La Cieca’s still thinking about yesterday’s stellar performance by Anna Netrebko in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, but she’s willing to listen to discussion about off-topic and general interest subjects as well.

La Cieca’s choice of chat topic today is of course I Capuleti e i Montecchi, as webcast from the Bavarian State Opera at 1:00 PM EDT. Our own Betsy Ann Bobolink, however, naturally has her own ideas, as she will expound after the jump.  

It’s a beautiful day for the races here at Parterre Park for the 55th Annual Swish Stakes, second leg of the world reknowned Triple Tiara. There’s an extraordinarily crowded field — 31 entrants — but by far the favorite is DON CARLO (1:00 RADIO 4 NETHERLANDS) despite earlier reports that he was brought up lame with the substitution of Marcelo Alvarez for Andrew Richards.

Strong contenders are ROMEO ET JULIETTE from Vancouver Opera (CBC TWO, at whatever time it happens to be in Canada) with Gordon Gietz as Romeo and Peter Volpe just standing around.; LA CLEMENZA DI TITO with Elina Garanca (DWOJKA POLSKIE at 1:00 and LATVIA RADIO KLASIKA at 2:00); and CYRANO DE BERGERAC from Madrid with Placido Domingo in the saddle (RADIO CLASICA DE ESPANA at 1:00)

A trio of yearlings are making their first appearance on any track. Judith Weir‘s MISS FORTUNE and Gerald Barry‘s THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST from BBC at 1:00; Nicola Porpora‘s SEMIRAMIS at 1:20 on DR P2; and de Marco Antonio Portugal’s LO SPAZZACAMINO PRINCIPE at 2:00 on ESPACE 2. Wait, that makes four, doesn’t it? Hey, ya want John Nash, call Russell Crowe. Which brings up another subject. Why would anybody name their kid “Portugal”? I don’t think we have any composers named ‘Fred Massachusetts’ or ‘Elsie Oklahoma.” And if you bring up Emma Nevada, you’re just going to make me mad. Or Paolo Washington. Or Joe Montana.

In the middle of the pack for the Run for the Forsythias are quite a few who come up lame in the stretch. WERTHER with Rolando Villazon (11:00, LRT KLASIKA); TALES OF HOFFMAN from Chicago (various stations, various time); LA GIOCONDA (1:30 CESKY ROZHLAS); LE COMTE ORY from Geneva (1:30 NPR); I VESPRI SICILIANI from Geneva ( 1:00 RTP Antena 2), EUGENE ONEGIN from Los Angeles (1:00 KUSC); MAHAGONNY (1:00 DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR), and LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR from Chicago (1:00 WFMT) despite the efforts of jockey Susanna Philips.

Some entries are from stables with good track records. NIXON IN CHINA from Canadian Opera (ESPACE MUSIQUE at noon); DIE WALKURE from Vienna (2:00 KLARA): ORLANDO from Brussells (1:00 NRK KLASSIK); LUISA MILLER from Florence (2:00 RADIO SLOVENIA TRETJI); and PETER GRIMES from La Scala (2:00 RADIO TRE), plus one thoroughbred, DIE WALKURE from Covent Garden, 1957, with Rudolf Kempe riding Birgit Nilsson hard. (2:00 RADIO STEPHANSDOM)

Rounding out the field:
Matthias Goerne sings “Winterreise” at 1:00 on BR KLASSIK
A fundraiser on KBYU at 1:00
Rene Jacobs‘ recording of COSI on WRR at 1:00
DIE ZAUBERFLOTE on BARTOK RADIO at 1:30
THE JACOBIN on RADIO OESTERREICH at 1:30
OBERTO on SVERIGES P2 at 1:30
IOLANTA and FRANCESCA DA RIMINI on LYRIC FM at 1:00
SWANWHITE and ALADDIN on RAI AUDITORIUM at 3:00
SAINT LUDMILA on CESKY ROZHLAS at 3:52

and . . . . . THEY’RE OFF !

La Cieca’s choice of chat topic today is of course I Capuleti e i Montecchi, as webcast from the Bavarian State Opera at 1:00 PM EDT. Our own Betsy Ann Bobolink, however, naturally has her own ideas, as she will expound after the jump.  

It’s a beautiful day for the races here at Parterre Park for the 55th Annual Swish Stakes, second leg of the world reknowned Triple Tiara. There’s an extraordinarily crowded field — 31 entrants — but by far the favorite is DON CARLO (1:00 RADIO 4 NETHERLANDS) despite earlier reports that he was brought up lame with the substitution of Marcelo Alvarez for Andrew Richards.

Strong contenders are ROMEO ET JULIETTE from Vancouver Opera (CBC TWO, at whatever time it happens to be in Canada) with Gordon Gietz as Romeo and Peter Volpe just standing around.; LA CLEMENZA DI TITO with Elina Garanca (DWOJKA POLSKIE at 1:00 and LATVIA RADIO KLASIKA at 2:00); and CYRANO DE BERGERAC from Madrid with Placido Domingo in the saddle (RADIO CLASICA DE ESPANA at 1:00)

A trio of yearlings are making their first appearance on any track. Judith Weir‘s MISS FORTUNE and Gerald Barry‘s THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST from BBC at 1:00; Nicola Porpora‘s SEMIRAMIS at 1:20 on DR P2; and de Marco Antonio Portugal’s LO SPAZZACAMINO PRINCIPE at 2:00 on ESPACE 2. Wait, that makes four, doesn’t it? Hey, ya want John Nash, call Russell Crowe. Which brings up another subject. Why would anybody name their kid “Portugal”? I don’t think we have any composers named ‘Fred Massachusetts’ or ‘Elsie Oklahoma.” And if you bring up Emma Nevada, you’re just going to make me mad. Or Paolo Washington. Or Joe Montana.

In the middle of the pack for the Run for the Forsythias are quite a few who come up lame in the stretch. WERTHER with Rolando Villazon (11:00, LRT KLASIKA); TALES OF HOFFMAN from Chicago (various stations, various time); LA GIOCONDA (1:30 CESKY ROZHLAS); LE COMTE ORY from Geneva (1:30 NPR); I VESPRI SICILIANI from Geneva ( 1:00 RTP Antena 2), EUGENE ONEGIN from Los Angeles (1:00 KUSC); MAHAGONNY (1:00 DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR), and LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR from Chicago (1:00 WFMT) despite the efforts of jockey Susanna Philips.

Some entries are from stables with good track records. NIXON IN CHINA from Canadian Opera (ESPACE MUSIQUE at noon); DIE WALKURE from Vienna (2:00 KLARA): ORLANDO from Brussells (1:00 NRK KLASSIK); LUISA MILLER from Florence (2:00 RADIO SLOVENIA TRETJI); and PETER GRIMES from La Scala (2:00 RADIO TRE), plus one thoroughbred, DIE WALKURE from Covent Garden, 1957, with Rudolf Kempe riding Birgit Nilsson hard. (2:00 RADIO STEPHANSDOM)

Rounding out the field:
Matthias Goerne sings “Winterreise” at 1:00 on BR KLASSIK
A fundraiser on KBYU at 1:00
Rene Jacobs‘ recording of COSI on WRR at 1:00
DIE ZAUBERFLOTE on BARTOK RADIO at 1:30
THE JACOBIN on RADIO OESTERREICH at 1:30
OBERTO on SVERIGES P2 at 1:30
IOLANTA and FRANCESCA DA RIMINI on LYRIC FM at 1:00
SWANWHITE and ALADDIN on RAI AUDITORIUM at 3:00
SAINT LUDMILA on CESKY ROZHLAS at 3:52

and . . . . . THEY’RE OFF !

We’re all saddened by the news that Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau passed away yesterday, aged 86. His voice is one of the chief ingredients of the musical bread that generations have fed upon: I certainly got to know and love the baritone Lieder repertoire from his recordings. One eternal favourite is the Schumann Dichterliebe, recorded with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano; I had the LP and nearly wore it out.

Tributes around the web are many and varied. Here is the obituary from The Telegraph. And below our chosen songs – including ‘Im wunderschoenen Monat Mai’, of course, from that Dichterliebe – is a transcript of an interview that Dame Janet Baker gave on BBC R3′s In Tune yesterday in which she gives her personal memories of this great man and towering artist.

On Music Matters today (at 12.15) you can hear Tom Service interviewing the mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig and the pianist Murray Perahia about him, and another chance to hear two interviews with “DFD” himself.
  
Roger Wright Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Director of the BBC Proms offers us a tribute of his own:   

“The loss of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau brings to a close a significant era in classical music. His unique artistry was wide-ranging and above all his singing defined the art of lieder performance and set new standards for future generations.”

Anyone who stares at the opera schedule for June knows that this soprano with history of canceling isn’t going to show for that Italian gig. So certain are her co-stars about her defection that they are already making discreet inquiries about a replacement.

Anyone who stares at the opera schedule for June knows that this soprano with history of canceling isn’t going to show for that Italian gig. So certain are her co-stars about her defection that they are already making discreet inquiries about a replacement.

Yet another reason (as if we needed one!) to adore Stefan Herheim: in explicating his Konzept for Handel’s Serse, he uses the expression “eine barocke Muppetshow.”

Yet another reason (as if we needed one!) to adore Stefan Herheim: in explicating his Konzept for Handel’s Serse, he uses the expression “eine barocke Muppetshow.”

Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died earlier today near Starnberg in Bavaria. The celebrated interpreter of Lieder and opera singer was 86. [Berliner Morgenpost]