On June 26, 2018, bidders at the Nat D. Sanders Auctions will have the chance to go home with a piece of opera history. The item is question is the manuscript for the finale of Richard Strauss’ 1935 opera “Die schweigsame Frau,” or “The Silent Woman.” The opera itself was the subject of controversy in the 1930s due to Richard {…}
The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey forced the Houston Grand Opera out of its regular space in the Wortham Theater Center and into a temporary one, dubbed HGO Resilience Theater inside the cavernous George Brown Convention Center in downtown. Experiencing a performance in such an unusual setting wasn’t a unique experience for me after seeing a production of “Tannhauser” inside a {…}
“Ariadne auf Naxos” is among the more popular Strauss works in the canon, its status the result of its glorious and lush melodies that accompany its passionate love duet. But the opera as we know it today was not the way it was originally conceived. The version that premiered on Oct. 25, 1912, was actually little more than a 30-minute {…}
Cheryl Studer, one of the most unique sopranos in recent history. Born on Oct. 24, 1955, she put together an enviable career that ranged from singing a tremendous amount of opera roles as dramatic and lyric soprano and then mezzo, to winning a plethora of major awards, to eventually becoming a teacher. She recorded countless albums and her legacy is {…}
San Francisco Opera’s “Elektra” is a powerhouse! From the minute the curtain rises on the “Museum Elektra,” filled with the artifacts of the Greek age and styled with an array of modern visitors, complete with cell phones and baseball caps, one strange dark-haired woman skulking around from this case to that, defying the Guards who monitor the whole scene until {…}
It may be wondered why Strauss decided to write an opera about the relative merits of the words and music in opera: “prima la musica o prima le parole?” Although it is a debate as old as opera itself, it is hardly a subject that is likely to excite potential audiences, and it is no doubt one of the reasons {…}
Richard Strauss, born on June 11, 1864, is one of opera’s greatest composers. And many of his operas, including “Elektra,” “Salome,” “Der Rosenkavalier,” “Die Frau ohne Schatten,” and “Ariadne auf Naxos,” are major repertoire staples. Others still get occasional performances, including “Arabella,” “Capriccio,” and “The Egyptian Helen.” But there are still others that for whatever reason simply never made the cut {…}
Over the course of two uninterrupted hours, Strauss’ “Salome” must develop from a clueless ingénue to a passionate seductress that eventually ends up a murderous, lustful lunatic. It is the dream role for any actress, but also one that demands a grade-A star to dispatch all of its nuance and intense passions. Patricia Racette was not supposed to be the {…}
The second performance of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Salome,” starring Patricia Racette, takes place on Friday, Dec. 9. The first performance featured the Met role debut for Racette, a portrayal that earned her universal acclaim. Eric C. Simpson of the New York Classical Review wrote that “ the veteran soprano had a career night Monday, showing she still has an enormous {…}