(Credit: Ken Howard / Santa Fe Opera) “Cold Mountain” is a groundbreaking retelling of the popular 1997 Charles Frazier novel of the same name. American composer Jennifer Higdon wrote the opera to mark the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. It premiered at the Santa Fe Opera on August 1, 2015, with subsequent showings at the Opera Philadelphia and {…}
(Credit: Opera Philadelphia) Music Academy of the West will soon present the West Coast premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning Composer-in-Residence Jennifer Higdon’s “Cold Mountain.” Based on Charles Frazier’s novel, the opera, described in the press release as an “American odyssey of love, honor, and redemption at the close of the Civil War,” tells the story of Confederate soldier W.P. Inman’s desertion {…}
The Music Academy of the West has announced its 72nd Summer Season, which will include a wide range of musical performances. For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on vocal and operatic performances. Everything kicks off with the Voice Program Opening Night, which will feature the 2019 Vocal Institute Fellows. In their ranks are four sopranos, four {…}
“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 we will go through {…}
Nathan Gunn is one of America’s great modern-day baritones. Born on Nov. 26, 1970, he has had a wide-ranging career that has seen him appear in a wide range of repertoire, from classics by Mozart and Rossini, to romantic works from the French masters, to a number of modern operas. The latter operas are the ones in which he has {…}
A few weeks ago, Metropolitan Opera Music Director Designate Yannick Nézet-Séguin made the proclamation that he would be bringing newer and fresher composers to the Metropolitan Opera throughout his tenure. A few days later it was reported that among the new composers he would be bringing would be Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking.” It’s a great start, considering Heggie, who {…}
It can be hard to get a chance to hear some of the greatest opera singers in the world in the theater. But many great artists have seen their efforts preserved on some form of recording, whether it be in studio recordings or video. OperaWire’s Artist of the Week Isabel Leonard has a unique recorded library which features numerous classics {…}