Opera
Recommendations for 2010-11 Met “Live in HD” broadcasts
Many people new or unfamiliar with opera may look at the 12 live transmissions scheduled for this upcoming season (beginning October 9) and ask, “So, what would be worth attending?”
My first answer would be, “all of them!” But realistically, some are better “first opera” experiences than others. Some of them might require a little preparation [...]
First-ever staging of Wagner’s first opera
Pasadena, CA: June 2010
At 11:40 p.m. last night, it was over. The curtain dropped on North America’s first ever staged production of Richard Wagner’s first opera (written was he was 20), DIE FEEN, at the historic Pasadena Playhouse in California.
I’m not sure how, but Lyric Opera of Los Angeles’s Laura Sage somehow pulled this off [...]
A Whale of a Hit at Dallas Opera
In the early bars of the haunting, brooding prelude, what appears to be a dark sky filled with stars emerges onto the animation screen.
As the music continues, short white lines begin to develop from the “stars.” Sometimes they intersect, sometimes they form shapes. Some of them disappear and others slowly grow. Suddenly, several lines come [...]
Young women making a difference in opera
Grassroots opera. It’s out there.
Meet Laura Sage and Elisa Jordan.
I spent the weekend in Southern California attending an old opera (Verdi’s NABUCCO, in San Diego) and a new one (Kenneth Wells’s THE FIRST LADY, at UCLA). Both events were followed by enjoyable visits to local eating and drinking establishments with friends old and new, in [...]
Fink triumphs in San Diego NABUCCO
I spend a lot of time at the world’s greatest opera houses. But those who restrict their experience only to places like New York’s Metropolitan Opera are missing out on much.
Regional opera is alive and well in this country. Many smaller companies regularly produce outstanding operas featuring top-drawer singers. San Diego Opera is [...]
Franco Zeffirelli’s TURANDOT at the Met: Quite the spectacle!
New York, NY; NOVEMBER 2009
The Franco Zeffirelli Met productions are legendary, and have enjoyed long tenures with some of the world’s best-loved operas in the world’s most famous opera house.
They are what they are: over-the-top ostentatious, detailed, and memorable. They provide perfect settings for the operas they present. And before Saturday, the one I had [...]
Bard’s Meyerbeer success
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; AUGUST, 2009
Get up to Bard before you miss LES HUGUENOTS!!!
You have two more chances: Wednesday afternoon and Friday night. It takes a long time to get there. The opera (make sure you include the pre-opera lecture) is long. There’s not much to do at Annandale-on-Hudson except enjoy this production. And it will be [...]
Halfway through the Seattle RING
Seattle, WA; AUGUST 2009
Like a great wine, the Stephen Wadsworth Seattle RING continues to improve with age.
We’re only halfway through the third cycle, but even though I have attended the two previous ones (and ten complete RING cycles), this one is totally blowing me away.
“Veteran” cast members have grown into their roles and into their [...]
Gotterdammerung caps Seattle’s fabulous Wadsworth “RING”
Seattle, WA; AUGUST 2009
The 2009 Seattle RING could not be any closer to perfection.
I’m still glowing from the final opera, GOTTERDAMMERUNG, of the final cycle of this summer’s production, and would be hard-pressed to find even one suggestion I could make as to how to improve this monumental achievement.
Perfect staging, sets that still inspire awe [...]
Lake George Opera
Saratoga Springs, NY; JULY 2009
I have known of this summer festival in Saratoga Springs for several years, was planning to go five summers ago before my plans (and my life) changed so drastically, and had a dear friend sing three roles there last summer.
So I was pleased (and a little disappointed) to learn of the [...]
