a southern gal in the north

Nigella Lawson’s new ONLINE store….. <sigh>

Thanks to the diligent efforts of M. La Cieca, now you can get all those wonderful ‘Unnatural Acts’ you may have missed (or mislaid)… check it out 

La Cieca’s Podcast Archives

From IONARTS

Wagner, Der fliegende Holländer, Thomas Stewart, Gwyneth Jones, Bayreuther Festspiele, Karl Böhm (re-released June 12, 2007)

When the distinguished American bass-baritone Thomas Stewart died last year, it was one of several signs that the representatives of a golden age of opera singing were disappearing. Birgit Nilsson, Renata Tebaldi, Victoria de Los Angeles, and others died, followed this year by Beverly Sills. This year, Deutsche Grammophon re-released a classic live recording of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, spliced together from several performances in the summer of 1971, with Thomas Stewart in the title role. Being only two years old at the time, I missed that one and was happy indeed to have the chance to appreciate Stewart’s voice in its heyday. The Dutchman’s opening monologue as preserved here is electrifying, dark, and full of desperate terror, in spite of the sometimes less than ideal sound quality, complete with inelegant joining of spliced sections and prompter’s whispers.

RTWT

LOOKIE LOOKIE what came in the mail on Wednesday!

So  now I am a novice in the bee fields……

Vintage ‘Ring’ cycle released for the first time
Published 07/26/2007

by Tim Pfaff

Astrid Varnay, backstage in Bayreuth.
Photo: Courtesy Testament

Like migratory birds in their summer plumage, True Wagnerites will make their annual return to the Green Hill — as insiders call the theater complex Richard Wagner established at Bayreuth, in large measure to stage his monumental cycle, the four-opera Der Ring des Nibelungen — on July 26 for the first of this summer’s Rings. But even they could be forgiven for not recognizing a single name in the cast in a production created to showcase conductor Christian Thielemann, Bayreuth’s Best Boy.

If you don’t fly in their flock or haven’t been on the Bayreuth Festival’s ticket waiting list for a decade, an alternative Bayreuth Ring can be yours by way of the first-ever release of the 1955 Bayreuth Ring conducted by Joseph Keilberth and recorded live in the cycle of July 24-28 (Testament). Its cast, a cross-section of the singers assembled by the composer’s grandson Wieland Wagner for his legendary “New Bayreuth” productions after the house re-opened after World War II, includes many of the greatest Wagnerian singers of the second half of the 20th century.

RTWT  Bayreuth back-story | The Bay Area Reporter Online.

Photos from here, Thanks to Wagneroperas.com from last year as BF is not releasing any photos this year (still what is up with that?)

Start time 955 am EDT Wednesday 1 August 2007
Operacast has the webstreaming information

Dirigent   Christian Thielemann
Chorleitung  Eberhard Friedrich
Inszenierung  Tankred Dorst
Bühnenbild  Frank Philipp Schlößmann
Kostüme  Bernd Ernst Skodzig
 
Siegfried  Stephen Gould
Gunther  Ralf Lukas
Hagen  Hans-Peter König
Alberich  Andrew Shore
Brünnhilde  Linda Watson
Gutrune  Edith Haller
Waltraute  Mihoko Fujimura
1. Norn  Simone Schröder
2. Norn  Martina Dike
3. Norn  Edith Haller
Woglinde  Fionnuala McCarthy
Wellgunde  Ulrike Helzel
Flosshilde  Marina Prudenskaja

 

2:15am [Documentary] Dick Cavett Show, The: Ingmar Bergman (1971)
Director Ingmar Bergman appears on The Dick Cavett Show in an interview that originally aired August 2, 1971.
C-54 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned]

3:15am [Drama] Seventh Seal, The (1957) buy now
A medieval knight challenges Death to a chess game to save himself and his friends.
Cast: Max von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot, Gunnar Bjornstrand. Dir: Ingmar Bergman. BW-96 mins, TV-PG

5:00am [Documentary] Dick Cavett Show, The: Ingmar Bergman (1971)
Director Ingmar Bergman appears on The Dick Cavett Show in an interview that originally aired August 2, 1971.
C-54 mins, TV-G

Turner Classic Movie Schedule – TCM Channel Guide.

Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl
Designed by Sivia Harding
Started July 2 (?)
Completed knitting July 29th
Yarn – Rowan True 4 ply Botany Nettle

Well, its all done but for the blocking – and I am thrilled!  Was most worried about running out of yarn – and JUST made it (the yarn has been discontinued forever!)  Not that hard a knit mainly keeping track of which chart when – at one point I had three pages with markers on my “knitting stand” (a music stand) by the sofa (my knitting spot).  You have to knit many of the charts in reverse which took a bit to get used to – but was fine as I didn’t really want to rewrite those charts.

Once our humid weather goes away  – hopefully Wed – I can block and finish.

More photos of unblocked state

This year’s offerings include 

CANDIDE 
ORLANDO FURIOSO 
L’ORFEO  
ORPHEUS & OEDIPUS REX  
DIDO AND AENEAS & PRIMA LA MUSICA, POI LE PAROLE 
CAPRICCIO 

BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting these after the Festival ends… see here for schedule of all broadcasts from the Festival.

Some other goodies:

Friday 14 September at 7pm – Performance on 3
A CELEBRATION OF FRANCIS POULENC
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
David Jones Chorus Master
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Stéphane Denève Conductor

Dame Gillian Weir Organ
Christine Brewer Soprano

Poulenc Stabat Mater
Poulenc Organ Concerto
Poulenc Excerpts from Dialogues des Carmélites

Wednesday 29th August at 1pm – Lunchtime Concert
Mark Padmore – tenor
WALKING TO LÜBECK

Bach Cantata BWV 55 ‘Ich armer Mensch’
Bach Cantata BWV 82 ‘Ich habe genug’
Bach Recitative and Aria from Cantata
Bach BWV 161 ‘Komm, du süsse Todesstunde’
Buxtehude Klaglied

Christian Thielemann conducting SIEGFRIED  9:55 am EDT (see Operacast website for streaming) 

with American born Stephen Gould as Siegfried (2^nd year in role) 

BTW has anyone else noticed that there are NO photos on the Bayreuth Festival website this year?  Last year they did.  hmmm….

Siegfried   Stephen Gould 
Mime  Gerhard Siegel
Der Wanderer  Albert Dohmen
Alberich  Andrew Shore
Fafner  Hans-Peter König
Erda  Mihoko Fujimura
Brünnhilde  Linda Watson
Stimme des
Waldvogels  Robin Johannsen

Dirigent   Christian Thielemann
Inszenierung  Tankred Dorst
Bühnenbild  Frank Philipp Schlößmann
Kostüme  Bernd Ernst Skodzig