Andrew Wilkowske News

Boston, MA – April 7, 2016 – Boston Lyric Opera closes its 2015/16 Season with composer Franz Lehár's classic comic operetta The Merry Widow, whose light-hearted fun within the fictional Pontevedrian Embassy in Paris plays out among international diplomats as the dark clouds of World War I gather on the horizon. This new BLO production of The Merry Widowopens April 29 for a five-performance run through May 8 at the Citi Performing Arts CenterSMShubert Theatre in Boston.

Boston, MA - April 7, 2016 - Boston Lyric Opera closes its 2015/16 Season with composer Franz Lehar's classic comic operetta The Merry Widow, whose light-hearted fun within the fictional Pontevedrian Embassy in Paris plays out among international diplomats as the dark clouds of World War I gather on the horizon. This new BLO production of The Merry Widowopens April 29 for a five-performance run through May 8 at the Citi Performing Arts CenterSMShubert Theatre in Boston.

The Florentine Opera Company General Director William Florescu announced the nation's sixth oldest opera company's 83Rd season with a 'grand reveal party' in the Marcus Centers newly renovated Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall:

After breaking box office records in 2014, Mozart's timeless comedy The Magic Flutereturns to Minnesota Opera (tonight, November 14 - 22 at the Ordway) in the revolutionary production by Komische Oper Berlin and the British theater group 1927.

MINNEAPOLIS (October 5, 2015) – After breaking box office records in 2014, Mozart's timeless comedy The Magic Flutereturns to Minnesota Opera (November 14 – 22 at the Ordway) in the revolutionary production by Komische Oper Berlin and the British theater group 1927. Fantastical hand-drawn animation, synchronized with live performance, sets a surreal stage upon which its quirky characters, all cleverly based on familiar silent-movie personalities, explore love, truth and the pursuit of enlightenment. This acclaimed production has been seen in just two American cities – Los Angeles and Saint Paul – but has received international praise. Britain's Guardian said, “This production is a joy to watch: an enchanting, big-hearted, supremely lovable piece of whimsical animation and nimble stagecraft.” The New York Times concurred: “... this production stays miraculously fresh, sustaining surprise and delight in its two-and-a-half hours.” Packed with exquisite singing and stage wizardry, Mozart's final opera will enchant young and old alike.

Pity the poor also-rans in operatic history: Leoncavallo's LA BOHEME and even Rossini's OTELLO are perhaps the most famous titles. Oh, yes: We mustn't forget Giovanni Paisiello's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA—not after hearing On Site Opera's production in New York last week, we can't. Downstairs, upstairs, in m'lady's library, On Site introduced much of its audience last week to an “alternative universe” version of the Almavivas and the wily barber, Figaro, in a BARBIERE composed decades before the familiar version by Rossini.

On Site Opera has garnered considerable acclaim for its immersive, site-specific productions since stage director Eric Einhorn founded it just three years ago.

This summer, On Site Opera(OSO) will present a new production that exemplifies the company's mission to stage operas in non-traditional locations ideally suited to the stories they tell. OSO will offer an immersive site-specific staging of Giovanni Paisiello's The Barber of Seville at the opulent Fabbri Mansion (House of the Redeemer) on New York City's Upper East Side. Conducted by the company's newly appointed Music Director,Geoffrey McDonald and directed by OSO's Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Eric Einhorn, the production will be updated to the early decades of the twentieth century (when the Fabbri Mansion was built) and staged in themansion's outdoor courtyard and library.

This summer, On Site Opera (OSO) will present a new production that exemplifies the company's mission to stage operas in non-traditional locations ideally suited to the stories they tell. OSO will offer an immersive site-specific staging of Giovanni Paisiello's The Barber of Seville at the opulent Fabbri Mansion (House of the Redeemer) on New York City's Upper East Side. Conducted by the company's newly appointed Music Director, Geoffrey McDonald and directed by OSO's Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Eric Einhorn, the production will be updated to the early decades of the twentieth century (when the Fabbri Mansion was built) and staged in themansion's outdoor courtyard and library.

On Site Opera has garnered considerable acclaim for its immersive, site-specific productions since stage director Eric Einhorn founded it just three years ago.

On Site Opera has garnered considerable acclaim for its immersive, site-specific productions since stage director Eric Einhorn founded it just three years ago. This summer, the company kicks off its most ambitious undertaking to date:The Figaro Project. On Site Opera will offer lesser-known operatic adaptations of French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais' (1732-1799) famed trilogy of Figaro plays: The Barber of Seville (1775), The Marriage of Figaro (1784) and The Guilty Mother(1792). The Figaro Project will reacquaint audiences with their favorite Beaumarchais' characters in new and unexpected ways in non-traditional venues across New York City.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its exhilarating 57th season with the Kansas City premiere of composer Kevin Puts' 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Silent Night, beginning tomorrow, February 21 and continuing February 25 & 27 and March 1 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in English, German, French, Italian and Latin with English titles. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Minnesota Opera presents five operas in its 2015-2016 season, which includes the highly anticipated world-premiere thriller, The Shining, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Moravec. Other season highlights include Puccini's Tosca, an encore of Mozart's The Magic Flute, Dvo?ák's Rusalka and the first Minnesota Opera production of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos in three decades.

Five Boroughs Music Festival's 2014-2015 Season continues in March with the genre- blurring "rock recital", GUNS N' ROSENKAVALIER! With arrangements by composer John Glover and baritone Andrew Wilkowske and English lyrics by Kelley Rourke, "Guns N' Rosenkavalier" melds art song with rock song, resulting in musical mashups spanning the works of Kate Bush and Brahms, REM and Strauss, and more.

Music lovers will temporarily swap frigid Minnesota temps for the warmth of sun-drenched Tuscany, thanks to Minnesota Opera's upcoming production, The Elixir of Love. Set in the rolling hills of the Italian countryside, Donizetti's timeless romantic comedy opens tonight, January 24 at the Ordway Music Theater in St. Paul for five performances. In the opera, American soprano Nicole Cabell stars as the beautiful and wealthy Adina, doggedly pursued by the love-struck Nemorino, a handsome but simple peasant sung by Italian American tenor Leonardo Capalbo.

Music lovers will temporarily swap frigid Minnesota temps for the warmth of sun-drenched Tuscany, thanks to Minnesota Opera's upcoming production, The Elixir of Love. Set in the rolling hills of the Italian countryside, Donizetti's timeless romantic comedy opens January 24 at the Ordway Music Theater in St. Paul for five performances. In the opera, American soprano Nicole Cabell stars as the beautiful and wealthy Adina, doggedly pursued by the love-struck Nemorino, a handsome but simple peasant sung by Italian American tenor Leonardo Capalbo.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents a unique double-bill of one-act German language operas including Carl Orff's 'The Clever One' and Viktor Ullmann's 'The Emperor of Atlantis,' in four performances today, May 31- June 8, 2014 at the Merle Reskin Theatre of DePaul University (60 E. Balbo). 'The Emperor of Atlantis' ('Der Kaiser von Atlantis') by Viktor Ullmann and 'The Clever One' ('Die Kluge') by Carl Orff are two satires about oppression and dictatorship both written in 1943, but reflecting differing world views: 'Emperor' was composed during Ullman's imprisonment at the Theresienstadt concentration camp and 'Clever One' by an artist working under the Nazi regime's guidelines in Frankfurt, Germany. Both biting satires emphasize a sense of absurdity and ridiculousness while embodying the spirit of traditional German fairytales.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents a unique double-bill of one-act German language operas including Carl Orff's "The Clever One" and Viktor Ullmann's "The Emperor of Atlantis," in four performances May 31- June 8, 2014 at the Merle Reskin Theatre of DePaul University (60 E. Balbo). "The Emperor of Atlantis" ("Der Kaiser von Atlantis") by Viktor Ullmann and "The Clever One" ("Die Kluge") by Carl Orff are two satires about oppression and dictatorship both written in 1943, but reflecting differing world views: "Emperor" was composed during Ullman's imprisonment at the Theresienstadt concentration camp and "Clever One" by an artist working under the Nazi regime's guidelines in Frankfurt, Germany. Both biting satires emphasize a sense of absurdity and ridiculousness while embodying the spirit of traditional German fairytales.

Minnesota Opera presents its co-production of a dynamic and engaging staging of Mozart's The Magic Flute with LA Opera. Mozart's masterful comedy about love, truth and the pursuit of enlightenment is richly reimagined in this boundary-busting production. Connecting the tale's enduring meaning with modern metaphor, this extraordinary staging combines live performance and film animation to delve deeply into the opera's surreal magic, odd characters and crazy love. Check out a sneak peek below!