Victor Herbert is best known for his operettas and his powerful impact on the musical theater scene. But he also wrote an opera that unfortunately never managed to get its rightful place in the repertory. “Natoma” is largely forgotten due to major feuds between Oscar Hammerstein I and the Metropolitan Opera Company. Now New York audiences will get a chance {…}
Opera America continues its advocacy for up-and-coming opera companies. The organization recently announced grant awards for female composers. Now it is turning toward helping companies looking to change the opera world. In a press release, the organization revealed that it would be giving out $1.4 million to 27 companies, including American Lyric Theater, American Opera Projects, Anchorage Opera, Arizona Opera, {…}
How do you do you engage new audiences? The answer is one 360 of Opera and Shoperatic seem to know very well. You bring it immediately to them. And that is exactly what they did at the Port Authority Bus Terminal00 on May 31, 2017. Joining Sing for Hope and pianist Mary Pinto, sopranos Maria Natale, Suzanne Vinnik- Richards, Jasmina Halimic, {…}
This Friday, June 2, 2017, Opera Lafayette will present “Les Indes Galantes- Part IV.” The production will start at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The storyline is set in North America and is a multinational love story between a Frenchman Damon, a Spaniard, and an American Indian named Adario who are all fighting for the chief’s daughter Zima. In the end, Zima, {…}
New York Opera Fest and producers, New York Opera Alliance, and Opera on Tap present “New Brew- Pint Sized Opera Edition,” which will consist of a bunch of very short operas that were written by numerous interesting and exciting new composers. Each performance will feature an enthusiastic singer, who’s looking forward to the direct contact with the audience and immediate {…}
Coming back from a financial scare the Eugene Opera has successfully raised enough money to reopen for the 2017-18 season as announced on Tuesday. After canceling the last two shows of its 2016-17 season because of low ticket sales and a budget gap of $200,000, the company has raised $60,000 from community donations that were matched by several major supporters. {…}
New York Opera Fest is not only offering live performances or staged productions. The event is also showcasing major lectures with some of the industry’s greatest thinkers. Among them is Fred Plotkin, who is easily THE opera expert in the United States. Throughout his career, Plotkin has showcased his knowledge and skill as a writer (you should check out his {…}
Throughout her life, Frida Kahlo was a major artistic force whose impact remains to this day. Long Beach Opera will celebrate her life in a new opera by Robert Xavier Rodríguez, entitled “Frida.” The performances on June 17, 18, 24, and 25, 2017, represent the work’s SoCal premiere. The opera itself has been described “like a mariachi group for which {…}
Female composers are about to get a major boost, as Opera America has announced projects to advance the work of female composers and administrators. Among the many projects included in this new initiative are $100,000 grants to female composers and a song cycle commissioned for four female composers and a female librettist writing about the first woman elected to Congress, “Fierce {…}
The 2017-18 season has officially been announced by the Boston Lyric Opera, and it will include four opera productions. The first production will be “Tosca,” starting on Oct. 13, 2017, and running for five performances. The production will feature Elena Stikhina as Tosca and Jonathan Burton as Cavaradossi. Following “Tosca” will be “Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare” starting Nov. 8, 2017, at {…}
New York Opera Fest keeps rolling this week, this time with a completely new work. Starting on June 2 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, Opera Upper West is presenting Tom Cipullo’s “Glory Denied,” an opera about Colonel Floyd James Thompson, America’s longest-surviving prisoner of war. It’s based on the oral history of Tom Philpott and explores what this Vietnam veteran experienced {…}
