Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff.
Tchaikovsky's opera tells the tragic tale of the young officer Hermann's obsession with gambling. An old Countess knows the secret of the winning cards, but, when Hermann confronts her and demands to know what it is, she dies. Returning later as an apparition, she offers Hermann the secret as a reward if he will marry her granddaughter Lisa. In the final scene of the opera Hermann wagers everything he has; the first two cards he chooses are winners, but the third, instead of being the winning ace, is the queen of spades. In desperation, Hermann stabs himself pleading for Lisa's forgiveness.
Lisa ..... Karita Mattila (soprano)
Paulina ..... Tamara Mumford (mezzo soprano)
The Countess ..... Dolora Zajick (mezzo soprano)
Ghermann ..... Vladimir Galouzine (tenor)
Tomsky ..... Alexej Markov (baritone)
Yeletsky ..... Peter Mattei (baritone)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera
Andris Nelsons ..... conductor.
On a personal note, this was the first opera I saw in London, at Sadlers Wells in the late 1960s. It wasn't particularly well attended, but I was bowled over by it, and rate it as the peak of Tchaikovsky's operatic works. (Having said that, my favourite remains "The Maid of Orleans".)
Nothing will stop me from listening to this broadcast.
Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff.
Tchaikovsky's opera tells the tragic tale of the young officer Hermann's obsession with gambling. An old Countess knows the secret of the winning cards, but, when Hermann confronts her and demands to know what it is, she dies. Returning later as an apparition, she offers Hermann the secret as a reward if he will marry her granddaughter Lisa. In the final scene of the opera Hermann wagers everything he has; the first two cards he chooses are winners, but the third, instead of being the winning ace, is the queen of spades. In desperation, Hermann stabs himself pleading for Lisa's forgiveness.
Lisa ..... Karita Mattila (soprano)
Paulina ..... Tamara Mumford (mezzo soprano)
The Countess ..... Dolora Zajick (mezzo soprano)
Ghermann ..... Vladimir Galouzine (tenor)
Tomsky ..... Alexej Markov (baritone)
Yeletsky ..... Peter Mattei (baritone)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera
Andris Nelsons ..... conductor.
On a personal note, this was the first opera I saw in London, at Sadlers Wells in the late 1960s. It wasn't particularly well attended, but I was bowled over by it, and rate it as the peak of Tchaikovsky's operatic works. (Having said that, my favourite remains "The Maid of Orleans".)
Nothing will stop me from listening to this broadcast.
Isn't it embarrassing when you make an utterance the turns out to be untrue. I'll be in London, at the the time of the broadcast, having been at the TUC demo against public service cuts.
)
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