What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Florestan]

An amazing recording, coloratura supreme:


A daughter to rival Sutherland's:

[Hoffmann]

My listening schedule took a big hit when the Ring started: my houseguest, who thoroughly enjoyed the Ring - and her first visit to DC, had to be entertained during her stay. Lots of art museum visits, including Marjorie Merriweather Post's Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden (which I had never seen) and a drive to Baltimore to the Baltimore Museum of Art, kept us busy. So, no walking, and Elizabeth really is more of an orchestral music fan than she is an opera fan - except for Wagner. She does not especially like listening to it outside of the theater, however. Listened to the Bach Cello Suites a couple of times and the Goldberg Variations a couple of times.

Two days after she left, I drove to Cape Cod to open the house for the rental season - and accompanying chores, which aren't any fun. Nice to be around family, though spare time was devoted to watching basketball tournaments, baseball games and some lobster (of course!).

I arrived home to one of my nephews, who will be using my condo while I am in Berlin. He's in graduate school, and in town for the summer for an internship. He's a good kid, so nice to spend some time with him while our time overlaps. I am leaving tomorrow night, and will try to do better with my reviews than I did with the Ring. I bought a new iPad Pro (small version) with keyboard, so have no excuse. I think our opera line-up is posted elsewhere, but especially looking forward to seeing Nina Stemme's Isolde and Elektra.

I return to DC on 20 July, and then have a couple of out-of-town family weddings to attend in August. The night before other guests arrive for another of my nephew's wedding on 27 August, which he was thoughtful enough to hold in Cooperstown, NY, I have a performance of The Thieving Magpie at Glimmerglass Festival, albeit with a cast unknown to me. Except for the weddings, August should provide a couple of weeks of R&R.

After that, it's a week in Vermont over Labor Day, then I leave for a tour of Croatia in the middle of September, returning home on 3 October. There's more to keep me out of trouble almost thru Thanksgiving (3rd week in November for you folks overseas) including, I hope, a couple of days in NYC for performances of Guillaume Tell and Jenufa at the Met. Good thing I had tax refunds this year rather than owing Uncle Sam!!

It's mostly fun stuff, but I'm beginning to think that maybe I got a little too enthusiastic...

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

My listening schedule took a big hit when the Ring started: my houseguest, who thoroughly enjoyed the Ring - and her first visit to DC, had to be entertained during her stay. Lots of art museum visits, including Marjorie Merriweather Post's Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden (which I had never seen) and a drive to Baltimore to the Baltimore Museum of Art, kept us busy. So, no walking, and Elizabeth really is more of an orchestral music fan than she is an opera fan - except for Wagner. She does not especially like listening to it outside of the theater, however. Listened to the Bach Cello Suites a couple of times and the Goldberg Variations a couple of times.

Two days after she left, I drove to Cape Cod to open the house for the rental season - and accompanying chores, which aren't any fun. Nice to be around family, though spare time was devoted to watching basketball tournaments, baseball games and some lobster (of course!).

I arrived home to one of my nephews, who will be using my condo while I am in Berlin. He's in graduate school, and in town for the summer for an internship. He's a good kid, so nice to spend some time with him while our time overlaps. I am leaving tomorrow night, and will try to do better with my reviews than I did with the Ring. I bought a new iPad Pro (small version) with keyboard, so have no excuse. I think our opera line-up is posted elsewhere, but especially looking forward to seeing Nina Stemme's Isolde and Elektra.

I return to DC on 20 July, and then have a couple of out-of-town family weddings to attend in August. The night before other guests arrive for another of my nephew's wedding on 27 August, which he was thoughtful enough to hold in Cooperstown, NY, I have a performance of The Thieving Magpie at Glimmerglass Festival, albeit with a cast unknown to me. Except for the weddings, August should provide a couple of weeks of R&R.

After that, it's a week in Vermont over Labor Day, then I leave for a tour of Croatia in the middle of September, returning home on 3 October. There's more to keep me out of trouble almost thru Thanksgiving (3rd week in November for you folks overseas) including, I hope, a couple of days in NYC for performances of Guillaume Tell and Jenufa at the Met. Good thing I had tax refunds this year rather than owing Uncle Sam!!

Fabulous schedule

It's mostly fun stuff, but I'm beginning to think that maybe I got a little too enthusiastic...

Don't think like that; you're a long time dead.

[Clayton]

amongst the usual suspects

Handel: Alcina
Arleen Augér (Alcina), Della Jones (Ruggiero), Kathleen Kuhlmann (Bradamante), Maldwyn Davies (Oronte), Eiddwen Harrhy (Morgana), Patrizia Kwella (Oberto), John Tomlinson (Melisso)
City of London Baroque Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
Studio recording, 1985



It's quite different from the Curtis so it's taken a couple of listens to pick up on the different accents but I like it. There's a particularly good Ombre pallide.

[Clayton]

Handel: Arminio
Max Emanuel Cencic (Arminio), Layla Claire (Tusnelda), Ruxandra Donose (Ramise), Vince Yi (Sigismondo), Juan Sancho (Varo), Xavier Sabata (Tullio) and Petros Magoulas (Segeste)
Armonia Atenea, George Petrou



Absolutely fabulous; it's a big step up from the Curtis production which I thought was a good recording but this is brilliant and changes my understanding of the opera. Wonderful performances all round, a get for Handel fans!

[MAuer]

@ Hoffmann -- Hope you have a fantastic time in Europe!!

[Soave_Fanciulla]

[Soave_Fanciulla]

A larf a minute, and good singing too. as you might imagine from looking at the cast list.

Sullivan, A: HMS Pinafore
Elizabeth Watts (Josephine), Toby Spence (Ralph Rackstraw), John Mark Ainsley (Sir Joseph Porter KCB), Andrew Foster-Williams (Captain Corcoran), Hilary Summers (Buttercup), Neal Davies (Dick Deadeye), Gavan Ring (Bill Bobstay), Barnaby Rea (Bob Becket), Kitty Whately (Hebe), Tim Brooke-Taylor (narrator). Scottish Opera, Richard Egarr

[Florestan]

[Festat]

[Soave_Fanciulla]

[Clayton]

I haven't got the Brilliant Opera collection recording but I did appreciate their online libretto!

[Clayton]

Amongst the usual suspects



Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Boris Christoff (Boris), Nicolai Gedda (Grigory (False Dmitry)), Eugenia Zareska (Marina), Kim Borg (Rangoni/Tchelkalov), Andre Bielecki (Shuisky/Missail), Eugenia Zareska (Fyodor), Ludmilla Lebedeva (Xenia), Lydia Romanova (Hostess), Wassili Pasternak (Simpleton),
Choeurs Russes de Paris, Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise,
Issay Dobrowen 1952

[Clayton]

Handel: Theodora, HWV 68
Frode Olsen (Valens), David Daniels (Didymus), Richard Croft (Septimius), Dawn Upshaw (Theodora), Lorraine Hunt (Irene), Michael Hart-Davis (Messenger) & William Christie (conductor, continuo)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & The Glyndebourne Chorus

[Florestan]