again. The finale, the verismo duet of the soon to be guillotined lovers from Giordano’s Andrea Chenier brought thunderous applause from the far reaches of the house.
These singers not only gave of themselves during the planned concert, they continued to be generous with encores. First, Ms. Netrebko sang a sweet and innocent version of Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro” (“Dearest daddy”) from Gianni Schicchi, then Mr. Eyvazov sang a full-blooded rendition of “Nessun’dorma” (“None shall sleep”) from the same composer’s Turandot. Together they sang the drinking song, “Libiamo” from Verdi’s La traviata before ending the evening with "Cantami" (“Let’s sing”) by distinguished contemporary Russian composer Igor Krutoy.
Maria Nockin
Musical Selections
Part One (Selections by Giuseppe Verdi)
Overture to La Forza del Destino
“Già nella notte densa” from Otello
Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov
Overture to Attila
“Vieni t’affretta!… Or tutti sorgete” from
Macbeth
Anna Netrebko
“Ah, sì ben mio… Di quella pira” from Il
Trovatore
Yusif Eyvazov
Act II prelude from Un Ballo in Maschera
“Teco io sto” from Un Ballo in Maschera
Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov
Part Two
“Tu che m’hai preso il cuor” from Das Land des
Lächelns (Franz Lehar)
Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov
Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana (Pietro Mascagni)
“Poveri fiori” from Adriana Lecouvreur
(Francesco Cilea)
Anna Netrebko
“L’anima ho stanca” from Adriana
Lecouvreur (Francesco Cilea)
Yusif Eyvazov
“Ebben! Ne andrò lontana” from La Wally (Alfredo
Catalani)
Anna Netrebko
“Un dì all’azzurro spazio” from Andrea
Chénier (Umberto Giordano)
Yusif Eyvazov
Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut (Giacomo Puccini)
“Vicino a te” from Andrea Chénier (Umberto
Giordano)
Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov
Encores
"O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo
Puccini)
Anna Netrebko
"Nessun dorma" from Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
Yusif Eyvazov
"Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from La Traviata (Giuseppe
Verdi)
Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov
"Cantami" (Igor Krutoy)
Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov