(Credit: Elena Cherkashyna) On June 21, Pretty Yende was detained at the French airport on her way to the Théâtre des Champs Elysées for the fourth performance of a new critically acclaimed production of “La Sonnambula.” She was returning from Milan where she been processing documents and when she arrived back in France, police officers took her to a cell {…}
(Photos: Gillian Riesen; Intermountain Opera Bozeman; Jason Dick) Montana, where Grizzly Bear wade in chilly rivers fed by snowmelt from mountaintops and gobble up Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout. Fly-fishers do much the same but with gentle whips of line. It’s “The Treasure State,” whose motto is “Oro y Plata (Gold and Silver).” The treasure nowadays is the grandeur of the Rocky {…}
In 2017 Cecilia Violetta López took audiences by storm when she performed Desdemona with LoftOpera. She was an artist on the rise who had so much to offer with her artistry, and has since become a leading soloist with such companies as Opera Idaho, Austin Opera, Madison Opera, and Opera Orlando. López has also become a huge advocate for Latin {…}
(Credit: Zen Grisdale) The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is actively creating new life in the digital realm of opera by evolving the genre’s traditional standards and exploring alternate creative interpretations to share with audience members at a broader level through a new series called “music video remake” films. The aesthetic concept underlying OAE’s recent film which features bass-baritone {…}
Rebuilding Venice’s San Cassiano theatre will be a formidable task in and of itself, yet behind the scenes there is a raft of other issues and initiatives which need considerable attention. In this third and final part of OperaWire’s interview, Paul Atkin, the man behind the project, discusses some of these concerns, including what it means to be a public {…}
Credit: Kah Poon Not “afternoon tea,” but “aftermoon tea” is the subject of a new 25-minute opera by GRAMMY-winning composer Steven Mackey and Obie Award–winning librettist Rinde Eckert. Composed in under two months, it premieres June 10 as part of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s “New Works, Bold Voices Lab,” which supports contemporary storytelling by American composers and librettists. Artistic {…}
Since 1999 Paul Atkin, CEO of the San Cassiano Project, has been working towards fulfilling his dream of rebuilding the world’s first public opera house, the San Cassiano theatre: a place that the world has not seen since its destruction in 1812 during the French occupation of Venice. In the first part of OperaWire’s interview with Atkin, he talked about {…}
Courtesy of Opera Idaho Opera Idaho gave new meaning to the phrase “from stage to screen” when sharing a children’s show with Idaho schools during the pandemic. During April and May, they offered “Who Wants To Be An Opera Star?” as a free 30-minute online video for children in K-6. It was adapted from the original 40-minute stage version created {…}
(Credit: Nicolas Repetto) On June 1, “The Sound of Identity” will be released on digital platforms and demand. The documentary follows the baritone, Lucia Lucas, on her historical performances of “Don Giovanni” at the Tulsa Opera. Having premiered at the OutShine Film Festival, the movie went on to win the Programmers Award For Excellence and scored rave reviews from critics {…}