Maria Nockin - Page 9

On July 27, 2019, Santa Fe Opera added a new work to the operatic canon with its world premiere of THE THIRTEENTH CHILD by Danish composer Poul Ruders and American librettists Becky and David Starobin. The production was  co-commissioned and co-produced by Santa Fe Opera and the Odense Symphony Orchestra.

On July 26, 2019, Santa Fe Opera presented R. B. Schlather's rambunctious production of W. A. Mozart's dramma giocoso Così fan tutte. His first act started with Don Alfonso as a cowboy and the two couples, Fiordiligi with Gugliemo and Dorabella with  Ferrando dressed in tennis whites. Amanda Majeski, who has sung several leading roles at Santa Fe,  showed herself to be a capable Fiordiligi whose top notes bloomed with silver magic as she romped around the stage. For a?oeCome Scoglioa?? (a?oeLike a rocka??), she was comedically impassive and for a?oePer pietàa?? (a?oeFor pitya??) she truly begged for forgiveness as she used every note in her wide range to encompass the  scope of Mozart's writing.  whose top notes bloomed with silver magic as she romped around the stage.

On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, Santa Fe Opera presented Leoš Janáček's powerful dramatic opera Jenůfa. Laura Wilde, a former Santa Fe Apprentice who performed the title role at English National Opera in 2016, again sang the lead while Patricia Racette, who has often sung Jenůfa, portrayed her stepmother, Kostelnička. Both artists gave glorious dramatic interpretations of their roles in this shattering but moving opera.

Colombian-American soprano Vanessa Vasquez, winner of the 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, recently completed a residency at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. While there, she sang as Mimi in La boheme, Gilda in Rigoletto, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and Violetta in La traviata. She made her professional opera debut in summer 2017 as Liu in Turandot at the Des Moines Metro Opera. This past season, she was Violetta at Arizona Opera and, currently, she is appearing as Mimi in La boheme at Santa Fe Opera.

On June 29, Santa Fe Opera presented its second production of the 2019 season, a revival of Georges Bizet's exotic THE PEARL FISHERS. First seen in Lee Blakekely's 2012 version, the production has fared well. Current director Shawna Lucey staged a tasteful, straight forward revival of the work Bizet wrote 12 years before his immortal CARMEN.

On June 28, 2019, Santa Fe Opera opened its 63rd Season with Giacomo Puccini's tale of poverty-stricken young lovers in nineteenth century Paris. Stage Director Mary Birnbaum told the tale in a straight forward manner but with with an occasional twist that fomented conversation among audience members during the intermission and after the final act. 

Numi Opera began its inaugural season with Alexander Zemlinsky's almost forgotten Der Zwerg (The Dwarf), a piece once condemned by the Nazi Third Reich. In Los Angeles, the dark and cavernous ground floor of the Theatre at Ace Hotel was more than half full for the matinee performance on Sunday, June 2, 2019.

On June 1, 2019, Los Angeles Opera revived Marta Domingo's production of Giuseppe Verdi's beloved La Traviata (The Lost One). The story concerns Marie Duplessis, an enormously famous courtesan whose life has fascinated the public for well over a century. She is the subject of La Dame aux Camelias (The Lady of the Camelias) by Alexandre Dumas the younger, who claimed to be one of Marie's lovers and she is the heroine of Verdi's opera. Los Angeles Opera reprised its 2006 production of La Traviata for the third time on June 1, 2019, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Numi Opera will present Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg at the Theatre in the Ace Hotel this weekend. It's a rare but outstandingly beautiful gem.

On May 4, 2019, Los Angeles Opera presented a colorful, opulent production of Manuel Penella's opera EL GATO MONTES (THE WILDCAT) at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Starring in the cast were Placido Domingo as Juanillo, El Gato, with Ana Maria Martinez as Solea and Arturo Chacon-Cruz as Raphael, El Macareno. Needless to say the house was packed. 

in Long Beach (CSULB). Based on the story by Franz Kafka, the opera has words by Rudolph Wurlitzer and, in this production, added text by Juliette Carillo based on interviews with members of  Rising Scholars.  The latter is a CSULB group consisting of former inmates and family members of people who have served time. 

Opera Santa Barbara presented a musically dramatic rendition of THE CRUCIBLE. As an opera it struck the emotions with a stronger hammer than the play did with mere words. If you can be in Santa Barbara tomorrow afternoon, don't miss the performance at the Lobero Theatre.

On Sunday April 14 Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera, Madama Butterfly, in Japanese and English in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo. The company also live-streamed it online. Did anyone ever think an American Navy officer would speak to a young Japanese lady in Italian? l'd expect him to speak English and the lady from Nagasaki to speak Japanese. That is what happened at the performance on Sunday. Despite translations from Goro, the marriage broker, and Sharpless, the American consul, Pinkerton and Butterfly had trouble understanding each other as they came from completely different cultures.

Maria Callas was a unique opera singer with an instantly recognizable voice. As a result, today's opera fans still have a desire to hear her recordings and to try to know what her performances were like. On April 13, 2019, Los Angeles Opera, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and BASE HOLOGRAM presented Callas in Concert at the 1200-seat Bovard Auditorium on the campus of the University of Southern California.

Alexandra Schoeny's repertoire ranges in period and style from the time of Claudio Monteverdi to that of today's composers. Schoeny is known for her versatility and engaging stage presence. Critics have described her voice as 'hauntingly beautiful.' Her onstage portrayals of characters are said to be 'idiomatic and memorable.' Her opera roles include: Donna Anna and Zerlina in DON GIOVANNI, Adina in L'ELISIR D'AMORE (THE ELIXIR OF LOVE) other leading parts. 

On March 3, 2019, Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented its more-than-a-little-bit-zany version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE (DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE) at Los Angeles's El Portal Theatre. POP Director and Designer Josh Shaw and Baritone E. Scott Levin premiered a new English version of Emanuel Schikaneder's German libretto in which the characters resembled those of a 1990s video game.

On March 2,2019, Los Angeles Opera presented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's THE CLEMENCY OF TITUS (LA CLEMENZA DI TITO) in a production by Thaddeus Strassberger. Having directed and designed the colorful and monumental sets as well, Strassberger has achieved a major opus. Some scenes were played on the full stage and others on its frontal area with Greg Emetaz's projection of a Baroque painting on a curtain behind.

On March 1, 2019, Opera Santa Barbara presented it's first Russian opera, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's EUGENE ONEGIN. The opera was premiered in Moscow in 1879 but was not played in the United States until 1920 when the Metropolitan Opera performed it in Italian.

On February 22, 2019, Los Angeles Opera presented David Lang's one-man opera, THE LOSER. Lang, who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION, not only wrote the music, he also fashioned the English libretto after the 1983 German novel by Thomas Bernhard.

On February 5, 2019, The Tucson Desert Song Festival and the University of Arizona (UA) presented a recital of Spanish language art songs by soprano Ana Maria Martinez and pianist Craig Terry in Crowder Hall. The songs, from Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico were appropriate to the Puerto Rican soprano and to the Tucson public, which comes from various Spanish-speaking areas.