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The Sunday Opera: Richard Strauss' "Arabella" 1980 Archival Performance with Kiri Te Kanawa

We’re nearing the end of the season of operas from San Francisco this Sunday (10/22  3:00 p.m.) with another archival production.  This time, it’s Richard Strauss’ 1933 lyric comedy “Arabella” in a recording made in 1980 and starring Kiri Te Kanawa in the title role as the daughter of a penniless nobleman who wants to marry for love, not the fortune her father needs.  The cast also includes Barbara Daniels as her sister Zdenka, Sona Cervena and Alexander Malta as Arabella’s parents, Ingvar Wixell as a not-so-mysterious stranger Mandryka, and William Lewis as Matteo, a penniless soldier who’s in love with Arabella.  There’ll be more music by Strauss after the opera.  Host Michael Kownacky will begin with Clemens Kraus’ arrangement of a symphonic fragment from Strauss’ opera “Die liebe der Danae” followed by the complete score for “Josephs Legende,” a ballet  based on the story of Joseph and Patiphar’s wife from 1914.

Michael is program host and host of the WWFM Sunday Opera, Sundays at 3 pm, and co-host of The Dress Circle, Sundays at 7 pm.