Music and Opera 

1. This link is to an article (Feb 17, 2010) describing Fred and some of his work: http://www.i-italy.org/node/13264
   

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   Since March 2011, Fred has been writing provocative entries on opera and ideas for the opera blog of WQXR radio. It has a huge international following: http://www.wqxr.org/people/fred-plotkin/

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2. Watch this page for information about Fred’s activities with musical organizations in North America and Europe. Upcoming in 2012 are:
   

                                                     2012

January 21: 12 pm: Pre-Screening Lecture about The Enchanted Island  before Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast starring  Joyce DiDonato, David Daniels, Plácido Domingo and Luca Pisaroni, conducted by William Christie.  Tickets to talk and broadcast includes early access to better locations in stadium-style seating. Tickets are $30 ($28 for BAM members and Met members) http://bam.org/view.aspx?pid=3476

     

January 26: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A conversation with countertenor David Daniels (starring in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of the musical pastiche The Enchanted Island)  at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8739) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

February 2: 6:00 PM: THE SECRETS OF ERNANI, a talk at the Metropolitan Opera Guild about Verdi’s thrilling early opera. The season premiere of Ernani, with an outstanding cast, will be at 7:30 pm. http://www.metguild.org/guild/Lectures/PerformanceDetails.aspx?PerfId=2487

February 7: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A conversation with baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky (starring in the Metropolitan Opera’s productions of Verdi’s Ernani and La Traviata)  at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8739) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

Feb 11, 11 am: Pre-Screening Lecture about Götterdämmerung  before Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast starring Deborah Voigt, Waltraud Meier, Gary Lehman, Eric Owens and conducted by James Levine.  Tickets to talk and broadcast includes early access to better locations in stadium-style seating. Tickets are $30 ($28 for BAM members and Met members) http://bam.org/view.aspx?pid=3477

Feb 25, 12 noon: Pre-Screening Lecture about Ernani  before Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast starring Angela Meade, Marcello Giordani, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Ferruccio Furlanetto, conducted by Marco Armiliato.  Tickets to talk and broadcast includes early access to better locations in stadium-style seating. Tickets are $30 ($28 for BAM members and Met members)  http://bam.org/view.aspx?pid=3478

March 21: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A conversation with baritone Thomas Hampson (starring in the Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Verdi’s Macbeth)  at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8739) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

March 22, 6:30 pm: Pre-concert talk for the New York Philharmonic in the Helen Huntington Hull Room of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The concert begins at 7:30 pm and has Christoph von Dohnányi conducting Henze’s Adagio, Fugue and Maenad’s Dance from The Bassarids and Schubert’s 9th Symphony   http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventsByDay&dateRequest=3/22/2012&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

March 23, 1:00 pm:  Pre-concert talk for the New York Philharmonic in the Helen Huntington Hull Room of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The concert begins at 2:00 pm and has Christoph von Dohnányi conducting Henze’s Adagio, Fugue and Maenad’s Dance from The Bassarids and Schubert’s 9th Symphony  http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventsByDay&dateRequest=3/23/2012&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

March 24, 7:00 pm: Pre-concert talk for the New York Philharmonic in the Helen Huntington Hull Room of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The concert begins at 8:00 pm and has Christoph von Dohnányi conducting Henze’s Adagio, Fugue and Maenad’s Dance from The Bassarids and Schubert’s 9th Symphony http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventsByDay&dateRequest=3/24/2012&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

April 5, 2:00 pm FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: LIFE, LOVE AND IMMORTALITY IN OPERA. A 4-part lecture series at the Metropolitan Opera Guild

first talk: “Addio del Passato: The past as part of the ongoing present in La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor and Elektra”

http://www.metguild.org/guild/Lectures/PerformanceDetails.aspx?PerfId=2524

April 12, 2:00 pm FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: LIFE, LOVE AND IMMORTALITY IN OPERA. A 4-part lecture series at the Metropolitan Opera Guild

second talk: “The Makropulos Case: ‘My Dear, You Don’t Look a Day Over 400!”

http://www.metguild.org/guild/Lectures/PerformanceDetails.aspx?PerfId=2525

April 12, 6:30 pm   Pre-concert talk for the New York Philharmonic in the Helen Huntington Hull Room of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The concert begins at 7:30 pm and has Jaap van Zweden conducting Mahler’s 1st Symphony and Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto (Yuja Wang, soloist)    http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventsByDay&dateRequest=4/12/2012&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

April 13, 7:00 pm   Pre-concert talk for the New York Philharmonic in the Helen Huntington Hull Room of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The concert begins at 8:00 pm and has Jaap van Zweden conducting Mahler’s 1st Symphony and Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto (Yuja Wang, soloist) http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventsByDay&dateRequest=4/13/2012&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

April 14, 7:00 pm   Pre-concert talk for the New York Philharmonic in the Helen Huntington Hull Room of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The concert begins at 8:00 pm and has Jaap van Zweden conducting Mahler’s 1st Symphony and Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto (Yuja Wang, soloist) http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventsByDay&dateRequest=4/14/2012&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

April 17, 6:30 pm   Pre-concert talk for the New York Philharmonic in the Helen Huntington Hull Room of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The concert begins at 7:30 pm and has Jaap van Zweden conducting Mahler’s 1st Symphony and Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto (Yuja Wang, soloist) http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventsByDay&dateRequest=4/17/2012&seasonNum=11&mI=0&sI=0

April 26, 2:00 pm FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: LIFE, LOVE AND IMMORTALITY IN OPERA. A 4-part lecture series at the Metropolitan Opera Guild

third talk: “Wagner: Troubled Men and the Women who Save Them”

http://www.metguild.org/guild/Lectures/PerformanceDetails.aspx?PerfId=2526

May 3, 2:00 pm FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: LIFE, LOVE AND IMMORTALITY IN OPERA. A 4-part lecture series at the Metropolitan Opera Guild

fourth talk: “Immortal Beloved: Beethoven and Fidelio”

http://www.metguild.org/guild/Lectures/PerformanceDetails.aspx?PerfId=2527

May 9-21, 2012: Fred will be the destination speaker on the beautiful Crystal Symphony, traveling from Barcelona to Southampton, England. The name of this itinerary is Iberian Journey. In Spain there will be 4 ports (Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, Málaga) that combine culture and pleasure. We will visit Tangiers (Morocco) before heading to the beautiful Portuguese cities of Lisbon and Oporto. The last port of call will be Bordeaux, France, where we will stay overnight. All along the route there will be great wine, food, music and art, both on land and on the ship. Crystal has been named the very best cruise line for the past 16 years by readers of the Condé Nast Traveler http://www.crystalcruises.com/VoyageDetail.aspx?CID=221

♬ 

Fred Plotkin’s two music books, both published by Hyperion, are the standard texts in their fields:

•Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera

•Classical Music 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Classical Music

    They also exist in recorded versions on CD or for download from: www.audible.com

   Fred Plotkin has done program articles and notes for the Metropolitan Opera; the New York Philharmonic; Carnegie Hall; Great Performances at Lincoln Center; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Los Angeles Opera; Santa Fe Opera; Pittsburgh Opera; State Opera of Pretoria (South Africa) and more.