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Opera Online- Liked Tosca?

Welcome Students and Teachers to Opera Online! This week we will be wrapping up our discussion on Tosca. There are two more chances to see Tosca, Friday, May 6th at 8 PM and Sunday, May 8th at 2:30 PM. A reminder for teachers, please send in your surveys for Tosca. Students please send us your thoughts on Tosca, whether you loved it or hated it. Your review should be at least 50 words or more. Include your first name, school and grade in your post. Don't forget to support your opinion!

Video Clips of the Week!
Liked Tosca? This week's video clips feature other great Puccini operas.

The first clip is from La Fanciulla del West which translates to "The Golden Girl of the West". The Opera takes place in California during the 1850's gold rush. A mysterious stranger, Johnson, shows up at the miner's camp and falls in love with the local bar owner, Minnie. The sheriff Rance, who is in love with Minnie himself, is suspicious of the newcomer and discovers that Johnson is the bandit Ramerrez and sets to kill the outlaw. The video clip is from the 1983 production of La Fanciulla del West at Covent Garden. Johnson, played by tenor Placido Domingo, has been caught by Sheriff Rance and is about to be hanged. In the aria "Ch'ella mì creda libero" Johnson asks as his final request that Minnie be told that he is far away and free.

The second clip is from Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut, which will be a part of the 2011-2012 season of the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Manon Lescaut takes place in Paris, France. Manon falls in love with the poor student des Grieux then leaves him for the wealthy Geronte. In this video clip Manon, played by Adina Nitescu, remembers her affair with des Grieux and recalls their happy home. Thiago Arancam will be returning to OCP to play des Grieux.


"Ch'ella mì creda libero" La Fanciulla del West, Covent Garden, 1983
Placido Domingo (translation below)



English translation:
Let her believe I’m far away and free
Ahead to a new life of redemption!…
She will wait for me to return…
And the days will pass,
and I would not be coming back..
Minnie, the only flower of my life,
Minnie, you who love me so much!…
Ah, you’re the only flower of my life!


"In quelle trine morbide" Manon Lescaut, Adina Nitescu




Website of the Week!
Want to learn more about the 2011-2012 season at the Opera Company of Philadelphia? Click here to find out more about Manon Lescaut and other upcoming productions.


Opera in Philly!
Can't get enough of opera? The Academy of Vocal Arts will be presenting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni from April 30th to May 14th. Come and see up and coming opera stars tell the story of the womanizer, Don Giovanni. For more information on Academy of Vocal Arts, visit their website at http://www.avaopera.org/ or call 215-735-1685. From May 5th to May 8th, Curtis Opera Theater will be presenting another Mozart classic, Idomeneo. Join the young opera singers of the Curtis Institute of Music in this classic greek tale of love and betrayal. For more information on Curtis Opera Theatre, visit their website at http://www.curtis.edu/ or call 215-893-7902.


Opera On the Air
On Saturday, May 7 at 1 PM WRTI will be broadcasting the The Metropolitan Opera production of Richard Strauss's Adriadne auf Naxos. Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera in two parts--the Prologue and the Opera. The first part shows the backstage circumstances leading up to the second part, which is, in fact, an opera within an opera. Conducted by Fabio Luisi the broadcast stars Soprano Violeta Urmana as Ariadne, tenor Robert Dean Smith as Bacchus, Kathleen Kim as Zerbinetta, baritone Thomas Allen as the Music Master, and mezzo soprano and AVA graduate Joyce DiDonato in the pants role of the Composer.


Until next week!!

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