As Anna Russell might say: “The three operas of Puccini’s ‘Il Trittico’ take place on a luxury cruise liner. . . . . On it.”
Category: Reviews
Heggie’s “Last Acts”
Let me say up front that I like Jake Heggie’s work. I feel he has a true gift for soaring and meaningful melody, a great ear for orchestral effects, a talent for picking good source material, and a knack for crafting affecting melodrama (in the best sense of that word) that can move an audience to tears.
Heggie faces family dilemma in new work
Do dysfunctional families outnumber the ones that move through life untroubled, or is it — to paraphrase Tolstoy — that every dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way and thus of greater interest to writers and composers?
Handel’s Riccardo primo, Re díInghilterra (HWV 23) and Tolomeo, Re díEgitto (HWV 25) from B‰renreiter
Published in 2007, Riccardo primo, Re díInghilterra (HWV 23) and Tolomeo, Re díEgitto (HWV 25) mark two of the latest installments of vocal-score editions of Handelís operas based upon B‰renreiterís Urtext editions.
MOZART: Don Giovanni
This an intriguing two-disc DVD set. The primary disc is the opera itself, while the other disc is a film called ìAdieu Mozartî that tells us about the unique relationship Mozart had with the City of Prague.
Zarzuelas ó Arrieta: Marina; BretÛn: La verbena de la paloma; Vives: Bohemios and DoÒa Francisquita
The Spanish comical lyric genre of the zarzuela has long been considered the stepchild of opera.
Best of British from the BBC Proms 2007
The BBC Proms webcasts all of its performances, and many are available for extended periods through BBC Radio’s archives.
The Opera Gala — Live from Baden-Baden
As evidence of Deutsche Grammophon’s proud status as a classical record label of the “old school,” there appears this CD document of a typical opera gala affair, from July of 2007 in Baden-Baden.