San Francisco Opera is in the midst of its month-long festival dedicated to Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.” In the coming weeks, Lois Silverstein will explore her experience not only revisiting the 2018 opera production but several of the events and panels presented by the company. Paul Thomasen and Anika E. Englehart gave a fine lecture on foremost Wagnerian soprano of the 2oth {…}
(Credit: Nasjonalbiblioteket – Flickr: Portrett av Kirsten Flagstad, ca 1940-45) The Kirsten Flagstad Festival has announced that this event will be taking place digitally through digital recordings, as well as live performances with a limited audience in attendance. The program is also set to include performances for children and families, as well as seminars, interviews, and more. This year’s festival {…}
What hasn’t been said about Kirsten Flagstad? She was once famously called the greatest voice of the 20th century and her legacy certainly bears this out. There is a museum in her honor in her homeland of Norway and her picture appears on Norwegian Air Shuttle planes. Born on July 12, 1895, in Norway, she received early musical training in {…}
During the first half of the 20th century, Kirsten Flagstad was THE Wagner soprano, her interpretations of the repertoire among the most famous of all time. Flagstad, for all her greatness, did not leave a lot of opera recordings, a true shame, especially considering the plethora of options available to singers shortly after her prime. The Metropolitan Opera did preserve {…}
Wagner’s first masterpiece “Der Fliegende Holländer” returns to the Metropolitan Opera on Tuesday, April 25 after a seven-year absence. Despite being well-known throughout the opera world, “The Flying Dutchman,” as translated in English, has had a rather interesting history at the Met marked by long hiatuses. The opera opened the 1889-1890 season in its first-ever performance. The cast that included {…}
Rudolf Bing’s name towers in the world of opera. The Austrian-born impresario, born on January 9, 1902, has an enduring legacy, in many ways tainted by the scandals and feuds Bing was known to have with the opera’s greatest figures and lesser-known figures during many of the company’s most tumultuous years. But to see the general manager who wielded his {…}
Ludwig Van Beethoven turned 246 on Friday, Dec. 16. Upon his death in 1827, the composer left behind veritable masterpieces of classical music. His most famous works are his nine symphonies, his piano sonatas and concertos and his string quartets. There was also one opera, “Fidelio.” The composer is said to have struggled to create this singular work, creating three {…}
