“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 is Stanley Kubrick’s legendary {…}
Gioachino Rossini is one of the three Bel Canto masters whose music has been performed regularly over the years. However, unlike Bellini or Donizetti, Rossini has gotten the reputation for being a composer of comedy and sometimes his opera seria has been overlooked in favor of such masterpieces as “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” “Le Comte Ory,” “La Cenerentola” and “Il {…}
Friedrich Schiller is one of the great writers in history, his work focusing on major philosophy and a number of major dramas. Of course, his legacy is preserved in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the text to the final music set to Schiller’s poetry. Born on Nov. 10, 1759, his philosophical essays centered on ethics and aesthetics, two such works centering on {…}
Two new releases highlight the week. The first is a controversial production from the Royal Opera House while the other one comes from a historical production from the Deutsche Oper Berlin. And both should be enticing to any opera lover. William Tell Back in 2015, Damiano Micheletto’s production of “Guillaume Tell” opened to outrage and lots of boos at the {…}
It is the month of revolutions with a number of major countries acquiring their respective independence in the month of July. Just to list some – the United States, France, Algeria, Colombia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Peru, Slovakia, Rwanda, Somalia, and Venezuela. All of these nations and many more claim their independence day during this month. Independence didn’t come for free {…}
After looking at the top female and male singers as well as the finest maestros of the 2016-17 season, we now turn the spotlight on the 10 best-assembled casts of the season. This was a truly difficult piece to put together as this Met season had great casts for almost every single opera. But the casts listed below were simply {…}
Conductor Daniele Rustioni is poised to change things up at the Opera de Lyon in coming seasons. The Italian maestro was presented as the newly minted Music Director of the company at a private reception in New York on Thursday at the Bar Boulud on Broadway. Along with him was Lyon Opera’s own General Director Serge Dorny to reveal the {…}
The world is set to undergo a change this week with a massive transfer of power. There is tremendous uncertainty regarding this situation, some expecting the very worst. Art represents an interesting window into our deepest fears and opera has its fair share of oppressive regimes and tyrannical rule in all guises. What follows is a look at some of {…}