Christopher Maltman as Don Alfonso(Marty Sohl/The Metropolitan Opera)
Christopher Maltman will be featured in the upcoming broadcast of Mozart's Così fan tutte from the Metropolitan Opera as part of its Great Performances Series on Sunday, July 29, 2018. The broadcast begins at 12 PM EDT/9 AM PST.
The Met version of Mozart’s comedy about the sexes is set in a carnival-esque, funhouse environment inspired by 1950s Coney Island—complete with bearded ladies, fire eaters, and a Ferris wheel. Maltman stars as Don Alfonso, while Broadway star Kelli O’Hara takes on the role of the scheming maid Despina in a rare appearance on an operatic stage.
Upcoming broadcast's include Verdi's Luisa Miller and Massenet's Cendrillon with Joyce DiDonato.
Oscar Hammerstein II was born in New York City on July 12, 1895, to a family who worked in theater. His father, William, managed a vaudeville theater, while his grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I, was a famed opera impresario.
In 1920, he collaborated with a Columbia undergrad named Richard Rodgers in writing a Varsity Show called Fly with Me. Not long after, Hammerstein dropped out of grad school at Columbia to concentrate his efforts entirely on musical theater. While writing Rose Marie with Otto Harbach, Hammerstein met Jerome Kern. In 1925 the duo teamed up to write Show Boat. The successful musical put Hammerstein on the map as a writer and lyricist. Kern and Hammerstein went on to write a total of eight musicals together.
Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot perform "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific:
He eventually dissolved his partnership with Jerome Kern to partner up exclusively with that former Columbia undergrad, Richard Rodgers. The Rodgers and Hammerstein team quickly produced a smash hit: In 1943, their first Broadway musical together, Oklahoma!, won a Pulitzer Prize.
In 1950 the duo scored a second Pulitzer with the musical South Pacific. The 1950s and early 1960s produced a string of Tony-winning works for the team, including The King and I (1951) and The Sound of Music (1960).
Sir Thomas Allen sings Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Oh,
what a beautiful morning!' from 'Oklahoma' at the Last Night of the
Proms 2004.
Lucas Meachem sings "Soliloquy" from Carousel
A number of great songs that have been performed by baritones and bass-baritones were penned by Hammerstein including, A Fellow Needs A Girl (Allegro), Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful? (Cinderella), Edelweiss (The Sound Of Music), I Have Dreamed (The King And I), If I Loved You (Carousel), Lonely Room (Oklahoma!), Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' (Oklahoma!), Soliloquy (Carousel), Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific), Ten Minutes Ago (Cinderella), The Highest Judge Of All (Carousel), The Surrey With The Fringe On Top (Oklahoma!), This Nearly Was Mine (South Pacific) and You Are Never Away (Allegro).
While still in his professional prime, Oscar Hammerstein II lost his battle with stomach cancer on August 23, 1960. He died at his house in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In Hammerstein's memory the lights on Broadway were turned off at 9 pm that September 1.
The PBS show "Live from Lincoln Center" will broadcast the New York
Philharmonic's performance of Rodgers and
Hammerstein's Carousel on April 26th. The performance features barihunk Nathan Gunn as the carnival barker Billy Bigelow and Kelli O'Hara as Julie Jordan. But keep your eyes peeled for Timothy McDevitt in the ensemble. He's clearly the next generation of barihunkitude and may well be a Billy Bigelow in a future broadcast.
McDevitt will be singing Le Mari in Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence on June 14th and 15th. Nathan Gunn can currently be seen in Dominick Argento's The Aspern Papers at the Dallas Opera. There is one performance remaining on April 28th and tickets are available online.
Tony Award winner John Rando, who is best known for Urinetown and A Christmas Story, directed the performance. Check your local listings for broadcast times and stations in your area.
[ILLUSTRATION: MAURICE VELLEKOOP FOR THE NEW YORKER]
Set your recorders for Wednesday, August 18, 2010 when PBS will broadcast the highly acclaimed performance of South Pacific with Kelli O'Hara and barihunk Paolo Szot. Check your local PBS listing for times.
When this revival opened on April 3, 2008, Ben Brantley wrote in the New York Times, "I know we're not supposed to expect perfection in this imperfect world, but I'm darned if I can find one serious flaw in this production."
The production went on to win five Drama Desk Awards and 11 Tony nominations, winning in seven of the categories. Paolo Szot who has alternated between opera and Broadway has undeniably been the star of this show. As we mentioned in a previous post Szot will be performing in Don Giovanni in Dallas opening in October.
This is one man that you don't want to wash right out of your hair and it promises to be some enchanted evening.
Here is a video of O'Hara and Szot performing "Some Enchanted Evening" on The View.
