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Opera Newsletter
Summer 2006
Welcome to A Passion for Opera's Newsletter. I hope you enjoy the Newsletter and the Web site. I plan to make this an interactive experience for all Opera Lovers and the Opera Curious. I welcome your comments, reviews of CDs , DVDs and performances as well as information on relevant articles and books you read. I'll include many of them in future editions.
I plan to publish the Newsletter several times a year
and will send you an email notification for each new edition.
So keep me posted on your current email address. Oh, and by
the way, please forward this website to your many friends
who might be interested in Opera!! -- Will Kent
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Announcing the Fall, 2006 Course at SRJC
A Passion for Opera
Gioachino Rossini
& the Magic of Bel Canto
Will Kent, Instructor
6 Thursdays, October 12- November 16
7-9 p.m. Emeritus Hall
Curious about Opera? Looking for more Passion in your life? There's never been a better time to join hundreds of newcomers and seasoned opera lovers as we explore the fascinating life of Gioachino Rossini. Rossini wrote 40 operas, both tragic and comic, and we'll explore many of them, including: The Barber of Seville, Semiramide, La donna del lago, Otello, Tancredi, L'Italiana in Algeri, and Il viaggio a Reims.
We'll experience what continues to make Rossini's music
so joyous and his operas among the most popular today. We'll
revel in multi media presentations of glorious bel canto
(beautiful singing) and discover the "Rossini tenor".
You'll hear incredible performances by some of the world's
greatest singers, both past and present. And before the
curtain falls on 6 weeks of glorious bel canto, we'll
attend one of the most exciting and innovative productions
of Barber of Seville ever at glamorous San Francisco
Opera on Friday, November 17. Nathan Gunn, one of the great
baritones of our time, stars as Figaro with a stunning supporting
cast. Bravo!!
Attendance at Barber of Seville is optional.
Tickets are $40, limited and are not included in the $90
tuition fee. Register early to insure a seat.
To Register Early before the SRJC Course Bulletin is mailed to the General Public:
1. Many of you who have taken A Passion for Opera
before will automatically receive pre-registration forms
from the college during the last 2 weeks of June. Fill out
the forms and return them as directed. A ticket request
form will be included. Make sure you send in your ticket
request form ASAP to insure a seat to The Barber of Seville.
2. If you do not receive the early registration forms
or have never taken my opera class before, call 707-527-4372
after June l and ask the college to pre-register you early
in the Fall class of A Passion for Opera.
Questions?? Email: wkent@sonic.net
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Preview "Rossini & the Magic of Bel Canto": Semiramide
For a Rossini class preview, watch this classic clip from
Rossini's operatic masterpiece, Semiramide. In the
grand final cabaletta between Semiramide and Arsace, Giorno
d'orroe, Arsace is a hero warrior with whom Queen Semiramide
has fallen in love. Arsace has just learned that not only
is Semiramide his mother but many years ago, as a young prince,
he was whisked away after Semiramide arranged to have his
father, the King, killed by her lover, Assur. Semiramide is
clueless until Arsace reveals his identity. In the cabaletta,
Arsace vows revenge on Assur as he forgives mom! A bit twisted?
It's opera! It's ITALIAN Opera!
Arsace is the great mezzo, Marilyn Horne, and Semiramide
is the astounding Spanish soprano, Montserrat Caballe in a
significant fright wig. Horne & Caballe made this opera
a signature collaboration in the 1980's. This film is from
Aix-en-Provence in 1981.
Click here to view the clip.
Rolando Villazon to appear with Cal Performances
Rolando
Villazon, the greatest tenor of our times in my humble
opinion, will be appearing in recital at Hertz Hall on the
Berkeley campus for one performance only, Sunday, September
24 at 3 P.M. Villazon created a sensation with his 1995 televised
performance as Rodolfo in La Boheme at New
York City Opera. Since
then, he has been in demand on all the major stages of the
world.
A frequent collaborator with stunning soprano, Anna
Nebtrebko, the two will be starring in Massenet's Manon
in Los Angeles in October. Villazon also appears for 3 performances
only in La Traviata with Renee
Fleming as Violetta in September in Los Angeles as the
superstar pair open LA
OPERA's 2006-07 Season.
Tickets will go fast in Berkeley, and this is an amazing
opportunity to hear this great artist in an intimate setting
(Hertz Halll seats only 800). Unless you subscribe, tickets
can't be ordered until August 6, and that's only if you become
an email member of Cal Performances (no charge). After that,
tickets go on sale to the general public and will likely sell
out quickly.
For more information on tickets and email membership visit www.calperfs.berkeley.edu.
To view Villazon sing "Ah, La paterna mano" from Verdi's Macbeth, Click here.
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Rigoletto / Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera in Sebastopol
What a great opportunity to see Verdi's Rigoletto, one of the greatest Italian Operas, in Sebastopol! Kit Neustadter, head of the Redwood Arts Council, is a great opera lover, and she has arranged for a return engagement by Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera of San Francisco at Analy High School Theater, Saturday, June 10.
If you've never seen Pippin, his exciting singers and the Pocket Symphony, you are in for a real treat. Pippin is a San Francisco Institution, having brought opera to the Bay Area forever it seems. The baritone singing Rigoletto, Shouvik Mondle is outstanding and the evening promises to be unforgettable. For tickets and more information contact The Redwood Arts Council at 707-874-1124 or online at www.redwoodarts.org.
New Opera Book by Met's Retiring General Manager, Joe Volpe.
Joseph Volpe is leaving the Metropolitan Opera in New York this year after a 42 year association, the past 16 of which he has been the General Manager. He has written his memoirs, "The Toughest Show on Earth: My Rise and Reign at the Metropolitan Opera," You can pick it up on Amazon at a discount rather than pay a kingly price.
2006-2007 Met Opera Season Recommendations
Many of you go to New York to see Opera: Here's my short list of the exciting events to catch this coming season at the Metropolitan Opera
Il Trittico. Puccini's rarely performed triptych
(3 one-act operas) comes to the Met. Suor Angelica alone is
worth the trip, but Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi
show another side of Puccini that's worth the visit, too.
Soprano Barbara Frittoli is Suor Angelica.
Andrea Chenier. This beloved opera by Umberto Giordano
is too rarely performed. Go see it, but make certain Diva,
Aprile Millo is singing your performance as Maddalena. Her
Chenier is tenor, Ben Heppner.
I Puritani: For bel canto lovers, this Bellini opera is essential. Again, it is rarely performed, due to its fiendish demands for the lead singers. Hopefully, you'll be treated to a great evening by one of the most exciting singers around, superstar soprano, Anna Netrebko as Elvira. This opera is a perfect complement to this years Rossini class.
For dates and more information visit:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/
Renee Fleming in 3 Performances of La Traviata in LA!
For a preview of Fleming's Violetta in Traviata,
which she rarely performs since she premiered the role in
Houston 4 years ago, check out the following clip of the first
Act finale, Sempre libera from those Houston performances.
Her Alfredo in LA will be Rolando Villazon and Dmitri Hvorostovksy
sings Germont.
Click
here to view the clip.
Thanks for reading the first A Passion for Opera
Newsletter. Please forward it to your friends who might be
interested in Opera!! -- Will Kent,
wkent@sonic.net
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