Opera Review: The Empire Doesn't Strike Back

The Metropolitan Opera brings back Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conspirators: Vitellia (Elza van den Heever) and Sesto (Joyce DiDonato)
plot as Publio (Christian Van Horn) looks on in a scene from La Clemenza di Tito.
Photo by Richard Termine © 2019 The Metropolitan Opera.

In past seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, revivals of the company's 1984 Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito were often done out of a sense of obligation to the composer's reputation. However, this spring run, under the baton of new broom conductor Lothar Koenigs,  has been particularly inspired. On Tuesday night, in the penultimate performance of this opera this season, the cast, featuring soprano Elza van den Heever and mezzo Joyce DiDonato made the case for this work being one of the composer's strongest efforts.

Recordings Review: Rome, Built in Eighteen Days

Yannick Nézet-Séguin drives his Mozart cycle into La Clemenza di Tito.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

What's an assassination between friends?
Rolando Villazón (left) goofs with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who conducts him in this new
La Clemenza di Tito. Photo © 2018 Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Group.

There are some operas in the repertory that owe their prominence not to the quality of their music but due to the circumstances of their creation. Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito ("The Clemency of Titus") is a leading example. The last opera he started (but not the last he finished) in his short time, it is an old-fashioned opera seria that was created in a great big hurry, with the composer racing to have the work ready in time for a coronation ceremony in the city of Prague. Legend is that he wrote the opera in eighteen days.

2019-2020 Season Preview: Owed to Joy

Carnegie Hall announces a season-long celebration of all things Beethoven.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Came back haunted: the spirit of Ludwig van Beethoven visits Carnegie Hall in the 2019-2020 season.
Photo courtesy Carnegie Hall, alteration by the author. 

The music of Ludwig van Beethoven, particularly the symphonies, piano sonatas and string quartets, forms the central thrust of the 2019-2020 Carnegie Hall schedule. The schedule was unveiled today at the traditional yearly press conference at the historic venue. The emphasis on Beethoven is for calendar reasons: next year marks his sestercentennial or 250th birthday. (A more cynical blog than this might also add that Beethoven's music remains an evergreen source of tickets and subscriptions, but that's not something we'd ever say in print.)

The Feast of Seven: The Best Opera Recordings of 2018

Seven notable opera recordings in seven different styles.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The seven best opera recordings of 2018. Art © the respective classical music labels.

Although Superconductor mostly features coverage of live performances, recordings are and continue to be an important part of the classical music genre: the "permanent"...well...record of art that will endure in physical form for decades or even centuries after a performer has moved on to whatever awaits. I don't get to write about recordings anywhere near as often as I would like to, but that doesn't mean I don't listen to and pay attention to what is new.

To kick off our year-ending "Best of 2018" series, here are seven memorable opera recordings for 2018. Chronological order by style. And this year, there's no Wagner or Strauss!):

Concert Review: Fantastic Beats and When to Drop Them

Yannick and the Philadelphians bring an impressive menagerie to Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Photo by Hans van Der Woerd

Before he took the job as the music director of the Metropolitan Opera, the conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin became leader of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Happily for both ensembles he appears willing and able to balance duties in both cities. On Tuesday night, the maestro and his band came to Carnegie Hall for the first of their scheduled subscription appearances this season. They brought with them an impressive centuries-spanning program that played to the many strengths of this remarkable ensemble.

Recordings Review: A Horse With No Name

John Nelson's new Les Troyens is a modern classic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Can they all fit inside the horse? John Nelsons and his chorus, orchestra and soloists record Les Troyens.
Photo from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg © 2018 Erato/WBC

Hector Berlioz' Les Troyens remains the composer's greatest achievement, although the composer never lived to see a complete performance of the work.  With serious problems of length, casting and staging, it was not until 1921 that Les Troyens was staged complete, as intended, in five acts in a long, single evening.  This live in concert recording by John Nelson and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg brings new life and vitality to this mammoth and misunderstood masterpiece.

Opera Review: A Piece of Fairy Cake

Joyce DiDonato sings a radiant Cendrillon at the Met.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The lighting department: Joyce DiDonata as Cinderella in Massenet's Cendrillon.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2018 The Metropolitan Opera.

At the end of the 2014 season, the mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato climbed atop a wedding cake at the end of Rossini's La Cenerentola, a role in which she caused a sensation at the Metropolitan Opera. This month, Ms. DiDonato returned to the stage of America's largest opera house--and to the ballrooms of a very familiar fairy tale--to sing the title role in Cendrillon, the 1899 adaptation of the Cinderella story by Jules Massenet.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Cendrillon

Joyce DiDonato stars in the Massenet version of Cinderella.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Joyce DiDonato goes to the ball in the Laurent Pelly production of Cendrillon.
Photo © 2018 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera has spent the last decade enthusiastically trawling through the vast operatic catalogue of Jules Massenet, the Parisian composer who represents the last gasp of French Romanticism before the dawn of the 20th century. Here they present the company's first performances of Cendrillon Joyce DiDonato sings the title role.

Opera Broadcast Review: Buzz-saw and Dynamo

The Met’s new Norma gives the people what they want.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Woman on top: Sondra Radvanovsky (center) and Joyce DiDonato (right) in Act I of Norma.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2017 The Metropolitan Opera.

In the twelve years since Peter Gelb took the helm of the Metropolitan Opera, the company's opening night has been a splashy, if tricky proposition. Splashy because it's a big glitzy occasion with celebrities in gowns on the red carpet, a big fancy dinner afterwards and for the little people (like your humble correspondent) a free public simulcast on the electronic wonderwall televisions of Times Square with the opera pumped through speakers. For Mr. Gelb, Opening Night (the caps are his) has been the chance to premiere a new production at the Met. This new Norma (directed by Sir David McVicar and starring Sondra Radvanovsky and Joyce Di Donato) provided every opportunity for a a slam dunk.

Concert Review: A Warrior For Her Art

Joyce DiDonato sings of war and peace.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Joyce DiDonato sings of war and peace at Carnegie Hall, with dancer Manuel Palazzo (right.)
Photo by Chris Lee © 2016 courtesy Carnegie Hall press department.

The Carnegie Hall Perspectives series provides artists with a blank slate, a freedom to mount dream projects upon the hallowed boards of the Perelman Stage. On Thursday night, it was Joyce DiDonato's turn. The mezzo-soprano offered In War & Peace, a program of baroque arias with period ensemble Il Pomo D'Oro. To it, she added back projections, rock concert lighting and interpretive dance, all elements as foreign to this staid environment as the cutting ring of a cell phone.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: La Donna del Lago

Joyce DiDonato reprises the title role in this Rossini rarity.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Scotland the Brave: Joyce DiDonato shines in La Donna del Lago.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2015 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Met continues its Rossini revival with one of the bona fide hits of last year: La Donna del Lago ("The Lady of the Lake"). Paul Curran's production bowed in 2013 at Santa Fe. At the Met, the magnificent natural vistas of New Mexico are replaced with scenery. (It was either that or knock out the back of the opera house and give the audience a backdrop of Amsterdam Avenue.)

Ready for Her Lesson Scene

Joyce DiDonato gives a Master Class at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Joyce DiDonato gives pointers to mezzo Kayliegh Decker (right) at Saturday's master class.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2015 courtesy Carnegie Hall.

As they're not always open to the paying public, a  master class taught by a major international opera star  is always a special occasion. Master classes provide deep insight into what makes the great singers tick, where a great singer guides younger artists in pursuit and perfection of their craft. When that master class is given by mezzo Joyce DiDonato in a room held high above W. 57th St. during a spectacular February snowstorm, the occasion becomes unforgettable.

A Golden Voice at Stonewall Inn

Joyce DiDonato gives New York another reason to like...Joyce DiDonato.

La donna in taberna. Joyce DiDonato at Stonewall Inn. 
Photo © 2015 by National Public Radio and WBC Classics.

In town to rehearse the Metropolitan Opera's new production of La Donna del Lago, mezzo supreme Joyce DiDonato stopped by the Stonewall Inn to sing Purcell. Here she sings the aria "When I am Laid in Earth" accompanied by members of the Juilliard 415 Ensemble. The performance was in memory of Mark Carson, shot in a hate crime near the historic taven.

2014 In Review: The Five Best Recitals

We list the five best solo performances of the year that was.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Framegrab of mezzo Joyce DiDonato at the Gowanus Ballroom.
Image © 2014 Warner Brothers Classics.

As this very strange year recedes into our memory, we're kicking off our year-end best-of on Superconductor. Stay tuned this week for more best-of posts, including the best operas and best symphony concerts of a very strange calendar year.

 It's tough out there when you're by yourself. It's also hard when you have just a pianist accompanying you. So with that in mind here are the best solo recitals (instrumental and vocal) that I saw in 2014.

Concert Review: Rowing With the Current

Joyce DiDonato sails into Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

We can talk about Joyce: La DiDonato in a publicity still.
Image courtesy Warner Music Group.

When Joyce DiDonato last gave a recital in New York, she sang on the upper level of a metal shop located next to Brooklyn's heavily polluted Gowanus Canal. At Tuesday night's Carnegie Hall recital, the second performance of her 2014 Perspectives series, the diva was in a much more opulent setting. However, waterways--in this case the canals of Venice, Italy--continued to play an important role.

Concert Review: Bel Canto Over Brooklyn

Joyce DiDonato cleans up at the Gowanus Canal.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Joyce DiDonato.
Photo by Pari Dukovic for Warner Brothers Classics.

The Gowanus Canal, that perennially toxic waterway that side-winds through north-west Brooklyn is not usually associated with opera. On Friday night at the Gowanus Ballroom (a space created from the upper loft level of Serett Metalworks just off of 9th St.) mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato brought the music of 19th century Naples to this funky, out-of-the-way locale.

Five from Twenty-Five

The best of the Metropolitan Opera season 2013-2014.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The class of 2013-14: Diana Damrau in La Sonnambula, Olga Peretyatko in I Puritani,
Ambrogio Maestri as Falstaff, Christine Goerke in Die Frau Ohne Schatten
and Joyce DiDonato in La Cenerentola.  All images © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera.
Curtain photo by Jonathan Tischler. Photoshop by the author.

With the 2013-2014 Metropolitan Opera season in the books it's time to go over the very best (and worst) of an uneven year at North America's largest opera house.

Opera Review: Fairytale of New York

Joyce DiDonato is the Met's radiant Cenerentola.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Javier Camerena (left) and Joyce DiDonato (right) confront the Flying Spaghetti Monster (center)
in Rossini's La Cenerentola. Photo by Ken Howard © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera.

Last night, the Metropolitan Opera rolled out its twenty-sixth and final revival of the 2013-14 season, a revival of the company's 1997 production of Rossini's La Cenerentola.. There are no glass slippers in this version of the fairy tale (Roman censors in 1817 were prudish about bare feet) but there was plenty of vocal magic in the air.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: La Cenerentola

Joyce Di Donato's dreams come true in Rossini's fairy tale.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This hasn't actually happened onstage yet. Juan Diego Flórez (left) and Javier Camarena (right)
will both woo Joyce DiDonato (center) in the Met's La Cenerentola (background.)
All photographic elements s by Ken Howard and Marty Sohl © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera. 
All photo editing by the author.

The last production to premiere at the Metropolitan Opera this season also has one of the most appealing casts. Joyce DiDonato's Cinderella will be wooed by not one but two charming tenor Princes.

One-Two Princes Here Before You

Javier Cammarena will sing in La Cenerentola.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This hasn't actually happened onstage yet. Juan Diego Flórez (left) and Javier Camarena (right)
will both woo Joyce DiDonato (center) in the Met's La Cenerentola (background.)
All photographic elements s by Ken Howard and Marty Sohl © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera. 
All photo editing by the author.

In a story that broke late Thursday afternoon, the Metropolitan Opera announced that star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will split her attentions between two bel canto tenors in the company's forthcoming revival of Rossini's La Cenerentola.