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| | Arts Calendar / November 26 / Opera |
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Opera in four acts. Leonid Baratov stages Mussorgsky's musical drama based on Pushkin's tragedy. The opera was composed between 1868 and 1873 and first staged in 1874 in St. Petersburg. Version and orchestration by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Orchestration of "At St. Basil Cathedral" scene by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. Conductors: Vassily Sinaisky, Pavel Sorokin. Director - Igor Ushakov. Sung in Russian. Ever since Fyodor Chaliapin’s triumphant appearance in the role at the Paris Opera, Boris Godunov is unqualifiedly considered by Russian and world audiences to be the chief personage of Russian opera and its leading potentate. For the whole world today Mussorgsky’s opera is a key work on the abstract nature of power in general, with no need for concrete historical associations or the literal reproduction of realia.
Bolshoi Theater  |
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16:15 | Opera Live HD: Magic Flute |
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Opera. USA 2017, 217 min. Conductor James Levine. Directed by Julie Taymor. Starring: Golda Shultz, Kathryn Lewek, Charles Castranovo, Marcus Weba, Christin van Horn, René Pape. Set designer – Geoge Tsypin. Costume designer – Julie Taymor. Lighting designer – Donald Holder. In German with Russian subtitles. Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts the full-length German version of Mozart’s magical fable, seen in Julie Taymor’s spectacular production, which captures both the opera’s earthy comedy and its noble mysticism. Die Zauberflöte—a sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism—was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The libretto specifies Egypt as the location of the action. Egypt was traditionally regarded as the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity, whose symbols and rituals populate this opera. Some productions include Egyptian motifs as an exotic nod to this idea, but many more opt for a more generalized mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone of the work call for.
Zvezda |
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15:00 | Opera Live HD: Norma |
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Opera production. USA 2017, 210 min. New production of Vincenzo Bellini's opera. Conductor Carlo Rizz. Directed by Sir David McVicar. Set designer – Robert Jones. Costume designer – Moritz Junge. Lighting designer – Paule Constable. “Ponselle, Milanov, Sutherland, Callas … after last night, Radvanovsky can add her name to the list,” declared the Huffington Post when Sondra Radvanovsky made her Met role debut as Norma in 2013. The 2017–18 season opens with a new production of Bellini’s masterpiece, starring Radvanovsky as the Druid priestess and Joyce DiDonato as her archrival, Adalgisa—a casting coup for bel canto fans. Tenor Joseph Calleja is Pollione, Norma’s unfaithful husband, and Carlo Rizzi conducts. Sir David McVicar’s evocative production sets the action deep in a Druid forest where nature and ancient ritual rule. Premiere: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1831. This opera is an extraordinary fusion of sublime melody, vocal challenge, and dramatic power. It examines an ageless and archetypal situation: a powerful woman compromises her ideals for love, only to find herself betrayed by her lover. But equally gripping is her relationship with the younger woman who is the new object of her former lover’s attention and in whom Norma sees both a rival and a second self. The title role demands dramatic vocal power combined with the agility and technique of a coloratura singer. It is a daunting challenge that few can rise to: those who have are part of operatic lore. Norma is perhaps the archetypal bel canto opera, a style of singing that flourished in Italy in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Its principal features are beauty of tone, legato phrasing, and the delivery of florid ornamentation. The score of Norma is characterized by extraordinary melody punctuated by sharp moments of raw drama. The primary functions of the clear orchestral writing are to move the drama along with vigorous rhythm and to inform certain moments with feeling and emotion.
Baltika |
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