“Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This week, the focus is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s two-part magnum opus “Faust” and three operas – Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust,” Gounod’s “Faust,” and Boito’s {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a film section or a film in its entirety and highlight 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 features Murnau’s {…}
The Chelsea Opera Group is preparing to mount a rare performance of Boito’s “Mefistofele” at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre on Sunday, March 24. The concert performance will be lead by Matthew Scott Rogers and will feature Vazgen Gazaryan as the devil himself. Pablo Bemsch will take on the role of Faust while Elizabeth Llewellyn will interpret the {…}
Arrigo Boito, born on Feb. 24, 1842, was what one could consider a Renaissance Man of the 19th century. He was a poet, journalist, novelist, librettist, and composer and many of his works in those diverse disciplines remain fixtures of the operatic canon. He initially set out to be a musician, studying at the Milan Conservatory. He then fought in {…}
Arrigo Boito’s “Mefistofele” is a work of glorious moments that has yet to find a stable place in the standard repertoire. Despite being derived from Goethe’s famed “Faust,” great arias for the major leads, and an amazing part for any opera house’s chorus, it has never been as popular as other adaptations of the same source material(ie: Gounod’s “Faust”). In {…}
On Thursday, Nov. 8, Boito’s “Mefistofele” makes its return to the Metropolitan Opera after an 18-year hiatus. Of the opera’s 67 performances, all but 13 came before 1927, which makes a statement on the opera’s popularity with the company. It has never quite turned into a major staple of the repertoire at large, though it has been growing in popularity {…}
It’s a Christian van Horn kind of year. The bass-baritone has already opened a new production of “Faust” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, headlined opening night at Opera Philadelphia, and won the Richard Tucker Award. He also starred at the Canadian Opera and returns to the Metropolitan Opera for “La Bohème.” But perhaps his biggest assignment will come this week when he sings {…}
The old Irish proverb “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” is particularly applicable to Barcelona-born director Àlex Ollé. Without insinuating any untoward obsession with Satan, in the past ten years Ollé has had numerous dramaturgical dalliances with the Prince of Darkness. First was the cutesy “[email protected]” in collaboration with Fura dels Baus co-director Carlos Padrissa. In {…}
Christian Van Horn is one of today’s rising stars in the opera world, the bass making major role debuts and opening new productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company and the Metropolitan Opera. This year, he became the third bass-baritone to win the Richard Tucker Award and the first of his voice type since 2003. Van Horn’s {…}
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, born on August 28, 1749, is one of the great German writers in history. Unsurprisingly, his literary prowess has inspired a wide range of operatic works, many of which are staples of the canon. Here is a survey of operas based on the works of Goethe. Faust Goethe’s masterwork is undeniably the source of many operas. {…}
“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 Christopher Nolan’s “Batman {…}