VIRTUALLY YOURS
WHEN: June 22-28. Most events are posted at 9 am and remain on the website through June. However, viewers must access both the opera and a June 26 WWFM broadcast of Baroque choral music at their scheduled times.
WHERE: www.princetonfestival.org
ADMISSION: free
A Grammy-winning vocalist, a Metropolitan Opera soprano, and Japan’s most celebrated poet are among the artists added to the final week of the Princeton Festival’s free season of online performances. They are part of a 10-event week to close out the season, culminating in a June 28 video stream of the Festival’s 2014 production of Wagner’s iconic opera The Flying Dutchman.
New events include a music video with celebrated vocalist Sylvia McNair and soprano Paloma Friedhoff Bello singing “A Million Dreams” from the musical The Greatest Showman on Tuesday, June 23. Ms. McNair can also be heard in podcast interview about her international career on Wednesday, June 24.
Jennifer Zetlan, who has appeared at the Met, on Broadway, and at Carnegie Hall, will sing arias by Stravinsky and Mozart in a video to be released on Saturday, June 27.
On June 22 Shuntaro Tanikawa, Japan’s best-selling poet, adds a new segment to an anthology of poetry readings created by 12 well-known poets especially for “Virtually Yours.” Cellist Elizabeth Thompson, pianist Brian Wang, and tenor Ronald Samm are the other recent additions to the schedule.
Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, streaming at 1 pm on Sunday, June 28, is about a woman obsessed with the legend of a ship’s captain who must sail the seas forever unless he is redeemed by selfless love. Suddenly his ship appears in the harbor. The opera is famous for the power of its music.
The full roster of “Virtually Yours” for the fourth and final week is:
- Monday, June 22: 1) Collected “Virtually Yours” poetry readings, with a new reading from Shuntaro Tanikawa; 2) “Signature Artist Showcase” featuring Elizabeth Thompson playing a cello prelude by Marin Marais.
- Tuesday, June 23: Francesca da Rimini (2012 Princeton Festival production), a one-act opera by Sergei Rachmaninoff; 2) Brian Wang, 2019 Festival Piano Competition open-class winner, plays Liszt’s “Dante Sonata;” 3) Sylvia McNair and Paloma Friedhoff Bello sing “A Million Dreams” from musical The Greatest Showman by Pasek and Paul.
- Wednesday, June 24: Podcast interview with Sylvia McNair on “An International Career.”
- Thursday, June 25: “Signature Artist Showcase” with James Conrad Smith singing "Anthem" from Chess and "A Little Bit of Good" from Chicago.
- Friday, June 26: Princeton Festival Baroque Orchestra and Chorus performing works by Bach and Handel. Available on WWFM radio and www.wwfm.org. This concert will be streamed only once, at 8 pm.
- Saturday, June 27: “Signature Artist Showcase” with soprano Jennifer Zetlan in two arias: "No word from Tom" from Stravinsky’s Rake's Progress, and "Ach, ich fühl’s" from Mozart’s Magic Flute
- Sunday, June 28: 1) “Signature Artist Showcase” – heldentenor Ronald Samm sings “Winterstürme” from Wagner’s Die Walküre; 2) Video stream of Richard Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman from the Festival’s archives. This opera will be streamed only once, at 1 pm.
More details are available at https://princetonfestival.org/virtually-yours/
