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By Matthew Westphal
15 Jan 2007
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| Renée Fleming (above), René Pape (below). |
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| photo by Andrew Eccles (Fleming), Lenny's Studio (Pape). |
Due to illness, Renée Fleming has withdrawn from tomorrow's "Tribute to Toscanini" gala at New York's Avery Fisher Hall. The program — a joint performance by the New York Philharmonic and Italy's Symphonica Toscanini in memory of legendary maestro Arturo Toscanini on the 50th anniversary of his death — was to have included the soprano singing an aria each from Puccini's Turandot, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur and Rossini's Semiramide.
Happily, there will still be a René on hand to provide operatic thrills — René Pape, the bass with the "black diamond" voice, who just completed runs at the Metropolitan Opera in Verdi's Don Carlo and Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Pape will sing two Verdi arias, one from Don Carlo and another from Macbeth, along with the "Catalogue Aria" from Mozart's Don Giovanni — all accompanied by the Symphonica Toscanini.
The strictly orchestral portion of the program remains unchanged. The Philharmonic will open the concert with Strauss's tone poem Don Juan, followed by the Symphonica playing a famous musical monument to its hometown, Respighi's Pines of Rome. Following the opera selections, the combined orchestras will conclude the program with Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini. The entire concert will be conducted by Lorin Maazel, who is music director of both orchestras.
More information on the "Tribute to Toscanini" gala is available at www.nyphil.org. To learn more about the Symphonica Toscanini and the U.S. and worldwide tour in memory of its namesake which the orchestra is currently undertaking, visit www.symphonicatoscanini.com.
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