The first draft didn’t work. Australian mezzo-soprano and novelist Indyana Schneider says that plainly, without flinching. By the time Schneider’s debut novel, “28 Questions,” hit shelves in January 2022, she’d already completed a full draft of her follow-up, “Since the World is Ending,” and it wasn’t good. But what followed was, in her words, “a really fun journey.” That journey {…}
(Photo: Monika Rittershaus) After thirteen years as artistic director at the Zurich Opera House, Andreas Homoki leaves his post to Matthias Schulz and presents his last production in Zurich: a staged performance of Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elias.” Mendelssohn wrote the oratorio in 1846, in a style reminiscent of Baroque oratorios, with Bach and Handel as its clear inspirations. The music blends Baroque and classical polyphony {…}
(Photo credit: Keith Saunders) Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” has a bit of everything – part-serious opera, part-singspiel, part-burlesque, part-ritual. Music commentators often seem much exercised with how to categorize it. That thought arose while watching Kate Gaul’s new production of “The Magic Flute” on February 1. This was the third opera in Opera Australia’s 2024 summer season at Sydney Opera {…}
