Podcasts about hamburg state opera

Women of Substance with Dr. Scarlett Horton⁣ Episode 71 - Dr. Scarlett Horton interviews Jennifer Larmore __________⁣ Jennifer Larmore is an American mezzo-soprano, a Grammy winner with over 100 recordings to her name, a Chevalier of the French government, Richard Tucker winner, Hall of Famer and an author! Add straight actress to the list with her appearance in a new Netflix series entitled *King the Land.* She has a wide-ranging repertoire, having begun with coloratura roles from the Baroque and bel canto then adding music from the Romantic and Contemporary periods. She began her career at Opera de Nice in 1986 with Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and went on to sing at virtually every major opera house in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, Tokyo, Berlin Deutsche Oper, and London Covent Garden. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner who has recorded widely for the Teldec, RCA, Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Arabesque, Opera Rara, Bayer, Naive, Chandos, VAI and Cedille labels in over one hundred CDs to date as well as DVDs of “Countess Geschwitz” in Lulu, Jennifer Larmore in Performance for VAI, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Netherlands Opera), L’Italiana in Algeri (Opera de Paris), La Belle Hélène (Hamburg State Opera), Orlando Furioso (Opera de Paris) and Jenufa (Deutsche Oper Berlin). She has recorded three charming books on tape for Atlantic Crossing Records with stories by Kim Maerkl entitled Mozart’s Magical Night with Hélène Grimaud and the Bavarian State Orchestra, Puccini’s Enchanted Journey with story by Kim Maerkl, and The King’s Daughter with story and music for flute and string orchestra by Kim Maerkl with the flute player Natalie Schwaabe. With the pianist Antoine Palloc, she has made many International recital tours, including appearances in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Vietnam, Vienna, London, San Juan, Prague, Melbourne, Brussels, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Sao Paolo, Athens and Copenhagen, as well as all the major American venues. Symphonic repertoire has played a large role in this mezzo’s career with the works of Mahler, Schoenberg, Mozart, de Falla, Debussy, Berlioz and Barber featuring prominently. Miss Larmore has enjoyed great collaborations with world orchestras under the direction of Muti, Lopez-Cobos, Bernstein, Runnicles, Sinopoli, Masur, von Dochnanyi, Jacobs, Mackerras, Nelson, Spinosi, Abbado, Barenboim, Bonynge, Maazel, Osawa and Guidarini. Jennifer’s repertoire has expanded to include roles such as “Marie” in Berg’s masterpiece Wozzeck, which she sang to great success at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Berg is now a specialty of Miss Larmore, with her having sung “Countess Geschwitz” in Berg’s Lulu at Covent Garden in the Christof Loy production with Antony Pappano, then again in Madrid. At Paris Opera Bastille she sang in the Willy Decker production and she reprised the role yet again in a new production of William Kentridge with Lothar Zagrosek conducting for the Nederlandse Opera, and at the Rome Opera. She has also become well known for “Kostelnička Buryjovka” in Janacek’s Jenůfa which she performed with Donald Runnicles at Berlin Deutsche Oper. The DVD of this production was nominated for a Grammy. She reprised her “Kostelnička” in this same production for the New National Theater in Tokyo. ”Lady Macbeth” in Verdi’s opera Macbeth is a role she debuted in a striking new production of Christof Loy at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, then in the Bob Wilson production in Bologna and Reggio Emilia. Her first “Eboli” was in the French version of Don Carlos at the Caramoor Music Festival in New York, with Will Crutchfield conducting, and she sang “Jocasta” in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex at the Bard Festival. Adding to her growing list of new repertoire, Miss Larmore debuted the role of ”Mère Marie” in Les dialogues des carmélites at the Caramoor Festival, New York. She went back to her roots with “Ottavia” in Monteverdi’s l’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Theater an der Wien in October 2015 and returned there in December 2016 for her debut in the role of “Elvira” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Debuts for more new roles came in 2017 with the title role of La Belle Hélène at Hamburg State Opera, and then “Anna 1” in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins for the Atlanta Opera. In 2018 she debuted the role of “La Dama” in Hindemith’s Cardillac for the Maggio Musicale in Firenze, “Fidalma” In Il Matrimonio Segreto for Opera Köln, and “Marcellina” In Le Nozze di Figaro in Tokyo. Engagements in 2019 included concerts in Grenoble, Olten and Magève with OpusFive, “Marcellina” in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and she returned to Opera Köln in the title role of a new production in her on-going collaboration with Doucet/Barbe of La Grand Duchesse de Gérolstein. 2020 was an interesting year, but also because she debuted “Herodias” in Salome for the Atlanta Opera before going into lockdown. Continuing with their collaboration, in 2021, Jennifer sang ”Genevieve” in their new production of Pelleas et Melisande in Parma. Miss Larmore, in collaboration with the double bass player Davide Vittone, created an ensemble called Jennifer Larmore and OpusFive. This a string quintet offering programs that are entertaining and varied with Songs and Arias, Cabaret/Operetta and Movies and Broadway. They have given concerts in Seville, Pamplona, Valencia, Las Palmas, Venice, Amiens, Olten, Aix en Provence, Dublin, and Paris. At the Magève Festival in August, 2018 they presented a World Premiere work by composer Scott Eyerly, called Creatures Great and Small on the theme of animals. In July of 2022, Jennifer and OpusFive performed at the Liestal Stimmen zu Gast Festival in a program entitled America! Throughout her career Jennifer Larmore has garnered awards and recognition. In 1994 Jennifer won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award. In 1996 she sang the Olympic Hymn at the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics in Atlanta. In 2002, “Madame” Larmore was awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres from the French government in recognition of her contributions to the world of music. In 2010 she was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in her home state of Georgia. In addition, to her many activities, travels, performances and causes, author Jennifer Larmore is working on books that will bring a wider public to the love of opera. Her book “Una Voce” explores the world and psychology of the performer. Miss Larmore is widely known for teaching and giving master classes and in 2018, she went to New York’s Manhattan School of Music, Santiago, Chile, Luxembourg, Atlanta, and to the new Teatro Nuovo at Suny Purchase College, New York. She began the New Year 2019 with master classes for the Atlanta Opera and Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA. In March, 2019 Miss Larmore gave master classes and workshops at the École Normale and for the Philippe Jaroussky Academy in Paris. In 2020 she gave classes at the École Normale, Atlanta Opera, Kennesaw State University, Luxembourg, and on ZOOM for the Kiefersfelden Master Classes and Utah Valley University. In 2022 classes were in Malta, Tirol, Lausanne, Sion, Martina Franca and Valencia! In 2023 she began the year with a master class at the Eva Lind Akademie in Achenkirch, Austria! Miss Larmore lives in Paris with her husband and little Opera dog Buffy. “Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent]...” Proverbs 22:6a (AMPC) In this episode, Scarlett and David interview Jennifer about how her love for the arts was nurtured and encouraged at a very young age, which opened doors for her gift in great places. Your faith will be inspired as you watch. __________ https://JenniferLarmore.info https://ScarlettHorton.com __________ TO SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: https://gvly.org/s/NNHT.5REoBw OR TEXT Proverbs31 to 844-544-7171

Women of Substance with Dr. Scarlett Horton⁣ Episode 71 - Dr. Scarlett Horton interviews Jennifer Larmore __________⁣ Jennifer Larmore is an American mezzo-soprano, a Grammy winner with over 100 recordings to her name, a Chevalier of the French government, Richard Tucker winner, Hall of Famer and an author! Add straight actress to the list with her appearance in a new Netflix series entitled *King the Land.* She has a wide-ranging repertoire, having begun with coloratura roles from the Baroque and bel canto then adding music from the Romantic and Contemporary periods. She began her career at Opera de Nice in 1986 with Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and went on to sing at virtually every major opera house in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, Tokyo, Berlin Deutsche Oper, and London Covent Garden. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner who has recorded widely for the Teldec, RCA, Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Arabesque, Opera Rara, Bayer, Naive, Chandos, VAI and Cedille labels in over one hundred CDs to date as well as DVDs of “Countess Geschwitz” in Lulu, Jennifer Larmore in Performance for VAI, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Netherlands Opera), L’Italiana in Algeri (Opera de Paris), La Belle Hélène (Hamburg State Opera), Orlando Furioso (Opera de Paris) and Jenufa (Deutsche Oper Berlin). She has recorded three charming books on tape for Atlantic Crossing Records with stories by Kim Maerkl entitled Mozart’s Magical Night with Hélène Grimaud and the Bavarian State Orchestra, Puccini’s Enchanted Journey with story by Kim Maerkl, and The King’s Daughter with story and music for flute and string orchestra by Kim Maerkl with the flute player Natalie Schwaabe. With the pianist Antoine Palloc, she has made many International recital tours, including appearances in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Vietnam, Vienna, London, San Juan, Prague, Melbourne, Brussels, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Sao Paolo, Athens and Copenhagen, as well as all the major American venues. Symphonic repertoire has played a large role in this mezzo’s career with the works of Mahler, Schoenberg, Mozart, de Falla, Debussy, Berlioz and Barber featuring prominently. Miss Larmore has enjoyed great collaborations with world orchestras under the direction of Muti, Lopez-Cobos, Bernstein, Runnicles, Sinopoli, Masur, von Dochnanyi, Jacobs, Mackerras, Nelson, Spinosi, Abbado, Barenboim, Bonynge, Maazel, Osawa and Guidarini. Jennifer’s repertoire has expanded to include roles such as “Marie” in Berg’s masterpiece Wozzeck, which she sang to great success at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Berg is now a specialty of Miss Larmore, with her having sung “Countess Geschwitz” in Berg’s Lulu at Covent Garden in the Christof Loy production with Antony Pappano, then again in Madrid. At Paris Opera Bastille she sang in the Willy Decker production and she reprised the role yet again in a new production of William Kentridge with Lothar Zagrosek conducting for the Nederlandse Opera, and at the Rome Opera. She has also become well known for “Kostelnička Buryjovka” in Janacek’s Jenůfa which she performed with Donald Runnicles at Berlin Deutsche Oper. The DVD of this production was nominated for a Grammy. She reprised her “Kostelnička” in this same production for the New National Theater in Tokyo. ”Lady Macbeth” in Verdi’s opera Macbeth is a role she debuted in a striking new production of Christof Loy at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, then in the Bob Wilson production in Bologna and Reggio Emilia. Her first “Eboli” was in the French version of Don Carlos at the Caramoor Music Festival in New York, with Will Crutchfield conducting, and she sang “Jocasta” in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex at the Bard Festival. Adding to her growing list of new repertoire, Miss Larmore debuted the role of ”Mère Marie” in Les dialogues des carmélites at the Caramoor Festival, New York. She went back to her roots with “Ottavia” in Monteverdi’s l’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Theater an der Wien in October 2015 and returned there in December 2016 for her debut in the role of “Elvira” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Debuts for more new roles came in 2017 with the title role of La Belle Hélène at Hamburg State Opera, and then “Anna 1” in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins for the Atlanta Opera. In 2018 she debuted the role of “La Dama” in Hindemith’s Cardillac for the Maggio Musicale in Firenze, “Fidalma” In Il Matrimonio Segreto for Opera Köln, and “Marcellina” In Le Nozze di Figaro in Tokyo. Engagements in 2019 included concerts in Grenoble, Olten and Magève with OpusFive, “Marcellina” in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and she returned to Opera Köln in the title role of a new production in her on-going collaboration with Doucet/Barbe of La Grand Duchesse de Gérolstein. 2020 was an interesting year, but also because she debuted “Herodias” in Salome for the Atlanta Opera before going into lockdown. Continuing with their collaboration, in 2021, Jennifer sang ”Genevieve” in their new production of Pelleas et Melisande in Parma. Miss Larmore, in collaboration with the double bass player Davide Vittone, created an ensemble called Jennifer Larmore and OpusFive. This a string quintet offering programs that are entertaining and varied with Songs and Arias, Cabaret/Operetta and Movies and Broadway. They have given concerts in Seville, Pamplona, Valencia, Las Palmas, Venice, Amiens, Olten, Aix en Provence, Dublin, and Paris. At the Magève Festival in August, 2018 they presented a World Premiere work by composer Scott Eyerly, called Creatures Great and Small on the theme of animals. In July of 2022, Jennifer and OpusFive performed at the Liestal Stimmen zu Gast Festival in a program entitled America! Throughout her career Jennifer Larmore has garnered awards and recognition. In 1994 Jennifer won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award. In 1996 she sang the Olympic Hymn at the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics in Atlanta. In 2002, “Madame” Larmore was awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres from the French government in recognition of her contributions to the world of music. In 2010 she was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in her home state of Georgia. In addition, to her many activities, travels, performances and causes, author Jennifer Larmore is working on books that will bring a wider public to the love of opera. Her book “Una Voce” explores the world and psychology of the performer. Miss Larmore is widely known for teaching and giving master classes and in 2018, she went to New York’s Manhattan School of Music, Santiago, Chile, Luxembourg, Atlanta, and to the new Teatro Nuovo at Suny Purchase College, New York. She began the New Year 2019 with master classes for the Atlanta Opera and Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA. In March, 2019 Miss Larmore gave master classes and workshops at the École Normale and for the Philippe Jaroussky Academy in Paris. In 2020 she gave classes at the École Normale, Atlanta Opera, Kennesaw State University, Luxembourg, and on ZOOM for the Kiefersfelden Master Classes and Utah Valley University. In 2022 classes were in Malta, Tirol, Lausanne, Sion, Martina Franca and Valencia! In 2023 she began the year with a master class at the Eva Lind Akademie in Achenkirch, Austria! Miss Larmore lives in Paris with her husband and little Opera dog Buffy. “Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent]...” Proverbs 22:6a (AMPC) In this episode, Scarlett and David interview Jennifer about how her love for the arts was nurtured and encouraged at a very young age, which opened doors for her gift in great places. Your faith will be inspired as you watch. __________ https://JenniferLarmore.info https://ScarlettHorton.com __________ TO SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: https://gvly.org/s/NNHT.5REoBw OR TEXT Proverbs31 to 844-544-7171

‘Is opera the most misogynistic art form?' asked Charlotte Higgins in The Guardian back in 2016, noting that the genre itself seems to devour women. In Classical Music Magazine in 2020, Becca Marriott argued that ‘Sexism is preventing women from forging a career in opera'. Over the course of the next episodes, we are looking at how voices in opera are calling for change to make it better for the next generation of operatic talent. In this episode, we investigate misogyny in opera both on the stage and behind the scenes, and investigate the lived experience of artists who are striving to make the opera world a place where everyone feels welcome, respected and safe.   View the OperaVision website here Watch now on Opera Vision Oper Frankfurt From Studio to Stage Opera for Peace Masterclasses with Ailyn Perez & Brian Jagde Il Viaggio a Reims (Rossini), Rossini Opera Festival Accademia Rossiniana BBC Cardiff Singer of the World with Nombulelo Yende Dana Lynne Varga www.danavarga.com The Empowered Musician https://theempoweredmusician.com/ Mass Opera https://massopera.org/ Rosie Middleton https://rosiemiddleton.com/ Derri Joseph Lewis https://derrijosephlewis.com/   Music extracts Introduction and closing from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart): Overture Bizet ‘L'amour est un oiseau rebelle' (Habanera) from Carmen with mezzo-soprano Evgenia Asanova at the Staatsoper Hannover. Watch extract here   Massenet ‘Je marche sur tous les chemins' from Manon with soprano Elsa Dreisig at the Hamburg State Opera. Watch extract here   Donizetti 'Regnava nel silenzio' from Lucia di Lammermoor with soprano Lisette Oropesa at the Teatro Real Madrid. Watch full extract here   

Simon Phillips began his career in New Zealand before emigrating to Australia in 1984 to take up a position as lecturer and director at the West Australian Academy for Performing Arts. In 1987 he joined the Melbourne Theatre Company as Associate Director and in 1990 he was appointed Artistic Director of the State Theatre Company of South Australia. After freelancing nationally and internationally between 1994 and 1999, he returned to MTC as Artistic Director from 2000 to 2011, overseeing the design and construction of the company's new headquarters and the Southbank Theatre.His directing credits range from new works to contemporary and Shakespearean classics, to musicals, to opera. He has directed works by most of the great contemporary writers: Albee (A Delicate Balance), Beckett (Happy Days), Brecht (Arturo Ui), Churchill (Cloud Nine/Serious Money), Hare (The Blue Room), McDonagh (The Pillowman), Orton (What the Butler Saw/Entertaining Mr Sloane), Shepherd (Buried Child, A Lie of the Mind), and Stoppard (Arcadia, Rock'n'Roll).He has also directed the premieres of many new works by leading Australian writers, including David Williamson, Matt Cameron, Hannie Rayson, Stephen Sewell and Joanna Murray-Smith.Simon's musical credits in Australia include Love Never Dies, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (which has had numerous international seasons including The West End and Broadway), The Twenty-Fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Urinetown the Musical, Company, The Threepenny Opera, Cabaret, Muriel's Wedding - the musical, Ladies in Black, Dream Lover, An Officer and a Gentleman and High Society. In New Zealand he directed Oliver!, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Pirates of Penzance.Among his many classical productions, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, A Comedy of Errors and The Importance of Being Earnest all toured nationally in Australia. Simon's opera credits include: La Bohème, Falstaff, L'Elisir d'Amore and Lulu for Opera Australia, The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni for Opera New Zealand and A Midsummer Night's Dream and Billy Budd for Hamburg State Opera.Simon is the recipient of many Australian Theatre awards and has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Melbourne. He recently directed As You Like It for the Melbourne Theatre Company and has now turned his focus to Sydney with an adaptation of North By Northwest, and a thrilling new production of The Phantom of the Opera for Opera Australia; they take to the stages of the Lyric Theatre and Sydney Harbour. He discusses these exciting theatrical ventures, as well as his illustrious career, in this compelling episode of STAGES.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Whooshkaa, Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Recipient of Best New Podcast at 2019 Australian Podcast Awards. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Nmon Ford With multiple Grammy-winning albums to his credit, Nmon Ford began his musical journey at age three as a piano prodigy, moving quickly to the study of multiple other instruments and, ultimately, singing. He started the season as the composer and librettist (and title-role singer) of Orfeus, A House Music Opera, which was scheduled for its world premiere at London's Young Vic Theatre (postponed due to Covid19). Nmon has appeared with the major orchestras of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, as well as Mostly Mozart Festival (Lincoln Center), San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, English National Opera, Hamburg State Opera, and Teatro Comunale di Bologna, with conductors including Robert Spano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kent Nagano, John Adams, and Marin Alsop. He has recorded for Universal Decca, Naxos (Songs of Innocence and Experience, winner of 4 Grammy Awards), Telarc (Transmigrations, Grammy Award winner), Concord, and Koch International. Additionally, Nmon is Managing Director of Branding, Marketing Strategy, and A&R for Lune Rouge Entertainment, a corporation started by Guy Laliberté, the founder and creative force behind Cirque du Soleil. Prior to Lune Rouge, Nmon was Vice President and Head of A&R at Universal Music Group's Verve Label Group (VLG), where he oversaw U.S. media and creative projects for Verve, Decca Gold, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Mercury KX and Paragon, in addition to collaborations with artists signed to Republic, Interscope, Capitol, Warner, and Sony. In this role he also directly managed the Decca Gold and Paragon labels, for which he led global initiatives and partnerships. During his tenure at Universal, VLG earned an Oscar, a Golden Globe, 10 Grammys, 18 Grammy nominations, and Billboard #1 rankings on multiple charts. Nmon joined Universal after having made a name for himself internationally as an artist and consultant. Prior to Universal, he was Co-Founder and Senior Director of Media and Communications at MATSTAT Consulting. In this position he led creative development and integrated marketing strategy for global clients including recording artists signed to Universal, Sony, Warner, and Live Nation; Target's Community Initiatives; TED Talks; Gujarat Raffia LTD (NGO partnerships with United Nations, UNICEF, and American Red Cross); and Scallywag Productions (Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, Awards from Los Angeles Independent, Berlin, Chicago, London, and Serbian Film Festivals). Nmon is a Voting Member of the Recording Academy, a Contributing Member of the USC Alumni Association, and a Member of ASCAP. He earned his MBA in Marketing Management and Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship from California State University San Bernardino, and his Master of Music and Bachelor of Music—both with honors—from the University of Southern California, with additional studies in Journalism and Arts Administration.   Time Line 0.00 - 00.45 Intro Theme 00.46 - 4.49 Introducing Nmon 5.00 - 7.45 Nmon on being an artist 8.08 - 10.10 Detesting inconvenience 10.36 - 11.43 Practicality and evenness 12.48 - 14.30 The multiplicity of working roles 14.36 - 16.50 Self reflection and absence of self consciousness 17.08 - 21.08 Starting life as a performer - performing in church 23.40 - 24.40 Working at Universal Music 24.41 - 28.40 All artists have a twinge of crazy 28.51 - 35.57 Orpheus Production 37.32 - 41.00 The postponement of Orpheus 42.17 - 43.24 Star quality 43.25 - 47.12 Being the star of your own movie 47.30 - 50.28 Reflecting on the ‘exercise' 50.30 - 51.13 Outro   Quotes “So much of what I do as an artist is a function of practical necessity.” (Nmon) “Being an artist isn't really difficult.. .the difficulty comes in trying to make the learning curve for new avenues of creativity as short as possible.” (Nmon) “If there is a reasonable amount of time to get from one point to another and there's something in the way, I don't really have much patience for the thing that gets in the way. If it gets in the way of my structure… then it has to move. (Nmon) “If the one thing I thought I wanted to do had worked out the way I thought I wanted it to work out, I probably would never have progressed to the other stuff I have done, because  there would have been no need to.” (Nmon) “I can either stick with this one thing and just keep hammering away at it and trying to force it into something else or I can simply do all of these things, which are presenting themselves as opportunities and see where they go.” (Nmon) “Have you ever worked with an artist who is marginally sane or are they all a little crazy?” (Nmon) “Orpheus is so simple; presented so simply; what ended up being archetypes were so clear; there was no misunderstanding… “ (Nmon) “If I could have flicked the switch and turned off the pandemic for anything it would have been for going back to the communal experience of 'we're all connecting on a certain level' … and I felt blessed that the connective material was this thing… was Orpheus.” (Nmon)   References Orpheus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus Nmon performs ‘Slow Burn' from Orfeus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCN1oxPc9-Y   Further information Nmon Ford http://www.nmonford.com/ Twitter: @nmonford Instagram: @nmonford David Pearl Twitter: @davidpearlhere Instagram: @davidpearl_here Andrew Paine Twitter: @ItPainesMe                          

Penderecki in Memoriam Podcast is produced and hosted by Max Horowitz, Crossover Media. Created by Anna Perzanowska and Klaudia Ofwona Draber, and presented by Polish Cultural Institute New York. Penderecki in Memoriam Podcast unveils a multifaceted portrait of Krzysztof Penderecki, with commentary from musicians, colleagues, radio programmers, and writers who lend insight and memories of Poland's greatest modern composer. This podcast is part of Penderecki in Memoriam Worldwide project, honoring the life and legacy of the great composer. Thank you to project partners DUX, NAXOS, Ludwig van Beethoven Association, and Schott EAM for sharing Krzysztof Penderecki's music with the world. Kent Nagano is considered one of the outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. He has been General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since September 2015. From 2006 to 2020, he was Music Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and was appointed Conductor Emeritus in February 2021. In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and in 2019 of Concerto Köln, the Baroque orchestra which he is working together with in the project https://wagner-lesarten.de/project.html (Wagner Readings.) For more information visit: https://www.kentnagano.com

Phebe Berkowitz-Tanners grew up in the Central City Opera House. Her family made a second home in our magical, old western town during the summers of 1953-1963 when her father, Metropolitan Opera violist David Berkowitz, played the Festival season with the Central City Opera Orchestra. Now a dedicated supporter of the company, Phebe reminisces with CCO Director of Development Katie Nicholson about mounting backyard opera productions with other children of the Festival company (attended by famous singers and actors of the main stage!), experiencing the world premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe from behind the scenes and the expansive and international Central City Opera community that she found throughout her career as an opera stage director and production professional. Guest host Katherine (Katie) Nicholson was recently featured on the Central City Opera blog, take a read get to know her better! Those of you watching the video version of this interview will notice the poster for Central City Opera’s Voice Your Dreams Endowment Campaign behind Katie. If you want to learn more and/or contribute to the Campaign to help our company endure long into the future, contact Katie at knicholson@centralcityopera.org or 303-331-7015! Special thanks to Central City Opera Office Administrator Wanda M. Larson who’s helped us keep in close contact with our guest, Phebe, throughout the years and continues to show her passion for unforgettable Central City Opera experiences and community. You’ll probably recognize her if you’ve been up to the summer Festival, she’s the Gift Shop Admin/Buyer, too! Historical preservation is a pillar of Central City Opera’s mission. Learn about the dozens of historic properties we own and maintain. Explore more Central City history, and even schedule a tour at www.gilpinhistory.org. “The famous ghost town” of Nevadaville is just up the street from Central City. Learn more about it at www.uncovercolorado.com. Like many patrons and visitors, Phebe mentions paranormal experiences in and around our properties. Have you encountered something ghostly in Central City? Phebe talks about many exciting moments and incredible figures from Central City Opera, including: Phebe spent her first summer at Central City Opera in 1953, the production was Bizet’s Carmen. She was 7 and her sister was 9. They fell in love with the music, sitting in on every rehearsal, and they began the tradition of performing their own versions of the season’s operas in their backyard with the other children of the Festival company. They’d string up a sheet to make a stage curtain, and star actors and singers would even come to see their shows! According to Phebe, these “parodies” and performances went on to inspire the tradition of our famous singing ushers. You’ll hear the famous Risë Stevens recording of Carmen that Phebe and her sister loved so much as background music during this podcast. Wonderful performers Phebe recalls knowing as a child—some of whom attended her backyard productions—were Julie Harris, Tammy Grimes, Shirley Booth, Arlene Saunders. One of Phebe’s favorite memories of Central City Opera was the world premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe in 1956. She was 10 years old at the time, and she remembers all the excitement and artistry of composer Douglas Moore, librettist John La Touche, director and renowned choreographer Hanya Holm, director Edwin Levy and starring sopranos Dolores Wilson and Leyna Gabriele, all working together on this brand new opera. Read more about Baby Doe Tabor as a historical figure and the opera based on her life on the Central City Opera blog! Cyril Richard—perhaps best remembered as Captain Hook in the Mary Martin musical production of Peter Pan—played Don Andres in La Perichole at Central City Opera in 1958. Phebe talks about how he kindly reassured her little brother, who had made a loud mistake on stage while playing a non-singing role in the production. Over her summers at Central City Opera, Phebe memorized 17 operas along with the other children. “It was incredible musical education,” she says, “it was all about the music.” Phebe points out, “in those days all the operas [in Central City] were performed in English.” Throughout history it’s been common practice for operas to be adapted to the vernacular of the place they’re being performed. In recent years—especially in the United States—operas are more commonly performed in their original language. Wonder where the performance trends in this 400-year-old artform will take us next! Since various opera companies and orchestras perform during different times of the year, many musicians play in multiple ensembles like Phebe’s dad. For instance many orchestra members at Central City Opera also played with the Metropolitan Opera, and today our orchestra shares many musicians with the Colorado Symphony. The Berkowitz family stayed in a historic house that, during those years, was named after Gypsy Rose Lee (1911-1970). Famous for her burlesque act, Lee was also an actor, author, playwright and all-around fascinating figure that inspired and captured the kids’ imagination. As an adult, Phebe went on to build a career as an opera director and production professional, herself. Learn more about some of the figures and references she makes in this interview: She snagged a job as an intern in makeup and costumes with Hamburg State Opera as a young woman. As she was such a keen observer during rehearsals, Gian Carlo Menotti—the composer of the world-premiere production of Help, Help, the Globolinks! they were producing—asked her to call the light cues. Even with her very limited German vocabulary, she was up to the task! After that, Hamburg State Opera Artistic Director Rolf Liebermann hired her on as lighting stage manager. Later, he took Phebe with him as a stage director when he joined Paris Opera as Artistic Director. Phebe enjoyed many years as a part of the Metropolitan Opera Company, as an assistant stage director, director for revivals and Executive Stage Director (1974-2016). Her time with the Met Opera began when August Everding brought her along as his personal assistant for Tristan und Isolde (1971), which was Rudolf Bing’s last new production. Central City Opera Artistic Director Emeritus John Moriarty is also a close friend and mentor to Phebe. While they didn’t cross paths at CCO, he taught her to stage manage at Lake George Opera—now Opera Saratoga—where they worked together for three years. Read Phebe’s general bio at centralcityopera.org/opera-central Join Phebe in supporting the community and artistry of Central City Opera for many years to come. Find all kinds of ways to donate at centralcityopera.org/support-us Thanks for listening! Musical excerpts featured in this podcast: Carmen by Georges Bizet. Mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens (1913-2013) sings the Act 1 “Habanera.” Recording with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in approximately 1948 and conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore, Act 1, Scene 2 “Willow Song.” Recorded in 1959 at the New York City Opera Company with soprano Beverly Sills (1929 – 2007) as Baby Doe and Walter Cassel (1910-2000) as Horace Tabor. Conducted by Emerson Buckley (1916-1989). (Cassel and Buckley were part of the original 1956 production at Central City Opera in these same roles.) The Girl of the Golden West by Giacomo Puccini, Act 1 with soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Minnie and tenor Yusif Eyvazov as Dick Johnson. Recorded at the Metropolitan Opera and featured on PBS’s Great Performances.

Named as one of the leading dramatic mezzo-sopranos of today, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner has an international standing, performing in Bayreuth Festival, Edinburgh Festival, London Royal Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, etc. Being a member of the Frankfurt Opera since 2009 she gifted the world roles that don’t fade. Her debut in Salzburg festival was in 2010 and today she completes the triangle of R. Strauss Elektra, alongside Lithuanians Asmik Grigorian and Aušrinė Stundytė. In the interview she discusses Klytämnestra in Warlikowski’s directing, how she is dealing with quarantine, and what is most important for teaching the new generation of opera singers.

Birgit Nillson was a 20th-century Swedish dramatic soprano famous for her renditions of the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.Rudolph Bing was an Austrian opera impresario (producer) who worked around the world. He notably served as the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.The first (old) Metropolitan Opera House in New York was located on Broadway but was demolished in 1967. The current (new) Metropolitan Opera House is located in Lincoln Center in the Upper West Side.La fanciulla del West (1910) is an opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg (Hamburg College for Music and Theatre) is a large public university of music in Hamburg, Germany.Rolf Liebermann was a Swiss composer and music administrator who served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Paris Opera.Judith Blegen is an American operatic soprano.La voix humaine (1959) is a one-act opera by 20th-century French composer Francis Poulenc.In July 1980, a 30-year-old violinist named Helen Mintiks was murdered during the intermission of a performance at the Metropolitan Opera. Read more here.Guarino refers to “Jimmy,” or James Levine, a Cincinnati-born opera conductor who became the Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera. He was notably terminated from this position in 2018 over sexual assault allegations that he denies.John Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director. Guarino mentions his production of French composer Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogues des Carmélites (1956).Franco Zeffirelli was an Italian director and producer of opera, films, and television. Many of his opera productions are still in use today around the world.Margarete Wallmann was a German ballerina, choreographer, set designer, and opera director.Rhoda Levine is an American opera director, choreographer, and professor.Francesca Zambello is an American opera and theatre director who currently serves as director of the Glimmerglass Festival and Washington National Opera.Ricky Ian Gordon is a contemporary American composer.Fiora Contino was an American opera conductor and teacher.Jean-Pierre Ponnelle was a 20th-century French opera director and scenic designer.Dawn Upshaw is an American operatic soprano.Robert Wilson is an American experimental theatre director and playwright.The 19th-century Viennese composer W.A. Mozart frequently collaborated with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, such as for their opera The Marriage of Figaro (1786).Blind Injustice was an opera by composer *** and librettist *** which premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2019.Patricia (“Patty”) K. Beggs was the General Director of Cincinnati Opera from 1997 to 2019.Opera Fusion: New Works (OF:NW) is a partnership between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music focused on fostering contemporary American opera.In 2011, Doubt by composer Douglas J Cuomo and librettist John Patrick Shirley became the first project workshopped by OF:NW. The opera premiered at Minnesota Opera in 2013.Fellow Travelers by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Gregory Pierce is another opera that participated in OF:NW in 2013. Cincinnati Opera premiered the work in 2015. Hear Fellow Travelers composer Gregory Spears talk about the work on a previous episode of Inside Opera.Castor and Patience by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K. Smith participated in OF:NW in 2019. Cincinnati Opera will premiere the work as part of its 2021 Summer Festival. Hear Castor and Patience composer Gregory Spears talk about the work on a previous episode of Inside Opera.Rachel Maddow is an American television program host and political commentator, known for the nightly Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.Joni Mitchell is a critically acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter.Bob Dylan is a Nobel Prize-winning American singer-songwriter.

Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony is the story of a young man beginning his journey through life. In fact, it is Mahler himself, looking at the world with wide-eyed wonder. Originally, he titled the first movement “Spring Without End,” for its depiction of the joys of nature. Guests include Michael Tilson Thomas (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony), Kent Nagano (Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic), William Hudgins (Principal Clarinet, Boston Symphony Orchestra), Marilyn McCoy (Columbia University) and Caroline Kita (Washington University in St. Louis). James Lurie is the voice of Mahler and Laura Gragtmans is the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner.

In the second movement of his First Symphony, Gustav Mahler draws upon the dance music of his youth. As his mood becomes more exuberant, so too, does the music.Guests include Michael Tilson Thomas (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony), Kent Nagano (Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic), Marilyn McCoy (Columbia University), Philip V. Bohlman (University of Chicago), and Christian Glanz (University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna). James Lurie is the voice of Mahler and Laura Gragtmans is the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner.

Ep. 75: George Jackson, conductor   George Jackson is a London-born conductor who has worked distinguished orchestras such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Hamburg State Opera and many others.   In this episode we discuss the role of a conductor in the 21st century, importance of community engagement, conducting competitions, masterclasses and working with soloists. George also speaks about the role of a Music Director, guest conductors, community and youth orchestras, the differences in opera and symphonic conducting. He also speaks about his passion for cooking, comedy and podcasts.       For more information about George Jackson visit his official website: https://www.georgejackson.net/   © Off The Podium, 2019  

There have been many highlights in Simone Young's career. Alongside conducting most of the world’s great orchestras including the London and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the City of Birmingham Symphony, and the BBC Symphony at the BBC Proms, she was also the first woman to conduct at the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic, two orchestras she regularly returns to conduct today. In 1983, at just 22, Simone Young had already joined the staff of Opera Australia. She studied at Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music prior to taking up her position with AO where she worked as a répétiteur. By 1986, the young Sydneyite was conducting at the Sydney Opera House and appointed a resident conductor with Opera Australia. Simone moved to Germany, where she took up a position assisting James Conlon, the conductor at the Cologne Opera. This led to further engagements, including working alongside the legendary Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. In 1998 she was appointed principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway. But Australia was never far from her sights. In 2000, Simone was given what she terms one of the greatest honours of her career, when she conducted the national anthem at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Not long afterwards, she returned to take up the position of Music Director with Opera Australia, but despite these three years being an artistically rewarding period, they were turbulent years in her career. In 2005 Simone returned to Europe to direct one of the Germany’s major opera houses, the Hamburg State Opera, and as chief conductor of the city’s philharmonic orchestra, positions she held until 2015. Simone has also been a great mentor for a number of Australian conductors and singers. She says, “I think it is incredibly important for young conductors to see just how tough the working side of this job is. If you don’t want to work hard, don’t choose this profession.”It was, indeed, in the midst of a heavy performance and rehearsal schedule in Berlin that Simone Young joined the Tall Poppies podcast. In this episode, she recalls how her musical education in Australia and her father’s good advice prepared her for an international conducting career. Simone also confides how she plans to tackle the latest position she has added to her illustrious list of honours – that of being the Australian Nana to her two grandchildren.

There have been many highlights in Simone Young's career. Alongside conducting most of the world’s great orchestras including the London and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the City of Birmingham Symphony, and the BBC Symphony at the BBC Proms, she was also the first woman to conduct at the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic, two orchestras she regularly returns to conduct today.  In 1983, at just 22, Simone Young had already joined the staff of Opera Australia. She studied at Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music prior to taking up her position with AO where she worked as a répétiteur, the title given to the person responsible for coaching singers and playing the piano for music and production rehearsals.  By 1986, the young Sydneyite was conducting at the Sydney Opera House and appointed a resident conductor with Opera Australia. Among her mentors were Australian musician luminaries, the likes of conductors Charles Mackerras, Richard Bonynge and Stuart Challender.  In the late 1980s, Simone and her husband moved to Germany, where she took up a position assisting James Conlon, the conductor at the Cologne Opera.  This led to further engagements, including working alongside the legendary Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. In 1998 she was appointed principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway.But Australia was never far from her sights. In 2000, Simone was given what she terms one of the greatest honours of her career, when she conducted the national anthem at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Not long afterwards, she returned to take up the position of Music Director with Opera Australia, but despite these three years being an artistically rewarding period, they were turbulent years in her career. “It became obvious that I was not going to have the support that had been indicated at the start of my time that would be there,” she confided. “Then it became obvious that our ways were going to part, but the way it all happened was completely unnecessary. Deeply destructive for the company, very hurtful for me personally at the time but, once again, I focused all my energies on just doing the work,”In 2005 Simone returned to Europe to direct one of the Germany’s major opera houses, the Hamburg State Opera, and as chief conductor of the city’s philharmonic orchestra, positions she held until 2015.Among her recordings are the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle and the complete Brahms symphonies.Simone has also been a great mentor for a number of Australian conductors and singers. She says, “I think it is incredibly important for young conductors to see just how tough the working side of this job is. If you don’t want to work hard, don’t choose this profession.”It was, indeed, in the midst of a heavy performance and rehearsal schedule in Berlin that Simone Young joined the Tall Poppies podcast. In this episode, she recalls how her musical education in Australia and her father’s good advice prepared her for an international conducting career. Simone also confides how she plans to tackle the latest position she has added to her illustrious list of honours – that of being the Australian Nana to her two grandchildren.  

Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra has been described as a 'rock star' of the classical world. At a concert as a child her father asked her what a conductor does - "nothing" she replied. So he enlightened her and explained that the conductor does "everything". This ignited a curiosity, which soon led to an unstoppable passion and in her early 20s Alondra set up the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas to showcase Latin music. She is now also a guest conductor with some of the greatest orchestras in the world.Simone Young is an award-winning conductor who is now the artistic director of the Hamburg State Opera and music director of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She does not come from a musical family, but says that growing up in Australia, where people who challenge the status quo are championed, helped to push her along her chosen career path. Simone is now based in Germany, which is steeped in classical music history, but has guest-conducted with some of the world's leading orchestras and is famous for conducting Wagner.(Photo: Conductors Alondra de la Parra (left) and Simone Young. Credits: Alondra de la Parra by Leonardo Manzo. Simone Young by Berthold Fabricius)

Frida Leider was born at Berlin, where she studied singing while working in a bank. Her first engagements led her to opera houses in Halle, Königsberg, and Rostock. After an engagement with the Hamburg State Opera in 1923, she was hired by the Berlin State Opera as first dramatic soprano. After her retirement from the stage in 1946, she remained there as the director and manager of a studio for the rising singers of the Berlin State Opera. Frida Leider made regular guest appearances for over 15 years at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, at La Scala in Milan, and at the State Operas of Vienna and Munich. Naturally, she also made appearances at the Bayreuth Festival, where she was the unrivaled star soprano of the 1930s. In the 1920s she alternated Wagnerian roles with Florence Austral at Covent Garden and the two recorded large parts of The Ring for HMV. Leider married the first concert master of the Berlin State Opera, Prof. Rudolf Deman. The couple had no children. She died in her home city of Berlin. Leider had a wonderful voice, and especially the warmth and feeling is there. We hear first two excerpts of two commercial recordings of Tristan from 1929 under Leo Blech, with Elfreide Marherr as Brangaene, and then under Sir John Barbirolli in 1931. This is followed by live Gotterdamerung  Act 2 scenes from 1936 with Herbert Janssen and Ludwig Weber, followed by a commercial recording of the Immolation Scene in 1929 under Leo Blech.

George Frideric HANDEL 1685-1759Our version ofAllemande in Am (HWV 478)George Frideric HANDEL 1685-1759© 2012 Shiloh Worship Music COPY FREELY;This Recording is copyrighted to prevent misuse, however,permission is granted for non-commercial copying-Radio play permitted. Www.ShilohWorshipMusic.com Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)George Frideric Handel(from Wikipedia) George Frideric Handel, born in the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. By Thomas Hudson (1749)George Frideric Handel SignatureGeorge Frideric Handel (German: Georg Friedrich Händel; pronounced [ˈhɛndəl]) (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) and becoming a naturalised British subject in 1727.[1] By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.Within fifteen years, Handel, a dramatic genius, started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera, but the public came to hear the vocal bravura of the soloists rather than the music. In 1737 he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively and addressed the middle class. As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never performed an Italian opera again. Handel was only partly successful with his performances of English Oratorio on mythical and biblical themes, but when he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital (1750) the critique ended. The pathos of Handel's oratorios is an ethical one. They are hallowed not by liturgical dignity but by the moral ideals of humanity.[2] Almost blind, and having lived in England for almost fifty years, he died a respected and rich man.Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and original instrumentation, interest in Handel's operas has grown. His operas contain remarkable human characterisation—especially for a composer not known for his love affairs.Early yearsHandel's baptismal registration (Marienbibliothek in Halle)Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, to Georg Händel and Dorothea Taust.[3] His father, 63 when his son was born, was an eminent barber-surgeon who served to the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.[4] According to Handel's first biographer, John Mainwaring, he "had discovered such a strong propensity to Music, that his father who always intended him for the study of the Civil Law, had reason to be alarmed. He strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument but Handel found means to get a little clavichord privately convey'd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep".[5] At an early age Handel became a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.[6]Händel-Haus (2009) – birthplace of George Frideric HandelEntrance of Teatro del Cocomero in FlorenceHandel and his father travelled to Weissenfels to visit either Handel's half-brother, Carl, or nephew, Georg Christian,[7] who was serving as valet to Duke Johann Adolf I.[8] Handel and the duke convinced his father to allow him to take lessons in musical composition and keyboard technique from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist of the Lutheran Marienkirche. He learned about harmony and contemporary styles, analysed sheet music scores, learned to work fugue subjects, and to copy music. In 1698 Handel played for Frederick I of Prussia and met Giovanni Battista Bononcini in Berlin.From Halle to ItalyThe Hamburg Opera am Gänsemarkt in 1726In 1702, following his father's wishes, Handel started studying law under Christian Thomasius at the University of Halle;[9] and also earned an appointment for one year as the organist in the former cathedral, by then an evangelical reformed church. Handel seems to have been unsatisfied and in 1703, he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt.[10] There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. His first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705.[11] He produced two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel directed these performances.According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici, but Mainwaring must have been confused. It was Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg.[12] Ferdinando tried to make Florence Italy's musical capital, attracting the leading talents of his day. He had a keen interest in opera. In Italy Handel met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and, since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, La Resurrezione and Il Trionfo del Tempo, were produced in a private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. Rodrigo, his first all-Italian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707.[13] Agrippina was first produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, the prettiest theatre at Venice, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a libretto by cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, and according to Mainwaring it ran for 27 nights successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style,[14] applauded for Il caro Sassone.Move to LondonGeorge Frideric Handel (left) and King George I on the River Thames, 17 July 1717, by Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman (1819–88).In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince George, Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 would become King George I of Great Britain.[15] He visited Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London in 1710. With his opera Rinaldo, based on La Gerusalemme Liberata by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian works.[16] This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, Cara sposa, amante cara, and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.In 1712, Handel decided to settle permanently in England. He received a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne after composing for her the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in 1713.[17][18]One of his most important patrons was the young and wealthy Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington.[19] For him Handel wrote Amadigi di Gaula, a magical opera, about a damsel in distress, based on the tragedy by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.The conception of an opera as a coherent structure was slow to capture Handel's imagination[20] and he renounced it for five years. In July 1717 Handel's Water Music was performed more than three times on the Thames for the King and his guests. It is said the compositions spurred reconciliation between the King and Handel.[21]Cannons (1717–18)Main article: Handel at CannonsThe Chandos portrait. The 1st Duke of Chandos was an important patron for Handel.In 1717 Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the twelve Chandos Anthems.[22] Romain Rolland stated that these anthems were as important for his oratorios as the cantatas were for his operas.[23] Another work he wrote for the Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis and Galatea: during Handel's lifetime it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote, "the music catches breath and disturbs the memory".[24]In 1719 the Duke of Chandos became one of the main subscribers to Handel's new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, but his patronage of music declined after he lost money in the South Sea bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in South Sea stock in 1716, when prices were low[25] and sold before 1720.[26]Royal Academy of Music (1719–34)Main article: Royal Academy of Music (company)Handel House at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, LondonIn May 1719 Lord Chamberlain Thomas Holles, the Duke of Newcastle ordered Handel to look for new singers.[27] Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Teofane by Antonio Lotti, and engaged the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to become his secretary and amanuensis.[28] By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25 Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life.[29] This house, where he rehearsed, copied music and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum.[30] During twelve months between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three outstanding and successful operas, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano and Rodelinda. Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as Svegliatevi nel core. After composing Silete venti, he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipio, from which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived,[31] was performed as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of King George II. One of these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every British coronation ceremony since.[32] In 1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time.[citation needed] After nine years Handel's contract was ended but he soon started a new company.The Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket (now Her Majesty's Theatre), established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house.[33] Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 of Handel's operas premièred there.[34] In 1729 Handel became joint manager of the Theatre with John James Heidegger.A musical portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales and his sisters by Philip Mercier, dated 1733, using Kew Palace as its plein-air backdropThe Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket in London by William CaponHandel travelled to Italy to engage seven new singers. He composed seven more operas, but the public came to hear the singers rather than the music.[35] After two commercially successful English oratorios Esther and Deborah, he was able to invest again in the South Sea Company. Handel reworked his Acis and Galatea which then became his most successful work ever. Handel failed to compete with the Opera of the Nobility, who engaged musicians such as Johann Adolf Hasse, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato Farinelli. The strong support by Frederick, Prince of Wales caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734 Handel directed a wedding anthem This is the day which the Lord hath made, and a serenata Parnasso in Festa for Anne of Hanover.[36]Opera at Covent Garden (1734–41)In 1733 the Earl of Essex received a letter with the following sentence: "Handel became so arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs". The board of chief investors expected Handel to retire when his contract ended, but Handel immediately looked for another theatre. In cooperation with John Rich he started his third company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was renowned for his spectacular productions. He suggested Handel use his small chorus and introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Handel composed Terpsichore. In 1735 he introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time Handel allowed Gioacchino Conti, who had no time to learn his part, to substitute arias.[37] Financially, Ariodante was a failure, although he introduced ballet suites at the end of each act.[38] Alcina, his last opera with a magic content, and Alexander's Feast or the Power of Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's Feast starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John Beard.In April 1737, at age 52, Handel apparently suffered a stroke which disabled the use of four fingers on his right hand, preventing him from performing.[39] In summer the disorder seemed at times to affect his understanding. Nobody expected that Handel would ever be able to perform again. But whether the affliction was rheumatism, a stroke or a nervous breakdown, he recovered remarkably quickly .[40] To aid his recovery, Handel had travelled to Aachen, a spa in Germany. During six weeks he took long hot baths, and ended up playing the organ for a surprised audience.[41]Deidamia, his last and only baroque opera without an accompagnato, was performed three times in 1741. Handel gave up the opera business, while he enjoyed more success with his English oratorios.[citation needed]OratorioFurther information: List of Handel's OratoriosHandel by Philip MercierIl Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, an allegory, Handel's first oratorio[42] was composed in Italy in 1707, followed by La Resurrezione in 1708 which uses material from the Bible. The circumstances of Esther and its first performance, possibly in 1718, are obscure.[43] Another 12 years had passed when an act of piracy caused him to take up Esther once again.[44] Three earlier performances aroused such interest that they naturally prompted the idea of introducing it to a larger public. Next came Deborah, strongly coloured by the Anthems[45] and Athaliah, his first English Oratorio.[46] In these three oratorios Handel laid foundation for the traditional use of the chorus which marks his later oratorios.[47] Handel became sure of himself, broader in his presentation, and more diverse in his composition.[48]It is evident how much he learnt from Arcangelo Corelli about writing for instruments, and from Alessandro Scarlatti about writing for the solo voice; but there is no single composer who taught him how to write for chorus.[49] Handel tended more and more to replace Italian soloists by English ones. The most significant reason for this change was the dwindling financial returns from his operas.[50] Thus a tradition was created for oratorios which was to govern their future performance. The performances were given without costumes and action; the performers appeared in a black suit.[51]Caricature of Handel by Joseph Goupy (1754)In 1736 Handel produced Alexander's Feast. John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life.[52] The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In Saul, Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy".[53] Saul and Israel in Egypt both from 1739 head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo and dal segno aria became the exception and not the rule.[54] Israel in Egypt consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. In his next works Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background.[55] L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.During the summer of 1741, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to Dublin to give concerts for the benefit of local hospitals.[56] His Messiah was first performed at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street, on 13 April 1742, with 26 boys and five men from the combined choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating.[57] Handel secured a balance between soloists and chorus which he never surpassed.The use of English soloists reached its height at the first performance of Samson. The work is highly theatrical. The role of the chorus became increasingly import in his later oratorios. Jephtha was first performed on 26 February 1752; even though it was his last oratorio, it was no less a masterpiece than his earlier works.[58]Later yearsGeorge Frideric Handel in 1733, by Balthasar Denner (1685–1749)In 1749 Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the first performance.[59] In 1750 he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital. The performance was considered a great success and was followed by annual concerts that continued throughout his life. In recognition of his patronage, Handel was made a governor of the Hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution upon his death.[60] His involvement with the Foundling Hospital is today commemorated with a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling Museum, which also holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling Hospital, Handel also gave to a charity that assisted impoverished musicians and their families.In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands.[61] In 1751 one eye started to fail. The cause was a cataract which was operated on by the great charlatan Chevalier Taylor. This led to uveitis and subsequent loss of vision. He died eight years later in 1759 at home in Brook Street, at age 74. The last performance he attended was of Messiah. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey.[62] More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honours.Handel never married, and kept his personal life private. His initial will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna. However four codicils distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities.[63]Handel owned an art collection that was auctioned posthumously in 1760.[64] The auction catalogue listed approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (other paintings were bequeathed).[64]WorksSenesino, the famous castrato from SienaMain articles: List of compositions by George Frideric Handel and List of operas by Handel.Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, chamber music, a large number of ecumenical pieces, odes and serenatas, and 16 organ concerti. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music and has become the centrepiece of the Christmas season. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the Organ Concertos Op.4 and Op.7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 concerti grossi; the latter incorporate an earlier organ concerto The Cuckoo and the Nightingale in which birdsong is imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his sixteen keyboard suites, especially The Harmonious Blacksmith.Handel introduced previously uncommon musical instruments in his works: the viola d'amore and violetta marina (Orlando), the lute (Ode for St. Cecilia's Day), three trombones (Saul), clarinets or small high cornetts (Tamerlano), theorbo, horn (Water Music), lyrichord, double bassoon, viola da gamba, bell chimes, positive organ, and harp (Giulio Cesare, Alexander's Feast).[65]Handel's works have been catalogued in the Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis and are commonly referred to by an HWV number. For example, Messiah is catalogued as HWV 56.LegacyA Masquerade at the King's Theatre, Haymarket (c. 1724)Handel's works were collected and preserved by two men in particular: Sir Samuel Hellier, a country squire whose musical acquisitions form the nucleus of the Shaw-Hellier Collection,[66] and abolitionist Granville Sharp. The catalogue accompanying the National Portrait Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm".[67]After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria from Serse, "Ombra mai fù". The oratorios continued to be performed but not long after Handel's death they were thought to need some modernisation, and Mozart orchestrated a German version of Messiah and other works. Throughout the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, particularly in the Anglophone countries, his reputation rested primarily on his English oratorios, which were customarily performed by enormous choruses of amateur singers on solemn occasions.Since the Early Music Revival many of the forty-two operas he wrote have been performed in opera houses and concert halls.Handel's music was studied by composers such as Haydn, Mozart and BeethovenRecent decades have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or 'concert operas'. Of the former, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden) and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as Acis and Galatea (1719), Hercules (1745) and Semele (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios, particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are sometimes performed onstage by small chamber ensembles. With the rediscovery of his theatrical works, Handel, in addition to his renown as instrumentalist, orchestral writer, and melodist, is now perceived as being one of opera's great musical dramatists.A carved marble statue of Handel, created for the Vauxhall Gardens in 1738 by Louis-François Roubiliac, and now preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum.Handel's work was edited by Samuel Arnold (40 vols., London, 1787–1797), and by Friedrich Chrysander, for the German Händel-Gesellschaft (105 vols., Leipzig, 1858–1902).Handel adopted the spelling "George Frideric Handel" on his naturalisation as a British subject, and this spelling is generally used in English-speaking countries. The original form of his name, Georg Friedrich Händel, is generally used in Germany and elsewhere, but he is known as "Haendel" in France. Another composer with a similar name, Handl or Händl, was an Austrian from Carniola and is more commonly known as Jacobus Gallus.Musician's musicianHandel has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and since.[68] Bach attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet with Handel while he was visiting Halle.[69] Mozart is reputed to have said of him, "Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt."[70] To Beethoven he was "the master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb".[70] Beethoven emphasised above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he said, "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means".HomagesHandel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey, 1784After Handel's death, many composers wrote works based on or inspired by his music. The first movement from Louis Spohr's Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "The Age of Bach and Handel", resembles two melodies from Handel's Messiah. In 1797 Ludwig van Beethoven published the 12 Variations in G major on ‘See the conqu’ring hero comes’ from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, for cello and piano. Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 107 for guitar, based on Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord. In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes, for example his March on a Theme by Handel uses a theme from Messiah. French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his Petite marche for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled Variations on Handel's ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ . Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create Handel in the Strand, one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.VenerationHandel is honored together with Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 28 July.He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 28 July, with Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Schütz.He is commemorated as a musician along with Johann Sebastian Bach on 28 July by The Order of Saint Luke in their calendar of saints prepared for the use of The United Methodist Church.EditionsBetween 1787 and 1797 Samuel Arnold compiled a 180-volume collection of Handel's works—however it was far from complete.[72] Also incomplete was the collection produced between 1843 and 1858 by the English Handel Society (found by Sir George Macfarren).[73]The 105-volume Händel-Gesellschaft edition was published in the mid 19th century and was mainly edited by Friedrich Chrysander (often working alone in his home). For modern performance, the realisation of the basso continuo reflects 19th century practice. Vocal scores drawn from the edition were published by Novello in London, but some scores, such as the vocal score to Samson are incomplete.The still-incomplete Hallische Händel-Ausgabe started to appear in 1956 (named for Halle in Saxony-Anhalt Eastern Germany, not the Netherlands). It did not start as a critical edition, but after heavy criticism of the first volumes, which were performing editions without a critical apparatus (for example, the opera Serse was published with the title character recast as a tenor reflecting pre-war German practice), it repositioned itself as a critical edition. Influenced in part by cold-war realities, editorial work was inconsistent: misprints are found in abundance and editors failed to consult important sources. In 1985 a committee was formed to establish better standards for the edition.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia