November 2014 Vivica in Hamburg: Ein Goldkehlchen allein
From the 28 November edition of Hamburger Abendblatt
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February 2014 Une soirée avec Vivica Genaux: France Musique radio concert to feature Vivica, Simone Kermes, and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo
On Tuesday, 5 March, Vivica joins her Rivalries partner Simone Kermes and bass Ildebrando D'Arcangelo in studio 106 of Radio France for a delightful concert that will be recorded for broadcast on France Musique on Friday, 11 April, at 18h30 (GMT +1). Accompanied at the piano by Carlos de Aragón, Vivica will perform Mélodies composed by the remarkable Pauline Viardot. Then, she will join Ms. Kermes, Mr. D'Arcangelo, Les Paladins, and Jérôme Corréas in a programme of operatic duets and Baroque arias. Admission to the 5 March concert is free, but space is very limited. Visit the France Musique website or phone 01 56 40 18 18 for more information.
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February 2014 Back to Baroque: the Chicago Tribune's John von Rhein praises Vivica's début with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
'The Alaska-born mezzo is among a handful of contemporary singers who can tackle this forgotten, hugely demanding repertory without flinching, while breathing new life and expressive urgency into it,' Mr. von Rhein wrote in the 14 February edition of the Chicago Tribune. 'The dark beauty and focus of her sound, combined with her uncanny facility and accuracy she brought to the most ornate coloratura passages, were impressive indeed. Genaux is one Baroque singer who never sacrifices dramatic truth to "authenticity."' For her much-anticipated début with the CSO, Vivica was joined by acclaimed harpsichordist Jory Vinikour and HIP specialist Maestro Nicholas McGegan in performances of a quartet of arias by Riccardo Broschi (brother of the world-famous castrato Farinelli), Hasse, Porpora, and Vivaldi. Click here to read the full text of Mr. von Rhein's review on the Chicago Tribune website.
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February 2014 La nuova Sirena: L'Ape musicale features a conversation between Vivica and Giovanni Andrea Sechi, previewing L'Orfeo and Il divino Boemo
Vivica joined insightful musicologist Giovanni Andrea Sechi — contributor to the Rivalries programme — in an in-depth discussion of Ferdinando Bertoni's L'Orfeo, which she will sing in concert in Ferrara on 25 February, and Il divino Boemo, her 18 March concert with Collegium 1704 in the Dvořákova síň of Prague's Rudolfinum. Featuring selections from Ferdinando Bertoni's Tancredi, Baldassare Galuppi's Penelope, Josef Mysliveček's Farnace and L'Olimpiade, and, in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the composer's birth, Christoph Willibald von Gluck's Ezio and Paride ed Elena, Il divino Boemo includes arias first sung by such luminaries as castrati Giuseppe Millico and Carlo Reina, some of which likely have not been sung since the Eighteenth Century. Mr. Sechi also provided invaluable assistance in researching and preparing music for Il divino Boemo. Click here to read the full interview on L'Ape musicale's website.
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October/November 2013 Vivica launches the 2013 - 2014 Season of GRAMMY®-nominated choral ensemble Seraphic Fire, and international release of studio recording of Hasse's Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra is confirmed
Vivica was pleased to join pianist Anna Fateeva in a special performance marking the opening of the 2013 - 2014 Season for Miami-based, GRAMMY®-nominated choral ensemble Seraphic Fire on 12 October at Miami's Rubell Family Collection. Vivica is also delighted to announce that release of her studio recording of Hasse's Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, premièred in Naples in 1725 with Vittoria Tesi as Marc'Antonio and the young Farinelli as Cleopatra, has been confirmed for 4 November. Distribution is by deutsche harmonia mundi. Click here to hear sample tracks from Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra.
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February 2013
Vivica's début with Palm Beach Opera in Rossini's La Cenerentola! Vivica sings the title role in Rossini's charming comedy of switched identities and familial dysfunction in four performances for Palm Beach Opera: Friday, 15 February (19:30 EST); Saturday, 16 February (13:00 and 19:30 EST); and Sunday, 17 February (14:00 EST). In addition to her performances of Cenerentola, Vivica was honored to participate in a Masterclass for young artists in Palm Beach Opera's Studio on Sunday, 10 February. [Photo of Vivica and her 'students' is courtesy of Nick Mohnacky and Palm Beach Opera] Click here to learn more and to purchase tickets for Vivica's Cenerentola performances.
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November 2012
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) named A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni their CD of the Week on 19 November 2012! Click here to visit NDR's website to learn more.
Vivica is excited to annouce the release of her new recording for deutsche harmonia mundi, entitled A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni. Including music by Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 - 1759) and Johann Adolph Hasse (1699 - 1783), this disc pays tribute to the remarkable Faustina Bordoni (1697 - 1781), one of the 'Rival Queens' (the other having been Francesca Cuzzoni) who riveted opera-going Londoners during the 1720s. La Bordoni, who eventually became Signora Hasse, created the rôles of Alceste (Admeto), Pulcheria (Riccardo Primo), Emira (Siroe), and Elisa (Tolomeo) for Händel, as well as several notable parts in her husband's operas composed for the Saxon court. Such was the influence that Bordoni and Hasse enjoyed at the court of Augustus the Strong in Dresden that the celebrated Italian librettist Metastasio described them as 'truly an exquisite couple.' A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni features arias and overtures from Händel's Alessandro (HWV 21, 1726), Radamisto (HWV 12, 1720), Tolomeo (HWV 25, 1728), and Hasse's Numa Pompilio (1724), Il Ciro riconosciuto (1751), Cajo Fabricio (1732), Artaserse (1730), and Zenobia (1761), as well as Hasse's 1781 aria 'Ah! che mancar mi sento.' Release is scheduled for 9 November 2012. Click here to view the listing for A Tribute to Faustina Bordoni on Amazon.de.
Vivica performing with Concerto Köln |
December 2010
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June 20, 2008 Vivica to appear on French TV (France 2) on "Musique au coeur cinq étoiles" with host Ms. Eve Ruggieri, noted French TV personality, journalist and musicologist
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April 11, 2008 Each year Pittsburgh Opera recognizes an individual for his or her contributions to advancing opera as an art form. This year, on Saturday, May 17, the Company will honor Vivica with their Maecenas Award, which will be bestowed at a Gala Dinner, marking the twenty-fourth time someone has thus been honored. She joins an illustrious group of past winners who include: Dame Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, Marilyn Horne, Stephanie Blythe, Shirley Verrett, Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally. This follows Vivica's appearances as Romeo in Pittsburgh Opera's production of Bellini's I Capuleti ed I Montecchi (May 3, 6, 9, 11m)
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October 30, 2007 World premiere recording of Vivaldi’s thrilling opera Atenaide, boasting an all-star cast including Sandrine Piau, Vivica Genaux, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Paul Agnew, is latest release in naïve’s landmark Vivaldi Edition Susan Orlando, the director for naïve’s acclaimed Vivaldi Edition, calls the label’s new world-premiere recording of Vivaldi’s tour-de-force opera Atenaide “a little miracle,” that rare opera recording where a remarkable work is performed by an equally and uniformly remarkable cast. Orlando explains: This work was commissioned from Vivaldi by the Teatro della Pergola in Florence and premiered in 1728. What’s especially exciting about this recording is that when we did the casting for it everything came together perfectly. When you cast an opera you put together a dream list, but you rarely end up with your number one choices. For some reason – pure luck, I suppose – we got all our number one choices – Sandrine Piau [Atenaide/Eudossa], Vivica Genaux [Teodosio], Nathalie Stutzmann [Marziano], Guillemette Laurens [Pulcheria], Romina Basso [Varane], Paul Agnew [Leontino], and Stefano Ferrari [Probo]. It’s an extraordinary cast! As luck would have it that this happens to be one of Vivaldi’s most spectacular operas. Basically, he took the best arias from his other operas and put them all into this one opera. What you end up with is a collection of great bravura arias with singers who have all of the agility to rise to the demands of this very challenging music. The result is unbelievable – a little miracle! Everything came together perfectly for this recording, and that rarely happens. Eminent Florentine conductor and Vivaldi specialist Federico Maria Sardelli achieves his long-held goal of recording this exotically-set and compulsively entertaining opera not only in his native Florence, but in the very theatre in which it was first performed two hundred and seventy-nine years ago. Susan Orlando explains the genesis of naïve’s Vivaldi Edition: When Vivaldi died in 1741 he had at home the original music scores of most of what he had written during his lifetime, some 450 pieces including 110 concerti for violin, 40 concerti for bassoon, 20 operas, sacred music, and much more. Most of it had never been published. Through an intriguing tale that I won’t go into now, that enormous bulk of music ended up intact in the National Library in Torino (Turin), Italy in the 1930s, and has been there ever since. Specialists have occasionally performed a few of the scores but for the most part this music has remained totally unknown to the greater public. An eminent Italian musicologist living in Torino, Alberto Basso, conceived the idea of recording the entire collection. He divided the works by genre so that you have, for example, theatrical music, sacred music, concerti for violin, concerti for two or more soloists, etc. He presented the idea to naive, they were enthusiastic, and thus in 2000 the Vivaldi Edition began. Visit http://www.vivaldi-atenaide.com for more information, including film footage from the recording sessions.
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April 17, 2007 Today, New York City Opera presented its 2006-7 Awards for Artistic Excellence and Vivica Genaux was honored with the Christopher Keene Award, given annually to an artist performing in new or unusual repertory. Robin Thompson, the Associate Artistic Director of the Company, in informing Vivica, told her that “the Award recognized her achievement in the pivotal role of Juno/Ino in the rarely performed Semele.” Created in 1998 by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation in memory of Christopher Keene, City Opera's General Director from 1989-1995, the Award commemorates Mr. Keene's commitment to artistic innovation. The Award carries with it a $5,000 cash prize.” Upon learning the news, Miss Genaux commented, “I'm especially honored to be given this recognition from New York City Opera, because I had such a great experience working with the Company and to receive an Award, as well, is icing on the cake."
March 7, 2007 The release date for "Fracture" (which includes a scene of Vivica singing an excerpt from the aria "Ombra fedele anch'io" from Riccardo Broschi's Baroque opera Idaspe) has been moved up to April 20, 2007. Go to IMDb for more info and international release dates. |
September 18, 2006 Vivica's interview/live appearance is now up and ready to be seen and heard on www.ArtsPass.com. She's the first item in the News ticker on the home page and there is a direct play link so you don't have to register to watch the video, making it easier for you to access the interview. It's 47 minutes long so you may want to wait until you have some relaxed viewing and listening (!!) time. September 2, 2006 August 25, 2006
March 30, 2006
March 12, 2006 You may well have seen Walt Disney Concert Hall as a background for car commercials and fashion photographs as well as for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Now it's going to be part of an action movie due out in the fall and starring Anthony Hopkins. Directed by Gregory Hoblit, "Fracture" casts Hopkins as a man who tries to shoot his wife and, in a cat-and-mouse game with an assistant D.A. (Ryan Gosling), is set free on a series of technicalities.
6 March 2006 Vivica's cameo appearance was shot last week at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall. Two of the movie's protagonists (Pike and Gosling) meet and attend her Recital, where she is seen and heard singing an excerpt from the aria "Ombra fedele anch'io" from Riccardo Broschi's Baroque opera IDASPE. The film, directed by Gregory Hoblit ("Primal Fear", "Hart's War") and produced by Chuck Weinstock ("Where the Money Is", "Joe Gould's Secret") is scheduled to be released in the Fall/Winter of 2006. |
