Heut oder Morgen (or in a week or so) – Der Glyndenkavalier

We can still see the Glyndebourne Rosenkavalier for a few more weeks at concert.arte.tv. It will be gone soon. Not today or tomorrow, but well...March 2. So if you haven't seen it, do make time to do so—today, or tomorrow, or soon. Or, if you've already seen it, watch it again—with French or German subtitles. 

Three Rs: Rosenkavalier, Röschmann, and aRiodante (not together)

Der infamous Rosenkavalier from Glyndebourne (Video available for about 6 days.)

Dorothea Röschmann singing Faure, Liszt (somewhat surprisingly), Strauss, and Wolf (less surprising) in recital from Wigmore on Radio BBC 3 (For about 7 more days.)

Handel’s Ariodante in a 1997 performance from the Concertgebouw on Radio 4 Concerthuis (for about 16 more days) with Anne Sofie von Otter, Richard Croft, Marc Minkowski, and others.

Die Zauberflöte aus Baden Baden 2013 – Review Part 2: It Takes a Village

Blindfolds. I'm tired of 'em.
Someone else can explain 'em this time.

The only characters who remain distinguishable from the crowd throughout this Zauberflöte are Pamina, Tamino, and Papageno, who wanders in from the lobby, as if from another show. Like Tamino, Pamina is literally thrown into the action. Several choristers grab her and plop her on the ground for her first scene with Monostatos.

Everyone else steps in from the chorus to be or do whatever is needed to move the story along and get the two couples united in the end; then they meld back into the ensemble. 

Die Zauberflöte in Baden-Baden – Preview

The Berliner Philharmoniker established 
a new Festival at Baden-Baden. The main focus of the Easter Festival 2013 is four performances of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute” conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, in a production by a director well-known to readers of this blog. 

The Berliner Philharmonker Digital Concert Hall site says:

The Canadian Robert Carsen has directed productions for almost every major opera house. He is fascinated by the complexities in the Magic Flute: "It is completely designed around opposites. Day and night, love and hate, man and woman, the hero Tamino and the simple Papageno." Musically, too, the Magic Flute has an infinite variety - and given the immense popularity of the opera, this wealth is often overlooked.

Sunday Extra – Luca Pisaroni (or: Pretty Little Picture)

Gratuitous Friday Sunday

I posted this clip on YouTube a few days ago to use in an upcoming Gratuitous Friday post; it has already been viewed 37 times. That doesn't count as viral but I was a bit surprised how many people found it already.

This Don Giovanni clip is from Jonathan's Kent's Glyndebourne 2010 production. It also stars Gerald Finley as DG and Kate Royal as DE, among others. It is set in the 1950's, and as you see in this clip, Leporello's "catalog" is a stack of photo albums. (I guess Giovanni gave him a Polaroid camera for Christmas.)

Luca Pisaroni as that lovable scamp Leporello.