Q & A: Cornelius Meister on Staatsoper Stuttgart’s ‘A Day with Ariadne auf Naxos: In Search of Lost Closeness’

(Credit: Marco Borggreve) On April 11, the Staatsoper Stuttgart will present “A day with Ariadne auf Naxos: In Search of Lost Closeness.” The interactive day will feature Cornelius Meister conducting Richard Strauss’ “Der Bürger als Edelmann” and “Ariadne auf Naxos” and a number of other interactive activities including interviews, a backstage tour, and a virtual foyer with artists and performers. {…}

Apr 5, 2021

Q & A: Haymarket General Director Chase Hopkins on Stepping Into a Leadership Role in a Trying Time

When the COVID crisis has hit literally every opera company — big or small – every manager was forced on deciding how to overcome it, based on their own experiences. Tenor and Opera Manager Chase Hopkins didn’t have much under his belt when in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit the United States, he was offered the position of {…}

Apr 1, 2021

Q & A: Vincerò Artistic Director Angelo Taddeo on its Inaugural Singing Competition

Italy, the homeland of opera, is getting its own international vocal competition with the inaugural Vincerò World Singing Competition. The event which commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the great Enrico Caruso’s death in 1921, is a celebration of the artist, his hometown of Naples, and Italy’s opera culture. The competition is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and organized by {…}

Mar 31, 2021

Q & A : Conductor David Robertson on ‘Porgy & Bess,’ Listening, & The Future of Opera

A former chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and former music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson has served in numerous artistic leadership positions. To this day he occupies some of the most prominent platforms of the international music scene and has been named an “American musical visionary.” His work in opera has reached new heights {…}

Mar 20, 2021

Q & A: Lucas & Irina Meachem on Co-Founding Perfect Day Music Foundation & Its Inaugural Virtual Voice Competition

Grammy® Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem and his wife, pianist, Irina, saw injustice up close this past summer. While many of us watched the aftermath of George Floyd’s death on television, the Meachem’s are Minneapolis residents. As calls for racial justice grew, and opera companies began taking stock of their own diversity, equity, and inclusivity, the Meachem’s knew they had a {…}

Mar 19, 2021

Bringing Opera Back in Perth – West Australian Opera’s Leaders on Overcoming COVID-19, New Productions & World Premieres in 2021

Perth’s West Australian Opera may be the remotest opera company in the world, situated by the side of the Indian Ocean on the other side of a treeless plain (the Nullarbor) that separates WA (as it is colloquially known) from the more populous east coast of Australia. That may partly explain its greater control over the more devastating effects of {…}

Mar 17, 2021

Q&A : Mezzo-Soprano & Composer Lisa Neher on Creating the One Voice Project Micro Opera Festival

(Photo credit: Alisabeth Von Presley) For opera artists around the world, COVID-19 was a major blow. Not only did they lose the opportunity to work, but in most cases, they have often been the last to get the chance to make their return. While several industries around the world have opened and closed repeatedly with the differing waves of the {…}

Mar 15, 2021

Q & A: Mark Elder on Donizetti, ‘Il Paria,’ Rare Works & his Tenure with Opera Rara

For eight years, Sir Mark Elder has been the Artistic Director of Opera Rara, a London-based opera company and recording label specializing in recording and performing forgotten operatic repertoire. In this capacity, Elder has discovered new pieces and has recorded and performed such works as Donizetti’s “Dom Sebastien,” “Imelda di Lambertazzi,” “Linda di Chamounix,” “Maria di Rohan,” “Les Martyrs” and {…}

Mar 13, 2021

Roundtable With the Creators & Performers of Chicago Opera Theater’s ‘The Puppy Episode’

Four characters across generations come to terms with their identities as a major coming-out story was playing out on television. That is at the core of “The Puppy Episode,” a new work set to be showcased by Chicago Opera Theater as part of its Vanguard Emerging Opera Composer Residency. The work was composed by Matthew Recio in collaboration with librettist {…}

Mar 10, 2021

Q & A: General & Artistic Director Chien Wen-pin on Live Performances of ‘La Traviata’ & Plans for the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts Weiwuying

While we are slowly but surely seeing the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, there is a long way to go before industries like the opera world can return to anything approximating “normalcy” that we experienced prior to the pandemic. While some companies have experimented with live performances throughout the past year, the results usually force those organizations {…}

Feb 24, 2021

Q & A: David Stern on Opera Fuoco’s New Opera Mini-Series ‘Figaro in the City’

David Stern’s opera company, Opera Fuoco, recently released a 14-part online series of “The Marriage of Figaro” which is set in 2020. The series was created in response to the new technological developments and the new streaming era of opera which has grown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stern is a firm believer that in the Netflix-era, people want/need to {…}

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