Kiri Te Kanawa, Marcelo Álvarez, an Entführung in Thessaloniki (and the moron who wrote the press release)

Dimitria is an old-school, local Festival of Thessaloniki with usually mediocre performances. Some operas every now and then (others good, others not), some recitals (where even if, for example Mariella Devia is singing, the Concert Hall is 60% empty) etc.

This year I was alerted by a kind reader that the Festival will host 2 operatic guests: Kiri Te Kanawa and Marcelo Álvarez.

Kiri will sing at the Yis Theatre, an open air theatre with inexistant acoustics, and Marcelo will sing at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall.

Copying from the press release of the Dimitria Festival:

SEPTEMBER 8 / Yis Theatre / Music / Inaugural Concert – With the City of Thessaloniki Symphony Orchestra conducted by Julian Reynolds and featuring the renowned operatic soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. The magnificent operatic soprano Dame Kiri te Kanawa will be making her very first appearance in Thessaloniki, at the Yis Theatre, re-creating moments from the leading roles of her career. Dame Kiri te Kanawa is one of the best-known divas in modern opera, enjoying the same status as Jessie Norman, Carmen Ruggeri and Montserrat Caballe.

OK, I don't wanna sound bitter but whoever wrote this regarding Kiri, has as much to do with opera as Lindsay Lohan.

Operatic soprano? (good, it's nice that somebody finally has thought about the distinction between operatic and non-operatic soprano, for example: Katherine Jenkins, non-operatic, Kiri Te Kanawa, operatic, Sarah Brightman, not a soprano at all).

And Carmen Ruggeri??? Carmen who???

And Jessye is spelled with a Y not with an I, you moron.

(Ok, who the hell is Carmen Ruggeri? And why don't I own at least 100 of her recordings?)

update: the official site goes even further as it says: She´s one of the 3 or 4 great known divas Jessie Norman (sic), Carmen Ruggeri and Montserrat Caballé (If the divas were only 3 Caballé should be excluded i think. Ruggeri is da best. Thank God that the great known divas are 4 and Montserrat qualifies).

A photo of Kiri pissed that she will never reach the operatic heights of Carmen Ruggeri


Copying from the press release:

13 / Concert Hall / Music / Opera gala evening with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, conducted by Angelo Cavallaro and featuring the international operatic star Marcelo Alvarez A gala evening of opera featuring pieces by Bizet, Cilea, Gounod, Massenet, Puccini and Verdi performed by the Thessaloniki State Orchestra giving its inaugural concert under the baton of Angelo Cavallaro. Tenor Marcelo Alvarez, one of the leading operatic stars of the present day, will be performing alongside the State Orchestra in this concert opening the 2008-2009 season.

Then some Joaquin Cortés, some Ute Lemper (who is also coming to Athens, once more) blah blah blah...

And finally in October, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall will host a new production of Die Entführung Aus dem Serail -in collaboration with the Teatro Delle Muse di Ancona- featuring Myrtó Papatanasiu as Kostanze (go girl!), Mario Zeffiri as Belmonte and Vassiliki Karayanni as Blonde.

That's pretty much it. Mmmm...let me think, Marcelo or Entfuhrung? Or both?

Myrto as Tosca in Zeffirelli's Rome production