Table Of Contents: June 2012

THE GIRLS OF SUMMER: MEASHA BRUEGGERGOSMAN TAKES ON GERSHWIN'S BESS AT CINCINNATI OPERA

Vol. 76, No. 12

• Interviews with Seventeen of the Summer's Hottest Stars
• Our Annual Guide to the Best U.S. Festivals
• Sound Bites: Corinne Winters
• Dressing Up For Concerts

Features

Girls of Summer

MEASHA BRUEGGERGOSMAN, who stars in Porgy and Bess at Cincinnati Opera, speaks with disarming candor to ADAM WASSERMAN.

Girls of Summer

ELIZABETH FUTRAL, star of Kaija Saariaho's Émilie at the Lincoln Center Festival, tells JENNIFER MELICK why the opera offers her "the most electrifying part I’ve ever done."

Girls of Summer

GEORGIA ROWE introduces LEAH CROCETTO, the rising soprano who sings Anna in Santa Fe Opera's upcoming Maometto II.

Girls of Summer

STEPHANIE BLYTHE tells F. PAUL DRISCOLL about her passion for the music of Kate Smith.

Girls of Summer

AVA PINE, Mark Adamo's Lysistrata at Fort Worth Opera Festival this season, chats with WILLIAM V. MADISON.

Girls of Summer

F. PAUL DRISCOLL catches up with KELLY KADUCE, who is set to make her Cincinnati Opera debut this summer as Nedda.

Girls of Summer

TRISTAN KRAFT interviews composer UNSUK CHIN, whose Alice in Wonderland will have its U.S. premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Girls of Summer

PATRICK DILLON eagerly awaits the return of EWA PODLEŚ to the Caramoor International Music Festival, in Rossini's Ciro in Babilonia.

Girls of Summer

SCOTT BARNES offers a preview of Ravinia Festival's new concert team — PATTI LuPONE and PATRICIA RACETTE.

Girls of Summer

MICHELLE JOHNSON tells BRIAN KELLOW about her upcoming debut as Aida at the Glimmerglass Festival.

Girls of Summer

ZULIMAR LÓPEZ-HERNÁNDEZ, Zerlina at Des Moines Metro Opera, talks to TRISTAN KRAFT about Mozart and other matters.

Girls of Summer

REBECCA PALLER spends some time with veteran scene-stealer JOYCE CASTLE, Aunt Eller in Central City's Oklahoma! this summer.

Girls of Summer

SCOTT BARNES steps out with KAREN ZIEMBA, Mrs. Lovett in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's new Sweeney Todd.

Girls of Summer

MARIA KANYOVA dazzles OUSSAMA ZAHR with her knowledge of Pat Nixon, the lady she sings in San Francisco Opera's Nixon in China.

Girls of Summer

MARJORIE OWENS, set for Donna Anna in Des Moines, shares her thoughts with LOUISE T. GUINTHER about life as a fest artist in Germany.

Girls of Summer

The great PHYLLIS CURTIN, who will narrate Façade at Tanglewood this summer, talks to BRIAN KELLOW about William Walton and Edith Sitwell.

Departments

Recordings

In Review

Books

The story of castrato Ferdinando Tenducci and his wife; the meaning of history and its influence on French grand opera; a study of Verdi in America.

Summer Holiday

The hills are alive with the sound of music — and so are the cities, the plains and the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. TRISTAN KRAFT and FRED COHN offer a guide to the best summer festivals in the U.S.