OPERA Headliners of the Year
LOS
ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
For the
Bach bicentennial in 2000, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic recorded a
critically acclaimed disc of orchestral transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach.
Other recent recordings from the conductor include Mahler’s Das Lied von der
Erde with
Bo Skovhus
and Placido
Domingo and the Sibelius and Goldmark violin concertos with Joshua Bell. Other
recent projects include a recording of John Corigliano's Oscar-winning
original score, featuring Joshua Bell, for the film The Red Violin
Shostakovich's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Yefim Bronfman and an album
of music by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, titled Sensemayá. For
international release outside the U.S., Salonen and the Philharmonia have
recorded for Sony Classical a disc of the music of Finnish composer Magnus
Lindberg Concentrating on the twentieth-century orchestral repertoire, Salonen
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have built a catalogue of recordings that
includes Györgi Ligeti’s recent opera Le Grand Macabre Bartók's Concerto for
Orchestra and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and an all-Debussy
disc that includes La Mer and Prélude ŕ l'aprčs-midi d'un faune.
Yefim Bronfman
has recorded works by Prokofiev, Bartók, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and others, and
has performed with the world's top orchestras and conductors. His performance
of Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2 is featured in Disney's Fantasia/2000.
He performed the piece live at gala screenings of the film in New York,
London, Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles.
They were
recipients of a 1996 Grammy Award for their Sony Classical recording, with
pianist
Yefim Bronfman,
of the Bartók piano concertos, and their critically acclaimed recording of the
film music of Bernard Herrmann was nominated for a 1997 Grammy. Esa-Pekka
Salonen was born in Helsinki in 1958. After studies at the Sibelius Academy in
Finland and with private teachers Franco Donatoni and Niccolň Castiglioni in
Italy, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
in 1979. He has been one of the world’s most sought-after conductors since his
debut in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra in September 1983. Since then
he has appeared with major orchestras throughout Europe and North America,
serving as principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia of London from 1985
to 1994, and as principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
from 1985 to 1995. Salonen served as artistic director of the Helsinki
Festival in 1995-96; he also served as Music Director of the 1999 Ojai
Festival.
Carmen
At The New Vic Theatre,
Newcastle-Under-Lyme.
You get a superior kind of
check-out girl in these parts of Staffordshire. They scan, they pack, and they
even sing you an aria while they do it. Extra points on your reward card, and
a burst of Bizet to boot.
Under the guidance of associate director Chris Monks,
the New Vic has become a haven of the operatically unexpected in recent years.
Monks has already devised radical makeovers for The Marriage of Figaro and The
Magic Flute: now it is the turn of Bizet's masterpiece to be transplanted from
a square in Seville to a shopping mall in Stoke. There is of course an
immediate obstacle to this concept, given the general paucity of
superstar toreadors in the Potteries. But there could well be an overpaid
Italian striker shipped in to boost the fortunes of the local team. Carmen has
already proved to be the most adaptable of classic operas, whether in the
hands of Oscar Hammerstein or Matthew Bourne, but Monks acquits himself well
in this company. His technique is to cheekily debunk grand opera without
trivialising its drama, so that the raw, visceral passion bursts through.
Indeed, Renny Krupinski's bruising fight sequences underline just what an
ugly, violent opera Carmen can be. Bizet's score is adroitly reduced and
creditably delivered by a fine cast of singing actors. In the title role,
Kirsty Malpass gives a gutsy, sultry performance as an ambitious girl who
progresses from check-out counter to Premiership consort. Jason McCann is
clean-cut and even-toned as Johnny Jay, the callow security guard she
callously discards. There's plaintive work also from Siubhan Harrison as
Johnny's abandoned sweetheart, Michele. But the evening is effortlessly
dominated by the radiant charisma of Matt Rawle as Tony Amor, the randy
Sicilian worth multiple millions. Though I doubt whether Rawle's rich baritone
and smouldering looks would significantly improve Stoke City's promotion
chances this season, he might work wonders for their merchandising. -Alfred
Hiking.