To wait for one whole act, plus a quarter of a second, just to glimpse the heroine, let alone hear her, is practically a crime. Especially, with all the talk. From the moment the curtain rises, what do we hear? Turandot, Turandot, Turandot. And so, where is she? On and on, troops of “the people” – boy chorus, various authorities {…}
Talk about a busy weekend. There will be over 70 opera performances around the country this weekend with a wide range of repertoire. North of the border, Pacific Opera Victoria showcases “Rattenbury” on Friday and Sunday and Opéra de Montreal showcases “La Cenerentola.” Teatro Municipal De Santiago presents “Aida” on Friday and Saturday while Atlanta Opera does a showcase of {…}
When you come right down to it – French Grand Opera – is very grand. A large canvas, huge sets, wide-ranging costumes, display of various kinds, sweeping music, on occasion, and musical textures that vary and offer range of interest – plus human beings, who, set into this panorama – resume their rightful size: ordinary. What? We control our own {…}
This weekend will feature a ton of opera across North America, with companies opening a number of productions and others closing them up. First, let’s take a look at the new runs opening this week. Saratoga Opera’s “La Traviata” gets its first performances on Friday and Sunday while Opera Omaha presents its only two “Tosca” showcases of the year those {…}
It will be a fun week for Ellie Dehn. A few months ago, soprano Nadine Sierra was slated to be the artist to lead the San Francisco Opera’s new production of “Manon.” But Sierra pulled out of the role and Dehn was called upon to take the torch of one of the hardest roles in the lyric soprano repertoire. It {…}
The San Francisco Opera continued its innovative approach to engaging the community in the world of opera. The company recently launched the Opera ARIA Music Performance Residency, which is a “school-focused opera-immersion program” that will connect San Francisco Unified Middle and High School performing arts students to the professional musicians and artists of San Francisco Opera. The program will feature {…}
San Francisco Opera has announced the programs it will be instituting this season to bring more awareness about opera to adults in the area. In sum, there will be about six programs overall, the first of which takes place on Oct. 20, 2017. This program, entitled “Drinks & Drama: A Taste of the Season,” is a social-educational evening pairing operas {…}
As we get deeper and deeper into the fall season, opera lovers are finding themselves with more and more options around the United States. Here is a look at the offerings for this second weekend of the month. First off, let’s kick off with the major openings. On Saturday, Los Angeles Opera opens its production of “Nabucco (the company also {…}
The busy weekend in the US continues throughout with a number of companies continuing previously unveiled productions. Before we look at continued runs, let’s look at some of the first-timers this weekend. Among those is LA Opera’s production of “The Pearl Fishers,” which opens on Saturday with a cast that includes Nino Machaidze, Javier Camarena, and Alfredo Daza. Over in {…}
The fall opera season continues growing with more and more opera companies opening their doors. This will be the first weekend of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2017-18 season. While the company has no shows scheduled for Friday, it will have a double header of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” on Saturday during the afternoon and “Die Zauberflöte” in the evening. The former stars {…}
Although written by two men, “Girls of the Golden West” is centered around the lives of the hardy women of Rich Bar (a mining camp in the Sierra mountains) and Downieville, California in the early 1850s. Throughout the Works and Process presentation at the Guggenheim on Sept. 21, John Adams (composer) and Peter Sellars (librettist/director) made it clear that this opera {…}