TRIUMPH UND LEIDENSCHFT – MELODIEN DER ANTIKE
Italienische Opernnacht präsentiert von Rainer Zagovec mit der Main-Philharmonie unter der Leitung von Maestro Daniel Stratievsky
Musik aus:
NABUCCO – NORMA – ATTILA – AIDA
Sopran — Megan Marie Hart
Mezzosopran — Kremena Dilcheva
Tenor — Sebastiano Lo Medico
Juli 26
20:00 Uhr
Burg Hayn
https://www.buergerhaeuser-dreieich.de/burgfestspiele/programm/italienische-opernnacht-2025
I was gonna watch bad tv this afternoon, but then I found the Met's production of Akhnaten on Apple TV. I love this show.
"Open are the double doors of the horizon
Unlocked are its bolts
Clouds darken the sky
The stars rain down
The constellations stagger
The bones of the hell hounds tremble
The porters are silent
When they see this king
Dawning as a soul"
https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/akhnaten/umc.cmc.3mafc0d49mjxg2uikh6aynci1
VORFREUDE
During yesterday’s concert, our Intendant Karsten Wienand announced the end of season rebate code: VORFREUDE
Use the code when ordering tickets for the next season on the Staatstheater Darmstadt website and save 25%!
(Vorfreude literally means “joy in advance” and describes the excitement one feels when looking forward to an event. It’s more than mere anticipation!)
![Aerial view of the Staatstheater Darmstadt and Georg-Büchner-Platz in warm sunlight. Red text in capital letters in German reads:
SPIELZEIT-VORFREUDE 25% Rabatt auf ausgewählte Vorstellungen
[SEASON ANTICIPATION 25% discount on selected performances]
photo: © Jonas Weber /Staatstheater Darmstadt](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/798/819/027/887/762/original/6a5ebdff71d15a0a.jpg "Aerial view of the Staatstheater Darmstadt and Georg-Büchner-Platz in warm sunlight. Red text in capital letters in German reads:
SPIELZEIT-VORFREUDE 25% Rabatt auf ausgewählte Vorstellungen
[SEASON ANTICIPATION 25% discount on selected performances]
photo: © Jonas Weber /Staatstheater Darmstadt")
Tonight is the Heinerfest open-air concert at the Staatstheater Darmstadt!
Our orchestra director and dramaturge Gernot Wojnarowicz will host the concert, soprano Jana Baumeister will sing, and the Staatsorchester will play under the direction of Nicolas Kierdorf!
It’s free!! Bring a towel or picnic blanket! 
Bizet, Puccini, Kálmán, Bernstein & Manilow Georg-Büchner-Platz July 4
7:30 pm (19:30 Uhr)
Dich, teure Halle, grüss’ ich wieder,
froh grüss’ ich dich, geliebter Raum!
In dir erwachen seine Lieder,
und wecken mich aus düstrem Traum.
Da er aus dir geschieden,
wie öd’ erschienst du mir!
Aus mir entfloh der Frieden,
die Freude zog aus dir.
“The qualities of the Met’s new pieces—literalness, signposting, pat plotlines, an impatience with the slightest ambiguity—are key tenets of second-screen television. “
SO TRUE! Brilliant analysis!
#opera
anna netrebko is known not only for her voice, but also for her political ties. Over the years, she has made pro-kremlin comments.
She is set to perform at London's Royal #Opera House later this year.
There should be no stage for russia or its supporters.
United 24 Media / Instagram
If they go high, we go higher.
Maria Seiren, the first-ever winner of talent show competition “Japan’s Got Talent,” has what she calls “ambivoce,” a dual voice that can hit high and low notes. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/06/28/stage/maria-seiren-japan-opera/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #stage #mariaseiren #japan039sgottalent #noh #opera
Final «La Muette de Portici» starts in 10 minutes! The volcano erupts at the end, but I’m already melting!!!
Opera house, it has a crowd
There’s always something happening and it’s usually quite loud
Right now, #opera highlights with Mikneviciute, Avetisyan, Monastyrska, Svede, Gagnidze et al from #Riga https://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/opera_highlights_with_mikneviciute_avetisyan_monastyrska_svede_gagnidze_et_al_from_riga/87940/ #wch
In 15 minutes, #opera highlights with Mikneviciute, Avetisyan, Monastyrska, Svede, Gagnidze et al from #Riga https://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/opera_highlights_with_mikneviciute_avetisyan_monastyrska_svede_gagnidze_et_al_from_riga/87940/ #wch
Today, #opera highlights with Mikneviciute, Avetisyan, Monastyrska, Svede, Gagnidze et al from #Riga https://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/opera_highlights_with_mikneviciute_avetisyan_monastyrska_svede_gagnidze_et_al_from_riga/87940/ #wch
Since I am pinning this to my profile, I am shortening it dramatically. To read the post in its entirety and understand exactly what I am seeking and the research I have done so far, please go here.
https://dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/249903.html
I love opera singers from prior to the 1950's. My favourite is Tito Schipa, and I am attempting to learn what he taught and how he learned. I have his ten vocal exercises but not the booklet that came with them. I wrote to Seth Riggs, who studied under him, but he never responded. I am now researching one of Schipa's most famous teachers, Alceste Gerunda (1847-1917) since he studied with him for six years. Gerunda's teacher was Saverio Mercadante. Gerunda himself taught at the Convitto Palmieri, which now olds the Bernardini Library, prior to opening his own school in his home. I wrote to the library but never heard from them. They have two books that interest me, namely "ALCESTE GERUNDA E LA SCUOLA LECCESE DI CANTO" by Silvia Mandurino (ITES 1969) and "IN MEMORIA DEL MAESTRO ALCESTE GERUNDA NE L'AVVIVERSARIO PRIMO DE LA SUA MORTE" by Giulia) Lucrezi (Palumbo. (I found the first online, and while it is fascinating, it doesn't contain what I need.) What I am seeking is anecdotes regarding his lessons, notes he may have written, books he may have used, the pedagogy he followed, etc. I am totally blind and live in New Jersey, America, so it's not possible for me to travel to Lecce. I posted to their subreddit, but I will leave this here in case anyone in the wider community can help. If you or someone you know teaches real bel canto (no scientific or modern ideas), I would love to hear from you.
LA MUETTE DE PORTICI
The 2024/25 season is slowly coming to an end, and our last performance of « Muette » is just around the corner. I would like to share this beautiful illustration of Mount Vesuvius erupting, taken from the back of the toi-toi-toi cards that my husband made for the premiere in April.
June 27 19:30 Staatstheater Darmstadt
And I confirm : Ms Grigorian is at her limit in Suor Angelica and it is not always pleasant to hear (and she is boring as Lauretta).
#trittico #opera #operadeparis
From: @tmalesys
https://wonkodon.com/@tmalesys/114700482804975494
On the radio and after having seen the performance in stage, what is for me the most stunning moment is La Mattila’s performance.
Icy and vulnerable.
#opera
To make a very long story short, I am forty-one and became interested in opera in February of this year. I had been listening to operetta for several years by this point, with special attention to the works of Ivor Novello and Franz Lehar, always preferring original cast recordings, or at least older ones, when possible. Even now, all of the opera singers I like were born prior to 1923. I am interested in learning how to sing for pleasure, and possibly for performance, though not in full operas, as I am totally blind and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. I would most likely be singing Neapolitan songs, Italian art songs, a few English parlour songs, and some arias that I enjoy. I am untrained and my voice type has not yet been designated. However, , this is a post that I made reguarding my own discoveries about my vocal range. To summarise, I am a woman, but I feel most comfortable singing in the tenor range and would prefer to stay there. I don't like how high composers force contraltos to sing.
reddit.com/r/opera/comments/1k…
I adore the tenore di grazia voice type and also enjoy lyric tenors. My favourite singer is Tito Schipa, and I wish to learn what he taught, or at least, what he learned. I have the ten exercises that he recorded, including short narrations for each. I wrote about them here, with a transcription of the Italian and an English translation. This way, you will know the school of thought that I am attempting to follow. The one thing I cannot find is the booklet that came with said exercises, which offers more guidance than the record.
reddit.com/r/opera/comments/1k…
Since Schipa left little behind, I began researching his teacher, Alceste Gerunda. It is true that he technically started with Giovanni Albani, but hardly anything is written about him at all in Schipa's biography, and it seems that Gerunda was the one who gave him all of the exercises in any case.
reddit.com/r/opera/comments/1k…
reddit.com/r/opera/comments/1k…
I learned that Gerunda was born in 1847, and that his teacher was Saverio Mercadante. Neither left books, exercises, or published notes. But I found the school where Gerunda taught prior to opening a private one in his home. It has since become a library. They have two books on him that I want and that may shed light on some of his teaching practices. These are "ALCESTE GERUNDA E LA SCUOLA LECCESE DI CANTO" by Silvia Mandurino (ITES 1969) and "IN MEMORIA DEL MAESTRO ALCESTE GERUNDA NE L'AVVIVERSARIO PRIMO DE LA SUA MORTE" by Giulia) Lucrezi (Palumbo.
biblioteche.regione.puglia.it/…
Perhaps, there are anecdotes within them that can help me. They may also have the books that he used to teach, assuming he used any. I have written to them asking if they could assist me, but haven't yet received a response.
In the meantime, I am trying to find information about the pedigogs of his time, so that I can at least learn the ideas and methods that he may have passed down to Schipa. But, of course, there were as many schools of thought as there were teachers. To make matters worse, Gerunda and Schipa themselves appeared to differ in their teaching style. While the former would tell the latter when he made mistakes in exercises, Schipa seemed to just give them and play the piano without giving much commentary. Ironically, Mercadante is said to have taught like that. From what I understand, if I did follow the regular bel canto style, I would need to work on notes, then scales and arpegios, then ornamentation, then songs/arias, all of this taking many years. It seems that Schipa didn't work on breath control, individual notes, tone, tamber, and so on with his students but went straight to vowels and scales. I don't know if this is from his own teacher or if it was his personal philosophy. I have definitely heard of the breath-first and larynx-first schools of thought, so it could stem from there.
People keep saying that i need to see a teacher, but most charge $100 or more per lesson, and at that rate, I can't afford more than two lessons per month. Plus, I want to find someone who knows the old ways, not modern ideas and terminology that I will need to unlearn. As it is, I am already studying harmony from "Harmony its theory and practice" by Ebenezer Prout, and Italian from "An Italian conversation grammar" by N Perini. It's just voice that is giving me a problem.
