By Francisco Salazar
The Canadian Opera Company’s Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is set to return for the first time in three seasons on Sept. 20, 2022.
The company’s 15th season as Toronto’s go-to venue for diverse cultural programming will feature 70 concerts, from September to June, that showcase global and local artists across a variety of genres and disciplines.
In a statement, Meaghan Froh Metcalf, in her first season as Free Concert Series Manager said, “The Free Concert Series has become a destination for people to come together, enjoy and reflect on human experiences shared through music and dance. Following more than two years of lockdowns and social distancing, we believe that audience members will be eager to engage with stories that reflect the various communities that comprise this great city.”
Among the highlights of this year’s concert series is Luca Pisaroni, who will deliver an afternoon of works by Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Gounod, and Saint-Saëns, and British baritone Roland Wood, who will demonstrate to audiences the professional life-cycle of a baritone.
The series will also include concerts with mezzo-soprano Carolyn Sproule, bass and frequent COC artist Önay Köse, the LARK Ensemble–compromised of members of the COC Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, pianist Ishay Shaer, Duo Concertante, cellist Anita Graef, and Indigenous Enterprise.
Some returning artists include tenor Miles Mykkanen, harpsichordist Christopher Bagan, Canada’s Ballet Jӧrgen, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, artists of the COC Orchestra, the Mike Downes Trio, Padideh Ahrarnejad (tar) and Ali Massoudi (tombak), accompanied by the beautiful voice of Mahnaz Raad, Ballet Creole, and Toronto-based, mixed East/West PhoeNX Ensemble and celebrated tenor Lawrence Wiliford.
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera)
Works & Process has announced its fall 2022 season presenting a series of programs at the Guggenheim Museum and expanding offerings to Gibney Center, Lincoln Center, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the Jerome Robbins Dance Division.
For this article, we will focus on the operatic selections for the season.
The Metropolitan Opera presents Cherubini’s “Medea” by Luigi Cherubini with cast members who will perform highlights from the opera about a formidable sorceress who stops at nothing in her quest for vengeance. Met General Manager Peter Gelb moderates a discussion with the production’s creative team, who are bringing this stirring mythic drama to the Met stage for the first time in the company’s history.
Works and Process Date: Sept. 19, 2022
The Metropolitan Opera will present “The Hours” by Kevin Puts and Greg Pierce featuring sopranos Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct the world-premiere production by Phelim McDermott. Met General Manager Peter Gelb moderates a discussion with members of the creative team, and cast members perform highlights from the score.
Works and Process Date: Oct. 31, 2022
By Francisco Salazar
The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth is set to premiere “The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist.”
The chamber opera is a response to the murder of Eric Garner and the ongoing loss of Black life at the hands of police. Commissioned and produced by the Hop, and co-commissioned by Stanford Live, the theatrical event leverages the power of music, song, dance, visual art, and text projection to create a meditative experience that encourages synchronized communal breathing.
The work will be presented at the Hop on Sept. 16 and 17, and then at Stanford Live on Oct. 14 and 15.
The work follows Erica who has lost her father to police violence. An artist and activist, Erica calls on her community to create and participate in a ritual of healing. The work is by Enrico Riley and Jonathan Berger, who joined forces in 2016 to collaborate on a project that would serve to help process the ongoing violence faced by marginalized communities.
Niegel Smith will direct the work with Kamna Gupta conducting and Neema Bickersteth performing the lead soprano role. Trebian Pollard and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar choreographed the production.
By David Salazar
The classic horror film “Frankenstein” will be screened for two days at The Theater at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on October 28 and 29, 2022.
But this is not any old screening of the classic work. While the original version did no have a soundtrack, this performance will feature the premiere of a score by composer Michael Shapiro, which will be performed by the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. What’s more, this is the latest of Shapiro’s scores for the film and it will include a libretto (which uses the Latin Requiem Mass) as performed by artists from the Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
This performance represents the LA premiere of the score.
Shapiro, who will conduct the performances, first wrote a score for the film in 2022. That version premiered at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Jacob Burns Film Center. The score(s) have gone on to receive over 50 performances world wide with such organizations as the International Festival of Bergen, Norway, the Milan Symphony Orchestra, Trier Opera, the Mariinsky Lendok Fil Annex in Saint Petersburg, the Virginia Symphony, the Royal Canadian Air Force Band in Winnipeg, and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Shapiro has composed over 100 works and his music is regularly broadcast around the world, including SiriusXM, National Public Radio, BBC, CBC, ABC-Australia Polskie Radio, and many more radio stations in North America. He conducts regularly and is a Laureate Conductor for The Chappaqua Orchestra.
By Afton Wooten
Toledo Opera along with the African American Police League, Toledo Police Museum, WGTE Public Media, and the Lucas County Public Library join forces to promote the upcoming run of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s new opera, “Blue.”
“Blue” follows the realities of a Black family in Harlem who navigate the father being a police officer as their son grows up in modern-day America.
To solidify the impact of this piece a series of community events will take place on August 18. Beginning at 9 a.m. at the Mott Branch Library, WGTE will broadcast live interviews. Following the interviews will be a poetry presentation of “Tainted Badge” by Jhané Perdue accompanied by Kevin Bylsma, performances by the cast of “Blue,” and a screening of the documentary film “Blue: Stories from Toledo.”
Later in the day, at 7 p.m., a reception will be held at the Toledo Police Museum. This program includes a history of the African American Police League (AAPL) as well as presentations, clips from the “Blue” documentary, and a performance of “Tainted Blue” from the opera.
APPL President and Retired Toledo Police Sergeant, Anita Madison says in a press release, “the African American Police League is so excited about the impact our projects and this partnership will have on our community. Our goal is to bring awareness to our organization and our efforts to recruit more black officers in our community.”
Sponsors for this event include the MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge Grant, AAPL, and the Oral History Project Recruitment and Mentoring Programs.
By David Salazar
Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” is headed to Bogotá’s Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo for this performances on August 31, September 2 and 4, 2022.
This is the first time in 10 years that the iconic work will be presented in Colombia. On this occasion, audiences will see a a co-production between the Teatro Mayor and La Compañía Estable with musical direction by Austrian Martin Haselböck and stage direction by Pedro Salazar.
The opera will feature the Orquesta Filarmónica Juvenil and the Coro Filarmónico Juvenil of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá with such soloists as Spanish baritone José Antonio López, Colombian soprano Juieth Lozano, Austrian baritone Günther Haumer, British soprano Kate Royal, bass-baritone Valeriano Lanchas, and mezzo-soprano Laura Mosquera. Other soloists include Hans Ever Mogollón, Julia Usamá, Saya Isabel Hincapié and Luis Carlos Hernández, plus the Venezuelan Ana Mora.
La Compañía Estable, founded by Salazar in 2008, has presented over 20 productions and collaborated with such institutions as the Teatro Nacional, Teatro Libre, Teatro Colón, and the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo.
By Francisco Salazar
(Photo Courtesy of Metropolitan Opera)
The Edinburgh International Festival has announced a program change.
The company said, “Unfortunately, as The Philadelphia Orchestra’s COVID-19 protocols differ from current UK guidance, it has become necessary to change the program for the Thursday 25 August concert to accommodate the orchestra’s preferences.”
As a result, the program will now feature Beethoven Symphony No 5 and Rachmaninov’s “Isle of the Dead.”
The company added, “This is in replacement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The concert has been renamed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on our website to reflect this change. Regrettably, this means that the Edinburgh Festival Chorus will not take part in this concert. However, they will still perform as planned in the Closing Concert, alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the National Youth Choir of Scotland, on Sunday 28 August. We are confident that we have sufficient measures in place to ensure the safety of the chorus and orchestra to perform on stage together, following standard practice in UK concert performances.”
Ticketholders will have the option to get a refund if they no longer want to attend.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is set to conduct the concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
By Francisco Salazar
The Mahler Jugendorchester has announced a conductor change for the 2022 summer tour.
The orchestra said, “to his profound regret, Herbert Blomstedt has to withdraw at short notice from conducting the 2022 Summer Tour of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester due to his continued recovery from a fall in June. A close associate of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester for many years, Herbert Blomstedt had hoped until very recently to be able to realize this major tour. On the firm recommendation of his physicians and therapists, however, he will not be able to resume his conducting activities before mid-September 2022 at the earliest.”
As a result, the orchestra announced that Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Principal Conductor Designate of the Helsinki Philharmonic and former Principal Conductor of the WDR-Sinfonieorchesters and the Oslo Philharmonic, will take over the entire 2022 Summer Tour.
The tour will feature concerts at such venues as the Salzburg Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Verdi Trieste, and Teatro Comunale Verdi, among others.
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Ennevi Foto)
ZDF is set to broadcast Bizet’s “Carmen” from the Arena di Verona on August 19, 2022.
The production by Franco Zeffirelli will star Elīna Garanča in the title role and Brian Jagde as Don Josè. They are joined by Claudio Sgura as Escamillo and Maria Teresa Leva as Michaela. Marco Armiliato conducts.
The recording is the latest from the Arena di Verona’s 99th season, which has already seen Rai broadcast “Carmen” with Clémentine Margaine and Brian Jadge as Don Josè; “La Traviata” with Nina Minasyan, Vittorio Grigolo, and Vladimir Stoyanov; and “Nabucco” with Sebastian Catana and Ewa Płonka. Medici is also set to stream a performance of “Turandot” with Anna Netrebko in the title role and Yusif Eyvazov as Calaf.
The upcoming broadcast marks Garanča’s debut at the Arena di Verona. The mezzo has performed the title role of Carmen around the world at the Metropolitan Opera, Latvian National Opera, Paris Opera, and Royal Opera House, among others.
By David Salazar
Conductor Larry Rachleff passed away on August 8, 2022 at the age of 67 after a long battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Born on Feb. 25, 1944 in New London Connecticut, he would study at the University of Connecticut and get his Master’s Degree at the University of Michigan. Honorary Doctorates would follow at the Roger Williams University and Providence College, Rhode Island.
He was a major figure at the Rice Shepherd School where he was a conductor of the symphony and chamber orchestras for more than three decades. He was also involved with a number of music festivals such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Interlochen, Chautauqua, Grand Teton, Brevard, Music Academy of the West, and the Opera Theatre of Lucca, Italy. He also gave masterclasses at such institutions as Chopin Academy, the Hochschule in Zürich as well as conservatories in Sydney and Queensland, Australia, among many others.
“Those of us lucky enough to have followed his baton from the stage will remember Larry as a once-in-a-generation musician and educator of the highest caliber,” said Matthew Loden, the Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music at the Shepherd School, in an official statement issued by the institution. “On the podium, he was a clear and inspired conductor who routinely expected his ensembles to collectively outperform individual talent and ability. Teamwork, disciplined listening and joint responsibility for bringing the best possible music to an audience are just a few of the legacies of excellence that Larry leaves behind.”
Prior to his work with Rice Shepherd School, Rachleff worked at the Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Southern California, San Antonio Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra League, the Conductor’s Guild, the International Workshop for Conductors, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra.
He was also a major advocate for contemporary music and work with such composers as Crumb, Berio, Adler, Daughterty, and Harbison.
