Category Archives: Verdi
Rigoletto in HD – 2022
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th January 2022The Met seems to have a problem finding the locale of Verdi’s dark masterpiece. They moved it from Mantua to Las Vegas in 2013. That production didn’t last long; it was replaced this year by one set in the capital city of the Weimar Republic. Why? Who knows? Which site is weirder? Hard to tell….
› Read the full entry
Finale 30 – Luisa Miller Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th August 2021Luisa Miller was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples in 1849. It was Verdi’s 15th opera (if you count Jérusalem the rewrite of I Lombardi for Paris as a separate work). It didn’t reach the Met until 1929 when it had six performances extending into 1930. The cast was a grand one. It…
› Read the full entry
Finale 29 – La Traviata Act 2
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th May 2021La Traviata is an opera full of highlights. Much of its music its familiar to listeners who are not opera enthusiasts. But popular as it is, the finale to the second act is rarely heard apart from a complete performance. Nevertheless, this ensemble is one of Verdi’s grandest achievements. The world’s most popular opera, Traviata…
› Read the full entry
Nonets and More
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th December 2020Writing for nine distinct voices in opera is rare. I can only think of two examples without a deep dive into opera arcana [If there are other examples, let me know]. First, Act 1 scene 2 of Verdi’s Falstaff. And if that’s not enough Verdi goes on to write for 10. This complex writing occurs…
› Read the full entry
The Verdi Soprano – Pace, Pace, Mio Dio!
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th August 2020Verdi wrote soprano parts for a variety of vocal types. The roles of Abigaille (Nabucco), Violetta (Traviata), and Leonora (Trovatore and Forza) have quite different requirements. The first asks for a spinto capable of both forceful declamation and great agility, but floated high notes and a velvet tone are not needed. Traviata seems as though…
› Read the full entry
Finale 24 – La Forza Del Destino
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st July 2020Verdi started to threaten to retire before he was 50. After composing Un Ballo in Maschera he said he was done and that the life of a gentleman farmer was to be his for the remainder of his life. In 1861 he was approached by the great tenor Enrico Tamberlick, acting as an agent for…
› Read the full entry
Verdi Otello Kaufmann
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd July 2020Jonas Kaufmann sang the title role Otello for the first time in 2017. The venue was London’s Royal Opera House. Antonio Pappano conducted then as he does on the CD of Verdi’s masterpiece issued earlier this year by Sony . Both tenor and conductor seemed to have a slightly tenuous grasp of Verdi’s penultimate opera…
› Read the full entry
Finale 23 – Otello Act 3
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th May 2020I’ve previously written about this finale, but it’s so good that I thought I’d post another version of it to compliment the three posted in June 2018. The great concertatos that fill Verdi’s operas return in a spectacular conclusion to Act 3 of Verdi’s Otello. Though Verdi’s great ensembles are glorious and unsurpassed, they had…
› Read the full entry
On Retirement
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd May 2020Embalming fluid – the only cure for presidential fever* Forced retirement is now imposed on much of the world, I thought it of interest to comment on the retirement of four great figures, three of whom are not usually thought of as ever being retired. The fourth is a strange case of premature retirement. The…
› Read the full entry
Church Scenes
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th April 2020I recently wrote about the last few minutes of the first act of Tosca, which is set in a church – Sant’Andrea della Valle. There are other operas which have scenes in a church or houses of worship, five are presented below. Giacomo Meyerbeer was a German composer who tried to follow the style of…
› Read the full entry
