In 1831, when Vincenzo Bellini composed this pastorale full of characters who never express any but sincere emotions (with the exception of Lisa, the calculating flirt), he certainly intended them, and their feelings, and therefore their story, to be taken seriously – or he would not have given them such seriously lovely music.
Month: March 2009
Il Trovatore at the MET
For nearly a decade after its premiere, in 1853, Il Trovatore was the most popular opera, perhaps the most popular stage work on the planet — even more than Rigoletto or Ernani, and far more than Traviata, which had its premiere the following autumn.
Franz Schubert: The Conspirators (Die Verschworenen)
Schubert was desperate to be an opera composer — or so one might surmise from the many (at least 18) attempts he made to make a name for himself as a man of the theatre.
Katya Kabanova/The Magic Flute — English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire Theatre
English Touring Opera is 30 years old this year, and has never been more adventurous.
Songs by Samuel Barber
Among the impressive contributions to the American song literature of the twentieth century are works by Samuel Barber (1910-81), whose efforts in this genre reflect his own musical training as a singer, as well as the influence of his aunt, Louise Homer, whose professional relationships put her nephew in contact with other vocalists of the day.
WAGNER: Das Rheingold — Rome 1968
Vorabend (preliminary evening) of Der Ring des Nibelungen, in four scenes.
TELEMANN: Brockes-Passion
Heinrich Brockes’s famous poetic setting of the Passion, Der f¸r die S¸nden der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus (1712), was one of the most significant devotional texts of its day in Germany.
Don Giovanni — Victorian Opera
Each Australia state maintains its own opera company. The dominant company is Opera Australia, a permanent ensemble based at the Sydney Opera House but which originated in the Melbourne based National Theatre Opera Company in the 1940s.
Historic Performances: Maria Callas
Although born in New York City, Maria Callas (1923-1977) received her musical education in Greece and started her career in Italy.