Traviata at Theatre La Fenice by Gillian Price [LEO — LA RIVISTA DI VENEZIA] The excitement in the damp autumn air is palpable. Venice’s beloved Fenice theatre is soon to…
Albany Records Announces New Recording by Angela Brown
On October 29, 2004, Angela Brown made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Aida in the great Verdi opera. Hailed in Opera News as “one of America’s most promising Verdi sopranos,”…
Haroun and the Sea of Stories at NYC Opera
An American master premieres at City Opera An interview with Charles Wuorinen 10/26/2004 The world premiere of Haroun and the Sea of Stories features an inspired cross-section of artists among…
Die Zauberflöte at Bayerische Staatsoper
Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Emanuel Schikaneder Première on 30th October 1978 at the Nationaltheater Première of the Neu Einstudierung on 31st October 2004 at the Nationaltheater…
Biographical Note: Angela M. Brown
For a Fill-In Aida, a Triumph Long in Coming By ANNE MIDGETTE [NY Times] Angela M. Brown grew up singing gospel music in her grandfather’s Baptist church in Indianapolis, but…
Rigoletto at DNO Amsterdam
Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi 1813-1901 Rigoletto, together with Il trovatore and La traviata, laid the foundations for Verdi’s worldwide renown; the latter two operas were composed shortly after Rigoletto. The opera…
Appearing at the Met: Verdi’s I Vespri Siciliani
Dubious History – Miraculous Music By John Yohalem [Playbill Arts] November 1, 2004 I Vespri Siciliani, a collaboration between Verdi and librettist Eugène Scribe, produced some astounding music–but historical fact…
Fanfare Reviews Jenufa
JANáCEK Jenufa * Charles Mackerras, cond; Janice Watson (Jenufa), Josephine Barstow (The Kostelnicka), Nigel Robson (Laca), Peter Wedd (Steva), Neale Davies (Foreman); Welsh Natl Op O & Ch * CHANDOS…
RICE: Empress Marie Therese and Music at the Viennese Court, 1792-1807
John A. Rice’s detailed account of the musical life of the Empress Marie Therese portrays a flourishing world of imperial patronage in its final years. The second wife of Emperor Franz II and namesake of her more famous grandmother Empress Maria Theresa, Marie Therese lived just long enough to see the collapse of the Empire before Napoleon’s troops.
Lebrecht on Gelb
How the Met was fixed By Norman Lebrecht / November 11, 2004 The Metropolitan Opera House in New York regards itself, with some justice, as the world’s greatest. In America,…