Metropolitan Opera Guild News: March 2009
For an entire generation, the world of opera has listened and watched with unabated awe as Plácido Domingo built a career unique in music history for its variety, breadth, and depth. With “Seasons of the Champion”, its 15thcover article devoted to the “tenorissimo”, the March issue of Opera News honors Domingo on his 40th anniversary at the Met, where he has given more performances than anywhere else in the world. Using previous cover stories to jog his formidable memory, Domingo shares thoughts about his first 40 years at the Met with the editor in chief of Opera News, F. Paul Driscoll, covering his wide-ranging repertoire, his conducting, his management of two opera companies, and much more
Domingo’s unequalled career covers less than a third of the Metropolitan Opera’s gilded history, and Opera News gives a sneak-peek at plans for the 125th-Anniversary Gala on March 15. Continuing the historical theme, Opera News also looks at Vincenzo Bellini’s delightful La Sonnambula. As the Met prepares to unveil its eagerly-awaited new production, Steven Blier reflects on the difficulties involved in staging the Bellini masterpiece. The great coloratura soprano Marcella Sembrich introduced it to the Met in 1883, and in this month’s new production, Natalie Dessay will showcase her scintillating artistry alongside today’s great coloratura tenor, Peruvian Juan Diego Flórez. Peter G. Davis examines the show-stopping vocal fireworks the composer created for Amina, Sonnambula’s heroine, in the last quarter-hour of the opera.
With the new Sonnambula and a Met revival of Dvorák’s lovely Rusalka starring Renée Fleming, March seems to be a month of sopranos. But, as if to prove its even-handedness, Opera News presents mezzo-sopranos in the latest of its informative and entertaining Singers’ Roundtables. Author Fred Plotkin moderates a heady discussion, as Jane Bunnell, Theodora Hanslowe, Wendy White, and Maria Zifchak – four of opera’s most in-demand mezzos – get together for a good long chat.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild’s 74th Annual Luncheon at the Waldorf=Astoria, taking place on April 23, will salute Plácido Domingo for his 40th anniversary at the Met and benefit the Guild’s many educational programs. The largest and most popular Guild event of the year is entitled “¡Esplendido Plácido! – An Affectionate Tribute to Plácido Domingo”, and will fill the Waldorf=Astoria’s vast ballroom. Powerhouse mezzo Dolora Zajick will sing, and spoken tributes will be made by five great Domingo colleagues: Martina Arroyo, Marilyn Horne, James Levine, Sherrill Milnes,and Samuel Ramey.There will be video surprises, and more than 30 other great Met artists will be on hand as well. Tickets are available through the Guild at (212) 769-7009.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild’s presentation of lectures in March is enriched by another interesting new three-part series – “Power and the Passion: Operatic Representations of Religion”,presented by Marie M. Ashdown on three consecutive Thursdays from March 19 to April 2. Ashdown demystifies opera’s religious leanings and demonstrates how religion and religiosity have always formed a rich part of the operatic tradition. Operas have found inspiration in stories from the Bible, in religious legend, in the battles between faiths, and in the individual’s search for salvation. Meanwhile, Fred Plotkin’s series, “Politics through the Opera Glass: Three Centuries of Composers, Conflicts, and Censorship”, which began on February 26, continues on March 5 and 12.
More information about March’s lectures is in the list below. And there is more Opera News available at www.operanews.com – and yet more in exclusives for Guild members and Met subscribers.
Upcoming Metropolitan Opera Guild Events:
www.metoperafamily.org/guild/calendar/index.aspx?type=-1&monthyear=3-2009
These lectures will be held in the Metropolitan Opera Guild Opera Learning Center on the sixth floor of the Samuel B. & David Rose building at Lincoln Center, on the north side of West 65th Street between Amsterdam and Broadway.
Monday, March 2 at 6 pm – 7:15 pm
Bellini’s Sleepwalking Beauty: La Sonnambula’s Amina Examined
presented by Joseph Colaneri
The imperiled and waif-like heroine is a fixture of the Romantic era. In La Sonnambula, Bellini humanizes this archetype, creating in Amina a young woman whose fragility is a response to the suspicions of her village. Price: $16.00
Thursday, March 5 at 2 pm – 3:15 pm
Politics through the Opera Glass: Three Centuries of Composers, Conflicts, Censorship
Rulers of every stripe have occupied the opera stage, from the earliest days of Monteverdi to the present; composers have dramatized the elusive nature of power in shrewd and provocative ways. As a new administration settles into the White House, Fred Plotkin explains how opera continues to maintain a hold on our political imaginations.
Part 2 of 3 (March 5) – Romantic Revolution: Opera and the 19th Century
presented by Fred Plotkin
Europe in the 19th century saw the expansion of empires and the rise of nation-states. While political issues touched every composer, three in particular – Wagner, Mussorgsky, and, above all, Verdi – dramatized these issues so that audiences heard a call to action in their operas. Price: $16.00, or purchase ALL THREE “Politics through the Opera Glass” sessions and SAVE! Go to February 26 at the link above and look for (COURSE)
Saturday, March 7 at 11 am – 12:15 pm
Everyone’s a Critic: Lessons in Listening for the Armchair Enthusiast –
Marvelous Mezzos
presented by Martin Bernheimer
Four Saturdays, from February 28 to March 21
Ever wonder what makes some voices ring true, and others fall flat? Or why some singers sound so right in certain roles, and so wrong in others? Join Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Martin Bernheimer as he surveys opera’s legendary singers and learn how to critique like the critics do. Audience participation is highly encouraged!
SOLD OUT
Monday, March 9 at 6 pm – 7:15 pm
Rusalka: Magical, Mystical, Mythological
presented by Desirée Mays
Folktales and myths have intrigued composers for generations. But folkloric characters do not always live happily ever after. In Rusalka, Dvorák’s water nymph presents the longing and hopelessness of the outsider who is defeated in human love. Price: $16.00
Thursday, March 12 at 2 pm – 3:15 pm
Politics through the Opera Glass: Three Centuries of Composers, Conflicts, Censorship
Part 3 of 3 (March 12): Radical Revolution: Opera and the 20th Century
presented by Fred Plotkin
With two world wars, hundreds of smaller conflicts, and the rise of movements promoting individual and civil rights, the 20th century expanded repression and freedom in equal measure. The amazing range of operas produced since 1900 reflects the values of past and present, and helps us understand who we are today. Price: $16.00
Saturday, March 14 at 11 am – 12:15 pm
Everyone’s a Critic: Lessons in Listening for the Armchair Enthusiast –
Tremendous Tenors
presented by Martin Bernheimer
Four Saturdays, from February 28 to March 21
Ever wonder what makes some voices ring true, and others fall flat? Or why some singers sound so right in certain roles, and so wrong in others? Join Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Martin Bernheimer as he surveys opera’s legendary singers and learn how to critique like the critics do. Audience participation is highly encouraged!
SOLD OUT
Thursday, March 19 at 2 pm – 3:15 pm
The Power and the Passion: Operatic Representations of Religion
Three Thursdays, from March 19 to April 2
Religion and religiosity form a rich part of the operatic tradition. Operas have found inspiration in stories from the Bible, in religious legend, in the battles between faiths, and in the individual’s search for salvation. Marie M. Ashdown demystifies opera’s religious leanings. Price: $16.00 each, or save by purchasing ALL three sessions for $40.00 at the link above. For individual sessions, go directly to the date of the session.
Part 1 of 3 (March 19): Faith of Our Fathers: Operas and the Bible
presented by Marie M. Ashdown
The stories of many operas – such as Nabucco, Moses und Aron, Salome, and Samson et Dalila – derive from the Bible. Some are faithful to their source, some are fanciful, and some are free adaptations that serve other purposes. But each puts its own stamp on these timeless tales.
Part 2 of 3 (March 26): Redemption and Resurrection: Christian Imagery in Opera
Suor Angelica, Parsifal, and La Forza del Destino are just a few of the operas in which Christian icons and relics play a major role. What influence has the Church had on the characters, settings, and music of some of our favorite works for the stage?
Part 3 of 3 (April 2): Sympathy for the Devil: Opera’s Otherworldly Outsiders
Mephistopheles, the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel, and Lohengrin’s Ortrud are certainly wicked, but also among opera’s most cherished characters. Creatures of the dark take center stage in this examination of opera’s demons.
Tuesday, March 24 at 6 pm – 7 pm
Metropolitan Opera House
A Ring Retrospective: The Schenk Cycle’s Schwanengesang
Featuring Otto Schenk, Maestro James Levine, James Morris; moderated by Ara Guzelimian
The 2008-09 season marks the final performances of Otto Schenk’s production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. The director looks back on more than 20 years of performances with James Morris and Maestro James Levine, who have been a part of this historic production from its inception.
SOLD OUT
Tuesday, March 31 at 6 pm – 7:15 pm
Singing Sisters: The Maidens and the Norns
Featuring Wendy Bryn Harmer, Lisette Oropesa, Elizabeth Bishop, Jill Grove, Kate Lindsey, Tamara Mumford; moderated by Robert Marx
Two trios of sisters inhabit and influence the primordial grandeur of Wagner’s mythic masterpiece. The Rhine maidens’ taunting of Alberich helps put into motion the events that will eventually lead to the fall of Vallhalla; and by reading runic records of the past and present, the three demi-goddesses known as the Norns predict the doom of the gods and the downfall of Valhalla. The six singers who will perform these roles in the Met’s final revival of Otto Schenk’s famous Ring production give their perspective on the story, the music, and the production. Price: $16.00
And don’t forget the 74th Annual Metropolitan Opera Guild Luncheon in honor of “¡Esplendido Plácido! – An Affectionate Tribute to Plácido Domingo”, on April 23 at the Waldorf=Astoria! Call (212) 769-7009 for tickets.
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– February 19, 2009