Lockout Threat Looms for Metropolitan Opera

Labor issues may disrupt 2014-15 season.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This may be the scene at Lincoln Center next year if the Metropolitan Opera locks out its artists.
Photo elements from the motion picture Lock Up © 1989 Tri-Star Pictures and the Metropolitan Opera's
2013 production of Parsifal. Image of Jonas Kaufmann © 2013 by Ken Howard. Photo alteration by the author.

This is the time of year when opera lovers (and bloggers) look forward to the Metropolitan Opera's release of its upcoming schedule. With its Peter Gelb-mandated slate of six new productions and 20+ revivals building eager anticipation for the coming year, the schedule release is one of the more eagerly anticipated events of the winter season.

Concert Review: The Return of Mr. Incredible

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (finally) conducts at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Photo by Marco Borggreve.
Image © Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

The arrival and installation of Quebec-born conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra has been one of the most important stories in concert music this decade. This exciting young conductor has shouldered the burden of transiting this venerable organization out of bankruptcy while providing fresh energy and innovative programming to keep the lights lit on Broad Street. However, a strike by Carnegie Hall stage hands nixed this year's opening gala concert, and an illness in December forced Michael Tilson Thomas to serve as a last-minute replacement.

Concert Review: Martyred, Then Returned to Life

The English Concert presents Handel's Theodora.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A man and his harpsichord: English Concert conductor Harry Bickett.
Photo by Richard Haughton © 2013 The English Concert.

Sometimes a composer's best work escapes the notice of his public. Take, for example Handel's late oratorio Theodora which bombed with the London public after just three performances. On Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall, Harry Bickett and the period ensemble The English Concert made a case for Theodora as one of Handel's most compelling stage works.

The Super Bowl National Anthem

or, yes it's time to write about Renée Fleming.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Renée Fleming at the Super Bowl.
Image © FOX Sports and the National Football League.

So, on Super Bowl Sunday, the partner and I trekked on the subway to Carnegie Hall to see the English Concert perform Handel's Theodora.. There's a review of that performance to follow later today but first, let's talk about the Super Bowl and Renée Fleming's performance of the National Anthem.

Friends of this blog and those of you who've seen me show up at Carnegie Hall in a warm Green Bay Packers jacket know that I'm not only a football fan, I'm a huge football fan. But because the Handel oratorio was four hours long we didn't make it home in time to see the start of the game. In fact, we watched the first quarter (in Spanish on Fox Deportes Español) at our local taqueria while demolishing delicious (and authentic) burritos.