WWFM - The Sunday Opera (2025)

01/02/2025

We’re turning to another often-overlooked composer on this week’s Sunday Opera (2/2 3:00 p.m.). It’s Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, and the only verismo opera he wrote in his catalogue of approximately fifteen: “I gioielli della Madonna” (“The Jewels of the Madonna”). It caused quite a stir after it premiered in 1911 (in Berlin as “Der Schmuck der Madonna”) because of its themes implying criticism of the Catholic Church and love between a brother and his adopted sister.

Maliella (Pauline Tinsley) is a willful and wild young girl who often sings and dances wildly, attracting attention to herself. Her “brother,” Gennaro (Andre Turp), is the village smith, and he has fallen in love with Msaliella who was adopted by Genaro’s mother Carmela (Valerie Cockx) because she promised the Madonna that she’d help “an infant girl, born of sin” if the Madonna would cure her sickly son.

Unfortunately, Maliella is being pursued by Rafaele (Peter Glossop), the leader of the local chapter of the Camorra who swears that he would steal the jewels with which the Madonna is bedecked and give them to her. This gives Gennaro the idea to do it first, which he does, and this sets the action of the rest of the opera which ends with both Maliella and Gennaro killing themselves. She drowns herself in the ocean, and he stabs himself with a knife he finds in the Camorra’s stronghold.

Other members of the cast in this recording from 1976 radio performance include Henry Howell, John Winfield, Malcolm King, Stuart Kale, Janet Gail, Ann Pashlez, and Joan Davies. The BBC symphony Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Alberto Erede.

Following the opera, join Michael Kownacky for Wolf-Ferrari’s oratorio “La Vita Nuova, Op. 9.” Based on the work of Dante Alighieri, the oratorio for soprano, baritone, and choruses, looks at courtly love and the attempt by Dante to raise it to an almost idealized sacred level. The soloists are Celina Lindsley and George Fortune and they’re joined by the St. Hedwig’s Children’s Choir and the St. Hedwig’s Berlin Cathedral Choir. Roland Bader conducts.

Rounding out the afternoon will be orchestral selections from Wolf-Ferrari’s opera “Il Campiello” (“The Square”) featuring the prologue, ritornello, and intermezzo.

24/01/2025

We’re showcasing another forgotten composer on this week’s Sunday Opera (1/26 3:00 p.m.) with the first opera in Italian to be performed in Portugal, Francisco Antonio de Almeida’s “La Spinalba, ovvero il Vecchio matto” (“Spinalba, or the Mad Old Man").

Not very much is known about this Almeida. He was born around 1702 and possibly died in the horrific Lisbon earthquake in 1755 when most of his output was thought to be lost. Fortunately, many of his works were saved, and his works were once again performed in the mid 20th century. “Spinalba” was performed in 1965 in Lisbon, and the complete original version on period instruments was released in 2012, and it is to that performance we’ll be listening.

“Spinalba” is a dramatic comedy which features all of the necessaries: cross-dressing, disguises, madness, misplaced affection, and faithlessness that manages to all work itself out in the third act for a happy ending.

Spinalba (Ana Quintans) is in love with Ippolito (Frenando Guimaraes), but Ippolito is far from faithful. He has disappeared and is currently wooing Elisa (Ines Madeira), Spinalba’s cousin. This causes a problem for Leandro (Mario Alves) because he thinks he’s currently Elisa’s lover.

To find out for herself what is happening, Spinalba disguises herself as a young man named Florindo, and she tries to befriend Ippolito. Unfortunately, Elisa decides that he loves Florindo more than either Ippolito or Leandro, and the fun begins.

Sadly, Spinalba’s father, Aresenio (Luis Rodrigues) is so upset by her disappearance, that he temporarily goes mad, but with the help of Spinalba’s stepmother Dianora (Catia Moreso), everything works out.

Adding to the fun are two wonderful changeable servants Vespina and Togno (Joana Seara and Joao Fernandes) who help to add to the merriment.

The cast is joined by Os Musicos do Tejo with Harpsichordist Marta Araujo joining the orchestra and conductor Marcos Magalhaes playing the harpsichord for the recitatives.

In the short time we’ll have together after the opera, we’ll hear the sinfonia from another of Francisco Antonio de Almeida’s works, this one called a “scherzo pastorale” titled “Il Trionfo d’Amore” performed once again by Os Musicos do Tejo with Magalhaes conducting.

17/01/2025

We’re looking to two “contemporary” operas on this week’s Sunday Opera (1/19 3:00 p.m.) beginning with Andre Previn’s “Brief Encounter” in a production from the Houston Grand Opera and Philip Glass’ interesting adaption of Jean Cocteau’s film “Belle et le Bete” having written an opera that synchs perfectly with the film. Of course, we can’t show you the film, but the opera is quite enjoyable on its own.

John Caird wrote the libretto for Previn’s score, basing it on both Noel Coward’s play “Still Life” and Coward’s own adaptation for the 1945 film that starred Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. The opera was commissioned by Houston Grand and premiered in 2009.

Elizabeth Futral plays Laura Jesson, a housewife who unexpectedly meets and falls in love with Doctor Alec Harvey performed by Nathan Gunn, and the story follows their chance and arranged meetings until Harvey realizes that it can’t possibly work for them and moves his family to South Africa. Laura returns to her loving but incompatible husband after almost committing su***de by throwing herself in front of a train. Her husband, Fred played by Kim Josephson, thanks her for returning to him without ever realizing why she was going to leave which only intensifies Laura’s angst.

Other members of the company include Meredith Arwady, Robert Orth, Rebekah Camm, Adam Cioffari, Alicia Gianni, James J. Kee, Jamie Barton, and Faith Sherman. Patrick Summers leads the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra.

Glass wrote the French libretto for the Opera accompaniment to Cocteau’s “La Belle et la Bete” based on Cocteau’s script for the 1946 film. Once again, the work parallels the film perfectly, and even though it’s brilliant to watch, the opera stands on its own merits and is an interesting addition to Glass’ catalogue since the need to synchronize it with the film challenged him to write in a different style than we usually expect.

The cast for this recording features Janice Felty as Belle, Gregory Purnhagen as La Bete and Avenant, John Kuether as Belle’s father, Ana Maria Martinez and Hallie Neill as Belle’s sisters Felicie and Adelaide, and Zheng Zhou as the wicked Ludovic. Michael Riesman conducts The Philip Glass Ensemble.

We’ll close our time together with Andre Previn at the piano accompanying Benjamin Luxon and Robert Tear in a piece by Jacques Offenbach entitled The Gendarmes Duet fr. “Genevieve de Brabant” which will certainly sound familiar but in a totally different context!

11/01/2025

When it comes to operas by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, works like “Eugene Onegin,” “The Queen of Spades,” and even “Mazeppa” may come to mind first. However, on this week’s opera (1/12 3:00 p.m.), we’ll be hearing an 1887 tragedy entitled “The Enchantress” where the heroine is one of those poor people who’s just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and because of the misplaced ire of another woman, is one of several people who dies.

Nastasya (Rimma Glushkova) is an inn keeper who is much loved and desired by many, especially by Prince Nikita (Oleg Klyonov), much to the consternation of the princess, his wife (Lyudmila Simonova) and his son Yuri (Lev Kuznetsov). Yuri originally seeks Natasaya out to avenge his seething mother who believes that Nastasya is to blame for her husband’s philandering. However, when Yuri sees Nastasya, he immediately falls in love with her (as she has done with him at the beginning of the opera).

Adding to the conflict is an old deacon named Mamyrov (Yevgeniy Vladimirov) who is now Nastasya’s sworn enemy because she rejected his advances. Mamyrov tries to wreak his revenge on Nastasya through the more-than-willing Princess with disastrous results resulting in the deaths of Nastasya, Yuri, and the Prince.

They are joined by The Great Academic Choir and Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Television with Gennedy Provatorov conducting.

If you’re like us and enjoy the music of Tchaikovsky, stay tuned after the opera for three more of his works: the Serenade for String in C major, the Sleeping Beauty Waltz, and his charming Mazurka id D major.

We hope you’ll join us for an afternoon of wonderful music with which you might not be that familiar.

03/01/2025

We’re turning to music of Giovanni Simone Mayr on this week’s Sunday Opera (1/5 3:00 p.m.) with a live performance of his 1801 work “Ginevra di Scozia.” The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on a story by Antonio Salvi that was used nearly 20 times in other classical works by composers such as Handel.

“Ginevra di Scozia" is a tale of love, betrayal, and redemption, and it explores themes of jealousy, deception, and the triumph of good over evil.

The Scottish princess Ginevra (Elizabeth Vidal) and the Italian knight Ariodante (Daniela Barcellona) are deeply in love, but their relationship is threatened by Polinesso (Antonino Siragusa), the Duke of Albany. Polinesso, consumed by jealousy, devises a cruel plan to ruin Ginevra's reputation and separate her from Ariodante. He manipulates Dalinda (Giuseppina Piunti), one of Ginevra's ladies-in-waiting who is in love with Polinesso, into pretending to be Ginevra and meeting him on the balcony.

Ariodante, misled by the deception, believes Ginevra is unfaithful and attempts su***de, but is rescued by a hermit (Damiano Locatelli).

Ginevra is accused of adultery and is sentenced to be burned at the stake unless a champion will defend her honor. Ariodante, driven by love and justice, resolves to save Ginevra and expose Polinesso's treachery disguised as a black knight.

Polinesso is bettered by Ariodante and, overwhelmed with guilt, confesses his evil deeds and reveals the truth.

Ginevra is exonerated, Ariodante reveals himself, and receives Ginevra’s hand in marriage as a reward for his bravery and loyalty.

The cast also includes Luca Grassi as Ginevra’s father the King of Scotland, Marco Lazzara as Lucanio, Ariodante’s brother who is in love with Dalinda, and Aldo Orsolini as Aroidante’s squire Vafrino. They’re joined by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi Trieste, conducted by Tiziano Severini.

We’ll complete our time together with a dramatic cantata by Mayr entitled “L’Armonia” (“Harmony”) featuring Talia Or, Altin Piriu, and Kiolay Korchev with the Simon Mayr Choir and the Ingolstadt Georgian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Frank Hauk. Our final work with be the overture from Mayr’s opera “La Lodoiska” featuring the Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by George Petrou.

27/12/2024

It was a wonderful surprise when I once again got emails requesting what has become a New Year’s tradition on the Sunday Opera. I’m rather pleased to once again offer a European tradition on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/29 3:00 p.m.) as we prepare you for your New Year’s celebrations with Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus.”

In brief, the plot centers on the actress Rosalinde (Hilde Gueden) and her husband Eisenstein (Waldemar Kmentt) who are in Vienna to celebrate the New Year. At the suggestion of their friend Dr. Falke (Walter Berry), they are staying at the Imperial Hotel. Unbeknownst to them, Falke has hired the hotel concierge as part of his revenge plot on Eisenstein, two years in the making. Most of the fun takes place at the New Year’s Eve ball thrown by Prince Orlofsky (Regina Resnik) and includes a disguised Rosalinde flirting with her philandering husband, and a pocket watch that is an important plot device.

This delightfully comic battle-of-the-sexes features some stellar singing and a cast that includes Giuseppe Zampieri, Eberhard Wachter, Peter Kelin, Erich Kunz, and Hedwig Schubert.

In addition to these, the gala concert at Count Orlafsky’s ball includes stellar turns from Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson, Mario del Monaco, Teresa Berganza, Joan Sutherland, Jussi Bjorling, Leontyne Price, and a particularly charming duet by Giulietta Simionato and Ettore Bastianni among others. Herbert Von Karajan conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Chorus.

Of course, we’ll also be continuing with the tradition of a series of waltzes for the New Year. This time, we have a medley featuring works by Lanner, Ivonici, Kreisler, Josef Strauss, Oscar Straus, Stolz, Lehar, and Sieczynski. We’ll also sample works by Richard Strauss in an arrangement by Rudolf Kempe, as well as other works by Josef Lanner, Franz Lehar, and Josef Strauss.

Tune in and join the tradition for a charming afternoon of great singing, fun, and some fabulous waltzes.

19/12/2024

We’ve got two contemporary operas for Christmas on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/22 3:00 p.m.) as we begin with Jake Heggie’s 2016 version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and continue with Ricky Ian Gordon’s setting of Gail Rock’s beloved novel, “The House Without a Christmas Tree.”

Both of these works were presented by the Houston Grand Opera and feature stellar casts. The first is based partly on the film as well as on the story by Philip Van Doren Smith entitled “The Greatest Gift” with a libretto by Gene Scheer.

There are only a few minor changes to the story many people make a part of their holiday viewing about George Bailey’s regaining his sense of self-worth with the help of an angel (Clara here) as he is brought to realize all of the good he has done.

William Burden heads the cast as George, Talise Trevigne is Clara, and Andrea Carroll is Mary. The supporting cast includes Stephen Thomas, Levi Smith, C.J. Friend, Jack Townsend, Rod Gilfrey, Joshua Hopkins, Anthony Dean Griffey, Frankie Hickman, Heath Martin, and Elle Grace Grasper. The Houston Grand Opera Chorus and Orchestra are conducted by Patrick Summers.

Ricky Ian Gordon’s “The House Without a Christmas Tree” features Royce Vavrek’s libretto which closely follows Gail Rock’s story of a young girl named Addie (Lauren Stouffer} who lives with her father (Daniel Belcher) and Grandmother (Patricia Schuman).

Addie asks each year for a Christmas tree, but her father, who is still in deep mourning for Addie’s mother who died at Christmas time when she was very young, forbids it. When Addie wins the school Christmas tree and brings it home, she sets in motion a sequence of events that ends with her father responding to Addie’s unselfish generosity, and Christmas coming back into their home once again.

The cast includes Heidi Stober as the adult Addie, Megan Milkailovna Samarin is Carla Mae, Elisabeth Leone is Glori Cott, and Maximillian Macias is Billy Wild. They’re joined once again by the Houston Grand Opera, but this time, the conductor is Bradley Moore.

Stay tuned after the opera for some music for Christmas including a performance of the Carol of the Bells performed on tubas!

12/12/2024

We’re featuring the music of Richard Strauss on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/15 3:00 p.m.) beginning with his final opera, “Capriccio,” completed when he was 77-years-old in 1941 and a production from the Saltzburg Festival.

This highly conversational work looks at the merits of music compared to poetry through the dilemma faced by a widowed countess (Elsa Dreisig) who is in love with both a composer/musician named Flamand (Sebastian Kohlhepp Flamand) and a poet named Olivier (Konstantin Krimmel) but can’t choose between them. The countess cannot choose between them, and the opera ends with her alone in the realization that the music and lyrics are inseparable, and if she chooses one, she will lose the other.

Other members of the cast include Bo Skovhus as the countess’ brother, Mika Kares as the director of a theatre named La Roche, Eve-Maud Hubeaux as Clairon, and Jorg Schneider as Monsieur Taupe. Christian Thielemann leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Our afternoon of Strauss will continue with a performance of his ballet “Josephs Legende” in a recording featurijg the Staatskapelle Weimar lead by Stefan Solyom and his wonderfully eccentric Festliche Praludium featuring the Estonian National Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Naeme Jarvi.

05/12/2024

We’re returning to Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts one more time for this week’s Sunday Opera (12/8 3:00 p.m.) and their production of “Un ballo in Maschera” (“A Masked Ball”) by Giuseppe Verdi. The 1859 opera in three acts with a libretto by Antonio Somma, was based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's 1833 five act opera, “Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué.”

The opera ran afoul of the censors because it showed the assassination of an actual head of state, so the libretto was changed so that it took place in Boston with the assassination of the governor about 100 years later.

The plot concerns the assassination in 1792 of King Gustav III of Sweden who was shot, as the result of a political conspiracy while attending a masked ball, dying of his wounds thirteen days later. The synopsis may seem a bit strange because the NCPA production used names from both the original Swedish setting and the subsequent Boston setting.

It’s based on the assassination of King Gustav III (Marius Manea) of Sweden in 1792. Gustav is a ruler plagued by his conscience and dedicated to his job but has a guilty secret: he is in love with his closest friend Renato’s (Lado Ataneli) wife, Amelia (Karine Babajanyan). What’s more, he has enemies, and there is a murderous conspiracy brewing.

Through visiting the fortune-teller Ulrica (Bernadett Wiedemann) in disguise, Gustav learns that Amelia loves him too, but also that the man who next shakes his hand (who turns out to be Renato) will be his killer. He follows Amelia later that night, and both confess their love, but Renato arrives and jumps to the conclusion that his best friend and his wife have been having an affair. He vows revenge and joins the plot to assassinate the king.

The cast also includes Gladys Rossi as the page Oscar, LIU Songhu as Cristiano, MEI Jie as Ribbing, CHEN Peixin as Horn, MAO Weizhao as the judge, and CAO Ruidong as Amelia’s Servant.

LU Jia conducts the NCPA Orchestra and Chorus.

After the opera, we’ll be turning to a listener’s request. It’s Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 3 in D minor to see you through your afternoon. The recording to which we’ll be listening features alto Nathalie Stutzmann who will be joined by the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons.

28/11/2024

Our penultimate opera from Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts for this season on the Sunday Opera (12/01 3:00 p.m.) is their new production of a very popular visiting presentation of Richard Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman" from last year.

Their production is a long one-act (well over two hours) that tells the story of Senta (Diana Lamar) the daughter of a Norwegian sailor named Daland (Dimitry Ulyanov). Daland wants Senta to marry, and the hunter Erik (Tuomas Katajala) is happy to oblige, but Senta is in love with the fabled stories of ‘The Dutchman” (Olafur Sigurdarson) who has been cursed to sail the seas of the world until he finds a faithful wife.

Senta decides that she will save The Dutchman, but he doesn’t believe her after overhearing a conversation between Senta and Erik. The Dutchman sullenly departs, not believing Senta, and to prove her faithfulness, she throws herself into the sea and to her death.

The cast is joined by NIU Shasha as Mary and WANG Chong as Daland’s steersman. Marcus Bosch leads the National Center for the Performing Arts Chorus and Orchestra.

Last year, we included music about the “sea” to complete our afternoon together, this time, through a serendipitous find, we’re including two pieces which, on the surface, don’t seem to correspond to the opera at all.

However, while looking for classical musica about “flying,” we found a playlist of “Music to listen to while on a flight,” and, although we’re still not sure why these are good choices, we decided to turn to two that fill our time.

We’ll begin with a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major featuring pianist Hacchen Zhang with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Nathalie Stutzman.

Our final piece is much larger and grander and includes the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland conducted by Alexander Anissimov conducting Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor.

Are they in some way about flying? Does one feel like he or she is flying while listening to these two pieces or any of the others in their list that includes works by Borodin, Bach, Stravinsky, and more? You’ll just have to tune in after the opera to find out.

21/11/2024

We’re staying in Beijing for another production from the National Center for the Performing Arts on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/24 3:00 p.m.). This week, it’s an original commission combining Chinese and Western musical idioms in a story based on a popular folksong from the early 20th Century by composer Zhang Quianyi entitled “Lan Huahua” which follows the unfortunate story of a resilient young woman in feudal China from a bizarrely arranged marriage through to her tragic end.

Lan is a headstrong young woman who defies the cultural norms. She is in love, but since they’re both from poor families, they cannot marry. Unfortunately, she comes to the attention of the lord of the area who decides that he wants her to marry his son who is actually underage. Through a series of terrible events, the lord’s son is killed by him, and in his madness, he tries to make Lan marry him anyway. Eventually, Lan runs away and throws herself in the Yellow River rather that conform to what her society of the time expects from her.

The cast includes ZHAO Lili in the title role and GUAN Zhijing as the lord. Other roles are played by XUE Haoyin, ZHANG Yingxi, LIU Songhu, and HAO Miao. They’re joined by the NCPA Chorus and Quingdao Symphony Orchestra conducted by ZHANG Guoyong.

For absolutely no reason other than the chance to give you a few hours of orchestral musick, we’ll be changing things up after the opera with Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet “Cinderella” in a performance by the WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln conducted by Michaeil Jurowski.

Once again, we’re offering you a new and interesting opera that you will probably not have the opportunity to see anywhere in the United States, and we hope you’ll join us.

14/11/2024

This week’s Sunday Opera (11/17 3:00 p.m.) is the beginning of another series from Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts that features Vincenzo Bellini’s “La Sonnambula.”

Amina (Dilbèr Yunus) has a problem. She lives in a small Swiss village where they’re celebrating the forthcoming marriage of Amina and the wealthy farmer Elvino (Antonino Siragusa). It all seems iperfect except that Amina sleepwalks, and that’s going to cause some issues for the rest of the evening.

The action is set into motion when the feudal lord Rodolfo (ZHANG Wenwei) returns home after the death of his father and arrives to stay at the inn, where he flirts with the hostess Lisa (LI Xintong) who is jealous of Amina’s engagement to Elvino.

When the window to Rodolfo’s room opens and Amina enters, Lisa hurries off to tell Elvino that his fiancé appears to be having an assignation with Rodolfo. Rodolfo, however, realizes that Amina is sleepwalking, and he leaves her on his couch. Lisa and Elvino arrive to denounce Amina as an adulteress, and Elvino calls off the wedding.

At least, that’s what happens in the first act.

Amina does some more sleepwalking in the second act, but everything works out, and we do have a happy ending.

Other members of the cast include YANG Yanting as Teresa, WANG Meng as Alessio, and KOU Jing as The Notary. Daniel Oren conducts the NCPA Orchestra and Chorus.

After the opera, we’ll be celebrating a few birthdays taking place on the 17th with works by Carl Maria von Weber, Gaetano Donizetti, Alexander Borodin, and Aaron Copland including a symphony or two, dances, a concerto, and some music for the theatre.

08/11/2024

We’ve got an American opera based on an American original on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/10 3:00 p.m.) with “The Shining,” based on the novel by Stephen King with music and libretto by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell.

The libretto for the opera is based on King’s novel, and it differs slightly from the Kubrick film, but the basic plot is the same.

Jack Torrance (Edward Parks) is a writer who is a recovering alcoholic with anger management issues. He and his wife, Wendy (Kelly Kaduce), jump at the chance to come to the Overlook Hotel in Colorado to try to mend their relationship, away from outside distractions in the closed-for-the-season resort. With them is their son Danny (Tristan Hallett) who has a special gift which is recognized by the hotel’s cook, Dick Hallorann (Aubrey Allicock), who also has the psychic gift to see things around him that others can’t.

Jack may also have the shining because the hotel almost immediately begins to affect him, and he is menaced by some of it’s long-gone inhabitants like Delbert Grady (Wayde Odle) who killed his wife and two daughters there, and Lloyd the bartender (Roger Honeywell) who exposes Jack to drink once more leading to the terrifying ending.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City is joined by the Kansas City Symphony, and the production is conducted by Gerard Schwarz.

We’ll continue with more of Moravec’s work after the opera including his Montserrat: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Circular Dreams, and his Violin Concerto before we change things up in an “autumn” frame of mind with Joachim Raff’s Symphony No. 10 in F minor titled “Zur Herbstzeit” (“In Autum Time”). We’ll close our time together with one more Moravec piece, his duet for flute and piano titled Autumn Song.

01/11/2024

We’re back at Aix-en-Provence for this week’s Sunday Opera (11/3 3:00 p.m.) and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Samson” featuring Jarrett Ott in the title role.

The libretto by Voltaire ran afoul with the censors when it was created in the mid-18th century, and Rameau finally gave up on the project, reusing the music in several other works. The production you’ll hear today is the “reconstruction” of the work especially done for the Festival by director Claus Guth and conductor Raphaël Pichon. The original libretto by Voltaire included many innovations for the time including getting rid of the prologue, fewer recitatives, and a dramatic ending instead of the usual divertissement. Another unusual aspect of the opera is that there are no female voices until the third act when Dalila enters the story. This was done supposedly to show the warring side of Samson.

Joining Jarrett Ott in this production are Jacquelyn Stucker as Dalila, Lea Desandre at Timma, Nahuel Di Pierro as Achisch, Laurence Kilsby as Elon, and Julie Roset as The Angel. Raphael Pichon conducts.

Stay tuned after the opera for a little more music of Rameau, two short orchestral pieces from “Les Indes Galantes,” and then we’ll close the afternoon with a wonderfully atmospheric performance of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in C minor featuring the Hamburg Philharmonic conducted by Simone Young in the original 1878 version deemed “unplayable” by several conductors of the day.

23/10/2024

The Aix-en-Provence Festival is the source for our next Sunday Opera (10/27 3:00 p.m.) with their production of Mozart’s “La clemenza di Tito.”

Emperor Titus (Pene Pati) is well loved for his kindness by everyone except for Vitellia (Karine Deshayes), the daughter of the king deposed by Titus’ father. Vitellia has sworn revenge, especially since Tito has turned his attentions to a foreign princess to be the empress.

She enlists the aid of Tito’s friend Sesto (Marianne Crebassa) to plan Tito’s assassination, but when Tito decides that he wants to marry Sesto’s sister, Servilia (Emily Pogorele), since he is required to marry a Roman woman, Sesto is torn. The first act ends with the attack on Tito and the burning of the palace and the fear that Tito is dead.

Even though this is an “opera seria” there is a happy ending of sorts because of the goodwill and “clemency of Titus” who pardons everyone who acted against him and declares that he hopes that the gods will shorten his days if he ever stops caring about the good of Rome as he is a leader who cares about his people.

The cast also includes Lea Desandre as Annio and Nahuel di Pierro as Publio, and they are joined by the Pygmalion Chorus and Orchestra under the baton of Raphael Pichon.

With everything being so crazy right now and emotions running amok, host Michael Kownacky wanted to bring you some music to give you an hour or so of peace and relaxation.

We’ll begin with a ballet by Leo Delibes, his mythological “mashup,” “Sylvia,” which features some of Delibes’ loveliest work in a recording by the Razumovsky Sinfonia conducted by Andrew Mogrelia. After that, we’ll lighten the mood further with three dances, set number IV, from the complete orchestral dances of an often-overlooked composer, Imre (Emmerich) Szechenyi. These two polkas and a polka/mazurka performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV conducted by Laveria Csanyi, are truly a delightful way to end our time together.

17/10/2024

It’s off to the Aix-en-Provence Festival for this week’s Sunday Opera (10/20 3:00 p.m.) and their production of “Madama Butterfly.”

Puccini’s tragedy is possibly one of the best-known works as it’s been consistently performed around the world since its premier and has even been seen well over 900 times at the Met.

American Naval officer B.F. Pinkerton (Adam Smith) is stationed in Japan, and there, he takes a Japanese wife, Cio-Cio-san (Butterfly) (Ermonela Jaho) as is the custom. He doesn’t take the marriage seriously, but Butterfly does. He leaves Japan, no knowing that Butterfly is pregnant with his son. Butterfly waits nearly three years for his return with her faithful servant, Suzuki (Mihoko Fujimura), but when Pinkerton returns, he does so with his American wife, Kate (Albane Carrere). Butterfly realizes that she has truly been abandoned by Pinkerton and is shunned by the Japanese people, so she kills herself so that her son can go with Pinkerton to a hopefully better life.

The cast also includes Lionel Lhote as Sharpless, Carlo Bosi as Goro, Inho Jeong as The B***e, and Kristofer Lundin and Prince Yamadori. They’re joined by the Lyon Opera Orchestra and Chorus, and our conductor is Daniele Rustioni.

To try to lighten the afternoon, we’ve decided to close our time with you with a stellar cast presenting the music from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.” This excellent 1950 recording features some D’Oyly Carte Opera Company veterans like Martyn Smith as Ko-Ko, Richard Watson as Pooh-Bahi, Leonard Osborn as Nanki-Poo, Joan Gillingham as Yum-Yum, and Ella Hallman as Katisha along with several others.

They are joined by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company with the New Promenade Orchestra conducted by the legendary Isodore Godfrey.

Join us for a bit of fun for your afternoon’s listening this Sunday.

WWFM - The Sunday Opera