Critic’s Picks (June 21–27)
“We live in an extraordinary Age” — Carl Sagan. It is now summer 2021, and with the decline in COVID cases in Europe and North America, the reopening of concert and opera venues for the summer and next season is gathering steam. According to Opera Wire, announcements have come from Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra de Metz Métropole, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Opéra de Lille, Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Göteborg Opera, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Philharmonie Essen, Hungarian State Opera, and Opera de Massy. Many new additions to the list this past week include Bilbao Opera, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Opera National de Bordeaux, Theatre Essen, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Polish National Opera, Oper Köln, Wiener Volksoper, and Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Audiences can expect various COVID precautions, possibly including proof of vaccination.
The Salzburg Whitsun Festival in Austria reopened with a blockbuster Tosca starring Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann, replacing the originally announced Anja Harteros and Bryn Terfel. An interesting twist was that it also featured the great Cecilia Bartoli — no, not as Tosca, but as the Shepherd Boy! She made her debut in this cameo role at the age of 10. These performances feature personalized ticketing to facilitate contact tracing, a maximum of 50% capacity, proof of vaccination, and use of face masks. Glyndebourne Festival 2021 started with an opening weekend of Kát’a Kabanová and Il turco in Italia on stage, and The Cunning Little Vixen online. It continues to August 29, with four operas and a concert series. The Czech Philharmonic performed a concert with a live audience of 350 on May 10 in Prague, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Austria’s Salzburg Easter Festival now takes place on November 1. The Prague Summer Nights Young Artists Music Festival is going ahead for an in-person festival (July 5-Aug 2).
On this side of the Atlantic, the Santa Fe Opera will take place July 10 to August 27, with an in-house, socially distanced audience, plus nightly simulcasts in its lower parking lot. The Chicago Lyric Opera will present a film of Pagliacci in August starring Russell Thomas and Ailyn Perez. Tanglewood and Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer festivals will happen, in the case of BSO at 50% capacity. LA Opera returned to live, in-person performances with a June 6 performance of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. James Conlon conducted, with Russell Thomas, J’Nai Bridges, and John Relyea. LA Philharmonic reopens the Hollywood Bowl in July, and the Cleveland Orchestra returns to the Blossom Festival on July 11. New York’s Teatro Nuovo has announced that it will put on Rossini’s The Barber of Seville on July 27 and 28 on the summer stage at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park. And it is good to hear the once ubiquitous New York City Opera is back, with a summer season in Bryant Park.
In Canada, the Elora Festival (Aug. 5 – 28) will be an online festival. Sinfonia Toronto’s 2021-22 season, “A Joyous Reunion,” will have a hybrid format, combining in-person and virtual concerts. Toronto’s Luminato Festival, normally in June, will take place in October. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra just announced its season, which opens in November. In the mean time, the pre-taped stream of “Sarah Jeffrey Plays Mozart is available June 22-29.. Free tickets at www.tso.ca/livestreams/sarah-jeffrey-plays-Mozart. Toronto Summer Music (July 15 – August 1) will be online, with a mix of chamber music, art song, and dance, all free of charge. Wellington Water Week, a music festival in Wellington, Prince Edward County is now rebranded as the BIGLAKE Festival, under the co-artistic directorship of conductor Johannes Debus and violinist Elissa Lee. It will take place August 20-27. The Canadian Opera Company made an announcement on June 7, but with very little details except that the fall season is likely virtual and completely free. It promises more information in August.
On the streaming front, this is Week 67 of the Met Opera’s free nightly streaming, an astounding feat and only possible from opera companies with enormous archives like the Met. This is Pride Week, and given COVID, the usual Gay Pride celebrations are virtual. The Met offers streaming performances featuring LGBTQ2S artists on the creative team. Met streams start at 7:30 p.m. ET and remain available for 23 hours. San Francisco Opera has announced streaming of Jenufa, Les Troyens, Elektra, and Luisa Miller in July, with big names the likes of Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Karita Mattila and Michael Fabiano. Other than these big houses, there seems to be fewer and fewer streaming initiatives from independent artists, understandable given that we have been in this pandemic now for a year and a half. With COVID numbers declining in Europe and North America, there’s hope that we’ll keep the Delta variant at bay and will soon be back to the concert halls and opera houses doing what we love, to make and to enjoy music.
Monday 21
Met Opera | Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel. Starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David Portillo, David Adam Moore, Rod Gilfry, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn, and Sir John Tomlinson, conducted by Thomas Adès. Production by Tom Cairns. From November 18, 2017. | Details
Tuesday 22
Met Opera | Dvořák’s Rusalka. Starring Kristine Opolais, Katarina Dalayman, Jamie Barton, Brandon Jovanovich, and Eric Owens, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. Production by Mary Zimmerman. From February 25, 2017. | Details
Wednesday 23
Collingwood Summer Music Festival | In the Footsteps of Chopin — 7 p.m. ET. A 50-minute chat featuring Festival AD Daniel Vnuknowki and musicologist Dr. Alan Walker, on aspects of the art of Chopin, covering such topics as “aesthetics, Polish vernacular, and interpretation as the tail-end of the composing process.” | Details
Against the Grain Theatre | Sāvitri — 8 p.m. ET. Based on the ancient Hindu legend from the Mahābhārata, AtG’s version is a 40-minute film of the outdoor chamber opera by Gustav Holst. Soprano Meher Pavri sings the title role, joined by tenor Andrew Haji and bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian. | Details
Met Opera | Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda. Starring Elza van den Heever, Joyce DiDonato, Matthew Polenzani, Joshua Hopkins, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Maurizio Benini. Production by Sir David McVicar. From January 19, 2013. | Details
Thursday 24
Met Opera | Puccini’s Tosca. Starring Patricia Racette, Roberto Alagna, George Gagnidze, and John Del Carlo, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Production by Luc Bondy. From November 9, 2013. | Details
Friday 25
Met Opera | Puccini’s Turandot. Starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov, and James Morris, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From October 12, 2019. | Details
Saturday 26
Met Opera | Britten’s Billy Budd. Starring Philip Langridge, Dwayne Croft, and James Morris, conducted by Steuart Bedford. Production by John Dexter. From March 11, 1997. | Details
Sunday 27
Met Opera | Verdi’s La Traviata. Starring Sonya Yoncheva, Michael Fabiano, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Production by Willy Decker. From March 11, 2017. | Details
Video-on-demand performances:
1) Hungarian State Opera | Eva Marton 70th Birthday Gala. The Hungarian soprano turned 78 last week. Here’s a gala concert from 8 years ago, on her 70th. Marton sings Vissi d’arte, very nicely even if the long breath line is missing. The wow factor is provided by tenor Jonas Kaufmann, serenading her with “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz,” kneeling down at the end, giving her a long-stemmed rose. No wonder Marton looks over-the-moon! A fun concert.
2) Screaming Divas with Sondra and Keri | Hera Hyesang Park. Girl Talk Time, as Sondra and Keri chat with the Korean soprano, winner of multiple vocal competition prizes including Montreal, Operalia, and Gerda Lissner. Park has just landed a biggie – a recording contract with DG. She’s going places.
4) Wigmore Hall | Lara Melda. Lovely playing of Chopin and Rachmaninoff by UK born Turkish pianist Lara Melda, winner of BBC Young Musician 2010. Only available until this Wednesday, so watch quick!
5) Prague National Theatre | Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Performed on June 18 in the theatre where Don Giovanni premiered 230 years ago. An all-Czech cast likely not very familiar internationally – Pavol Kubáň (Don Giovanni), Jana Sibera (Anna), Alžběta Poláčková (Elvira), Lenka Máčiková (Zerlina), Miloš Horák (Leporello), Richard Samek (Ottavio), Lukáš Bařák (Masetto), Zdeněk Plech (Commendatore). Toronto audiences may remember Plech who has sung at the COC. Karsten Januschke conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the National Theatre Prague.
6) Opera In Concert | Adriana Lecouvreur. Premiered June 18 and available until July 2. The Cilea opera has served as star vehicles for many divas, from Magda Olivero to Renata Tebaldi to Montserrat Caballe to Dame Joan Sutherland to Anna Netrebko. Adriana is usually portrayed as a woman of a certain age, partnered by a younger Maurizio. The OIC performance features a younger Adriana in soprano Natalya Gennadi. Maurizio is Tonatiuh Abrego, Michonnet is Evan Korbut, and Principessa di Bouillon is Julie Nesrallah. Narmina Afandiyeva is Musical Director and Pianist. Tickets $20. | Details
7) Tafelmusik | Vivaldi Concerto for 2 violins in A Major, op. 3, no. 5. Allegro. Critic’s Picks ends on a sad note this week, with the news that Tafelmusik’s Music Director Emerita Jeanne Lamon passed away on June 20, in Victoria BC, at 71. Her remarkable leadership (1981–2014) has shaped Tafelmusik to be Canada’s premiere baroque orchestra, enjoying a sterling reputation both at home and abroad. In remembrance of her, here is a short clip of the Allegro section of the Vivaldi Concerto. It underscores her superb musicianship, a perfect blend of individual flair and exemplary collaborative spirit. Requiescat in Pace, Jeanne Lamon.
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