{"id":71631,"date":"2021-07-19T09:32:42","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T13:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=71631"},"modified":"2021-07-19T09:32:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T13:32:42","slug":"critics-picks-classical-opera-streams-absolutely-need-see-week-july-19-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2021\/07\/19\/critics-picks-classical-opera-streams-absolutely-need-see-week-july-19-25\/","title":{"rendered":"CRITIC’S PICKS | Classical And Opera Streams You Absolutely Need To See This Week: July 19 \u2013 25"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Classical
Classical music and opera events streaming on the web for the week of July 19 \u2013 25.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Critic\u2019s Picks (July 19 \u2013 25)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWe live in an extraordinary Age\u201d \u2014 Carl Sagan.<\/em> The late spring\/early summer decline in COVID cases in Europe and North America has led to a slew of announcements regarding the reopening of concert and opera venues for the summer and next season, as reported on Opera Wire<\/em> and elsewhere. Audiences can expect various heath precautions, possibly including proof of vaccination. At the Paris Opera last March, a negative COVID test within 48 hours was required for admission. Sadly, a new COVID surge is happening as I write in the UK and several European countries, making the reopening even more challenging. Music fans will just have to sit tight and see how things transpire in the coming months.<\/p>\n

On this side of the Atlantic, the big news is the agreement between the Metropolitan Opera and its local chapter of IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees). The agreement includes a 3% wage cut and a 4.5% annuity cut for three years, plus a lump sum payment equal to eight weeks of bridge pay as well as several other concessions, far short of what the Met\u2019s Peter Gelb wanted. Of the three major unions at the Met, two of three are settled. Let us hope this paves the way to a reopening in the fall. One more piece of Met news \u2014 the Met will require mandatory audience vaccination for the 2021-22 season. Given the troubling signs of a Delta variant-driven surge in cases, the Met policy may prove to be prudent.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in North America, the Santa Fe Opera has reopened on July 10, with an in-house, socially distanced audience, plus nightly simulcast in its lower parking lot. The Chicago Lyric Opera presents a film of Pagliacci<\/em> in August starring Russell Thomas and Ailyn Perez. Also taking place are the Tanglewood and Boston Symphony Orchestra\u2019s summer festivals, in the case of BSO at 50% capacity. LA Opera has returned to live, in-person performances. LA Philharmonic is reopening in the Hollywood Bowl this month, as is the Cleveland Orchestra, returning to the Blossom Festival. New York\u2019s Teatro Nuovo is putting 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 is offering 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 all online. 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 recently announced their new season; as has the Toronto Symphony, which opens in November. The big news at the Toronto Summer Music Festival<\/a> (July 15 \u2013 August 1) is the announcement of a week of in-person concerts (July 26 \u2013 31). Wellington Water Week, a music festival in Wellington, Prince Edward County, is now rebranded as the BIGLAKE Festival (August 20-27), under the co-artistic directorship of conductor Johannes Debus and violinist Elissa Lee. The Canadian Opera Company\u2019s announcement on June 7 had no details, only the promise of a free online fall season. A more detailed announcement will come on August 16.<\/p>\n

All good things must come to an end. This week\u2019s free streaming from the Met, its 72nd week, will be its last, a phenomenal record during the pandemic. This service has generated enormous goodwill from the viewing public, and the Met is giving them a final say \u2014 the theme of the final week of streaming is \u201cViewers\u2019 Choice,\u201d with performances voted on by the viewers. Streams start at 7:30 p.m. ET and remain available for 23 hours. San Francisco Opera is streaming one opera every weekend in July: Jenufa, Les Troyens, Elektra,<\/em> and Luisa Miller<\/em>. Let\u2019s hope the recent surge of 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 19<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Toronto Summer Music Festival | Beethoven Sonatas Part 2<\/strong> \u2014 7:30 p.m. ET. Violinist Jonathan Crow and pianist Philip Chiu perform Beethoven\u2019s Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 12; Kevin Lau \u2014 If Life Were a Mirror; and Beethoven\u2019s Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Opera | Mozart\u2019s Le Nozze di Figaro<\/strong>. Starring Ren\u00e9e Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Susanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft, and Bryn Terfel, conducted by James Levine. Production by Jonathan Miller. From November 11, 1998. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday 20<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Toronto Summer Music Festival | Midsummer Melodies<\/strong> \u2014\u00a07:30 p.m. ET. Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka has cancelled due to illness. In her place are soprano Jamie Groot, mezzo Simona Genga, tenor Asitha Tennekoon, and baritone Clarence Frazer, joined by collaborative pianist Steven Philcox, in songs by Schubert, Wolf, Strauss, Mahler, Dvo\u0159\u00e1k, Finzi, Butterworth, Jake Heggie and Derek Holman. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Opera | Mascagni\u2019s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo\u2019s Pagliacci<\/strong>. Starring Tatiana Troyanos, Jean Kraft, Pl\u00e1cido Domingo, and Vern Shinall; Teresa Stratas, Pl\u00e1cido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, and Allan Monk, conducted by James Levine. Production by Franco Zeffirelli. From April 5, 1978. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday 21<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Met Opera | Bizet\u2019s Les P\u00eacheurs de Perles<\/strong>. Starring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecie\u0144, and Nicolas Test\u00e9, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Production by Penny Woolcock. From January 16, 2016. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday 22<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Toronto Summer Music Festival | Echo Chamber Toronto<\/strong> \u2014\u00a07:30 p.m. ET. Echo Chamber Toronto combines chamber music with contemporary dance. The Rosebud String Quartet is joined by a group of dancers in a program of works by Schubert, Beethoven, Britten, plus contemporary composers Caroline Shaw and Carmen Braden. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Opera | Offenbach\u2019s Les Contes d\u2019Hoffmann<\/strong>. Starring Erin Morley, Hibla Gerzmava, Kate Lindsey, Christine Rice, Vittorio Grigolo, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Yves Abel. Production by Bartlett Sher. From January 31, 2015. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 23<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Toronto Summer Music Festival | Romantic Inspirations<\/strong> \u2014\u00a07:30 p.m. ET. Mayumi Seiler, violin; Jonathan Crow, violin; Juan-Miguel Hernandez, viola; R\u00e9mi Pelletier, viola; Rachel Mercer, cello; Adrian Fung, cello; Philip Chiu, piano; Asitha Tennekoon, tenor; Neil Deland, horn; and Michael McMahon, piano, in a program of works by Wagner, Schubert, Brahms, and Louise Ferenc. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Opera | Donizetti\u2019s La Fille du R\u00e9giment<\/strong>. Starring Natalie Dessay, Felicity Palmer, Juan Diego Fl\u00f3rez, and Alessandro Corbelli, conducted by Marco Armiliato. Production by Laurent Pelly. From April 26, 2008. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 24<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

San Francisco Opera | Elektra<\/strong> \u2014\u00a01 p.m. ET. A performance from 2017 with soprano Christine Goerke in the title role, joined by Adrianne Pieczonka (Chrysothemis), Michaela Martens (Klytaemnestra), Alfred Walker (Orest), and Robert Brubaker (Aegisth), conducted by Henrik N\u00e1n\u00e1si. Available until Monday 3 am. Free, registration required. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Opera | Verdi\u2019s Il Trovatore<\/strong>. Starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Marco Armiliato. Production by David McVicar. From October 3, 2015. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 25<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Toronto Summer Music Festival | Beethoven Sonatas Part 3<\/strong> \u2014\u00a02 p.m. ET. Violinist Jonathan Crow and pianist Philip Chiu play Beethoven\u2019s Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 2 in A Major, Op. 12 and Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 \u201cKreutzer,\u201d as well as \u201cPeace\u201d by Jessie Montgomery. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

Met Opera | Verdi\u2019s Un Ballo in Maschera<\/strong>. Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Kathleen Kim, Stephanie Blythe, Marcelo \u00c1lvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Fabio Luisi. Production by David Alden. From December 8, 2012. | Details<\/a><\/p>\n

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

1) Royal Opera House Covent Garden | Danielle de Niese Masterclass<\/strong>. Premiered June 21 and now on demand, Australian-American soprano Danielle de Niese teaches a masterclass with three artists of the ROH\u2019s National Opera Studio (Judith Le Breuilly, Thomas Hopkinson and Monica McGhee), performing arias by Mozart, Rossini, Strauss, Verdi and Massenet.<\/p>\n