Opera

Berlioz’ “Les Troyens,” “Vallon Sonore” (Hylas’ Song): Ryland Davies

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The aria, Vallon sonore, which opens the fifth act of Hector Berlioz’ sprawling 1858 grand opera, Les Troyens, is a dreamy song of homesickness. It is sung by Hylas, a young Phrygian sailor who, having arrived in the harbor of Carthage, longs to return to his “native valley.” The aria’s serene, hypnotic underlying rhythm evokes the “gently rocking” waves on which Hylas could sail home. Only briefly is the tranquillity interrupted by …

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Mussorgsky’s “Mysterious Powers” from “Khovanshchina”: Dolora Zajick

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Modest Mussorgsky’s opera, Khovanshchina, is set in a dark and politically unstable period of Russian history. The five-act “national music drama,” composed in Saint Petersburg between 1872 and 1880, tells the story of the 1682 rebellion, led by Prince Ivan Khovansky and the Old Believers, against Peter the Great. Additionally, the plot involves the disloyalty of the corrupt Prince Vasily Golitsyn. At its center, the conflict is between the continuation of a …

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Remembering Stephen Gould

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Stephen Gould, the world-renowned tenor, passed away on September 19 in Chesapeake, Virginia. After withdrawing from  scheduled appearances at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany over the summer, Gould announced that he had been diagnosed with incurable bile duct cancer. He was 61. A leading interpreter of Wagner, Stephen Gould performed regularly at Bayreuth, where he was hailed as the “Wagner Marathon Man.” Following a musical theater stint which included a Broadway touring …

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Mozart’s “Il Re Pastore”: Excerpts from a Youthful Opera

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Mozart’s two-act opera, Il re pastore (“The Shepherd King”), K. 208, written to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, tells a fanciful story in which love and faithfulness triumph over ambition. The following brief synopsis is provided by Opera Online: Alessandro, king of Macedonia (soprano), having just conquered the city of Sidon, wants it to be ruled by Aminta (soprano), the young legitimate heir who became a shepherd after he was removed from the throne …

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Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” (1869 Version): “Death Does Not Frighten Me”

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Set in Russia between 1598 and 1605, Modest Mussorgsky’s opera, Boris Godunov, tells the story of a Tsar who usurps the throne by brutal means, bears witness to the suffering of his people, and, as a result of his misdeeds, descends into loneliness, remorse, paranoia, and madness, leading to his ultimate death. In the end, it is the Russian people, represented by a mighty chorus in the opera’s epic Coronation Scene, which endures. …

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Schumann’s “Genoveva” Overture: Dramatic Music From a Neglected Opera

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Genoveva was Robert Schumann’s only opera. The tragic drama in four acts premiered in Leipzig in June of 1850. The unsuccessful original production received only three performances, and, with the exception of the Overture, the work fell into obscurity. As with Wagner’s Lohengrin, which was written during the same period of time and premiered in August of 1850, Genoveva is based on a medieval German legend. Genoveva, the wife of Siegfried, Count of Brabante, …

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Remembering Renata Scotto

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Renata Scotto, the eminent Italian soprano, passed away last Wednesday, August 16 in her native city of Savona. She was 89. Scotto made her operatic debut in 1952, performing the role of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata in Savona. The next day, she performed the same role at Milan’s Teatro Nuovo. Her La Scala debut came in 1957, when she appeared in the title role of Catalani’s La Wally in a production …

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