Critic’s Picks (June 8 – 14)
“We live in an extraordinary Age” – Carl Sagan. Recent events have demonstrated this in no uncertain terms. A tiny previously unknown microbe, COVID-19, has shut down our musical life, hopefully only temporarily. Many opera companies and music organizations are offering video streaming during the hiatus. While the Met continues to show exclusively archival performances, the Wiener Staatsoper is reopening with a limited lineup of live performances, in addition to its archives. The performances are limited to chamber music and song recitals. Social distancing means a tiny audience of 100 in a house meant for 1709, but it’s a start. All streamed performances free and available for 24 hours. Free registration required for Vienna. Additionally, there are interesting offerings at Glyndebourne, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Luminato Festival, and others.
Monday 8
Metropolitan Opera | Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Lucy Crowe, Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Kate Lindsey, and Giuseppe Filianoti, conducted by Harry Bicket. From December 1, 2012. Available for 72 hours (free registration required) | Details
Vienna State Opera | Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov — 9:00 a.m. (ET). René Pape, Margaret Plummer, Aida Garifullina, Zoryana Kushpler, Norbert Ernst, David Pershall, Kurt Rydl, Marian Talaba, Ryan Speedo Green. Conducted by Marko Letonja. From May 13, 2016. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream Recital Günther Groissböck, bass — 9:00 a.m. (ET). | Alexandra Goloubitskaia, piano. Program info to be announced. | Details
Tuesday 9
Royal Conservatory of Music | 2020-21 Season Launch — 4 p.m. (ET). RCM is having an all-virtual season launch of its next concert season with lots of enticing offerings. Be the first to know! | Details
Metropolitan Opera | Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała in Iolanta, and Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko in Bluebeard’s Castle, conducted by Valery Gergiev. From February 14, 2015. Available for 72 hours (free registration required) | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verdi’s Aïda — 9:00 a.m. (ET). Sondra Radvanovsky, Jorge de León, Ryan Speedo Green, Luciana D’Intino, Sorin Coliban, Franco Vassallo, Jinxu Xiahou, Olga Bezsmertna. Conducted by Philippe Auguin. From March 28, 2015. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream The ensemble presents Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Program info to be announced. | Details
Wednesday 10
Metropolitan Opera | Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge, and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. From January 1, 2008. Available for 72 hours (free registration required) | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verklungene Fest | Josephs Legende (ballet) — 9:00 a.m. (ET). Denys Cherevychko, Kirill Kourlaev, Rebecca Horner, Roman Lazik, Maria Yakovleva, Vladimir Shishov, Kiyoka Hashimoto, Masayu Kimoto, Robert Gabdullin, Nikisha Fogo, Oksana Kiyanenko, Natascha Mair, Liudmila Konovalova. Conducted by Mikko Franck. From Feb 14, 2015. | Details
Thursday 11
Metropolitan Opera | John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Teresa Stratas, Renée Fleming, Marilyn Horne, Graham Clark, Gino Quilico, and Håkan Hagegård, conducted by James Levine. From January 10, 1992. Available for 72 hours (free registration required) | Details
Vienna State Opera | Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos — 9:00 a.m. (ET). Peter Matic, Markus Eiche, Rachel Frenkel, Lise Davidsen. From Nov. 29, 2017. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream Recital Tomasz Konieczny, bass-baritone — 9:00 a.m. (ET). | Lech Napierala, piano program info to be announced. | Details
Luminato Festival 2020 | Apocalypsis Part 1 (John’s Vision) — 9 p.m. (ET). The Luminato Festival (June 11-13) is offering a reprise of the monumental Apocalypsis by R. Murray Schafer, from 2015. Part 2 (Credo) will be streamed on Friday, June 12 8:30 p.m. (EDT). | Details
Friday 12
Metropolitan Opera | At-Home Gala — 7:30 p.m. (ET). In a re-broadcast of our recent At-Home Gala, more than 40 leading artists and members of the Met Orchestra and Chorus perform virtually from their homes around the world, with General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin as hosts. From April 25, 2020. This stream will be repeated on the following evening. Available for 72 hours (free registration required) | Details
Vienna State Opera | Puccini’s La fanciulla del West — 9:00 a.m. (ET). Nina Stemme, Tomasz Konieczny, Jonas Kaufmann, Norbert Ernst, Paolo Rumetz, Boaz Daniel, Michael Roider, Hans Peter Kammerer. Conducted by Franz Welser-Moest, From Oct. 5, 2013. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream The ensemble presents: Bel canto. Program info to be announced. | Details
Saturday 13
Vienna State Opera | Johanna Doderer’s Fatima, oder von den Mutigen Kindern — 9:00 a.m. (ET). Andrea Carroll, Carlos Osuna, Sorin Coliban, Monika Bohinec, Carole Wilson, Kids from Vienna State Opera School. Conducted by Benjamin Bayl. From Dec. 23, 2015. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Prokofiev’s Der Spieler — 9:00 a.m. (ET). Dmitry Ulyanov, Elena Guseva, Misha Didyk, Linda Watson, Thomas Ebenstein, Elena Maximova, Morten Frank Larsen, Pavel Kolgatin, Marcus Pelz, Clemens Unterreiner, Alexandru Moisiuc. Conducted by Simone Young. From Oct. 7, 2017. | Details
Sunday 14
Metropolitan Opera | Handel’s Rodelinda — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, and Shenyang, conducted by Harry Bicket. From December 3, 2011. Available for 72 hours (free registration required) | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verdi’s Nabucco — 9:00 a.m. (ET). Leo Nucci, Bror Magnus Tødenes, Roberto Tagliavini, Anna Smirnova, Ilseyar Khayrullova. Conducted by Guillermo Garcia Calvo. From Feb. 11, 2017. | Details
Non-Date Specific:
1) Glyndebourne Open House this week is Cosi fan tutte. The stream available June 7 to 13. Ivan Fischer conducts a fabulous ensemble cast of Miah Persson (Fiordiligi), Anke Vondung (Dorabella), Topi Lehtipuu (Ferrando), Luca Pisaroni (Guglielmo), Nicolas Rivenq (Alfonso) and Ainhoa Garmendia. Not to be missed. | Details
2) Royal Opera House Covent Garden’s #OurHouseToYourHouse continues with Puccini’s Il Trittico, available on demand until June 19. A great cast, with Lucio Gallo and Eva-Maria Westbroek (Il tabarro); Ermonela Jaho (Suor Angelica), and Lucio Gallo (Gianni Schicchi), conducted by Antonio Pappano.
3) For a taste of live performances in the age of COVID-19, here’s a musically excellent Bach Motet: Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227, performed by the Collegium 1704 in Prague, under the helm of conductor Václav Luks, on 18 May 2020, recorded for the Prague Spring Festival. All the performers sound terrific despite wearing masks.
#LUDWIGVAN
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