It’s popular to make year-end lists, and I saw between 30-35 performances during the calendar year. Much of what I saw was terrific and, of course, there were many more outstanding performances that I didn’t see. These are the five that I will remember the most from what I saw; they are not necessarily the best but will remain in {…}
Lauren Snouffer, Mark Stone, and Anthony Roth Costanzo are set to star in the Philadelphia premiere of George Benjamin’s “Written on Skin.” Opera Philadelphia will present the first American new staging of the work since its world premiere in 2012. The opera is considered by many as one of the “century’s most successful new operas” and this season the work will be {…}
The Curtis Institute of Music, Opera Philadelphia, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts have announced a new partnership to establish Curtis Opera Theatre at the Perelman. The partnership will feature a spring series featuring two Curtis Opera Theatre productions at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. For its first year, the series will include a March {…}
Opera Philadelphia’s acclaimed production of “We Shalll Not be Moved” will make its New York premiere at the Apollo Theater next Friday, Oct. 6, after making its world premiere earlier this month at the O17 festival. This new chamber opera is a collaboration between Haitian-American composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, Haitian-American spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and director Bill T. Jones. {…}
On Sept. 18, Opera Philadelphia world premiered “The Wake World” as part of its 2017 festival. Composer David Hertzberg created an immersive experience that was showcased at the Barnes Foundation and that experimented with form and melody. As one of Opera Philadelphia’s 2017-2018 Composers-in-Residence, in a program offered in collaboration with Music-Theatre Group, Hertzberg will continue to be an active {…}
It is another busy weekend in the opera world with more and more companies opening their doors for the fall season. Opera Philadelphia is the first new addition to the weekend with its first performance of “The Magic Flute” on Friday and Sunday. On Saturday, the company showcases the world premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s “Elizabeth Cree,” which {…}
Rihab Chaieb is a rising star in the opera world having won the 2016 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and becoming a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program. The Tunisian mezzo-soprano has quickly earned praise singing a number of houses including the Canadian Opera Company where she was a member of the Ensemble Studio and participant in {…}
It’s never an easy task to open a season at an opera house. But it’s even more challenging to open a season with a role debut and a world premiere. That is the feat that Daniela Mack is tasked with this week as she takes on the role of “Elizabeth Cree” in Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s latest collaboration. Mack, {…}
In a contemporary landscape overrun with new operas featuring white, cisgendered men in the title roles, it’s refreshing to consider Opera Philadelphia’s newest commission, “Elizabeth Cree.” This chamber opera, composed by Kevin Puts with a libretto by Mark Campbell, adapts Peter Ackroyd’s macabre murder mystery, “The Trial of Elizabeth Cree.” The story, set in late 19th century London, follows Elizabeth Cree, {…}
A few days ago we heard about Vienna State Opera amping up the subtitles game in an attempt to make opera more accessible to a wider range of people. It looks like Opera Philadelphia is in on the same game. The company announced that audiences will be able to use their smartphones during the performance to obtain a translation of {…}
On Sept. 14, 2017, Opera Philadelphia will open “War Stories,” a double bill featuring Monetverdi’s “Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” and Lembit Beecher’s “I Have No Stories to Tell You.” The pairing features two stories about war and their effects on their heroes. It is also a chance to see a classic baroque work juxtaposed with a modern work. Beecher {…}