Critic’s Picks (June 15 – 21)
“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. The Wiener Staatsoper continues with archival material as well as live streams of mostly Lieder recitals. Social distancing means a tiny audience of 100 in a house meant for 1709, but it’s a start. All streamed performances free (although donations are welcome!) and available for a limited time. One-time free registration required for Vienna. Don’t miss out on streams from the Met, Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, Against the Grain, plus interesting offerings by individual artists.
Monday 15
Metropolitan Opera | Rossini’s Armida — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, John Osborn, Barry Banks, and Kobie van Rensburg, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Performance from May 1, 2010. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera — 10:00 a.m. (ET). Piotr Beczala, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Krassimira Stoyanova, Nadia Krasteva, Hila Fahima, Alexandru Moisiuc, Sorin Coliban, Igor Onishchenko, Thomas Ebenstein. Conducted by Jesús López Cobos. One of the last Met performances by the late Siberian baritone Hvorostovsky. Performance from April 26, 2016. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream Recital — 1:30 p.m. (ET). Time Camilla Nylund, soprano; Helmut Deutsch, Piano. Songs by Sibelius, Schumann, and Richard Strauss. | Details
Tuesday 16
Metropolitan Opera | Rossini’s Semiramide — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Angela Meade, Elizabeth DeShong, Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Ryan Speedo Green, conducted by Maurizio Benini. Performance from March 10, 2018. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Janáček’s Věc Makropoulos — 10:00 a.m. (ET). Laura Aikin, Ludovit Ludha, Thomas Ebenstein, Margarita Gritskova, Markus Marquardt, conducted by Dan Ettinger. Performance from December 20, 2015. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream The Ensemble Presents: French Repertory — 1:30 p.m. (ET). Arias, duets and ensembles from Carmen, Don Carlos, Pearl Fishers, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Romeo et Juliette, and Faust. | Details
Wednesday 17
Metropolitan Opera | Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Susan Graham, Plácido Domingo, Paul Groves, conducted by Patrick Summers. Performance from February 26, 2011. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra — 1:30 p.m. (ET). Thomas Hampson, Dmitry Belosselskiy, Orhan Yildiz, Ryan Speedo Green, Marina Rebeka, Francesco Meli. Conducted by Evelino Pidò. Performance from May 13, 2018. | Details
IRCPA | Conversation with Sondra Radvanovsky — 1:00 p.m. (ET). The International Resource Centre for Performing Artists (host Debra Chandler) interviews the great Canadian/American soprano. Sondra Radvanovsky is the leading Verdi/Bel Canto soprano of our time. Here she shares her thoughts on a variety of topics, including opera in the future, live streaming content, social media, advice to young singers, as well as her most recent project, Screaming Divas with American soprano Keri Alkema. RSVP to info@ircpa.net | Details
Thursday 18
Metropolitan Opera | Verdi’s La Forza del Destino — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. Performance from March 24, 1984. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Janáček’s Katja Kabanova — 10:00 a.m. (ET). Angela Denoke, Leonardo Navarro, Dan Paul Dumitrescu, Misha Didyk, Jane Henschel, Thomas Ebenstein, Margaret Plummer, conducted by Tomáš Netopil. Performance from April 27, 2017. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream Recital: Michael Schade — 1:30 p.m. (ET). The Canadian tenor sings songs by Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, Gruber, Lehar. Jendrik Springer, piano. | Details
Against the Grain Theatre | Opera Pub: Quarantunes — 8 p.m. (ET). Host David Eliakis joined by singers Giles Tomkins and Kathryn Tremills for an hour of opera and entertainment. | Details
Friday 19
Metropolitan Opera | Verdi’s La Forza del Destino — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. Performance from March 24, 1984 – extended for an additional day. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verdi’s Otello — 10:00 a.m. (ET). Roberto Alagna, Aleksandra Kurzak, Dalibor Jenis, Antonio Poli, Leonardo Navarro, Alexandru Moisiuc, Orhan Yildiz, Ion Tibrea, conducted by Graeme Jenkins. Performance from March 18, 2018. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream — 1:30 p.m. (ET). The Ensemble Presents German Repertory Arias, duets, and ensembles from Die Fledermaus, Ariadne auf Naxos, Salome, Der Freischutz, Tannhauser, Der Rosenkavalier, and Lulu. | Details
Saturday 20
Metropolitan Opera | Philip Glass’s Akhnaten — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Dísella Lárusdóttir, J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein, and Zachary James, conducted by Karen Kamensek. Performance from November 23, 2019. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verdi’s Macbeth — 10:00 a.m. (ET). Tatiana Serjan, George Petean, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Jinxu Xiahou, Lukhanyo Moyake, Fiona Jepson, conducted by James Conlon. Performance from May 14, 2019. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Live Stream Recital — 1:30 p.m. (ET). Juan Diego Florez, tenor; Cécile Restier, piano. Program unavailable at press time. | Details
Sunday 21
Metropolitan Opera | Philip Glass’s Satyagraha — 7:30 p.m. (ET). Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. Performance from November 19, 2011. | Details
Vienna State Opera | Verdi’s Don Carlo — 10:00 a.m. (ET). Ferruccio Furlanetto, Ramón Vargas, Plácido Domingo, Krassimira Stoyanova, Alexandru Moisiuc, Ryan Speedo Green, Elena Zhidkova, Margaret Plummer, Carlos Osuna, Hila Fahima, Fabiola Varga, conducted by Myng-Whun Chung. Performance from June 21, 2017. | Details
More interesting offerings:
1) Glyndebourne Open House this week is Samuel Barber’s iconic Vanessa. Jakub Hrůša conducts a fine cast headed by Emma Bell as Vanessa, plus Virginie Verrez (Erika), Edgaras Montvidas (Anatol), Rosalind Plowright (Old Baroness), and Donnie Ray Albert (Old Doctor). The stream is available until June 21. | 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) Die Kunst in Österreich lebt weiter | “The Art in Austria Lives On” comes from the magnificent lobby of the Grand Hotel Wien, led by pianists Nareh Arghamanyan and Donka Angatscheva. They make music with violinist Yury Revich, clarinetist Johannes Hindler, flutist Thomas Frey, cellist Brendan Goh, soprano Ella Tyran, and tenor Stefan Reichmann. Actress Mijou Kovacs pays tribute to Georges Sand and Frédéric Chopin, moderated by Arabella Fenyves. I saw this live on Sunday – a very enjoyable show. Don’t miss the archived stream, available for 14 days. | Details
4) As the final entry in Critic’s Picks this week, we go from the opulence of the Grand Hotel Wien to the back seat of a car with Doug MacNaughton, in Live from The Backseat III, on Friday, June 19, 7:30 PM Eastern Time, remaining available on demand. The ever-colourful Canadian baritone/songwriter says: “I’ll be broadcasting on Facebook Live from the back seat of my car at an undisclosed location where the wi-fi is good…original songs, poems, stories, and other new and interesting things.” Check him out! | Details
Note: Modifications made to the listing for the Met Opera on June 19, 20 & 21.
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