Even as we get deeper into the summer and watch theaters reopen, it is important to keep our focus on the important dialogues of racial equality taking place. We continue to recommend checking out the several online shows such as Karen Slack’s “KikiKonversations,” Kenneth Overton’s “Black Opera Live,” and “The Sitdown with LB,” hosted by Lawrence Brownlee. You can also add {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver / Terrence McCarthy / San Francisco Opera) The San Francisco Opera has announced its upcoming slate of operas on its “Opera is ON” streaming service. First up, the company will present “Salome” in a production starring Nadja Michael, Greer Grimsley, Kim Begley, Irina Mishura, and Garrett Sorenson. Nicola Luisotti conducts the Strauss opera. Streaming Date: June 20, {…}
In Phoenix on January 24, 2020, Arizona Opera presented Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa’s popular opera “La Bohème.” Illica and Giacosa wrote the opera’s libretto and I agree with modern writers that librettists deserve as much credit as composers. When the curtain opened, Stage Director Paul and Scenic Designer Peter Dean Beck gave us a two-level garret that would return for the last act. In it he did not use what I guess was merely a sleeping loft on the upper level. This construction is actually part of a most effective unit set that formed the second act hillside street, and the third act gate.
Boston’s Odyssey Opera is set to open its seventh season with a concert performance of Saint-Saëns’ “Henry VIII.” The work, based on “El cisma en Inglaterra” by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, will kick off the 2019-20 season featuring concert and staged operas about the great English dynasty of the Tudors. The production will star an all-star cast that includes {…}
The Odyssey Opera is set to open its 2019-20 season with a concert performance of “Henry VIII” by Camille Saint-Saëns. Michael Chioldi is set to star in the title role as King Henry, with soprano Ellie Dehn as Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and mezzo-soprano Hilary Ginther as Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. The company, which has been dedicated {…}
The Michigan Opera Theatre has announced its 2019-20 season featuring musicals, galas, and special concerts. Here is a look at what the Detroit company has to offer. The season opens with a gala featuring star tenor Michael Fabiano and Soprano Leah Crocetto in arias from opera and musical theater. Stephen Lord conducts the starry evening. Performance Date: Oct. 12, 2019 {…}
The North Carolina Symphony has announced its 2019-20 season with a number of crossover concerts, classical repertoire, and operatic selections. For this article, we have only chosen the opera or vocal performances. In time for the holiday season, the North Carolina Master Chorale joins NCS for Handel’s Messiah. Ellie Dehn, Andrew Owens, and Federico de Michelis are the soloists in the evening, which {…}
Arizona Opera has announced its 2019-20 season, which will feature a number of modern works and two major classics. The season opens in September with the world premiere of the Taliesin West version of “Shining Brow” by librettist Paul Muldoon and composer Daron Hagen. The work will be conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya with Chas Rader-Shieber directing the production. Among the {…}
San Francisco 2018: Vienna 2010. Connection? “Arabella,” Richard Strauss’s opera with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Opening in a new production, the San Francisco Opera production is from Tim Albery, making his San Francisco debut. Albery designed it first for Santa Fe Opera in 2012. This was followed by a staging in 2013 {…}
On Oct. 16, 2018, the San Francisco Opera will open Strauss’ “Arabella” for the first time in 20 years. The production by Tim Albery will feature soprano Ellie Dehn in the title role for the first time, Brian Mulligan in his role debut as Mandryka, soprano Heidi Stober as Zdenka, tenor Daniel Johansson in his first San Francisco Opera engagement {…}
When you come right down to it – French Grand Opera – is very grand. A large canvas, huge sets, wide-ranging costumes, display of various kinds, sweeping music, on occasion, and musical textures that vary and offer range of interest – plus human beings, who, set into this panorama – resume their rightful size: ordinary. What? We control our own {…}