2006-2007 Program Listings
December 16
Scenes from Faust by Robert Schumann
Another visit to historic Severance Hall in Cleveland, this time for a seldom heard drama by one of music's most famously tormented Romantics. Schumann began any number of operatic projects -- and nearly all of them were abandoned, or turned into something else, including this one. Scenes from Faust graft an operatic plot onto the structure of a dramatic oratorio -- all based on Goethe's classic.
The Cleveland Orchestra: Franz Welser-Möst, conductor |
December 23
Hänsel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck
Also a successful CD release, on the Avie label, this NPR-recorded production is a perfect, Christmas confection. The MSO production of Humperdinck's traditional, holiday opera features stellar performances across the board -- including delightful turns by Heidi Grant Murphy and Susanne Mentzer as the pair of heroic children, and the highly accomplished Judith Forst as one of the scariest witches you'd ever want to meet.
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra: Andreas Delfs, conductor |
December 30
Cenerentola by Gioacchino Rossini
Another fairy-tale opera to liven up the holiday season, this sparkling production of one of Rossini's funniest operas features an operatic rarity: a brilliant ensemble cast that also delivers striking individual performances. Fun for all ages!
Washington National Opera: Riccardo Frizza, conductor |
Jan. 6
Otello by Giuseppe Verdi
This week marks the Vienna State Opera's first appearance on World of Opera in more than two decades, and the first of a number of VSO productions to be heard in the series in upcoming months. The opera is one of the greatest of all operatic adaptations of Shakespeare, Verdi's late masterwork, Otello.
Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus: Daniele Gatti, conductor |
Jan. 13
Lucio Silla by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The entire world celebrated Mozart's 250th birthday in 2006, but the biggest party of them all may have happened at the Salzburg Festival. This is one of 22 Mozart operas presented during the Festival, and features the chorus and orchestra from Venice's historic opera house, La Fenice.
La Fenice Chorus and Orchestra: Tomas Netopi, conductor |
Jan. 20
Il Turco in Italia by Gioacchino Rossini
In 1813, Rossini scored a hit with L'Italiana in Algeri -- The Italian Woman in Algiers. And the composer wasn't too proud to take advantage of that opera's popularity just one year later with another one in the same vein -- using a sort of inside-out version of the same plot line. It's The Turk in Italy, and we'll hear it from a jewel of an opera house on the banks of Lake Geneva, in Lausanne.
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and Opera Chorus: Paolo Arrivabeni, conductor |
Jan. 27
Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Another production from Salzburg's 2006 Mozart celebration, this time featuring musicians from the composer's adopted hometown, Vienna. The chorus of Vienna's State Opera joins the Vienna Philharmonic in Salzburg for one of Mozart's greatest masterpieces, with the superb baritone Thomas Hampson in the title role.
Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Chorus: Daniel Harding, conductor |
Feb. 3
Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten
A stellar ensemble cast leads a truly-stirring production of Britten's moody swashbuckler. The tale of seafaring struggle between good and evil, this opera reminds us that in that battle, victory is seldom clear cut. Samuel Ramey's John Claggart is not to be missed!
Washington National Opera: Richard Hickox, conductor |
Feb. 10
Andrea Chenier by Uberto Giordano
Rising tenor Salvatore Licitra headlines Giordano's revolutionary potboiler. Love and politics vie for the hero's soul in an opera that demonstrates how both of those passions can be dangerous to one's health.
Washington National Opera: Eugene Kohn, conductor |
Feb. 17
La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) by Vincenzo Bellini
Better known for tragic dramas like Norma and I Puritani, Bellini also had a smash hit with this lighthearted romp, set in a village full of good intentions where even the thorniest problems are simple misunderstandings, easily solved. This Vienna production stars Anna Netrebko, one of opera's hottest young sopranos.
Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus: Pier Giorgio Morandi, conductor |
Feb. 24
Aida by Giuseppe Verdi
From the legendary La Scala in Milan, it's an all-star cast in a production of one the world's most popular operas. Violeta Urmana makes her La Scala debut in the title role, with the exciting tenor Roberto Alagna as Radames.
La Scala Orchestra and Chorus: Riccardo Chailly, conductor |
March 3
La Finta Giardiniera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
At an age when most of us were graduating from high school, Mozart already had finished more than a half-dozen operas -- including this darkly comic story of a love so powerful that it first drives a couple mad, and then returns them to sanity.
Mozarteum Orchestra: Ivor Bolton, conductor |
March 10
Romeo and Juliet by Charles Gounod
Gounod was among the few composers to ever make a successful opera based on a Shakespeare play, and one of even fewer to make an operatic hit out of this one, perhaps the greatest dramatic tragedy of them all. This Houston production features the stellar young soprano Ana Maria Martinez, and one of the hottest tenors around, Ramón Vargas.
Houston Grand Opera: Emmanuel Joel, conductor |
March 17
Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi
It could be argued that this quarter of World of Opera features the three finest operatic settings of Shakespeare: Verdi's Otello, Gounod's Romeo and Juliet and this one, Falstaff, which ranks among the most brilliant of all Verdi's masterpieces. Shakespeare's Falstaff dramas tell reams about the human condition. If anything, Verdi took the character and made his story even richer, and more rewarding.
Houston Grand Opera: Patrick Summers, conductor |
March 24
Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (The Return of Ulysses) by Claudio Monteverdi
His style may not be as familiar as Verdi's, or Mozart's, but Monteverdi ranks as opera's first great composer. His works are still among the finest ever, and this is one of his best. It's got everything an operatic potboiler needs: political intrigue, natural disaster, lust and romance -- with a mass murder thrown in just for good measure.
Welsh National Opera Orchestra: Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor |
March 31
The Abduction from the Seraglio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
If you believe the familiar story, this is the opera the Emperor of Austria dismissed as having "too many notes" back in 1782. As it turns out, the piece has just enough notes to have remained in the repertory pretty much ever since. The production features an orchestra from Mozart's hometown, Salzburg, and a chorus from his adopted hometown, Vienna.
Mozarteum Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Chorus: Ivor Bolton, conductor |
