Performances to Stream September 16-17, 2023
As festival season wanes and opera seasons begin, we are treated to performances from Seattle, Amsterdam, Bayreuth, Aix-en-Provence, London, Berlin, and Vienna.
Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold from McCaw Hall on Classical KING
Seattle Opera’s recent production of Das Rheingold comes to the airwaves this weekend. The first in Wagner’s saga of Der Ring des Nibelungen, this opera reveals the creation of the ring of power made from gold stolen from the Rheinmaidens. Alberich crafts the ring to gain earthly power, but it is not long before the Norse gods get involved, and they take the spoils of his treachery away from him. Meanwhile, the gods have had their new home of Valhalla constructed by the giants Fasolt and Fafner, and with the work finally complete, it is time for Wotan to deliver payment. He considers reneging upon the debt, but the giants take the goddess Freia from her friends and demand as much gold as would entirely shield Freia from their view to ransom her return. Wotan relents and is even forced to give up the newly acquired ring of power when the gold recently plundered from Alberich is not quite enough to cover both of Freia’s eyes from view. Unknown to the giants, Alberich cursed the ring when Wotan took it from him by saying it would cause the bearer jealousy and envy among those who do not own it. As Fafner and Fasolt divide their spoils, they begin to quarrel over the ring, and the dispute ends with Fafner clubbing his friend to death as if the two had been Cain and Abel. Wotan is taken aback by this exhibition of Alberich’s curse at work, and he leads the gods and goddesses back to Valhalla to remove themselves to the safety of their new home.
Our cast in this performance from August 2023 includes Greer Grimsley as Wotan, Frederick Ballentine as Loge, Michael Mayes as Alberich, Michael Chioldi as Donner, Denyce Graves as Erda, Martin Bakari as Mime, Melody Wilson as Fricka, Katie Van Kooten as Freia, Kenneth Kellogg as Fafner, Peixin Chen as Fasolt, Sarah Larsen as Flosshilde, Shelly Traverse as Wellgunde, Jacqueline Piccolino as Woglinde, and Viktor Antipenko as Froh. The Seattle Opera Orchestra was conducted by Ludovic Morlot. This recorded performance will air at 5:00 PM GMT on Classical KING on Saturday, September 16, 2023. This broadcast will not be available for future listening following its airing.
Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo from the Markgräfliches Opernhaus on BR Klassik
While many of us opera aficionadi will be familiar with the Wagner programming and history surrounding Bayreuth in Germany, the place also boasts a Baroque opera festival, which was quite the joy for me to learn. This performance, which was recorded a few days ago on September 12, 2023, is presented as part of this year’s Bayreuther Barockopernfestspiele from one of the only surviving opera houses in the world built in the Baroque era, the Markgräfliches Opernhaus. For some, you may also remember a time where Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo was considered by many in opera’s popular culture to the first opera. Unfortunately, this is not the case; that honor goes to Jacopo Peri’s Dafne, circa 1597, which is lost to us today. The oldest surviving opera, however, also belongs to Peri’s credit, and its title, Euridice from 1600,, might reveal why this sort of urban legend around Monteverdi ever gained any traction in common knowledge where the world of classical music meets the outside world. Nevertheless, you would be hard pressed to find performances of Peri’s work on stages today, so we now say that Monteverdi’s telling of the tragedy of Orpheus is the oldest opera still performed to this day. The plot deals with the ancient Greek myth of the musician Orpheus who laments over the death of his wife and her passage to the underworld with Hades. Orpheus uses his talents to gain entry into the underworld and charm Proserpina and Plutone, who agrees to allow his wife Euridice to return to life on the earth if Orpheus can lead her beyond the gates of the underworld without once looking back upon his bride upon the journey. Orpheus proves unsuccessful in the endeavor, and Euridice is removed from him forever. In his despair, Orpheus is visited by Apollo, who shows him that he can find his wife’s likeness emblazoned in the stars, and Orpheus accompanies Apollo to see it to end the opera.
The cast for this performance stars Rolando Villazón as Orfeo, Theodora Baka as Musica, Yannis Filias as Pastore, Irini Bilini as Ninfa, Myrsini Margariti as Euridice, Sophia Patsi as Messaggiera, Lenia Safiropoulou as Speranza, Marios Sarantidis Caronte, Maria Palaska as Proserpina, Timos Sirlantzis as Plutone, Savina Yannatou as Baccante. Maestro Markellos Chryssicos conducts Latinitas Nostra from the harpsichord. This performance is scheduled to air at 5:00 PM GMT on Saturday, September 16, 2023, on BR Klassik’s Opernabend. It will be available for streaming after its initial airing.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3’s Opera on 3 makes its return to broadcast programming following the summer season with historical drama from Verdi, the Italian master of opera. As part of a negotiation of peace in the Italian War of 1551-59, Elisabeth di Valois is married off to Philip II of Spain after she has been betrothed to Don Carlo, the king’s son. Philip and Elisabeth live in matrimony, but Carlo is naturally furious. His friend Rodrigue, Marquis de Posa, visits him and suggests the best way to forget the love he has lost might be to pursue a political appointment and career in Flanders, where he has lately been. The people suffer under Philip’s rule, so perhaps Carlo might be of use there. While Carlo tries to meet with Elisabeth to request she intercede with Philip to send him to Flanders, he also reminds her of his love for her, but Elisabeth has accepted her new life and piously stands her ground against any temptation from Carlo’s revelations. Princess Eboli overhears these declarations of love and believes she is the attention of Carlo’s affections. Philip, forever jealous over any advances that might happen toward Elisabeth and suspicious of her loyalty, brings Rodrigue into his confidence and makes him a bodyguard of sorts for the queen and warns him not to cross the Grand Inquisitor in his duties. As the coronation festivities continue into the night, Elisabeth decides to switch masks with Eboli to avoid some of the grueling attendance duties she has that evening. Carlo arrives in the night with a note requesting an amorous meeting in the garden that he believes in from Elisabeth. However, he has been tricked in a manner by Eboli, who is now wearing Elisabeth’s mask. Carlo joins Eboli in the garden thinking she is Elisabeth and again declares his love for his recently appointed step-mother, and his secret is now known to Eboli, who threatens to reveal this to Philip. Rodrigue intercedes to save his friend since he knows what has happened here with Elisabeth as his charge, but Eboli is out for revenge at being rejected by the man she loves and tells Rodrigue that she is a dangerous foe. Unbeknownst to Elisabeth, Rodrigue, and Carlo, Eboli has secretly had an affair with the king for some time and plans to use that entirely to her advantage by accusing Elisabeth and Carlo of impropriety. Rodrigue takes the note requesting the tryst from Carlo and keeps it in case it might prove useful. Carlo is later accused by the king on the word of Eboli followed by a confrontation and accusation against Elisabeth. When Elisabeth is accused, Rodrigue and Eboli cause Philip to see his error in judgment, and he withdraws. Both Eboli and Rodrigue separately resolve to save Carlo from death in the aftermath of a secret agreement between Philip and the Grand Inquisitor. Rodrigue tries his effort by allowing himself to be incriminated by the amorous tryst note he took from Carlo in the garden. He visits Carlo in prison to share the news, but the Grand Inquisitor’s assassin shoots him as he divulges the information, and Rodrigue dies in his friend Carlo’s arms, reminding him of the work they were going to do in Flanders to help the people there. Philip enters a short while after and offers his son the freedom Rodrigue had bought. Knowing something must be afoot, Carlo rebuffs this offer as he believes Philip had Rodrigue murdered, which was not far from the truth, for Philip agreed to have Rodrigue killed in exchange for the Grand Inquisitor’s support in punishing his own son. At this moment, there is a revolt of the people that takes over the prison, and they demand Carlo’s release. In the confusion, Carlo escapes with Eboli, who has come with Elisabeth to try to save Carlo herself. In the final act, Carlo and Elisabeth meet in the monastery to finalize his escape to Flanders. Carlo assures her that he has matured in his love toward her now and loves her as a son loves his own mother. They are found by the Grand Inquisitor and Philip, who accuses them of having been lovers for ages and demands punishment for both of them. The Grand Inquisitor, who had all but agreed to a guaranteed outcome in his secret dealings with Philip earlier, assures the Inquisition will do its job, and they condemn them both to death. As Philip and his soldiers are about to exact “justice” on Carlo, a monk opens a gate and takes Carlo into it with some words about the trouble that follows them there. Philip and the Grand Inquisitor realize the voice of the monk is Philip’s father, Carlos V, as the curtain falls on this lengthy opera of high intrigue.
The cast boasts the talents of Brian Jagde as Don Carlo, Lise Davidsen as Elizabeth of Valois, Luca Micheletti as Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, John Relyea as King Philip II, Yulia Matochkina as Princess Eboli, Taras Shtonda as Grand Inquisitor, Alexander Köpeczi as Carlos V, and Ella Taylor as Tebaldo. Bertrand de Billy conducted this recorded performance. This performance is scheduled to air at 5:30 PM GMT on BBC Radio 3’s Opera on 3 on Saturday, September 16, 2023. It will be available for further listening following the broadcast.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito from the Wiener Staatsoper on Ö1
If I were to choose a Mozart opera I adore most, this one would most certainly be in the running for such an accolade. One of Mozart’s few opera seria works, this was composed in 1791 and was originally comissioned for Antonio Salieri to compose. Salieri refused the comission due to his schedule and probably the libretto requested, but Mozart was eager to deliver it. Deliver it, too, he did, for he had the new opera composed within a mere 18 days so that it premiered on the coronation of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor. For the hallmark of such an occasion, it seems only fitting that an opera set during the days of the Roman empire should be sought, and that is what we receive here. The new emperor Tito seeks an empress to accompany him in the rule of Rome. Vitellia, angry with Tito’s line for desposing her father as emperor, hopes she will be chosen for the post. After Tito initially chooses Servilia for the honor, Servilia responds that she is in love with another, so Tito begins to search anew. However, Vitellia seeks revenge for being overlooked and enlists Sesto in an assassination plot against Tito. Sesto carries out the plot, but he mistakes a friend for Tito and is tried before the Senate. Tito hopes Sesto will be acquitted due to the fact that Sesto’s friend was not mortally wounded, but the Senate seeks justice and requires the emperor to sign an order of execution for Sesto. Tito struggles with this when Vitellia confesses her part in the plot in hopes of saving Sesto, and Tito, in a surprise to all, grants clemency to all involved in order to be a beloved leader of the Roman people.
The cast stars Matthew Polenzani as Tito, Federica Lombardi as Vitellia, Slávka Zámecníková as Servilia, Kate Lindsey as Sesto, Patricia Nolz as Annio, and Peter Kellner as Publio. Pablo Heras-Casado condcuts this performance recorded earlier this month on September 4 and 7, 2023. This broadcast is scheduled to air at 5:30 GMT on Saturday, September 16, 2023, on Ö1’s Opernabend. It will be available for future listening following the broadcast.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello from the Grand Théâtre de Provence on France Musique
One of Verdi’s three adaptations of Shakespeare for the opera stage, Otello is a tragedy not for the faint of heart. Otello returns home from sea to his false friend and counsellor Iago seeking to undermine him, for Otello is the governor of Cyprus. Of all the manners in which Iago might do so, he chooses a very personal route and plants the seeds of doubt and jealousy in Otello’s mind that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful while he has been away. Iago weaves a plot to convince Otello of his lie, and Otello falls into believing it despite Desdemona’s innocence. Unfortunately, nothing can prevent the protagonist from his jealousy-fueled rage, and he murders his loving wife. When he is confronted with the truth of Iago’s plots, and they are complex in their execution, Otello grieves over his actions and takes his own life to end the opera.
The cast includes the talents of Arsen Soghomonyan as Otello, Maria Agresta as Desdemona, Ludovic Tézier as Iago, Giovanni Sala as Cassio, Enkelejda Shkoza as Emilia, Carlo Bosi as Roderigo, Alessio Cacciamani as Lodovico, Giovanni Impagliazzo as Montano, Giuseppe Todisco as Harald. Michele Mariotti conducted this performance from the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, which was recorded on July 17, 2023. This performance airs on France Musique’s Samedi à l'opéra on Saturday, September 16, 2023, at 6:00 PM GMT. The broadcast will be available for streaming following its initial airing.
Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D Minor from The Concertgebouw on NPO Radio 4 Klassiek
Mahler’s longest work, his third symphony was completed in 1896, but its premiere would not take place until 1902. Together with Mahler’s typical forceful orchestral situation for his works, this symphony requires a mezzo-soprano or alto soloist and both a women’s and children’s chorus. The first movement, which Mahler envisioned as having two parts, makes up about a third of the entire symphony; Mahler initially christened these parts with titles of Pan Awakens and Summer Marches In. Today these program titles are rarely used in part due to Mahler’s own refinement on his views of the work. The two sung movements are the fourth and fifth with texts from Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra and Arnim and Brentano’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Ever since its premiere, this work has remained in the canon of exceptional orchestral works as one of the pinnacles of symphonic achievement from the late Romantic Era.
Joining the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, the Laurens Symfonisch, and the Nationaal Kinderkoor, all under the direction of maestro Klaus Mäkelä. This live performance is scheduled to air at 12:00 PM GMT on NPO Radio 4 Klassiek on Sunday, September 17, 2023. It will be available for future listening following the broadcast.
George Friedrich Handel’s Flavio, Re di Longobardi from the Markgräfliches Opernhaus on BR Klassik
Another blissful offering from the Bayreuther Barockopernfestspiele, we are treated to a Handel rarity today, which is cause to rejoice! One of Handel’s early operas, this opera was soon eclipsed by Handel’s torrential output of operas and oratorios throughout his career, so this work was never performed again following the initial production runs at the King’s Theatre until discovery of the opera in Göttingen, Germany in 1967, almost 250 years after its premiere in 1723. Nevertheless, given Handel’s penchant for recycling material, there is a fair chance we have heard bits and pieces of this opera in his later compositions. Like our Mozart opera from yesterday, Handel’s Flavio deals with intrigue and plots among the nobility, except this time Flavio himself is at the heart of it all. He tries to engineer a marriage to a young lady known for her beauty, but he, an older king, is the one left scrambling when his extensive plans do not quite work out as he initially hoped. Flavio may be an opera seria, but it comes with a comedy’s happy ending for all involved.
The cast stars Julia Lezhneva as Emilia, Max Emanuel Cencic as Guido, Yuriy Mynenko as Vitige, Sonja Runje as Teodata, Rémy Brès-Feuillet as Flavio, Sreten Manojlovic as Lotario, and Fabio Trümpy as Ugone. Benjamin Bayl leads the Concerto Köln from the harpsichord in this live performance. This performance streams live on Sunday, September 17, 2023, on BR Klassik’s concert site at 5:30 PM GMT. It should be available for future viewing following the livestream.
Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor from the Berlin Philharmonie on Deustchlandfunk Kultur
While I imagine it does occasionally happen in such a way, here is a fleeting opportunity to hear consecutive Mahler symphonies performed by two of the most prestigious orchestral ensembles in the world. It is certainly not an opportunity to be too hastily considered and refused. Like the 3rd symphony, Mahler clearly felt in this period that the apex of symphonic music ought to include the human voice in both soloist capacity as well as in a choral setting. As I have written previously in earlier posts, Mahler composed this work in honor of his recently deceased friend and mentor Hans von Bülow. During the funeral, Mahler heard a setting of the Klopstock poem Die Auferstehung, which served as his inspiration for the work. As with his 3rd symphony, Mahler initially had program titles and descriptions for each movement, but they did not survive Mahler’s own criticism of his artistic endeavors throughout his life, so they eventually disappeared from accompanying performances. Borrowing a page from Beethoven, Mahler ends this symphony with a choral movement.
Soprano Talise Trevigne and alto Okka von der Damerau join the Philharmonischer Chor München and the Münchner Philharmoniker under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla in this performance recorded last week on September 12, 2023, from the Berlin Philharmonie. This broadcast is scheduled to air at 6:00 PM GMT on Sunday, September 17, 2023, on Deutschlandfunk Kultur’s Konzert. It should be available for future streaming after the broadcast concludes.