May 2008
Monthly Archive
Marietta’s Lied from Die Tote Stadt
Posted by John Schultz on 30 May 2008 | Tagged as: Videos
Anne Sofie von Otter does a wonderful job, even without the tenor.
And for those of you who want to hear with the tenor, here’s the amazing James King and Karan Armstrong. Somebody tell me where I can buy this on DVD…
Conductor does double duty as tenor loses voice
Posted by John Schultz on 30 May 2008 | Tagged as: News
Desperate times led to a remarkable solution in Verdi’s “Aida” at the Benedum Center last night: The conductor stepped in to sing for an ailing tenor.
That would be amazing enough, except that Antony Walker, the Pittsburgh Opera’s music director, didn’t leave the podium. In a rare occurrence indeed in the opera world, Mr. Walker conducted and sang the role of Radames in the final act of the opera while the tenor acted the role on stage.
“I trained as a singer for seven years and sometimes it comes in handy,” Mr. Walker said after the performance. “I never had to sing and conduct before and I hope I never have to do it again!”
Yesterday, tenor Vladimir Kuzmenko, cast as Radames, came down with the same bug that has sidelined mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe. Pittsburgh Opera management yesterday decided to fly in a tenor to sing the role if Mr. Kuzmenko couldn’t make it through the performance. But Eduardo Villa’s flight was delayed and Mr. Kuzmenko lost his voice by the end of the third of four acts.
Panic? No. Not when you have a tenor in the pit. Christopher Hahn, the Opera’s artistic director, knocked on Mr. Walker’s door and said, “Can you do it”?
“Act 4 is light and lyrical; It was feasible;” said Mr. Walker, who already had been steeling himself for the possibility. “It was the only way we could continue the opera.” …full article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette