Archives
Fall 2014
September 23 | The Ladies Macbeth (Verdi’s and Shostakovich’s)
Verdi wanted a prima donna whose voice would sound “rough, hollow and stifled” (did he mean it?); Shostakovich took an even more bloodthirsty heroine and covertly transformed her into a transcendant victim.
September 30 | Who should sing Carmen?
The role lies within the vocal range of almost any female opera singer, and it has proved irresistible to many; what makes some triumph and others stumble?
October 7 | Brahms, Joachim and the Violin
The Brahms Violin Concerto at the Philharmonic gives an occasion for examining one of the longest and most fruitful partnerships in music’s history.
October 14 | The Death of Klinghoffer and the politics of opera
It is hard to know whether the creators of Klinghoffer anticipated the firestorm that greeted its premiere in 1991, but that controversy has continued to affect perceptions of the work – and to affect the work itself.
October 21 | What is a libretto?
Opera fans today may go through their entire lives without ever reading the texts of their favorite works, but in any broad historical view, the opera libretto is a major form of both drama and poetry, and demands some study on its own.
October 28 | Aida, continued
We have had a class on this perennial before, but barely scratched its surface. This year we will particularly look below that surface – at the amazing new things that were happening underneath and behind Verdi’s melodies.
November 4 | The Art of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
A long-promised session devoted to the baritone who died two years ago at 86, after a lifetime of influence as great as any singer’s in history.
December 2 | Wagner’s Die Meistersinger and Levine’s Wagner
Wagner told his friends he planned to write a short comedy that could easily make the rounds of the small theaters. It turned out to be one of the two or three most difficult works in the repertory – and one of the most beautiful, humane dramas ever produced in any form. It has also been one of James Levine’s greatest triumphs at the MET.
December 9 | The Lady of the Lake – Romanticism comes to Italy
The MET premiere of La donna del lago comes in the New Year, so we close the Fall series with a look at Rossini’s encounter with Walter Scott, and the beginnings of a transformation that brought us “opera as we know it.”
Verdi wanted a prima donna whose voice would sound “rough, hollow and stifled” (did he mean it?); Shostakovich took an even more bloodthirsty heroine and covertly transformed her into a transcendant victim.
September 30 | Who should sing Carmen?
The role lies within the vocal range of almost any female opera singer, and it has proved irresistible to many; what makes some triumph and others stumble?
October 7 | Brahms, Joachim and the Violin
The Brahms Violin Concerto at the Philharmonic gives an occasion for examining one of the longest and most fruitful partnerships in music’s history.
October 14 | The Death of Klinghoffer and the politics of opera
It is hard to know whether the creators of Klinghoffer anticipated the firestorm that greeted its premiere in 1991, but that controversy has continued to affect perceptions of the work – and to affect the work itself.
October 21 | What is a libretto?
Opera fans today may go through their entire lives without ever reading the texts of their favorite works, but in any broad historical view, the opera libretto is a major form of both drama and poetry, and demands some study on its own.
October 28 | Aida, continued
We have had a class on this perennial before, but barely scratched its surface. This year we will particularly look below that surface – at the amazing new things that were happening underneath and behind Verdi’s melodies.
November 4 | The Art of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
A long-promised session devoted to the baritone who died two years ago at 86, after a lifetime of influence as great as any singer’s in history.
December 2 | Wagner’s Die Meistersinger and Levine’s Wagner
Wagner told his friends he planned to write a short comedy that could easily make the rounds of the small theaters. It turned out to be one of the two or three most difficult works in the repertory – and one of the most beautiful, humane dramas ever produced in any form. It has also been one of James Levine’s greatest triumphs at the MET.
December 9 | The Lady of the Lake – Romanticism comes to Italy
The MET premiere of La donna del lago comes in the New Year, so we close the Fall series with a look at Rossini’s encounter with Walter Scott, and the beginnings of a transformation that brought us “opera as we know it.”