Night After Night

High definition.

(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog)

Moments ago, the Metropolitan Opera unveiled the details of its 2008–2009 series of high-definition transmissions to movie theaters worldwide. Citing the phenomenal success of the series, now seen on 600 screens around the globe (as well as a few select cruise ships), the project expands from 8 broadcasts to 11, and adds another 200 screens to its tally. In addition, special encore screenings of this season's La Bohème will close the current series on May 3, 14 and 19.

Among next season’s screen gems are the opening night gala with Renée Fleming in scenes from La Traviata, Manon and Capriccio (which will be transmitted in North America only); the electrifying Karita Mattila (above) in Richard Strauss’s racy Salome (which will no doubt cause consideration of an "R" rating…); and the season’s new productions of Doctor Atomic, La Damnation de Faust, Thaïs, La Rondine and La Sonnambula (in other words, all the new productions except for the David McVicar Il Trovatore).

Here's the complete schedule:

Monday, September 22, 2008 OPENING NIGHT GALA (North America only; 6:30 p.m. EDT / 5:30 p.m. CDT / tape delayed to 8:00 p.m. MDT / 7:00 p.m. PDT) – Opening Night Gala starring Renée Fleming in fully staged performances of scenes from three different operas: Verdi’s La Traviata (Act II), Massenet’s Manon (Act III), and the final scene from Richard Strauss’s Capriccio. Tenor Ramón Vargas and baritones Thomas Hampson and Dwayne Croft co-star. Met Music Director James Levine and Marco Armiliato conduct.

Saturday, October 11, 2008 SALOME (1:00 p.m. EDT / 12:00 p.m. CDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT/ 17:00 p.m. UTC / 18:00 p.m. BST / 19:00 CEST) – Soprano Karita Mattila reprises her acclaimed interpretation of the title character of Strauss’s Salome, with baritone Juha Uusitalo as Jochanaan. Mikko Franck conducts.

Saturday, November 8, 2008 DOCTOR ATOMIC (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC / 19:00 p.m. CET) – Penny Woolcock directs the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic, starring Gerald Finley as Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Sasha Cooke as his wife, Kitty, with Eric Owen and Richard Paul Fink. Alan Gilbert conducts. NEW PRODUCTION

Saturday, November 22, 2008 LA DAMNATION DE FAUST (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET)  – Robert Lepage directs Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, starring Marcello Giordani in the title role, with Susan Graham as Marguerite and John Relyea as Méphistophélès. James Levine conducts. (A new production reconceived in collaboration with Ex Machina for the Met, based on a co-production of the Saito Kinen Festival and Opéra National de Paris.) NEW PRODUCTION

Saturday, December 20, 2008 THAÏS (12:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 a.m. CST / 10:00 a.m. MST / 9:00 a.m. PST/ 17:00 p.m. UTC; 18:00 p.m. CET) – Renée Fleming stars in the title role of Massenet’s Thaïs, with Thomas Hampson as the monk Athanaël in John Cox’s production, which originated at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Jesús López-Cobos conducts. NEW PRODUCTION

Saturday, January 10, 2009 LA RONDINE (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Nicolas Joël directs Puccini’s La Rondine, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna in a production originally mounted by the Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Marco Armiliato conducts. (Co-production with the Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.) NEW PRODUCTION

Saturday, January 24, 2009 ORFEO ED EURIDICE (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Stephanie Blythe and Danielle de Niese star in Mark Morris’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. James Levine conducts.

Saturday, February 7, 2009 LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Dynamic opera duo Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón star in Mary Zimmerman’s acclaimed production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Marco Armiliato conducts.

Saturday, March 7, 2009 MADAMA BUTTERFLY (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Cristina Gallardo-Domâs sings the title role of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in Anthony Minghella’s stunning production. Marcello Giordani stars as Pinkerton. Patrick Summers conducts.

Saturday, March 21, 2009 LA SONNAMBULA (1:00 p.m. EDT / 12:00 p.m. CDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT/ 17:00 p.m. UTC; 18:00 p.m. CET) – Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez star in Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Bellini’s La Sonnambula, conducted by Evelino Pidò. NEW PRODUCTION

Saturday, May 9, 2009 LA CENERENTOLA (1:00 p.m. EDT / 12:00 p.m. CDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT/ 17:00 p.m. UTC; 18:00 BST; 19:00 p.m. CEST) – Elīna Garanča stars in Rossini’s bel canto Cinderella story, La Cenerentola. Lawrence Brownlee stars as her Prince Charming, Don Ramiro. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Last night.

I was there. I saw the flouncing and prancing, the leaping and mugging. I heard some very good singing, some great singing and, of course, the 18 high C's. I was impressed by the busyness of it all, but I just didn't see what all the hype was about.

I thought, perhaps, that it was just me. But no: pretty much nothing I thought or felt last night isn't expressed thoughtfully and gracefully by JSU here.

More later, perhaps.

Art of Glass.

My promised TONY review of Satyagraha is too short to add much to the overall discussion, and its money line was reported here on opening night, anyway. But I'm glad to have done it, and glad that I could get it to the web a week before the actual physical magazine shipped.

What I really want to draw your attention to on the TONY website is another piece I recently filed: a review of Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts. This enlightening new documentary by Australian director Scott Hicks (Shine, Snow Falling on Cedars, No Reservations) just opened last Friday at the IFC Center here in New York, in a run scheduled for two weeks only. Bookings in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. are pending, according to the film's website.

As someone who has seen several Glass documentaries (at least three that I can think of) and read more than a few books and articles on the subject, I think that if you don't learn something completely new from this film, you're probably Philip Glass. (There's a sassy little cameo by this guy, too.)

Generation next.

Great news from Blogville this morning: Make a point of bookmarking Mind the Gap, a new blog that debuted yesterday at Arts Journal. The author is Molly Sheridan (left), who you already know from NewMusicBox (where she provides, among other things, the weekly dose of wit that is The Friday Informer), Counterstream Radio and points beyond.

Molly's arrival is excellent news: I know of few other writers who approach the disappearing boundaries between musical styles with such perception and sympathy. (From Sounds Like Now, via Blognoggle.)

Elsewhere in Blogistan: The Determined Dilettante struggles with Philip Glass, but still finds good things to say about Satyagraha and what it represents for the Met. Feast of Music preaches the gospel of Carla Bozulich's amazing band, Evangelista, which he saw and I unfortunately didn't. (Pete kindly links to my review of the band's excellent new CD, Hello, Voyager.) And Darcy's got a great recap of another date I missed: the eighth blackbird show at Zankel last Thursday.

Nightstand: B.H. Haggin, Music Observed (Oxford University Press, 1964)

Playlist:

Alacranes Musical - Nuestra Historia y Algo Mas (Univision)

Banda Lamento Show de Durango - Ponzoña Musical (Platino)

Grupo Montez de Durango - Y Sigue la Mata Dando (Disa)

Los Horóscopos de Durango - Antes Muertas que Sencillas; Desatados (Disa); and Ayer, Hoy y Siempre (Univision)

Diana Reyes - La Reina del Pasito Duranguense (Universal)

Taylor Swift - Taylor Swift (Big Machine)

Napalm Death - Fear, Emptiness, Despair (Earache)

Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonatas, Op. 26–28 - András Schiff (ECM)

Miracle season.

András Schiff at Carnegie Hall
The New York Times, April 21, 2008

Nordic light.

Dísella Lárusdóttir at Merkin Concert Hall
The New York Times, April 19, 2008

The “smoky jazz ballad” offered as an encore was almost certainly “Maðurhefur Nu” by the Icelandic composer Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson, based on information from a representative I asked, as well as a bit of additional research. But since an absolutely definitive reference to this song couldn't be found, that detail was removed from the review.

Blue note.

According to this article by Paul de Barros in today's Seattle Times, the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) will soon be no more. Hobbled by growth that outstripped management's ability to maintain and fund, of all things, the organization will go into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and be liquidated. For students, teachers, musicians, critics and fans, it's a sad development. A detailed note from IAJE board president Chuck Owen appears on the front page of the organization's website.

Key associations.

Bruce Levingston at Zankel Hall
The New York Times, April 16, 2008

Kicking Puccini.

The Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall
The New York Times, April 15, 2008

Voice of reason.

I try to stay away from discussing my politics here*, but occasionally I'll break that personal guideline in order to point out something worthwhile. Did you know that former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has a blog? Today's post digs into the cynical media and political spins of the current "Bittergate" imbroglio. Reading backward, earlier posts offer plainspoken analysis of the slippery slope on which our economy is currently poised. (Per Daily Kos)

* It's not that I'm afraid to talk about politics or defend my positions; it just doesn't seem germane to what this blog was established for -- and I'm also wary of attracting the lunatic fringe to disrupt the proceedings. That said, it becomes increasingly difficult not to speak up in light of a $3 trillion war, an economy in peril and the shocking malfeasance and ineptitude of elected officials on both sides of the aisle. I fear that the sense of hope I felt after voting in the primary has been eroding ever since. Emptying the contents of my bank accounts into envelopes headed for the federal and state coffers probably didn't help that mood.

Bite my lip and keep fiddling? Or speak my mind and risk alienating readers who came for the tunes? Your thoughts on the matter are invited.

Postscript: Jodru at ANAblog has another take on "Bittergate" and Reich.