{"id":71274,"date":"2021-06-07T09:41:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T13:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=71274"},"modified":"2021-06-07T09:41:33","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T13:41:33","slug":"critics-picks-classical-opera-streams-absolutely-need-see-week-june-7-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2021\/06\/07\/critics-picks-classical-opera-streams-absolutely-need-see-week-june-7-13\/","title":{"rendered":"CRITIC’S PICKS | Classical And Opera Streams You Absolutely Need To See This Week: June 7\u201313"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Classical
Classical music and opera events streaming on the web for the week of June 7\u201313.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Critic\u2019s Picks (June 7\u201313)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWe live in an extraordinary Age\u201d \u2014 Carl Sagan<\/em>. It is almost summer 2021, and with the decline in COVID cases in Europe and North America, many performing arts organizations are gearing up for summer events and announcing their 2021-22 season. As reported in Opera Wire<\/em>, these companies include Op\u00e9ra National de Paris, Badisches Staatsoper Karlsruhe, Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Capitole de Toulouse, Op\u00e9ra National du Rhin, Teatro La Fenice, Op\u00e9ra de Toulon, Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Champs-Elys\u00e9es, Oper Frankfurt, Opernhaus Z\u00fcrich, Teatro Real de Madrid, Opera Holland Park, Dutch National Opera, Teatro Regio di Parma, Hungarian State Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, and many others.<\/p>\n

The Salzburg Whitsun Festival in Austria re-opened with a blockbuster Tosca<\/em> starring Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann, replacing the originally announced Anja Harteros and Bryn Terfel. An interesting twist is that it also featured the great Cecilia Bartoli \u2014 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 K\u00e1t\u2019a Kabanov\u00e1<\/em> and Il turco in Italia<\/em> on stage, and The Cunning Little Vixen<\/em> 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\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n

On this side of the Atlantic, the Santa Fe Opera will take place July 10 to August 23, with an in-house, socially distanced audience, plus nightly simulcast in its lower parking lot. The Chicago Lyric Opera will present a film of Pagliacci<\/em> in August starring Russell Thomas and Ailyn Perez. Tanglewood and Boston Symphony Orchestra\u2019s summer festivals will happen, in the case of BSO at 50% capacity. The picture is less clear in Toronto. The Luminato Festival, normally to take place in June, has been moved to October. According to the video blog of the new Canadian Opera Company General Director Perryn Leech, an announcement of its 2021-22 season will take place on June 7. Toronto Summer Music Festival\u2019s program announcement is on the same day. I will report on both next week. While the TSO has not announced its new season, it is offering a pre-taped stream of \u201cSarah Jeffrey Plays Mozart<\/a>\u201d available June 22-29.<\/p>\n

LA Opera returned to live, in-person performances with a June 6 performance of Stravinsky\u2019s Oedipus Rex<\/em>, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. James Conlon conducted, with Russell Thomas, J\u2019Nai 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\u2019s Teatro Nuovo has announced that it will put on Rossini\u2019s The Barber of Seville<\/em> on July 27 and 28 on the summer stage at Lincoln Center\u2019s Damrosch Park.<\/p>\n

On the streaming front, this is Week 65 of the Met Opera\u2019s free nightly streaming, an astounding feat and only possible from opera houses with enormous archives like the Met. The theme this week is \u201cChanging the Scene: Updated Settings for Classic Operas,\u201d featuring concept or reimagined productions. These approaches have been around for decades in Europe, but North American audiences are typically more resistant to new interpretations. Top stars featured in this week\u2019s streams include Natalie Dessay, Joyce DiDonato, Jonas Kaufmann, and Piotr Beczala. Met streams start at 7:30 p.m. ET and remain available for 23 hours. There seems to be a certain \u201clivestream fatigue\u201d these days, with fewer initiatives from independent artists, compared to just a few short months ago. Let\u2019s hope that we\u2019ll soon be back in the concert halls and opera houses. Meanwhile, an excellent opera-on-demand stream is the Opera de Lille Tosca<\/em> starring Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury. Equally interesting is the Screaming Divas interviewing top American tenor Matthew Polenzani.<\/p>\n

Monday 7<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Verdi\u2019s Rigoletto.<\/strong> Starring Diana Damrau, Oksana Volkova, Piotr Becza\u0142a, \u017deljko Lu\u010di\u0107, and \u0160tefan Koc\u00e1n, conducted by Michele Mariotti. Production by Michael Mayer. From February 16, 2013. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday 8<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Gounod\u2019s Faust<\/strong>. Starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann, Russell Braun, and Ren\u00e9 Pape, conducted by Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin. Production by Des McAnuff. From December 10, 2011. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday 9<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Bellini\u2019s La Sonnambula<\/strong>. Starring Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Fl\u00f3rez, and Michele Pertusi, conducted by Evelino Pid\u00f2. Production by Mary Zimmerman. From March 21, 2009. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday 10<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Handel\u2019s Agrippina<\/strong>. Starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Harry Bicket. Production by Sir David McVicar. From February 29, 2020. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 11<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Thomas Ad\u00e8s\u2019s The Tempest.<\/strong> Starring Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, Alek Shrader, Alan Oke, William Burden, Toby Spence, and Simon Keenlyside, conducted by Thomas Ad\u00e8s. Production by Robert Lepage. From November 10, 2012. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 12<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Verdi\u2019s Falstaff.<\/strong> Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo, conducted by James Levine. Production by Robert Carsen. From December 14, 2013. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 13<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Glyndebourne Opera | Rossini\u2019s The Barber of Seville<\/strong> \u2014 12 p.m. ET. This Rossini classic stars Danielle de Niese (Rosina), Taylor Stayton (Count Almaviva), Alessandro Corbelli (Dr Bartolo), and Bj\u00f6rn B\u00fcrger (Figaro). Enrique Mazzola conducts. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Orchestra Musicians | Spotlight Series<\/strong> \u2014\u00a03 p.m. ET. This concert, \u201cAt Peak Performance with the MET Orchestra Musicians,\u201d takes place on the 101st floor of 30 Hudson Yards, a soaring skyscraper known for its triangular observation deck that floats over the West Side of Manhattan. The concert was filmed in front of an invited audience, featuring mezzo Tamara Mumford, in a program of Ravel, Yoshimatsu, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Bizet, H\u00e4ndel, and Rossini. Tickets $15. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Opera | Mozart\u2019s Cos\u00ec fan tutte.<\/strong> Starring Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Kelli O’Hara, Ben Bliss, Adam Plachetka, and Christopher Maltman, conducted by David Robertson. Production by Phelim McDermott. From March 31, 2018. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Video-on-demand performances:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1) Wigmore Hall | Mitsuko Uchida.<\/strong> Premiered last week and now on demand, the great Japanese pianist plays two sets of Schubert Impromptus, D899 and D935. It feels good to see a live audience in the hall!<\/p>\n