The May issue of OperaNews, the magazine published by the Metropolitan Opera in NYC, is devoted to Scandinavian opera. There are some very interesting articles, one with the new artistic director of the Stockholm Royal Opera, Birgitta Svendén, another about the old court theater at the Drottningholm Castle, and much more. Check out their web-site www.operanews.com. There you can also hear sound-clips of Scandinavian Wagner singers from the 30′s.
If you look in the April issue online there’s an interview with André Previn about his new opera “Brief Encounter”, world-premiere will be at the Houston Grand Opera in a couple of weeks. We just started rehearsing last week, and haven’t heard it with the singers yet, and they are constantly changing the orchestra parts between rehearsals. I guess mr. Previn are still finding things he wants to improve! From what I can tell so far, the music is very accessible and melodic. It sounds a bit like movie-music, which make sense because it’s based on an old movie. What cracked me up when I read the interview with mr. Previn was that this story was suggested to him by his fifth wife, (now divorced) Anne-Sophie Mutter! For being eighty years old, he’s getting around!
