Opera Parallèle and Presidio Theatre are set to present the West Coast premiere of “Fellow Travelers” by Gregory Spears. The company will salute LGBTQ+ Pride Month with the opera which will be performed three times between June 21 and 23 at the Presidio Theatre. The opera is based on award-winning author Thomas Mallon’s novel, which was recently adapted into a {…}
The Arizona Opera is set to conclude the 2023-24 Season with a production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” The story of legendary libertine Don Juan is set to star Richard Ollarsaba, Joseph Lattanzi, Vanessa Vasquez, Lydia Grindatto, Toni Marie Palmertree, Mary-Hollis Hundley, Brad Bickhardt, Zachary Nelson, Vanessa Becerra, Véronique Filloux, Peter Barber, and Adam Lau. Daniela Candillari conducts the production by Tara Faircloth. {…}
Steve Jobs forever changed the world of communications. The opera, “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” composed by Mason Bates with libretto by Mark Campbell, opened at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House and brought the story of how Jobs gave birth to the computer with panache. Although the opera’s premiere occurred in Santa Fe in 2017, and was the {…}
The week the San Francisco Opera will showcase “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” for the first time in the company’s history. The production will feature a cast that includes Joseph Lattanzi, a baritone making his debut with the San Francisco Opera in the role Paul Jobs for the very first time. Over the past years, Lattanzi has been on the {…}
There are a lot of unique experiences to be had via streaming in the opera world this week and we’re excited to share our top 10 choices. A star soprano. Rising opera stars. The future of opera. A new work filmed in a major museum. Lots of Verdi and Mozart. All of these and more are on offer. So let’s {…}
OSSIA, a new digital media company arrived on the opera scene on July 16. Co-founded by four artists from within the industry, OSSIA’s mission is to open the door to the world of opera through engaging digital content. The company’s initial foray into the content space is “Op Culture,” a digital channel dedicated to providing original content to global audiences. {…}
On November 8, 2019, Arizona Opera presented composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce’s 2016 opera “Fellow Travelers.” Premiered at Cincinnati Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago presented the work in March 2018, and Minnesota Opera staged it three months later. That is not a surprise to anyone who has heard its enchantingly original music. Yes, it has its Puccini-style moments, but it also relates to much earlier music and contains tonal vocal harmony rarely heard in 21st century opera. Spears’ music shows human grace and warmth one moment and counteracts it with chilling dissonance the next. Thus, he magnifies and intensifies the conflict between characters.
With the 2019-20 season fully underway, we have found this challenge of selecting a choice few operas every weekend increasingly challenging as there is really a lot of special work going on around North America. Nonetheless, as per usual, we have whittled it down to five works that we think will bring a balanced operatic diet for those who want {…}