“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise {…}
On Site Opera is set to showcase Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” in a series of performances at Wave Hill in the Bronx. The run is set for Oct. 25-27, 2019. Wave Hill is a public garden and former estate in the Bronx, which director Eric Einhorn believes suits the operatic ghost story to perfection. “The incredible grounds at {…}
Central City Opera will present the Colorado premiere of Benjamin Britten’s opera “Billy Budd.” The opera, based on Herman Melville’s novel, “chronicles the idealistic title character’s forced enlistment in the British Navy aboard the Indomitable during the Napoleonic Wars and the moral dilemma that ensues over crimes he commits in self-defense.” Ken Cazan will direct this large production as part {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real / Teatro Real de Madrid) Benjamin Britten’s “Gloriana” is one of his unique works, created to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The opera had its world premiere on June 8, 1953 with Joan Cross in the role of Queen Elizabeth and Peter Pears as Earl of Essex. Gerain Evans was Lord Mountjoy. It is {…}
The New York Festival of Song will present “Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life” on June 25, 2019 at the LGBT Community Center. The performance will feature music by such composers as Berg, Bernstein, Blitzstein, Bolcom, Britten, Coleman, de Blasio, De Falla, Griffes, Porter, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Wallowitch as performed by tenor Daniel McGrew, Scott Murphree, Efraín {…}
In Benjamin Britten and Ronald Duncan’s “The Rape of Lucretia,” a young Roman soldier is goaded into testing the chastity of Lucretia, who was the only woman not to betray her husband Collatinus. This roman soldier, Tarquinius, proceeds to show up at Lucretia’s home, awaken her from bed, and, despite being repeatedly rejected, he rapes her. Lucretia winds up killing {…}
The Utopia Opera has announced its cast for its upcoming performances of Benjamin Britten and Eric Crozier’s “Albert Herring.” Cory Gross will take on the title role with Marie Masters Webb as Lady Billows. Caroline Tye will interpret Florence Pike, while Rebecca Richardson will be Miss Wordsworth. Glenn Friedman will appear as Mr. Gedge with Ethan Fran as Mr. Upfold. {…}
Opera Vision will start streaming Britten’s “Albert Herring” from the Royal College of Music, starting on Sept. 21, 2018. The opera will be led by famed Britten interpreter Michael Rosewell. Among the cast members will be Janis Kelly, Nick Pritchard, Matt Buswell, Nicholas Morton, Angela Simkin, Natasha Day, Polly Leech, Amy Lyddon, Rowan Pierce, and Michael Taylor Moran, among others. {…}
Premiering on June 11, 1960, at the Aldenburgh Festival, Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” has become one of the most renowned Shakespeare adaptations in the opera canon. The three-act work has been recorded time and again and stands as one of Britten’s most renowned works, alongside “Peter Grimes” and “Billy Budd.” Short Plot Summary Oberon, the King of Fairies, {…}
Benjamin Britten wrote a number of well-regarded operas, but his undeniable masterpiece is “Peter Grimes.” The work, which premiered on June 7, 1945, remains one of the most influential operas of all time for its musical brilliance but also dramatic weight. It features one of the most complex characters in the canon. The work was a massive success from its first {…}
The central drama in “Billy Budd” unambiguously rotates around the relationships between Seaman Billy Budd, Captain Vere, and the Master-at-Arms, John Claggart. However, the exact nature of the relationships and the psychological motivations upon which they are founded are shrouded in a white mist, opening up the possibility for directors to pursue a variety of valid interpretations. Many recent productions {…}