opera

Georgy Ildeykin - Flame & Wind

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the bumblebee

Orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Asher Fisch, 2013.
Midway through the final act of Wagner’s RING cycle you’ll hear the orchestra play some of the most powerful music ever written, as the procession bearing the dead body of Siegfried leaves the stage.  

Illustration by Alexandre Serebriakoff from the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s 1939 story-book version of the RING. 

Siegfried’s Funeral March

Sung by Renee Fleming, with the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Bruce Ferden in 1990. 

In Dvořák’s gorgeous opera tragedy based on “The Little Mermaid,” the heroine begs the moon to shine on her beloved prince and bear him her love. 

Photo by Gary Smith

Song to the Moon from RUSALKA - sung by Renee Fleming

Sung by Antonello Palombi, with the Seattle Opera Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch, 2012.

One of opera’s most beloved arias, this lovely nocturne is sung by a mysterious unknown prince who has bested the ice princess Turandot in her life-or-death riddle game—but who, instead of claiming her as his bride, has asked her to solve the riddle of his identity. He is confident that she will fall in love with him before the night is over. 

Photo by Alan Alabastro. 

“Nessun dorma” from TURANDOT

Sung by Rosario LaSpina and Nuccia Focile, with the Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Vjekoslav Sutej, 2007.

Rodolfo and Mimì fall in love by moonlight, in a frozen attic garret, as they sing one of Puccini’s best-known love duets, to close Act One of “La bohème.”

Photo by Rozarii Lynch. 

“O soave fanciulla” from LA BOHÈME

For his 1871 opera celebrating the world of ancient Egypt, Giuseppe Verdi invented a strange musical world full of pungent harmonies and curling arabesques to give an otherworldly character to the prayers to the god Ptah. Marcy Stonikas sings the Priestess in Seattle Opera’s “Aida." John Fiore conducts the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera. Photo by Philip Newton.

To learn more about operatic orientalism, go to http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2015/10/western-fantasies-of-east-orientalism.html

Verdi's "Ancient Egyptian" Music

Indoor theatrical lighting was in its infancy when David Belasco’s play “Madame Butterfly” stunned Broadway in 1900. One of the stunning things about the play was the ‘time passes’ sequence in which Butterfly stays up all night waiting for the arrival of Pinkerton: with Belasco’s new lighting technology he could show the audience the sun setting, the stars coming out, then fading, and finally the sun rising. When Puccini turned the play into his famous opera in 1904, he wrote the remarkable ‘Humming Chorus” to accompany this special effects sequence. Seattle Opera’s chorus sings this beloved music from the “Red Rooms” above the boxes for a remarkable acoustic affect. They (and the orchestra) are conducted by Carlo Montanaro. 
Photo by Philip Newton

Humming Chorus from MADAME BUTTERFLY

Japanese soprano Yasko Sato makes her US debut singing the title role in MADAME BUTTERFLY at Seattle Opera. In this passage from Act One, this young Japanese bride tells her American husband that she has converted to Christianity so she’ll be able to kneel in the same church with him and pray to the same God. “To make you happy I might be able to forsake my own people—oh, my love!” Carlo Montanaro conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. 
Photo by Jacob Lucas

YASKO SATO as Cio - Cio - San

Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian makes her Seattle debut in the title role of MADAMA BUTTERFLY. At the heart of Puccini’s beloved tragedy, Cio-Cio-San expresses her desperate faith that her American husband will return to her: “One fine day we'll see a wisp of smoke on the horizon…and then a ship will appear. The white ship enters the port. It thunders its salute. See? He's come! I don't go down to meet him. Not I. I stand at the top of the hill and wait…I wait a long, long time, but I don't mind. A man comes from the city—a little speck moving up the hill. Who is it? And when he comes, what will he say From the distance he'll call, "Butterfly..." I won't answer, I'll run and hide...partly to tease him, and partly so as not to die when we meet. He'll get worried, he'll call: "Sweet little wife, flower of my heart," the names he used to call me. All this will happen, I promise you. Have no fear. Secure in my faith I await him.” The orchestra of Seattle Opera is conducted by Carlo Montanaro.
Photo by Jacob Lucas

LIANNA HAROUTOUNIAN Sings 'Un Bel Di' from MADAME BUTTERFLY

American tenor Dominick Chenes makes his Seattle Opera debut as Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, the ugly American opera-goers love to hate. In his Act 3 aria, “Addio, fiorito asil,” Pinkerton nostalgically remembers the good times he and Butterfly had in Act 1; but, not having the courage to face her, he runs away, crying out “I’m a coward.” Meanwhile Sharpless, the American Consul in Nagasaki (sung by Weston Hurt), scolds the two-timing cad with an unhelpful “I told you so.” Carlo Montanaro conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera. 
Photo by Philip Newton

DOMINICK CHENES as Pinkerton

Memphis Repertory Orchestra, William Langley 
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Appalachian Spring

The Great Quest

Kate Price - The isle of Dreaming

The Thorn Birds - Love theme (piano solo) Henry Mancini

Michael Lynn - recorder, Kathie Stewart - Flute - with Apollo's Fire

Please support me by joining my Patreon page: www.patreon.com/MichaelLynnFlutes

Telemann - Concerto in E Minor for Flute and Recorder  Allegro

Founded in 1963, Seattle Opera is a leading American opera company. The company presents the classics of the European repertoire as well as new works of American opera. Frequent productions of Wagner's RING, beginning in 1975, established the company's worldwide reputation. Seattle Opera usually presents five opera productions each year.

“O soave fanciulla” from LA BOHÈME

Seattle Opera

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