{"id":71479,"date":"2021-06-28T09:16:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T13:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=71479"},"modified":"2021-06-28T09:16:03","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T13:16:03","slug":"critics-picks-classical-and-opera-streams-you-absolutely-need-to-see-this-week-june-28-july-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2021\/06\/28\/critics-picks-classical-and-opera-streams-you-absolutely-need-to-see-this-week-june-28-july-4\/","title":{"rendered":"CRITIC’S PICKS | Classical And Opera Streams You Absolutely Need To See This Week: June 28 \u2013 July 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Classical
Classical music and opera events streaming on the web for the week of June 28 \u2013 July 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Critic\u2019s Picks (June 28 \u2013 July 4)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWe live in an extraordinary Age\u201d \u2014 Carl Sagan.<\/em> It is now summer 2021, and with the decline in COVID cases in Europe and North America, the re-opening of concert and opera venues for the summer and next season is a reality. According to Opera Wire, announcements have come from Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera National de Paris, Op\u00e9ra de Metz M\u00e9tropole, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Op\u00e9ra de Lille, Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Op\u00e9ra de Monte-Carlo, G\u00f6teborg Opera, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Philharmonie Essen, Hungarian State Opera, and Opera de Massy. Recent additions to the list include Bilbao Opera, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Opera National de Bordeaux, Theatre Essen, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Polish National Opera, Oper K\u00f6ln, Wiener Volksoper, and Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Audiences can expect various COVID precautions, possibly including proof of vaccination.<\/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 was 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 \u2013 Aug. 2).<\/p>\n

On this side of the Atlantic, the Santa Fe Opera will take place July 10 to August 27, with in house, socially distanced audience, plus nightly simulcast 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\u2019s 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\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. And it is good to hear the once ubiquitous New York City Opera is back, with a summer season in Bryant Park. Michigan Opera Theatre will offer free summer concerts featuring its Touring Ensemble at several Detroit neighbourhoods and in parks elsewhere in Michigan.<\/p>\n

In Canada, the Elora Festival (Aug. 5 \u2013 28) will be an online festival. Sinfonia Toronto\u2019s 2021-22 season, \u201cA Joyous Reunion,\u201d will have a hybrid format, combining in-person and virtual concerts. Toronto\u2019s Luminato Festival, normally in June, will take place in October. The National Ballet of Canada just announced their new season a few days ago; so has the Toronto Symphony, which opens in November. Toronto Summer Music (July 15 \u2013 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 \u2013 27. The Canadian Opera Company made a vague announcement on June 7, with very little details except that the fall season is likely virtual and completely free. It promises more information in August.<\/p>\n

On the streaming front, this is Week 68 of the Met Opera\u2019s free nightly streaming, an astounding feat and only possible from opera companies with enormous archives like the Met. The theme of this week\u2019s Met stream is \u201cCelebrating American Composers.\u201d 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<\/em>, and Luisa Miller<\/em> in July, with big names the likes of Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Karita Mattila and Michael Fabiano. Other than these big houses, there are 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\u2019s hope that the Delta variant can be kept at bay and we will soon return to the concert halls and opera houses doing what we love, to make and to enjoy music.<\/p>\n

Monday 28<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Nico Muhly\u2019s Marnie<\/strong>. Starring Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, Christopher Maltman, Janis Kelly, and Denyce Graves, conducted by Roberto Spano. Production by Michael Mayer. From November 10, 2018. An operatic iteration of the Winston Graham 1961 novel and the 1964 Hitchcock film, this stylish and spookily entertaining opera is a worthy descendent of that lineage. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday 29<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | John Adams\u2019s Doctor Atomic.<\/strong> Starring Sasha Cooke, Thomas Glenn, Gerald Finley, and Richard Paul Fink, conducted by Alan Gilbert. Production by Penny Woolcock. From November 8, 2008. A contemporary masterpiece by an American composer, with productions in Amsterdam, San Francisco, Santa Fe, the Met, and ENO (London). Oppenheimer has become Canadian baritone Gerald Finley\u2019s signature role. Not-to-be-missed. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday 30<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | John Corigliano\u2019s The Ghosts of Versailles<\/strong>. Starring Teresa Stratas, H\u00e5kan Hageg\u00e5rd, Gino Quilico, Graham Clark, Marilyn Horne, and Ren\u00e9e Fleming, conducted by James Levine. Production by Sir Colin Graham. From January 10, 1992. Corigliano\u2019s tuneful and accessible score, coupled with a stellar cast and opulent production was well received 29 years ago. Such is the passage of time that all six principals are retired and the conductor passed away. A performance worth revisiting. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday 1<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Philip Glass\u2019s Satyagraha<\/strong>. Starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. Production by Phelim McDermott. From November 19, 2011. A story on the life of Gandhi and his nonviolent resistance to injustice, Satyagraha is considered a seminal operatic creation and a great 20th century work. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 2<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | John Adams\u2019s Nixon in China<\/strong>. Starring Kathleen Kim, Janis Kelly, Robert Brubaker, Russell Braun, James Maddalena, and Richard Paul Fink, conducted by John Adams. Production by Peter Sellars. From February 12, 2011. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 3<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Weill\u2019s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny<\/strong>. Starring Teresa Stratas, Astrid Varnay, Richard Cassilly, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Levine. From November 27, 1979. One could dispute calling Kurt Weill an \u201cAmerican\u201d composer, even though he did move to the US in late career. This opera was composed earlier and premiered in Leipzig in 1927. Subsequently banned by the Nazis, it\u2019s a satire on German society of the time, but also applicable as commentary on America. A brilliant cast led by Stratas as a memoriable Jenny. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 4<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Philip Glass\u2019s Akhnaten<\/strong>. Starring D\u00edsella L\u00e1rusd\u00f3ttir, J\u2019Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein, and Zachary James, conducted by Karen Kamensek. Production by Phelim McDermott. From November 23, 2019. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

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

1) Royal Conservatory of Music | Music of My Life: Steve Paikin<\/strong>. In this, episode #2 of the RCM Series, journalist\/author\/documentary producer Steve Paikin talks about the music that inspires him. Free to watch but donations welcome. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

2) Screaming Divas with Sondra and Keri | Michael Fabiano.<\/strong> Calling all tenor fans: following the wonderful recent chat with Matthew Polenzani is this new episode (June 25) with the terrific Michael Fabiano, currently singing Cavaradossi at the Paris Opera. With disarming candor, the tenor shares his thoughts on his career and his personal life, and his brainchild, ArtSmart, an initiative for nurturing young talent. A fun-filled yet heartfelt and serious hour of conversation.<\/p>\n