The life of Alessandro Stradella was characterised by turbulence, adventure and amorous escapades worthy of an opera libretto. Indeed, at least seven composers have turned episodes from the 17th-century Italian composer’s colourful life into operatic form, the best known being Flotow whose three-act comic opera based on the Lothario’s misadventures was first staged in Hamburg in 1844.
Year: 2020
Schubert 200 : in conversation with Tom Guthrie
‘There could be no happier existence. Each morning he composed something beautiful and each evening he found the most enthusiastic admirers. We gathered in his room – he played and sang to us – we were enthusiastic and afterwards we went to the tavern. We hadn’t a penny but were blissfully happy.’
Purcell’s The Indian Queen from Lille
Among the few compensations opera lovers have had from the COVID crisis is the abundance – alas, plethora – of streamed opera productions we might never have seen or even known of without it.
Wexford Festival Opera on RT… Player: Stanford’s The Veiled Prophet available to view online
At a time when more people than ever are turning online to enjoy their favourite opera productions, the first-ever professional performance in English of The Veiled Prophet by Dublin-born composer, Charles Villiers Stanford, is now available to view on the RT… Player.
The Met announces plans to live-stream an all-star At-Home Gala
The Met announces plans to live-stream an all-star At-Home Gala on Saturday, April 25, at 1pm EDT/6pm BST. This free concert will feature performances by more than 40 of the company’s most prominent artists, live from their own quarantines around the world.
Ethel Smyth: Songs and Ballads – a new recording from SOMM
In 1877, Ethel Smyth, aged just nineteen, travelled to Leipzig to begin her studies at the German town’s Music Conservatory, having finally worn down the resistance of her father, General J.H. Smyth.
Wagner: Excerpts from Der Ring des Niebelungen, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Paavo J‰rvi, RCA-Sony
This new recording of excerpts from Wagner’s Der Ring des Niebelungen is quite exceptional – and very unusual for this kind of disc. The words might be missing, but the fact they are proves to have rather the opposite effect. It is one of the most operatic of orchestral Wagner discs I have come across.
Wagner: Die Walk¸re, Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Simon Rattle, BR Klassik
Simon Rattle has never particularly struck me as a complex conductor. He is not, for example, like Furtw‰ngler, Maderna, Boulez or Sinopoli – all of whom brought a breadth of learning and a knowledge of composition to bear on what they conducted.
English Touring Opera to broadcast St John Passion on Easter Sunday
English Touring Opera is preparing to broadcast a performance of Bach’s St John
Passion which premiered in London on 5 March 2020 and was due to tour
nationally.
Garsington Opera: Music for the Eyes
Garsington Opera is delighted to announce the launch of Music for the Eyes – a weekly online documentary featuring music from Garsington Opera and images from the National Gallery of London.