Celebrating 150 years of Tristan und Isolde

René Pape as King Mark and Ryan McKinny as Kurnewal

Today we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Richard Wagner's masterpiece Tristan und Isolde. The opera premiered on June 10, 1865  at the Königliches Hof- und Nationaltheater in Munich.  

We were planning on doing a more comprehensive post, but due to time restraints, recommend that you listen to today's feature on WQXR. 

One of our favorite performances in recent years was Ryan McKinny role debut as Kurwenal in Christof Loy’s production at the Houston Grand Opera in the 2012-13 season featuring Ben Heppner and Nina Stemme as the lovers.
 
A couple performances featuring barihunks that we're looking forward to include René Pape singing König Marke in Munich from July 8-12, Kay Stiefermann as Ein Steuermann in Bayreuth from July 25-Aug 23 and Tommi Hakala as Kurnewal in Helsinki from May 14-28, 2016.

Birger Radde takes on Philip Glass' The Fall of the House of Usher

Birger Radde (center photo from The Fall of the House of Usher)

Philip Glass' The Fall of the House of Usher opens at the Theater Hof, where it will run through June 2015. It will also tour to Bayreuth for performances on April 11 and 12. Singing the role of William will be German tenor turned baritone Birger Radde, who is new to our site.

Birger Radde made his operatic debut in 2005 at the Leipzig Opera, with subsequent debuts at the Musikalische Komödie Leipzig and the Neuköllner Oper Berlin. He graduated from Yale with a Master of Music Degree in Voice in 2008, the year he permanently changed fachs.

In 2008, he performed the title role in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Virginia. In 2009, he created the leading role in Korngold's musical comedy The Silent Serenade, which was recorded by the German Label CPO.

He was a prizewinner of the International Opera Competition "Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg" in 2009. He is currently part of the ensemble at Theater Hof.

Tickets for performances at Theater Hof and Bayreuth are available online. 

Michael Nagy sings Wolfram's Lied

Michael Nagy

Here is Germanbarihunk Michael Nagy singing Wolfram's Lied from Wagner's romantic opera 'Tannhäuser' at this year's Bayreuth Festival. Nagy is performing the role through August 25. Barihunk Günther Groissböck is also in the cast as Landgraf Herrmann. Click HERE for additional cast and ticket information.



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Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Ariadne at Opéra De Paris

We've been following the career of Edwin Crossley-Mercer for a few years now. We've been particularly impressed by his wonderful lieder singing, which he honed in master classes with Thomas Quastoff and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The 28-year-old was trained as a clarinetist and sings with the beauty of line and tone of a wind player.

Although we admire him for his song recitals, we were thrilled to see him on the roster at the Opéra De Paris singing Harlequin in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos." (By the way, you don't want to miss Jane Archibald singing Zerbinetta). Performances begin tonight and run through the end of the month. You can watch a highlight video on their website.

Although opera is creeping onto his schedule, Crossley-Mercer still has plenty of lieder on his schedule. He has performed critically acclaimed renditions of Schubert's Winterreise at Bayreuth and at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, prompting one reviewer to call it the definitive portrayal of our time.

You can hear him perform "Auf dem Flusse" from Winterreise by clicking HERE and Frühlingstraum by clicking HERE.  There are also a number of clips on YouTube, including this rendition of Taüschung.

Schubert singing doesn't get much better than this.

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Michael Nagy in Rarely Heard Mozart

Michael Nagy rehearsing La finta giardiniera

We feature a lot of Mozart on this site and it tends to be the "Big 4": Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote, Le Nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan tutte. Mozart buffs are always on the lookout for his lesser performed works. Well, they are in luck, as the suberb Mozart conductor Rene Jacobs will be leading a performance of "La finta giardiniera" at the Theater an der Wien running from November 12-22.

Jacobs has assembled and all-star team for the production that includes barihunk Michael Nagy, director David Alden, soprano Alexandrina Pendatchanska and the wonderful tenor Topi Lehtipuu.  Word has it that Nagy actually appears in the production wearing a skirt, which should be worth the price of admission. 

Nagy, Jacobs and the cast from Vienna will also perform the opera at Madrid's Teatro Real opening on December 4th. You can also click HERE to view our most viewed barihunk ever, Gabriel Bermudez, performing La finta giardiniera in 2006 in Madrid.


Nagy fans will be delighted to know that he is scheduled to sing Wolfram in the new production of Tannhäuser at Bayreuth this summer. Complete cast lists have not been posted on the Bayreuth site yet.

Nathan Gunn & Nicolas Teste coming to Vienna

Theater an der Wien will also be featuring two other barihunks this season. Nicolas Testé will perform Jupiter in Rameau's "Castor and Pollux" opening on January 20, 2011 followed by Nathan Gunn as Tarquinius in Britten's "Rape of Lucretia." If you've been planning a trip to France, this would be the time to go.

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