Music and Theater

USA
• Metropolitan Opera. Some recent performances.
  • 2008-09
    • Amilcare Ponchielli La Gioconda. I've never heard it before. Dramatic plot, taking place in Venice (Ca d'Oro), fine music, great soprano voices: Deborah Voigt in the title role, Olga Borodina as Laura, and the moving, beautiful voice of Ewa Podles as the blind mother "La cieca". 27 Sept. 2008.
    • Hector Berlioz La Damnation de Faust, Nov. 29, 2008. Superb music, great production, conducted by the maestro James Levine, featuring soprano Susan Graham, and daring 3d installation sets that worked out pretty well. Berlioz adapted Goethe's plot to his own interpretation, once again showing his genius and lack-of-conformity. The final gallop to hell had all the required powerful, spellbinding dramatism.
    • Massenet's Thaiss, with Renee Fleming. Dec. 2008.
    • Bellini's La Sonnambula, beautiful production with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flores. March 7, 2009.
  • 2007-08
    • Donizetti's dramatic Lucia di Lamermoor, with Natalie Dessay, 1 Oct. 2007. She was quite a show in the mad scene.
    • Bellini's Norma, 23 Nov. 2007.
    • Gluck's Ifigenia in Tauris, 11 Dec. 2007.
    • Wagner's magnificent Tristan und Isolde, 28 March 2008. Moving, beautiful Wagnerian music, starting slow, catching up in act II and reaching its climax in the final scene with one of the most strikingly beautiful love-lost arias in the world of music, Isolde's Liebes Tod.
  • 2006-07
    • Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. A fantastic production, even after the many I've seen and heard over the last 20 years. Each time, there is a new discovery, some piece of music that I never seem to have understood, or heard as intensely before. This time, the highlight was contessa's moving aria Dove sono i bei momenti, di dolcezza e di piacer and the conte's final 1-minute aria Contessa, perdona. Amazing how sincere he sounds (only Mozart can achieve this effect!), one is almost tempted to believe him!
  • 2004-05
    • Turandot, Feb. 2005. A beautifuly crafted Zefirelli's production, with Placido Domingo.
  • 2003-04
    • Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri, 20 Feb. 2004. Great Rossini, one of my favorite opera-buffa. The "inspiring" aria of Isabella Van al diavolo and the amusing intrigues: what do you have to do to join the order of papataci? Eat, drink and have fun! Perfect message for Mustafa Bey.
    • Hector Berlioz's Benvenutto Cellini, an Andrei Serban production, 12 Dec. 2003. Superb, one of the liveliest I've seen at the Met. An amusing scene, when Cellini's workers go "on strike" and carry a sign Greve generale!
• New York City Opera. Haendel's Rinaldo
• New York Philarmonic
• Lincoln Center
• Carnegie Hall, New York.
• Opera Orchestra of New York
• DiCapo Opera Theater
• The Amato Opera
• Brooklyn Academy of Music BAM
  • Becket's Happy Days, 2 Feb. 2008.
  • Eugene Ionescu's The Chairs, Dec. 2005.
  • La Comedie Francaise performance of Moliere's Le malade imaginaire, June 2004. I knew, but never internalized it before, that Moliere died while performing in this role.
• Barrymore Theater on Broadway.
  • Eugene Ionescu's Exit the King (Le roi se meurt), with Susan Sarandon. May 2009.
• St John the Divine cathedral in NYC, concerts.
• St Bartolomew in New York, Music performances
• Corpus Christi Church, Sunday Afternoon "Music Before 1800" concerts.
  • 2 Nov. 2008, Guillaume Machaut's Messe de Notre Dame, performed by Diabolus in Musica.
• Philadelphia Orchestra at the new Kimmel Center.
  • Bruckner's magnific Eight's Symphony, with Simon Rattle, 9 May 2009.
  • Mahler's Symphony of the Thousand, 1 May 2008.
• Opera Company of Philadelphia.
  • Verdi's Don Carlos, with Ewa Podles. 7 Feb. 2004.
• People's Light and Theater Company, Malvern, PA.
  • Moliere's L'Avare (The miser). 23 Oct. 2004.
• The Theater Alliance, Philadelphia
• Boston Symphony
• Princeton Music Department
• Westminster Choir College Performances, Princeton NJ.
  • An unforgettable rehearsal with Kurt Mazur and the Westminster Choir, back in 1993.
  • Haendel's Oreste, set up in Japanese decor - excellent student performance.
• Toronto, Music Department.
  • 4 March 2005, Haendel's Semele. One of my Haendel favorites, I never saw it live before. Student performed.
• OperaBase
• McCarter Theater, Princeton NJ.
• Tanglewood
• Caramoor
  • Verdi's La forza del destino, 26 July 2008.
• Sage Hall, Smith College
• Valley Light Opera, Amherst, MA
• Local productions.
  • Verdi's Rigoletto, Northampton Academy of Music, Nov. 2007.

• Italy
  • Milano, La Scala
    • Donizetti's La fille du Regiment, a first for me. Colorful costumes, good high C's in the famous tenor aria Ah mes amis, but not overwhelming. 17 March 2006.
      Later I discovered Pavarotti's amazing YouTube Pour mon ame performance and Juan Diego Flores, and finally understood why this can be such a hit. Too bad I missed the Met 2008 performance with Natalie Dessaye and Juan Diego Flores, the first solo Encore there for a tenor in the Pour mon ame aria since Pavarotti's.
• Germany
  • Oper Frankfurt.
    • Mussorgsky's Khovanschina, April 2005.
    • Detlev Glanert's Caligula, a contemporary opera, world premiered in Frankfurt. March 13, 2009.
  • Koelner Philarmonie, Feb. 2003. A superb Beethoven performance with Christophe Eschenbach.
  • Hamburg, June 2005.
    • Hamburgische Staatsoper, Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nurenberg.
    • Chor St Michael, Kantorei, Freitag Nacht Musik in Michaeliskirche
  • Berlin
    • Deutsche Oper Berlin
    • Komische Oper Berlin
    • Staatsoper Berlin
      2006
      • June 2006, Norma. Beautiful Casta Diva, the highlight of the opera, but the priestesses clad in "whirling dervishes" garb were less aluring.
      • Sept. 2006, Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. Berlin premiere. Lively audience, half booing half bravo'ing the non-standard production, with Elizabeth Tudor and Mary Stuart featured as two elderly women in a hospice (Mary is crippled and in a wheelchair), bitterly fighting each other all the way to the end.
      • Oct. 2006, Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte. Set up as a 60's hippy story. There is never too much of Ferrando's Un'aura amorosa.
      • 26 Oct. 2006, a few days before leaving Berlin. Mozart's Magic Flute. A great performance, with a historical touch, featuring the original Schinkel's sets: the Queen of the Night sings her dramatic, difficult area sitting on a crescent, upon a starry background. Amusing and livelyPapageno, the best I've seen in this role.
    • Berliner Philarmoniker
    • Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin
    • Konzerthaus
• France
  • Paris, Spring 2003.
    • Opera National de Paris
      • Opera Garnier. Rameau's Les Boréades. "Boreades" got a touch of "boring", in spite of the underware-clad nimphes dancing all throughout.
      • Opera Bastille
    • Opera Comique. Rossini's Le conte d'Ory, an amusing production with a great final scene: the glorious returning crusaders, in crutches.
    • Theatre des Champs Elysees. Mendelsohn's A misummer's night dream.
    • Theatre Mogador, Berlioz's Benvenutto Cellini, beautifully sung opera-in-concert.
    • Theatre du Chatelet
    • La Comedie Francaise: Moliere, Le malade imaginaire and Le Misantrope. Hugo's Ruy Blas.
  • Opera de Nancy. June 2003, a nice performance of Wagner's Le Vaisseau Fantome, the Flying Dutchman or Der Fliegende Hollander.
• Russia
  • Moscow
    • Moscow Conservatory. Sviatoslav Richter Piano Competition, June 2008.
  • StPetersburg, summer 2008.
    • Mariinsky Theater of Opera and Ballet (Kirov), with an unmatchable, esquisitely beautiful curtain.
      • Borodin's Prince Igor. Learned what a Terem Palace is (and later saw some terems in Novgorod).
      • Sergey Prokofieff's Romeo and Juliet. A once-in-a-lifetime experience, one of the most beautiful performances I've ever seen. Ballet as perfect as it can be, in the world's ballet capital. July 2008.
    • The Imperial Mikhailovsky Theatre.
      • Queen of Spades, June 2008. The Summer Garden wrought iron fence is part of the local athmosphere.
    • Glinka Capella
• Romania
  Bucharest
  • Romanian Philarmonic, Romanian Athenaeum

• World of Opera on opera.npr.org.
• Met Opera broadcasts
• Chevron-Texaco opera broadcasts
• PBS Great Performances
• WFCR Pioneer Valley 88.5 FM
• New Jersey Radio Stations.
• WWFM 89.1FM, The classical network, Mercer County Classic Radio Station.
• WQXR 93.6FM the classical radio station of the New York Times.

• Movies:
  • Farinelli:
    • Haendel's Rinaldo, Lascia chio piango.
    • Cara Sposa
    • Son qual nave qu'agitata
• YouTube selections
  • Kiri Te Kanawa
    • Dove sono i bei momenti, Contessa's aria in Le Nozze di Figaro.
    • Exultate, jubilate
  • Kathleen Battle
    Exultate, jubilate
  • Diana Damrau
    • Queen of the Night, from The Magic Flute
    • Koenigin der Nacht, Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen, from Salzburger Festpiele, 2006. One of the best! And the darkest, full
    • Exultate, jubilate
  • Edda Moser, Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen, from Die Zauberflöte.
  • Renee Fleming
    • Exultate, jubilate
    • Dove sono
  • Jessye Norman
    • Dove sono
    • Johohoe, Senta's ballad, from The Flying dutchman, Wagner.
    • Brunhilde's Immolition. Superb!
  • Vesselina Kasarova
    • Pensa alla Patria, from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri.
    • Cruda sorte, amor tirano, from L'Italiana.
    • Perche turbar la calma, Tancredi-Amenaide duet, from Rossini's Tancredi.
    • Rossini's Tancredi Lasciarmi non t'ascolto!/ ah, come mai quell'animaTancredi-Amenaide duet, Kassarova and O'Flynn. This is not a very good recording of one of the best Tancredi performances (in concert, NYC, 1997).
  • Maureen O'Flynn
  • Marilyn Horne
    • Italiana in Algeri, final of first act.
  • Birgit Nielssen
    • Isolde Liebestod
  • Waltraud Meier
    • Isolde Liebestod
  • Nina Stemme
    • Isolde Liebestod
  • Janet Baker
    • Che faro senza Euridice?
  • Luciano Pavarotti
    • Una Furtiva Lagrima, L'Elisir d'Amore, Donizetti.
    • Che faro senza Euridice?, from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. Unusual interpretation (not my favorite).
    • Quando le sere al placido, from Verdi's Luisa Miller; and another Mi tradia.
  • Juan Diego Flores
    • Una furtiva lagrima
    • Pour mon ame, La fille du regiment.
    • Languir per una bella, L'Italiana in Algeri.
    • J'ai perdu mon Euridice
    • Com'e gentil, from Don Pasquale
    • Dies Bildnis, from the Magic Flute.
  • Samuel Ramey
    • Te Deum, from Tosca.
    • Son lo spirito, Mefistofele.
    • Non pi'andrai, from Nozze di Figaro, Mozart.
    • Deh' vieni alla finestra, from Don Giovanni.
    • Commendadore scene, from Don Giovanni.
    • La ci daren la mano, Don Giovanni.
  • Dietrich Fischer-Diskau
    • Deh, vieni alla finestra
  • Philippe Jaroussky. Counter-tenor. Amazing voice!
    • Vivaldi aria.
    • Nisi Dominus and Stabat Mater
    • Haendel, Mi palpita il cuor
    • Lascia qu'io pianga, from Haendel's Rinaldo. Esquisite!
    • Qual piacer, Haendel.
    • Carestini
  • Andreas Scholl
    • Agitata e alma mia
    • Vivaldi Alleluia
    • Haendel's Rodelinda Dove sei
    • Che faro senza Euridice?, from Orfeo ed Euridice, Italian version, Gluck. A beautiful interpretaton.
  • Leopold Simoneau
    • J'ai perdu mon Eurydice
  • Roberto Alagna
    • J'ai perdu mon Eurydice
  • Tito Schipa
    • Com'e gentil, la notte a mezzo april.
  • Rise Stevens
    • Che faro senza Euridice, a great 1957 recording.
  • Maria Callas
    • Oh, mio bambino caro
  • Angela Gheorghiu
    • Oh mio bambino caro
  • Ewa Podles
    • Di tanti palpiti, from Rossini's Tancredi.
    • Voce di donna o d'angelo, the blind mother La cieca's aria from Ponchielli's La Gioconda.
    • Una voce poco fa, Rosina's famous aria from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Seviglia. A perfect interpretation!
  • Elina Garanca
    • Una voce poco fa

Operas

• Rossini
  • L'Italiana in Algeri
    • Languir per una bella. Maxim Mironov, Juan Diego Flores
    • Papataci terzetto. Dei pappataci s'avanza il coro
    • Flores,E una donna singolar