Opera is magic!

Monday, 22 June 2009

Joyce di Donato, Joseph Calleja and Thomas Hampson tomorrow at the ROH with Antonio Pappano

WOW!!!!!

DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY AND ANTONIO PAPPANO IN CONCERTWednesday 24 June at 7.30pm

I am very sorry to be sending you yet another email regarding our concert this Wednesday, 24 June. It seems only yesterday that I wrote to tell you about Rolando Villazón's unavoidable withdrawal due to a serious throat condition and of the wonderful Dmitri Hvorostovsky stepping into the breach. Unfortunately Dmitri Hvorostovsky is now also under doctors' orders to completely rest his voice and it is with great regret that he has had to cancel all his current engagements. We are, of course, very disappointed not to be hearing Dmitri and hope he will soon be fully recovered.

We have therefore turned to some of the wonderful singers that we have with us here at the moment and I am very pleased to be able to tell you that the dazzling American mezzo Joyce DiDonato (Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia), and the young and charismatic Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and the celebrated American baritone Thomas Hampson, both appearing in La traviata - have agreed to join Antonio Pappano for what we anticipate to be a very exciting evening. Also participating will be the Concert Master of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, violinist Vasko Vassilev.

PS
I sure hope my two favourite baritones, Simon Keenlyside and Dmitri Hvorostovsky make a quick recovery!

Jonas Kaufmann & Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Moscow, part II

If these two don 't make you start you week on a high, nothing will ;-)))

Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - Alvaro & Don Carlo's duet

Jonas Kaufmann - Flower Song from Carmen

Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - Pearl Fishers duet

Dmitri Hvorostovsky - Iago's "Credo"

And last, the cheeky but very well sung bit at the end:

Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - O Sole Mio

BRAVISSIMI!!!

Jonas Kaufmann & Dmitri Hvorostovsky Moscow, 16 December 2008

Very special treat thanks ( very very very much!!) to the videos provided by frufruJ:

In his series of concerts with friends/ singers Dmitri organised this concert past December in Moscow. I have to say at the time i almost went to see this concert, i planned for it and all, but in the end the travel plans were impossible and it just seemed a far too crazy impulse ;-)))... Seeing these videos i regret my decision!! It would have been wonderful! But at least we have these videos and i have to say i absolutely love the way their voices intertwine. And they have some amazing chemistry going on and must have had at least as much fun as the audience.

I hope in the future we will get to see them on stage together more often :-)

So here they are ( the videos are available in high quality, so can be watched in full screen:

Hvorostovsky, Kaufmann, Shvec - Scene from Don Carlo 1/3 (Act2, Convento di San Giusto)