Opera Suggestions, II

I just finished listening to the Madama Butterfly on Sirius; it was also streamed free from the Met website as part of Listen Live.

I fell in love with Asmik Grigorian when I saw her in a stream as Senta in The Flying Dutchman, maybe from Bayreuth. She was just as wonderful here. The whole performance was superb. Kurzak was very moving a few weeks ago, and was a tough act to follow.

The last time this will be broadcast is during the Saturday broadcasts on May 11, which is also a Live in HD transmission.

It followed a fabulous performance of Carmen that was streamed last night on Listen Live.
 
Met Opera Principal Oboeist Elaine Douvas is retiring after 47 years, and she was interviewed by Debra Lew Harder during first intermission of tonight's Carmen stream.

She was an adult skater for 25 years and loved it. She said she finally had to give it up because of the fracture risk ?. She uses figure skating analogies and images with her students.
 
I just watched the delightful Partenope production streamed by San Francisco Opera: what a treat! It's set in the Roaring '20's. I don't know if I've heard Julia Fuchs (Partenope) before, but she has a lovely voice and wonderful technique. Carlo Vistoli made me an uber in the Theatre des Champs Elysees Giulio Cesare as Ptolemy -- the soup scene is one of my all-time favorite stagings -- although here he got to sing a ton of love-lorn Handel tunes. Daniela Mack sang Rosmina, the women he jilted and who returns in disguise as a man. Her husband, Alek Shrader, sang the baddie, Emilio -- the hair people had a lot of fun with his -- and Nicholas Tamagna sang Armindo.

https://www.sfopera.com/operas/partenope/

It was $27.50, no additional tax, and it might still be available to buy and watch on demand between 10am Monday June 24 and just before midnight on Tuesday, June 25. (From the "Digital" option on the top menu.)
 
kwanfan1818 said:
I just watched the delightful Partenope production streamed by San Francisco Opera: what a treat! It's set in the Roaring '20's. I don't know if I've heard Julia Fuchs (Partenope) before, but she has a lovely voice and wonderful technique. Carlo Vistoli made me an uber in the Theatre des Champs Elysees Giulio Cesare as Ptolemy -- the soup scene is one of my all-time favorite stagings -- although here he got to sing a ton of love-lorn Handel tunes. Daniela Mack sang Rosmina, the women he jilted and who returns in disguise as a man. Her husband, Alek Shrader, sang the baddie, Emilio -- the hair people had a lot of fun with his -- and Nicholas Tamagna sang Armindo.

https://www.sfopera.com/operas/partenope/

It was $27.50, no additional tax, and it might still be available to buy and watch on demand between 10am Monday June 24 and just before midnight on Tuesday, June 25. (From the "Digital" option on the top menu.)
Click to expand...

It looks like it is available and being the Handel/Baroque junkie that I am, as soon as I get my errands run, I am going to check it out. Thanks for the alert.
 
I was wrong about the viewing period: it's a full 48 hours. From the email from SFO:

The stream is available until Wednesday, June 26 at 10am PT, so make sure to begin watching before 6am that morning in order to view the full opera.

For people on the East Coast, that's until 9am ET to start to finish by 1pm ET.
 
Well, screw the errands; who am I kidding? Just watched the first act and am really enjoying it.

I had trouble buying it when I followed the online link; it just wouldn’t go through when I hit the buy button. If anyone tries to buy and encounters a problem, just call the box office, they were so helpful and took my cc info and sent me a link. Problem solved in less than 5 minutes.

I think this is one of the strongest Arsaces I’ve seen; as a character he’s making a bigger impression on me than anyone at City Opera did. I’m liking the Armindo, but the touchstone is still Bejun Mehta when he ripped the roof off the State Theater and brought the house down with that first plaintive aria of his.
 
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Am listening to the live stream of the NYE opener of the new Met production of Aida.

Even the little decent singing can't stop it from being such a train wreck, and the third act has just started...
 
kwanfan1818 said:
Am listening to the live stream of the NYE opener of the new Met production of Aida.

Even the little decent singing can't stop it from being such a train wreck, and the third act has just started...
Click to expand...
Why, what happened?
 
HGO's Concert of Arias just concluded, and we are about to hear announcement of the winners. I loved going in person last year but had to miss this year because I was traveling to my long postponed dive vacation in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. When I arrived after a two day journey and connected to WiFi, I found an email with a livestream link and was just in time to watch the entire competition from Indonesia! The quality was fantastic, and I 'm so glad I got to attend virtually.

ETA and I voted for the just announced audience choice winner! ETA the judges also picked him as the first place winner.
 
Just got this in an email from the Wagner Society of Northern California:

To commemorate the legacy of the recently departed Otto Schenk, one of the most celebrated opera directors of our time, the Vienna State Opera is offering free streams of seven productions directed by Schenk showcasing his talent for bringing music and drama to life on stage. You can stream the following extraordinary performances in your home free until Friday January 31st :

  • Fidelio (2016)​
  • Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2008)​
  • Andrea Chénier (2018)​
  • Die Fledermaus (2024)​
  • L’Elisir D’Amore (2022)​
  • Der Rosenkavalier (1994)​
  • The Cunning Little Vixen (2016)​
You will need to sign in to create an account. The recent performances include English subtitles; the earlier performances do not. Schenk’s productions are renowned for their emotional depth and meticulous attention to detail. This is a rare opportunity to experience the magic he brought to the Vienna State Opera stage. You can stream these performances by following this link: https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/en/streaming/
 
I scrolled into the Vienna Opera just-recorded regular streaming from Jan 28, 2025, an Ariadne auf Naxos with Lise Davidsen, Michael Spyres, Kate Lindsey, and Sara Blanch. It was fantastic! It should be up for somewhere between the next 24-48 hours. Scroll to after "The Cunning Little Vixen."
 
From an email I got from the Wagner Society of Northern California,

"Götterdämmerung, the last installment of La Monnaie's Ring (Brussels), will stream "live" on February 23 beginning at 6am PST and will be available "on demand" until August 23. It will have titles with four languages to choose from (English/Dutch/French/German).
The link for the trailer is https://youtu.be/lxppUdBBVfk?si=9uwaLLMq8rnmbjfh.
The link for the performance is https://operavision.eu/performance/gotterdammerung-0."

I'm glad about the "on demand" part, because, 6am, yikes!
 
Because I have SiriusXM, Met Opera Radio defaults to the lead-in music to live performances and the beginning of historical ones, and I have the option to skip to "live." That was tempting today, because I was late getting to it, and I thought, "Yeah, another "La Boheme," just click the "Live" button."

I'm really glad I didn't, because partway through Act III on delay, it's been really terrific. Calleja is singing Rodolfo, Mkhitaryan is singing Mimi, Brittany Renee is Musetta, and Luca Micheletti is in his Met debut role as Marcello. It's available on demand for a week starting on Monday for Met Supporters through the Met website.

They also aired the segment where Jake Heggie at the piano describes creating the opera (ETA: Moby Dick). At one point he gets choked up, but I was ahead of him there. (They also aired it as an intermission feature earlier this week during the Fidelio Listen Live.) I saw it in Dallas, and it's a beautiful score. The end of Act I is one of those heart in throat experiences.

Listen Live for Moby Dick is one-and-done, this Tuesday, March 11, 6:55 EDT, 3:55pm PDT. It also airs as a Saturday Matinee broadcast on March 29, at 1pm EDT, 10am PDT (and on demand for Supporters for a week).

Also, next Sunday, March 15, starting at 2:55pm EDT/11:55am PDTm, the Laffont Grand Finals concert is streaming from Listen Live:
https://www.metopera.org/season/radio/free-live-audio-streams/

Edited to add: The Parterre Box people think I've been smoking something, :lol:.
 
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My favorite opera is Handel’s Giulio Cesare, so of course I went to Carnegie Hall yesterday to see The English Concert’s staging. It was a terrific afternoon; my favorite singer of the day was Beth Taylor, who sang Cornelia. The opera was staged to highlight the comic aspects of the piece; I’ve never seen a Giulio Cesare this funny before. It started when Pompey’s head was delivered, not on a silver platter but in a Macy’s bag. My only complaint is that because of time constraints cuts had to be made.
 
Last night I watched San Francisco Opera's Livestream of Idomeneo, following a wonderfully sung and staged La Boheme the week before. Unfortunately, they followed convention and cut out Arsace's second aria, because not only did they have the great Matthew Polenzani in the title role, Alek Shrader was a fantastic Arsace, and Samuel White, on of the new Adler Fellows, sang the High Priest of Neptune and one of the soldiers, and he is a name to watch for. Three great tenors in one opera.

Shrader is married to Daniela Mack, whom I love, and they often perform together, possibly still traveling with their child(ren). According to one review, Matthew Shivlock (SFO Director) announced on opening night that Mack was 90% but still sang beautifully, but by the stream, the third performance of the season, she couldn't, and Laura Krumm, a former Adler Fellow, took her place. I don't know if she was the cover, ie, was there for rehearsals, but she had a lot of acting and stage business in addition to all of the singing, and it was amazing how well she did on the acting/staging front.

It was Ying Fang's SFO debut, and she may be my favorite Ilia ever. Elza van den Heever reprised the Crazed Electra that she did in the Met Live in HD. I love, love, love Eun Sun Kim's conducting, and I'm so glad this was her opera.

The On Demand period is 48 hours from June 23 10am-June 25, 10am Pacific Daylight Time.

And they're streaming again next year, wheeeee!

All times below are Pacific Time (PT).


RIGOLETTO-Enkhbat/Zaharia/Sala/Bridges/Chen (Saturday, September 13 at 2 p.m.)

DEAD MAN WALKING-Barton/McKinny/Graham/Renee (Saturday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m.)

PARSIFAL-Jovanovich/Baumgartner/Yuon/Mulligan/Struckmann (Sunday, November 2 at 1 p.m. Prepare snacks and hydration.

THE MONKEY KING-(New: Ruo/Hwang) Wang/Zhang/Park/Chen/Kang/Wu (Tuesday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m.)

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE-Hopkins/Kataeva/Sekgapane/Girolami/Fassi (Friday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m.)

ELEKTRA-Pankratova/Schuster/van den Heever (Sunday, June 14 at 2 p.m.)

They've been charging $27.50 through this season. There may be tax for California residents. With the exception of concerts, which they aren't streaming next season, there's the live stream Pacific Time, and then 48 hours of unlimited On Demand from 10am-10am days later. It's usually a couple of days after the live stream, but, not always, so checking dates is imperative if you want to view again.

As much as I used to attend the Met Live in HD's religiously, for the same price, I can watch these from home and not have to come out of the theater to the cacophany of noise and smells in the multi-plex. (Or hear the thumping soundtrack of the latest adventure battle movie coming through the walls.) And then watch again on demand.
 
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