For the past few months, you may have noticed the series, ‘The Person Behind The Opera.’ In May, we began the series by looking at the person, Malcolm Little (or Malcolm X), the focus of Anthony Davis’ 1985 opera, ‘X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.’ The next month, we looked at Harvey Milk, the San Francisco gay rights {…}
(Credit: Emily Shur) When the Metropolitan Opera announced that Emmy Award–winning actress Sandra Oh would make her debut this season as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment,” my first thought was: finally. Finally, the Met has made a casting decision that is not just exciting but relevant. The Duchess of Krakenthorp is a speaking role, traditionally {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) This week, the Teatro Real de Madrid is set to open the 2025-26 season with a revival production of “Otello.” The production will star two of the world’s most important dramatic voices, including Brian Jagde, who will sing the title role for the first time. Otello is known as one of the most challenging roles in {…}
(Credit: Magali Dougados) On Sept. 5 and 6, Operfest Lisboa will present the national premiere of the chamber opera “Julie” by Philippe de Boesmans. The opera is based on the August Strindberg play “Miss Julie” and is celebrating its 20th anniversary. This week Lisboa will present it featuring a cast of rising stars including Julia Deit-Ferrand, a rising star in {…}
(Credit: Zakiyah Caldwell Burroughs) September 8 would have been a day of infamy for tenor Lawrence Brownlee. The American tenor, who in addition to his immense talents as a singer, has also been a bright light as an activist for promoting Black composers, inclusivity, and his work with civic groups around the opera world, was primed to make one of {…}
(Credit: Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera) At the start of the War in Ukraine, General Manager Peter Gelb made a proclamation, “We can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him—not until the invasion and killing has been stopped, order has been restored, and restitutions have been made.” The statement was clear as {…}
What happens when creatives move in different directions than their main artistic medium? For many, moving between the mediums is a natural process, a way to materialize one’s creative impulses through various means. Auguste Rodin, the celebrated naturalist sculptor of the late 19th-20th century, was a fine painter as his numerous works show, although is best known for works like {…}
In the body of opera-oriented films, from contemporary works like ‘The Moon and the Stars‘ (2007), and ‘Florence Foster Jenkins‘ (2016), to earlier icons like ‘Fire at the Opera‘ (1930) and ‘Champagne Waltz‘ (1939), the ways opera and operatic life is conveyed on screen is highly diverse. However, go far enough backwards and one will find a way of conveying the operatic body {…}
Photo Credit: Arnaldo Colombaroli/Teatro Colon. Throughout opera, one can find tales of undeserved execution, unjust torture, and brutal treatment. Yet, one can also find tales of noble bravery, stalwart moral goodness, and uncompromisable virtue. Two sides of human nature, brutality is often not far from humanity and in opera, we are able to see this in spades. These stories, however, {…}
