Wilhelmenia Fernandez News
American opera singer
- soprano
- United States of America
- actor, opera singer
Last update
2024-03-28
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2024-02-05 09:17:00
Low comedy & sophisticated satire: New Sussex Opera revives John Frederick Lampe's The Dragon of Wantley
We often forget that 18th century audiences enjoyed a good laugh as much as their modern day counterparts, live wasn't just opera seria and uplifting oratorio. One of the comic masterpieces of the period, John Frederick Lampe's delightfully satirical opera, The Dragon of Wantley, has remained puzzlingly neglected, with performances only happening once in a while. Perhaps the fact that there is no definitive score does not help. Written in the 1730s by a musician who played the bassoon in Handel's orchestra, it proved popular and almost certainly performers of the time took a creative view of it. This is reflected in the two surviving scores, one without recitatives and the other heavily cut (presumably a shorter touring version). However, in 2022, Resonus Classics issued a terrific new recording of the opera [see my review].The good news is that New Sussex Opera is presenting a new production of The Dragon of […]
2024-02-04 11:53:00
The Golden Cockerel, Komische Oper, 3 February 2024
SchillertheaterKing Dodon – Alexander Roslavets Prince Guidon – Pavel Valuzhin Prince Aphron – Hubert Zapiór General Polkan – Alexander Vassiliev Amelfa – Margarita Nekrasova Golden Cockerel – Julia Muzychenko, Daniel Daniela Ojeda Yrureta Queen of Shemakha – Kseniia Proshina Astrologer – James Kryshak First Boyar – Taiki Miyashita Second Boyar – Jan-Frank Süße Dancers – Michael Fernandez, Lorenzo Soragni, Silvano Marraffa, Kai Chun ChungDirector – Barrie KoskyAssistant director – Denni SayersSet design – Rufus DidwiszusCostumes – Victoria BehrChoreography – Otto PichlerDramaturgy – Olaf A. Schmitt, Meike LieserLighting – Franck Evin Orchestra and Chorus of the Komische Oper (chorus director: David Cavelius)James Gaffigan (conductor)Images: Monika Rittershaus Two productions, very different, of Rimsky-Korsakov’s last opera, The Golden Cockerel, within two years: James Conway for English Touring Opera, which I saw in Hackney, and now Barrie Kosky’s new production for Berlin’s Komische Oper in its temporary home in Charlottenburg. Both are experienced, though neither was […]
2023-10-23 03:30:00
Recent Releases No. 62 (CD Reviews)
by Karl Nehring Something that these three releases all have in common is they all boast audiophile-quality sound. Two of them, in fact, are from label with audiophile credentials: Reference Recordings and Sono Luminus. The third is from Hyperion, a small label from the UK that although not necessarily known as an audiophile label, has produced some superbly engineered recordings. To be honest, recording technology and practices have come a long way over the past 50 years. Many labels almost routinely release recordings that would have been considered “audiophile-quality” back in the 1970s when the underground audio magazines started touting such things. That said, we sometimes come across recordings that just seem to have something special about their sound quality. Note also that these three are not the stereotypical audiophile spectaculars featuring booming bass drums or huge brass choirs; no, these are recordings of chamber music. Enjoy! Spanish Impressions. Enrique Fernandez Arbos: Trois Pièces originales […]
2023-02-09 08:00:00
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