Everyone knows that the 2008 Olympics begin tomorrow in Beijing. Not coincidentally , the Divas will be competing vocally in a series of concerts dubbed Global Harmony: The Divas in Beijing. Global Harmony was created by XXZY Entertainment. The Divas are Renée Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu and Sumi Jo, with special guests divos Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Marcello Giordani, Salvatore Licitra, Ramón Vargas and Jonas Kaufmann. The first concert was last night with Angela Gheorghiu at the National Grand Theatre. On Monday the 11th, Sumi Jo will also perform at the National Grand Theatre. On the 13th, three tenors Marcello Giordani, Salvatore Licitra and Ramón Vargas are up at the Great Hall of the People. Each are under the baton of Emmanuel Villaume. On Thursday the 14th, Renée Fleming, Sumi Jo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann and Chinese singer Zhu Jiali are conducted by Nicola Luisotti at the Great Hall of the People. The final concert, at the National Grand Theatre, is on Saturday the 16th with Renée Fleming and Jonas Kaufmann, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. The China National Opera Orchestra will accompany each evening.These concerts are being filmed. According to Jill Gephardt at ZZYX Entertainment, "Broadcast distribution is currently being finalized. Our expectation is that it will air in November or December of 2008. The schedule should be available by October and will be posted on http://www.divasinbeijing.com."
5 comments:
ooh! New fancy pants header!
Thanks for getting all the details on this...I can't wait to see it!
I really like the new header too :)
The opening show with Angela Gheorghiu was an absolute blast!The Concert Hall at the National Grand Theatre became an intimate lounge, bringing Angela, the wonderfully expressive conductor Emmanual Villaume and the China National Opera Orchestra to within a few feet of the audience in the first row.As Angela ranged across Verdi, Puccini and Cuban themes via Romanian folksong, she and the audience teased and flirted with each other, finally falling into each other's arms with five standing ovations - and Chinese audiences never stand! A voice truly fit for an Olympic moment.
Thanks for the report, John in Beijing. I hope you are attending the rest of the concerts and will report back again.
It's so difficult to obtain details of the different concerts!
So Cecilia Bartoli did NOT turn up at last.
The three tenors would have to put up a 'vocal Olympic' of tenor voices!
And who is Zhu Jiali by the way? Being Chinese myself, I have absolutely NO idea who she is. One of those 'pop' competition winners?
Originally they tried to schedule leading Chinese baritone Liao Changyong, but again, it seemed to be a non-starter afterall.
Am glad that Fleming legs up with Jonas Kaufmann in the final show.
It will be a night of real vocal fireworks!
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