OPERA IS COOL!
1. Nina Stemme sings 'Surabaja, Johnny' from Weill's Happy End, 2. Anja Harteros as Händel's Alcina, 3. Vivica Genaux sings 'Qual guerriero in campo amanto' from Riccardo Broschi's Idaspe, 4. Vesselina Kasarova sings Farnace's final aria from Mozart's Mitridate, 5. Kasarova as Penelope in Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulysses in patria, 6. Kasarova sings Dopo notte from Händel's Ariodante, 7. Kasarova as Offenbach's Beautiful Helen, 8. Angela Denoke and Torsten Kerl sing Mariettas Lied in Korngold's Die tote Stadt, 9. Marilyn Horne sings Stephen Foster's Beautiful Dreamer, 10. Kasarova sings Sapho's O ma lyre immortelle

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Smorg bin ich. I play the piano and the clarinet (though not professionally) and am hopelessly addicted to opera, which is my primary review subject here and at SmorgZone, Amazon.com (Smorgy), AssociatedContent.com (Smorg), Youtube (SDCmorg), Newsvine.com (Smorg), and Ciao.co.uk (EpinionSmorg).

Full-Disclosure is my policy. Unless specified otherwise on the review itself, I paid the full market price for all products and live performances I write up. I'd like my reviews to accurately present a good glimpse of the products, so do let me know if there is any inaccuracy or anything I should do better. And other Epinionators, please DON'T feel obligated to rate VH (Very Helpful) even if most other ratings are. I would appreciate a tip on how to improve on SH (Somewhat Helpful) rating and below, however.

Artists whose works I reviewed have my permission to use my specific reviews or essays where their names are mentioned, as long as they cite 'Epinions Smorg' as source. Also... No, you weren't visited by a smorg back-stage. I'm a shy bat and would rather admire you guys from a safe distance (so if any 'smorg' shows up unannounced, be sure to hit it extra-hard with the biggest thing you have on hand!).

My Open AGENDA: Opera is a highly technically demanding art-form that takes a lot of efforts from the performers and the opera house and the recording companies to put on, though it is not given the attention it deserves in the mainstream media, so I dedicate most of my posts here to review of live or recorded performances of opera and classical music in the hope of enticing some new audience to the genre. However, any 'new' audience will probably not hang around if I over-sell a bad performance, so my reviews won't always be positive.

My Web of Trust is a list of Epinionators who consistently post helpful reviews for the consumers looking for info on products. Being friends or relatives yields NO automatic admission to my WoT, though abusive members will be removed from it no matter how well they write.

A few other Epinionators who write marvelously... in no particular order: Munkus, Stephen__Murray, Metalluk, Virtuelle2, Trust12345, Telynor, Don_Krider, Henry_Thoreau, Bettega, reginafug, captainD, befus, lammet, craftswoman, donnamr, shopaholic_man, rmthunter, vicfar, rkingfish, shmoo1, millinocket, cr01, starcollector, morilla, travelgall, gillandtony, paulsavage, mongkut, macresarf1, voxpoptart, ddustyrose, aohcapablanca, thedragonweyr, smallmouth, toolguy1963, penguinlady, LadyCynic, lyoness913, mike_bracken.
Thanks for stopping by!

My General Ramblings:
A Smorgish Saturday, Working In Nursing Homes During College, To Opera Fans on Youtube, A Smaugish Rant, Favorite Classical Music, Yet Some More Favorite Music, A Few Musical Terms For Non-Musicians, Interview with Rock-Guitarist Rene Tornero G, Golf Spectating, Smorg's Music Playlist (May'08), Smorg's Bits of San Diego, Some Classical Music Numbers You Know, Some Operatic Music You Already Know!, Interview with Juliette Galstian, Interview with Christiane Karg

My Operatic Ramblings:
A Few Words To Opera Newbies, Commandments for the Operafans, 10 Beginners-Friendly Opera, Bel Canto Is NOT About Sounding Beautiful!, Seven Weepiest Opera Scenes, Seven Funniest Opera Scenes, Seven Sea-Loving Scenes from the Opera, Some Friendly Diva Opera Arias (the ladies), Some Friendly Divo Opera Arias (the gents), Some Friendly Operatic Duets, Some Friendly Operatic Ensembles, Tips In Opera Reviewing, 15 Favorite Opera Youtube Clips (2007), Newbies' Guide to German & French Opera, Newbies' Guide to Mozart & Bel Canto Opera, Newbies' Guide to Operetta, Smorgish Thoughts On Classical 'Cross-Over' Singers, My Favorite Opera, Opera Tunes You've Heard Before, Favorite Songs (Dec 2008), My 5 Musical Heroes.

Live Performance Reviews: Dom Sébastian (OONY 2006), L'incoronazione di Poppea (LA Opera 2006, Le nozze di Figaro (SD Opera 2007), Maria Stuarda (SDO 2008), Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (SDO 2008), Aida (SDO 2008), Kellogg's 'Fiery Furnace' and Grieg's 'Peer Gynt' (San Diego Symphony 2008), Les Pecheurs de Perle (May 2008), Tosca (SDO 2009), Don Quichotte/Don Quixote (SDO 2009), Rigoletto (SDO 2009), Respighi's Le fontane di Roma, Mendelssohn's violin concerto in E minor & 'Italian' symphony (San Diego Symphony & Cory Cerovsek 2009), Peter Grimes (SDO 2009), Madama Butterfly (SDO 2009).

VESSELINA KASAROVA, the Bulgarian (now Swiss citizen) mezzo-soprano with an amazing multi-colored dream voice and enough stage presence to fill the Empire State Building is my singing goddess... I ramble on endlessly about the gal (it doesn't help that she is as cool off-stage as she is on one):
CDs: Suter: Le laudi di San Francesco (1991), French Song Cycles (1995), A Portrait (1996), Lied-Duett/Wir Schwestern zwei, (with E Gruberova) (1996), Mozart Arias (1997), Rossini Arias & Duets (1999), German Lieder (2000), Love Entranced (French Opera Arias) (2002), Bulgarian Soul (2003), The Magic of Kasarova (2004), Bel Canto Duets (With Vargas, Mei, Florez)(2005), Das Bayerische Staatsoper: 1997-2005 (2006), Belle Nuit (2008), Sento brillar (2008), Passionate Arias (2009).

Opera CDs: Alcina (Munich 2005), Beatrice di Tenda (Vienna 1992), I Capuleti e i Montecchi, La Cenerentola (Munich 2005), La clemenza di Tito (Munich 2006), Dom Sébastien (ROH 2005), La Favorite (Munich 2000), Mitridate (Salzburg 1997), Oberon, Tancredi, Werther

Opera DVDs: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Zürich 2001), La belle Hélène (Zürich 1997), Berlin Opera Night 2003, La clemenza di Tito (Salzburg 2003), La clemenza di Tito (Zürich 2005), La damnation de Faust (Salzburg 1999), Orphée et Eurydice (Munich 2005), Pique Dame/Queen of Spade (Vienna 1992), Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (Zürich 2002), Der Rosenkavalier (Zürich 2004)

Live Performance: Dom Sébastian at Carnegie Hall 2006
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Smorg’s Classical Music Reviews (by composer):
JS BACH: Cantatas 82 & 199 (Hunt-Lieberson), Matthäus-Passion (Harnoncourt 2001)
L van BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 (Ashkenazy/Philharmonia Orch)
V BELLINI: Beatrice di Tenda (Vienna 1992: Steinberg/ Gruberova, Morosow, Bernardini, Kasarova), I Capuleti e i Montecchi (R Abbado 1997: Kasarova, Mei, Vargas), I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Martina Franca Festival 2006: ), Norma (Munich 2006: Heider/ Gruberova, Shagidulin, Ganassi)
H BERLIOZ: La damnation de Faust (Salzburg 1999: Cambreling/ Groves, Kasarova, White), Les Troyens (Paris 2003)
G BIZET: Carmen (Verona 2003), Les Pecheurs de Perle (Live SDO 2008)
B BRITTEN: Peter Grimes (live SDO 2009)
G DONIZETTI: Dom Sébastien (ROH 2005: Elder/ Filianotti, Kasarova, Keenlyside), Dom Sébastien (live performance- OONY 2006: Queler/ Korchak, Kasarova), La Favorite (Munich 2000: /Kasarova, Vargas), Lucia di Lammermoor (Mexico City 1952: /Callas), Linda di Chamounix (Zurich 1996:/ Gruberova), Maria Stuarda (SDO 2008: Mueller/ Jaho, Aldrich)
A DVORAK: Rusalka (ENO 1986)
W FORTNER: Bluthochzeit (Stuttgart 1964)
CW GLUCK: Iphigénie en Tauride (Zürich 2001:/Galstian, Van der Walt), Orphée et Eurydice (Munich 2005: Bolton/ Kasarova, Joshua, York)
E GRIEG: Peer Gynt (live SDSymphony 2008)
J HALEVY: La Juive (Vienna 2003)
GF HÄNDEL: Alcina (Munich 2005: Bolton/ Harteros, Kasarova, Prina), Alcina (AP 2009: Curtis/ DiDonato, Beaumont, Prina), Alcina (Stuttgart 1999:/ Naglestad, Coote, Schniedermann), Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Bruxelles 1992), Rinaldo (Venice 1989: Fischer/ Horne, Gasdia), Rodelinda (Munich)
L JANÁČEK: Jenůfa (Munich 1971)
D KELLOGG: Fiery Furnace (live SDSymphony 2008)
EW KORNGOLD: Die tote Stadt (Strasbourg 2001)
R LEONCAVALLO: I Pagliacci (SD Opera 2008)
P MASCAGNI: Cavalleria Rusticana (SD Opera 2008), Cavalleria Rusticana (Munich 1954: Sawallisch/ Hopf, Varnay)
J MASSENET: Werther (V Jurowski 1998: Vargas, Kasarova), Werther (Vienna 2005: /Alvarez, Garanca)
F MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY: Violin Concerto in E minor & Symphony #4 in A major 'Italian' (San Diego Symphony & Corey Cerovsek 2009)
C MONTEVERDI: L’incoronazione di Poppea (live performance- LAO 2006), Il ritorno d’Ulysse in patria (Zürich 2002: Harnoncourt/ Henschel, Kasarova, Hartelius, Kaufmann)
WA MOZART: Apollo et Hyacinthus (Salzburg 2006), Ascanio in Alba (Salzburg 2006), Bastien und Bastienne/Der Schauspieldirektor (Salzburg 2006), La clemenza di Tito (Salzburg 2003), La clemenza di Tito (Zürich 2005), La clemenza di Tito (Munich 2006), La clemenza di Tito (JE Gardiner), Cosi fan tutte (Ponnelle film), Don Giovanni (Met 2000), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Salzburg 1998), La finta giardiniera (Salzburg 2006), La finta semplice (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Met 198-), Lucio Silla (Salzburg 2006), Mitridate (Salzburg 1997), Mitridate (Rousset), Le nozze di Figaro (live performance- SDO 2007), Die Zauberflöte (ROH 2001), Die Zauberflöte (Modena 2005), Die Zauberflöte (Zürich 1999), Rosetti & Mozart: Symphony in G-minor & Violin Concerto No. 5)
J OFFENBACH: La Belle Hélène (Zürich 1997), Orphée aux enfers (Lyon 1997)
G PAISIELLO: Nina (Zürich 1998)
R PORTMAN: The Little Prince (BBC 2003)
F POULENC: Les dialogues des Carmelites (Strasbourg 1999)
G PUCCINI: La fanciulla del west (Milan 1956), Madama Butterfly (SDO 2009: Mueller/ Racette, Ventris), Manon Lescaut (Barcelona 1992)
H PURCELL: King Arthur (Salzburg 2004)
S RACHMANINOV: The Miserly Knight (Glyndebourne 2004)
JF RAMEAU: La Platée (Paris 2002)
O RESPIGHI: Le fontane di Roma (The Fountains of Rome) (San Diego Symphony 2009)
N RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Le coq d’or (Paris 2002), Sadko (St. Petersburg 1996)
FA ROSETTI: Rosetti & Mozart: Symphony in G minor & Violin Concert No.5
G ROSSINI: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Zurich 2001), Le cambiale di matrimonio (Schwetzingen 1989), La Cenerentola (Munich 2005), Ermione (Glyndebourne 1995), L'Italiana in Algeri (Met 1986), Maometto II (C Scimone 1983), Tancredi (R Abbado 1996), Tancredi (N Zedda), Tancredi (Schwetzingen 1992)
A SALIERI: Tarare (Schwetzingen 1988)
F SCHUBERT: Fierrabras (Zürich 2005)
DD SHOSTAKOVICH: Katerina Izmailova (M Shapiro film)
R STRAUSS: Elektra (Cologne 1953), Elektra (Götz Friedrich 1982 film), Der Rosenkavalier (Zurich 2004), Der Rosenkavalier (Solti 1988), Der Rosenkavalier (Vienna 1978: Dohnanyi)
H SUTER: Le laudi di San Francesco d'Assisi (Ligeti/1991)
TAN DUN: Tea: A Mirror of Soul
PI TCHAIKOVSKY: Pique Dame/Queen of Spade (Vienna 1992)
G VERDI: Aida (Live - SDO 2008), Ernani (Met 1982), Jerusalem (Genoa 2000), Nabucco (Met), Messa da Requiem (C Abbado 2001), Rigoletto (live - SDO 2009)
R WAGNER: Lohengrin (Met 1986), Great Wagnerian Scenes (Flagstad, Nilsson, Rysanek, S Björling), Tristan und Isolde (Orange 1973)
CM von WEBER: Oberon (Janowski 1996)
C ZELLER: Der Vogelhändler (Mörbisch 1998)

Other Recording Reviews (by artist’s last-name):
Antonacci, Anna Caterina: Era la notte
Bartoli, Cecilia: Rossini Recital
Borodina, Olga: Olga Borodina: Arias
Brightman, Sarah: Classics
Ciofi, Patrizia: Amor e gelosia
Cosmic Voices of Bulgaria: Le Mystere des voix bulgares
Dessay, Natalie: Mozart Concert Arias
DiDonato, Joyce: Amor e gelosia
Fleming, Renée: By Request
Garanca, Elina: Mozart Opera & Concert Arias
Genaux, Vivica: Arias for Farinelli
Graham, Susan: Artist Portrait
Gruberova, Edita: Mozart Concert Arias (Harnoncourt), Lied-Duett (Kasarova), The Art of Coloratura
Hagner, Viviane & Nicole: Works for Violin & Piano: Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, Schubert
Horne, Marilyn: Marilyn Horne in Recital (Milan 1981)
Hunt-Lieberson, Lorraine: Bach Cantatas #82 & #199)
Kasarova, Vesselina: Scroll up the page a bit...
Kozena, Magdalena: French Arias
Potts, Paul: One Chance
Röschmann, Dorothea: Händel: Deutsche Arien
Roth, Linus: Rosetti & Mozart
Terfel, Bryn: Opera Arias
Varnay, Astrid: Opera Scenes and Orchestral Songs, Wagner, Beethoven, Verdi, Halevy
Various Artists: Das Bayerische Staatsoper: 1997-2005, Berlin Opera Night 2003, Great Wagnerian Scenes (Flagstad, Nilsson, Rysanek, S Björling)

Book Reviews: (by author's last-name)
Michael J ARLEN: Passage to Ararat
Anatoli BOUKREEV: Above the Clouds
Jean CRAIGHEAD-GEORGE: My Side of the Mountain
Richard P. FEYNMAN: The Meaning of It All
Hans HOTTER: Hans Hotter: Memoirs
Lotte LEHMANN: My Many Lives
Christa LUDWIG: In My Own Voice
James MARSHALL: Walkabout
James P McMULLEN: Cry of the Panther
Leonard MLODINOW: Feynman's Rainbow
Birgit NILLSON: La Nilsson
Lisa RANDALL: Warped Passages
Georges RODENBACH: Bruges la Morte
Jeffrey TAYLOR: Siberian Dawn
Barbara TUCHMAN: The Guns of August
Astrid VARNAY: 55 Years in 5 Acts (Hab'mir's Gelobt)
Galina VISHNEVSKAYA: Galina

Restaurants in San Diego Area:
Downtown Johnny Brown's (Civic Ctr), The Fields (Gaslamp Qtr), Lotus Thai Restaurant (East Village/Gaslamp Qtr), Nicky Rottens (Gaslamp Quarters), Pokez (East Village), Royal India (Gaslamp Qtr), Royal Thai Cuisine (Gaslamp Qtr), Sultan Shawarma (Gaslamp Qtr), Thai Time in Downtown San Diego, The Kebab Shop (East Village), Neighborhood Grill (East Village)

Singers Smorg Can't Get Enough Of:
The Soprani: - Edita Gruberova, Dorothea Röschmann, Malin Hartelius, Astrid Varnay, Diana Damrau, Julia Kleiter, Anja Harteros, Nina Stemme, Anne Schwanewilms, Anna-Caterina Antonacci, Régine Crespin, Natalie Dessay, Christiane Karg, Leyla Gencer, Galina Vishnevskaya, Karita Mattila, Olga Pasichnyk, Violeta Urmana, Krassimira Stoyanova, Rosemary Joshua, Luba Orgonasova, Patricia Racette, Angela Denoke, Ghena Dimitrova
The Mezzo-soprani: - Vesselina Kasarova, Joyce DiDonato, Olga Borodina, Anke Vondung, Sonia Ganassi, Waltraud Meier, Juliette Galstian, Agnes Baltsa, Ellen Van Beek, Natalie Stutzmann, Anna Bonitatibus, Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Christa Ludwig, Giulietta Simionato
The Tenori:- Ramon Vargas, Michael Schade, Jonas Kaufmann, Giuseppe Filianoti, José Cura, Alfredo Kraus, Franco Corelli, Siegfried Jerusalem, Wolfgang Windgassen, Jüssi Björling
The Baritoni:- Simon Keenlyside, Mariusz Kwiecien, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Bryn Terfel, Dietrich Henschel, Ludovic Tézier, Hans Hotter
The Bassi:- Rene Pape, Luca Pisaroni, Greer Grimsley, Gabriel Bacquier, Ruggero Raimondi

Smorg's Other Music Heroes:
Alicia De Larrocha, Artur Rubinstein, Martha Argerich, André Watts, Nathan Milstein, Vadim Repin, Tasmin Little, Viviane Hagner, Sharon Kam, Sabine Meyer