‘Remember me, the one who is Pia;/ Siena made me, Maremma undid me.’ The speaker is Pia de’ Tolomei. She appears in a brief episode of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Purgatorio V, 130-136) which was the source for Gaetano Donizetti’s Pia de’ Tolomei – by way of Bartolomeo Sestini’s verse-novella of 1825.
Author: Anne Ozioro
New from Opera Rara : Gounod La Colombe and Donizetti Le Duc d’Albe
Two new recordings from highly acclaimed specialists Opera Rara –
Gounod La Colombe and Donizetti Le Duc d’Albe.
Handel : Elpidia – Opera Settecento
Roll up! A new opera by Handel is to be performed, L’Elpidia overo li rivali generosi. It is based upon a libretto by Apostolo Zeno with music by Leonardo Vinci – excepting a couple of arias by Giuseppe Orlandini and, additionally, two from Antonio Lotti’s Teofane (which the star bass, Giuseppe Maria Boschi , on bringing with him from the Dresden production of 1719).
Christian Gerhaher Wolfgang Rihm Wigmore Hall
For their first of two recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber devised an interesting programme – popular Schubert mixed with songs by Wolfgang Rihm and by Huber himself.
Emmanuel Chabrier L’…toile — Royal Opera House London
PremiËred in 1877 at Offenbach’s own ThÈ‚tre des Bouffes Parisiens, Emmanuel Chabrier’s L’…toile has a libretto, by EugËne Leterrier and Albert Vanloo, which stirs the blackly comic, the farcical and the bizarre into a surreal melange, blending contemporary satire with the frankly outlandish.
Benjamin Appl — Schubert, Wigmore Hall London
Luca Pisaroni and Wolfram Rieger were due to give the latest installment in the Wigmore Hall’s complete Schubert songs series, but both had to cancel at short notice. Fortunately, the Wigmore Hall rises to such contingencies, and gave us Benjamin Appl and Jonathan Ware. Since there’s a huge buzz about Appl, this was an opportunity to hear more of what he can do.
L’Arpeggiata: La dama d’AragÛ, Wigmore Hall
Having recently followed some by-ways through the music of Purcell, Monteverdi and Cavalli, L’Arpeggiata turned the spotlight on traditional folk music in this characteristically vibrant and high-spirited performance at the Wigmore Hall.
Tippett : A Child of Our Time, London
Edward Gardner brought all his experience as a choral and opera conductor to bear in this stirring performance of Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time at the Barbican Hall, with a fine cast of soloists, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Chorus.
Taverner and Tavener, Fretwork, London
‘Apt for voices or viols’: eager to maximise sales among the domestic market in Elizabethan England, publishers emphasised that the music contained in collections such as Thomas Morley’s First Book of Madrigals to Four Voices of 1594 was suitable for performance by any combination of singers and players.
Verdi Giovanna d’Arco, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Verdi Giovanna d’Arco at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, starting the new season. Primas at La Scala are a state occasion, attended by the President of Italy and other dignitaries.