. . . And the Show Continued to the End
American soprano Joyce DiDonato was singing Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia on opening night at London’s Royal Opera House on the fourth of July. Unfortunately, she slipped and fell early in the opera, hurting her ankle. She thought it was a bad sprain and continued the performance held up by a decorated crutch and her cast mates: Juan Diego Flórez, Alessandro Corbelli, and Ferruccio Furlanetto.
After the show, the physician in a hospital emergency room told her that she had broken her fibula. The doctor was amazed that she was able to continue singing with that injury. Reviewers raved, and at least one of them pointed out that Flórez sang the most difficult aria, “Cessa di più resistere” while holding up his Rosina.
DiDonato insisted she would continue in the role until the end of her scheduled run— but asked that no one ever again tell her, as is American tradition before a stage performance, to “break a leg.”
yankeediva.blogspot.com
Does Orlando, Fla., Have an Edifice Complex?
Since Orlando Opera has filed for Chapter Seven bankruptcy, the Orlando Philharmonic is deciding whether or not to present what is being called “staged concert opera” for the 2009-10 season. The question is whether or not there will be a full-fledged opera company to fill the prescribed niche in the new $425 million Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center, which was expected to open in 2012. Since construction has not started on time, the opening may well be delayed to the consternation of artists and opera fans alike.
United Arts of Central Florida has earmarked $200,000 to keep opera alive in the area, and some of it will go to the Philharmonic if it presents one or more performances. United Arts hopes to help a new company begin performing in Orlando. Meanwhile, some of its money will go to filmed performances from the Metropolitan Opera.
www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-united-arts-budget-062609,0,4990107.story
www.orlandopac.org/
N.Y.C. Opera Lovers Volunteer to Create Amore Opera
On the last weekend in June, volunteers from all over the New York metropolitan area got together to move scenery and costumes from the old Amato Opera warehouse to a new one rented for the budding Amore Opera. They donated their time, energy, and quite a bit of money, demonstrating that love of opera is vital and ongoing in the Big Apple.
The Amore company hopes to take up where Amato left off. Performances are expected to start during the 2009-10 season.
www.amoreopera.org
Opera, Music for the Heart
According to the BBC, listening to the right kind of music slows the heart and lowers the blood pressure. At the University of Pavia in Italy, Dr. Luciano Bernardi tested 24 healthy volunteers who listened to five tracks of classical music while their breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure were monitored. Selections were from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Puccini’s Turandot, and Verdi’s Nabucco and La traviata, as well as from a Bach cantata.
Bernardi found that musical crescendos led to higher blood pressure, while diminuendos fostered relaxation, lower heart and respiration rates, and lower blood pressure. Opera, with its alternating tempi, was found to be particularly beneficial.
Representatives of the American Heart Association found the results of the study “fascinating,” and some hope such musical therapy might help people with disabilities, those suffering from heart and brain ailments, as well as premature babies.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8112247.stm
www.themedguru.com/20090623/newsfeature/music-affects-cardiovascular-system-86122911.html
France Gets New Culture Minister
Writer, producer, film director, and television presenter Frédéric Mitterrand has become the new Minister of Culture in Paris. A nephew of the late French president, Mitterrand had been the head of Villa Médicis, the French Academic and Cultural Center in Rome, until June of 2009.
Among the issues he will address are raising the quality of public television, reforming the payment system for temporary employees, and setting an Internet copyright policy. It is hoped that the appointment of this renowned opera filmmaker will inspire new creativity among French artists.
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/23/mitterand-sarkozy-culture-minister
35,000-Year-Old Flute Found in Germany
In the southwest area of Germany in what is now Ulm, 35,000 to 40,000 years ago an artistically minded human took the hollow bone of a Griffon Vulture and cut five holes into it so that it could produce different tones, according to the New York Times. Thus, he or she made what may be the oldest flute to come down to us in the 21st century.
This Stone Age pipe helps us to understand the place of music in primitive society. The flute is the most elemental instrument after percussion. Its music may well have been used to strengthen social bonds and could have played a part in the survival of Homo sapiens.
www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/science/25flute.html
