Opera North triumphed over the Royal Opera House in the opera and music theatre category with Eight Little Greats, its series of short, rarely-staged operas.
Britten’s War Requiem at Royal Festival Hall, London
Flag-waving celebrations may have been the order of the day across the river, but a far more thoughtful marking of the VE Day anniversary was to be found in the London Philharmonic’s tribute, which almost inevitably took the form of Britten’s War Requiem. What wasn’t inevitable was that it should be led by the orchestra’s chief conductor, who spent VE day as a teenage German soldier in an Allied prisoner-of-war camp. However, it seemed right that Kurt Masur was there.
Il Corsaro in Genoa
It would be easy to say that the best thing about Il Corsaro is its brevity. There isn’t one item in the young Verdi’s compositional bag of tricks that he didn’t brandish with greater flair elsewhere. Written when the composer was Paris-based and exploring new artistic directions, it suffers from a sense that he was going through the motions. But the Teatro Carlo Felice accords Il Corsaro the respect it would any other Verdi opera, and the rewards are substantial.
BØRRESEN: The Royal Guest
When this CD arrived, I had never heard of Danish composer Hakon Børresen (1876–1954). Baker’s gives him only a few lines, and a Google search didn’t turn up much information until I found a Danish site (www.samfundet.dk) with interesting biographical details to supplement the little biography in the CD notes. When I put the CD on and sat back to listen, I suddenly realized I had heard, if not heard of, Børresen before. It’s Richard Strauss! Or maybe Edward Elgar. The composer seems to have remained firmly rooted in the nineteenth century (or maybe Hans Pfitzner) until his death, three years after that of Arnold Schoenberg. That he retained his leadership of the Danish Composers’ Society during the Nazi occupation until he was ousted in 1948 may say something about his conservative nature as well.
BRUBECK: Songs
This problematic recording is another in Naxos’s “American Classics” series, an important body of releases that demonstrates the broad reach of American music across two centuries. While some of the recordings are decidedly novelties, they are welcome as such. William Henry Fry’s “Santa Claus” Symphony, for instance, deserves to be heard as well as mentioned in textbooks. The songs of Dave Brubeck, however, are certainly more than novelties, despite their not being as well known or as widely heard as the music of his justly famous quartet.
Ernani at Parma
No city is more closely identified with Verdi than Parma – the urban centre closest to the composer’s rural home – and it polishes its image with an annual Verdi festival. As Parma is also home to the National Institute of Verdi Studies, scholarly gatherings play a role, and several visiting orchestras appear. But the festival’s mainstay rests in the Teatro Regio with two new opera productions.
Mara Zampieri: A Tribute to Verdi
The recurring practice in classical recording studios is “re-mastering” recordings of a legendary artist, sometimes focusing on those artists well known but not frequently recorded. Soprano Mara Zampieri is one of those veteran performers, who released only a handful of commercial recordings and no personal compilations. Myto’s new release, Mara Zampieri: A Tribute to Verdi, is proof why this singer has not been recorded more frequently.
Rossini’s Il Barbiere at Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Das war ein Ensemble! Musikalisch ganz auf Rossinis Spur. Und komödiantisch? Da reichten 50 Quadratzentimeter pro Person, um anzudeuten, was auf einer Opernbühne abgegangen wäre. Denn leider handelte es sich beim jüngsten Münchner “Barbier von Sevilla” nur um eine konzertante Aufführung. Wieder einmal trumpfte das Münchner Rundfunkorchester mit der Oper auf. Diesmal nicht mit einer Rarität, sondern mit einem Top-Ensemble, das eigentlich von Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina angeführt werden sollte. Doch für die Erkrankte sprang kurzfristig Elina Garanca ein und sahnte – zusammen mit ihren Kollegen – beim Sonntagskonzert im Gasteig mächtig ab.
Shostakovich’s Moscow, Moscow at the Wiener Kammeroper
Sascha und Mascha, jung verheiratet, treffen einander einmal täglich ir gendwo in Moskau und träumen von einer eigenen Wohnung. Semjon Semjonowitsch Baburow und seine Tochter sind obdachlos geworden – das alte Haus in der “Warmen Seitengasse” ist eingestürzt. Der Sprengstoffexperte und “Dissident” Boris möchte nach Jahren fern von Moskau hier seine große Liebe finden. Und da sind dann noch Sergej und seine angebetete, stramm linientreue Bauarbeiterin Ljusja, auch auf der Suche nach einer Bleibe.
Tales of Hoffmann at Seattle
Jacques Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann” has to be one of the most problematic and untidy operas in the international repertory.
Nearly 125 years after its premiere at the Opera-Comique in Paris, the opera is still subject to alterations and adjustments of whatever impresario is producing the show. Different editions abound—since the score was unfinished at the time of the composer’s death—as well as different opinions, almost by definition, about what should and should not be included in any performing edition.