Joyce DiDonato en Espaol Nov 14, 2009
Her rise to pre-eminence among American mezzo-coloraturas of her generation has kept the Rossini and Handel operas on the gold standard. A new Virgin Classics disc devoted to the bravura repertoire of Rossini's diva (and later, wife) Isabella Colbran finds DiDonato in glorious form ... Q: Your facility in high, fast music, like Handel and Rossini is astonishing. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Opera, high fashion on a Milan escape Nov 8, 2009
The show continues at intermission, when women clad in luxurious gowns let their escorts snap their pictures beside statues of Bellini and Rossini. Mozart s Idomeneo never sounded so wonderful. (Boston Globe)
A Muse of Fire Oct 31, 2009
Always he lacked the cheery professional detachment of Rossini and Donizetti, who could toss off an entire opera within weeks, cynically recycling earlier music if punitive deadlines loomed. The dedication with which young Wagner shed the hypertrophic cliches of his first major opera, Rienzi major in bulk rather than in value to arrive at The Flying Dutchman s astonishing originality is among 19th-century art s most inexplicable and laudable developments. (The American Conservative)
Podles gives both depth and pathos to ‘Tancredi’ Oct 24, 2009
Opera Boston introduced its compelling new production of Rossini s rarely heard opera Tancredi last night at the Cutler Majestic Theatre ... Rossini s reputation as a composer of serious dramatic opera has been deeply overshadowed by the success of his comic masterpieces ... What matters is that the libretto drew from the young Rossini music of great beauty and surprising refinement. (Boston Globe)
Music: the week ahead Oct 22, 2009
CLASSICAL OPERA BOSTON The remarkable Polish contralto Ewa Podles makes her local stage debut in Rossini s Tancredi, directed by Kristine McIntyre and conducted by Gil Rose. Oct. 23, 25, and 27. (Boston Globe)
Ewa Podles makes her Boston operatic stage debut in ‘Tancredi’ Oct 18, 2009
Ewa Podles, here at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, finally makes her Boston operatic stage debut this week in Rossini s Tancredi ... This week, Ewa Podles (pronounced EH-va POD-lesh) makes her long-awaited and long-overdue operatic stage debut in Boston, in a role for which she has received particular acclaim: the title character in Gioachino Rossini s opera Tancredi ... Actually, the commercially savvy Rossini composed two endings for Tancredi. (Boston Globe)
EIU to present musical comedy 'The Apprentices' Oct 15, 2009
The production with music by Monteverdi, Mozart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rossini and others will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 and Oct. 24 in the Doudna Fine Arts Center s Recital Hall. The show centers around a group of overworked summer apprentices as they gather backstage at the Imperial Opera House to sing portions of their favorite songs in preparation for an upcoming showcase. (Mattoon Journal-Gazette, IL)
Sunset & Symphony tickets now on sale Oct 11, 2009
With this year s theme, Fanfare for Opera, the Orlando Philharmonic will perform selections from Candide by Leonard Bernstein, The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Can Can from Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach, Carmen Suite by Georges Bizet, The Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini along with patriotic favorites and more under the direction of guest conductor Joseph Mechavich. Soprano Janette Zilioli will sing selections from La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, The Merry... (Lake Wales News, FL)
Mozart comedy opens Arizona Opera season Oct 9, 2009
Nearly everybody s favorite, Puccini s La bohme runs Feb. 6-7, and the season concludes May 1-2 with Rossini s The Barber of Seville. Baritone Marian Pop has performed Figaro world-wide including Stuttgart, Santiago, Munich and Holland as well as with a number of companies in this country. (Green Valley News & Sun, AZ)
Entertainer Spotlight on Mikael Healey (29) Sep 24, 2009
I played keyboards and piano for a singer/guitarist named Tony Rossini and would go back to (Las) Vegas to perform his Neil Diamond shows there. Meeting a businessman who opened a deli in Long Beach, he began to produce shows utilizing Broadway show tunes. (Desert Entertainer, CA)
Music review: Opera in the Park a splish-splash Sep 16, 2009
Nicola Luisotti, beginning his first season as the company's music director, led an all-Italian program of solos and ensembles by Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti and Mozart, with stellar contributions from cast members of the company's first two productions and several Adler Fellows ... Contralto Ewa Podles heightened the air of anticipation surrounding her overdue company debut in Tuesday's production of Puccini's "Il Trittico" with a fierce, majestic account of "Cruda sorte" from Rossini's... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Classical music events this fall Sep 13, 2009
Ewa Podles (above right; here with Georgia Jarman) makes her local stage debut next month in Opera Boston s performance of Rossini s Tancredi ... OPERA BOSTON The Polish contralto Ewa Podles makes her local stage debut in Rossini s Tancredi, directed by Kristine McIntyre and conducted by Gil Rose. (Boston Globe)
Scene & Herd: A fall packed with activity Sep 11, 2009
Jonathan McPhee will conduct music by Rossini, Walton and Brahms. Roger Tapping on viola will be featured. (Lexington Minuteman, MA)
* Classical DVDs Sep 6, 2009
La Pietra del Paragone (The Touchstone) is one of Rossinis earliest works ... But Rossinis youthful exuberance and the ubiquitous French penchant for chic combine well ... A contrasting example, of a Rossini opera performed entirely traditionally, is his one-act La Cambiale di Matrimonio (The Marriage Contract) directed by Michael Hampe for the Schwetzinger Festspiele in 1989 (issued on DVD by EuroArts in 2006). (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Taking Liberties Aug 24, 2009
Each summer at the Caramoor Festival, in Katonah, New York, he presents two or three works from the golden age of bel canto Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi, with Handel, Gluck, and Mozart also in the mix and through an extended rehearsal process he pushes singers to cast off the rigid habits that they have been trained to adopt. L Elisir d Amore was the first of Crutchfield s productions this summer. (New Yorker)
Magical mystery tour is full of delights Aug 4, 2009
Finally, he took the Brandenburg Orchestra into the hyper-modern realms of Rossini, with a rousing rip through Largo al Factotum. No gimmicks were required here just good playing. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Alex Ross: Donizetti and Rossini, at the Caramoor Festival. Jul 27, 2009
Donizetti and Rossini, at the Caramoor Festival : The New Yorker ... This summer s offerings are Donizetti s L Elisir d Amore, which played on July 18, and Rossini s Semiramide, to be given on July 31. (New Yorker)
A 'Potter' premiere Jul 8, 2009
Royal Opera House spokesman Christopher Millard said DiDonato was singing the role of Rosina in Rossini s The Barber of Seville last night from a spot visible to the audience, but that another actor was acting out her role on the stage. DiDonato slipped on opening night Saturday. (Boston Globe)
Composer Richard Wagner's 'Difficult' Reputation Unwarranted, Says Research Jul 7, 2009
Furthermore, Wagner wrote for much larger orchestras than available to Mozart or Rossini, and wrote vocal parts that severely test the stamina and capabilities of singers ... Furthermore Wagner had considerable time to 'polish' his operas; Rossini wrote some 26 operas in seven years whereas Wagner wrote only fourteen in over 50 years. (Science Daily)
Schedule for Nine Opera Performances Jun 28, 2009
May 1, 2010: "Armida," by Gioacchino Rossini. Tickets go on sale in September through the Sunrise Theater. (The Pilot Newspaper)
Opera, Ballam misrepresented Jun 27, 2009
As Mr. Ballam has said, You can t pull any guy off the street and have him sing Rossini and Verdi ... As Mr. Ballam has said, You cant pull any guy off the street and have him sing Rossini and Verdi. (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
3 operas, 1 dollar and 1 vote May 20, 2009
The voting also added a very rare item to next year's calendar: Rossini's dramatic opera Mose in Egitto (Moses in Egypt), which won by quite a wide margin, Dickie said ... We haven't had a lot of non-comic Rossini in Chicago, said Dickie, offering one possible explanation ... He couldn't or wouldn't say whether a large bloc vote from a single party had delivered the victory to Rossini. (Globe and Mail)
Una Vocis to perform Saturday May 14, 2009
In honor of this, The Singer s Gift concert will feature a wide spectrum of a cappella works, including pieces by Victoria, Whitacre, Rutter, Hovland and Rossini; in addition, the audience can look forward to a brief discussion of Krogh s original artwork The Singer s Gift, which appears on the concert posters, programs and tickets. Advance tickets for The Singer s Gift are $8 for adults and $4 for students, and are available from Una Vocis members, by calling 641-423-1867 or by visiting ;... (Mason City Globe-Gazette, IO)
GLASS SLIPPER HALF-FULL May 8, 2009
In her triumphant final aria, the heroine compares her sudden happiness to a bolt of lightning, and Rossini depicts that giddy electricity with rapid music cascading from top to bottom of the singer's range. On Wednesday night, Garanca gave us all the notes, but none of the volts. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Review: Met offers elegant revival of 'Cinderella' May 2, 2009
NEW YORK - As light and elegant as the wedding cake that fills the stage for the final scene, Rossini's "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella") is helping to usher out the Metropolitan Opera season - providing a nice contrast to the heavier diet of Wagner's "Ring" cycle ... Garanca, who debuted last year in another Rossini opera, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," has a gorgeous voice that she uses with exceptional skill ... His technique is a match for Garanca's, and he deservedly won a huge ovation for Prince... (Anchorage Daily News)
Galvin Middle School honor roll Apr 28, 2009
Grade 7, honorable mention: Samantha Atallah, Camden Ballard, Benjamin Bossi, Rebecca Coppola, Amanda Donahoe, James Dunton, Elizabeth Glynn, Geneva Hancock, Angeline LoBrutto, Ryan MacMillan, Erika MacNeill, Melanie Mansfield, Michael Melanson, Nicholas Mulcahy, Tyler O Brien, Mary O Connell, Amy Pacitto, Christopher Powers, Cassandra Rossini, Patrick Scheeler, Dylan Sellers, Aria Sergany, Richard Silva and Sarah Young. Grade 8, high honors: Caroline Andrews, Sarah Boland, Kelly... (Wakefield Observer, MA)
Central Illinois played part in helping S.F. quake survivors Apr 19, 2009
The program included selections from popular Wagner, Rossini and Verdi operas. On April 30, The Pantagraph reported that former Bloomingtonian Will Tucker, the brother of current resident James T. Tucker, was pulled unconscious from a quake-damaged building and taken to a hospital in Los Angeles. (The Pantagraph newspaper)
Voice Recital at UMHB Apr 15, 2009
The recital is free and open to the public and will feature songs and arias by Bellini, Chaminade, Dvok, Hndel, Lekberg, Puccini, Schubert, and Rossini. Mrs. Atwood is a 1976 graduate of Skyview High School in Smithfield, UT. She is the recipient of an Associates Degree in Arts ces from Brigham Young University/Idaho. (KWTX.com, TX)
Marriage’ made in heaven Apr 9, 2009
The opera is based on a play by Pierre Beaumarchais the same play that would also inspire Rossini s opera, the Barber of Seville, 20 years later, which is actually the prequel to Figaro. Composed in 1786, Figaro pokes fun at the aristocracy, particularly the lecherous Count Almaviva. (Helena Independent Record, MT)
Ezio Flagello, at 78; sang 528 performances at Met Mar 25, 2009
His wide-ranging career there included basso cantante roles such as Rodolfo in "La Sonnambula," Wagnerian characters like Pogner in "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg," comic roles in Mozart and Rossini operas, and major Verdi roles like King Philip in "Don Carlo.". He made his professional debut in 1955 at the Empire State Festival in Ellenville, N.Y., singing Dulcamara in "L'Elisir d'Amore." His career took off after he won first place in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air in 1957. (Boston Globe)
Musicians show their humanity, with fine results Mar 4, 2009
SYMPHONY: Rossini piece ever-familiar; trio shone musically and visually ... The program opened with Rossini's Overture to "The Barber of Seville," a ubiquitous piece that's often used in popular culture to stand in for all things classical ... The Rossini was followed by Beethoven's Triple Concerto featuring the Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey trio. (Anchorage Daily News)
Flashes of high style in Italy's small towns Feb 28, 2009
Paola Tittarelli, the distinguished supporter of Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival, has homes in Rome, Cortina and Ancona, but has been a loyal Ratti client for more than 50 years. At the Vivier event, Tittarelli had matched her Easter egg-size emeralds with a Ratti-purchased Chanel jacket that looked dipped in silver sequins. (International Herald Tribune)
LETTERS: NCT, Feb. 23, 2009 Feb 23, 2009
"It is my serious belief that our state legislators didn't sign up for the course, either. Or if they did, they flunked the course!Donald FoulkesFallbrookHall property issue did merit two appealsThomas K. Arnold of Carlsbad certainly seems to be taking sides on the Hall property park dispute . Aren't there enough sports fields and dog parks for his use in his own city that he needs to promote such development in another city?Both appeals were based on inconsistencies with the local coastal plan... (North County Times)
From a vault in Paris: The sound of opera in 1907 Feb 17, 2009
Wouldn't any opera season today also offer evergreens by Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini as well as by Bizet, Gounod, Wagner and Mozart. And won't many concert programs this year include instrumental pieces by Beethoven and Chopin. (International Herald Tribune)
Honoring a revolution: Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Feb 10, 2009
Derain and set to a patchwork score of irresistible Rossini items orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi) and "Le Tricorne" (shaped by the greatest Spanish composer and painter of the day, Manuel de Falla and Picasso). In the late 1970s and early '80s I saw good performances of both in London (where Diaghilev had given their world premieres in 1919). (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
VARIETY: Arts & Entertainment Briefing Feb 10, 2009
FOREST CITY Before delighting a Forest City audience with Rossini s comedy The Barber of Seville on Monday, Feb. 9, members of the OPERA Iowa will perform A Dream Fulfilled, the story of George Washington Carver, at 1:45 p.m. at the Forest City Elementary School. A Dream Fulfilled is a one-act opera for children that describes the life of Carver during the time he lived in Iowa. (Mason City Globe-Gazette, IO)
Grant to opera timely as ticket sales decline Feb 8, 2009
Its four November performances of Rossini s La Cenerentola sold just 80 percent of the tickets available at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Hanthorn had budgeted for 89 percent attendance. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Living)
