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San Diego Opera's Season Will Continue Next Month With the West Coast Premiere of AGING MAGICIAN by BWW News Desk
- February 18, 2020 San Diego Opera's 2019-2020 season continues with Aging Magician a hybrid opera/theatre piece that combines singing, choral work, puppetry, and performance art to create an incredibly unique event for the West Coast premiere of this haunting and beautiful work. Produced by Beth Morrison Projects, one of the most influential and innovative taste makers on the forefront of the 'indie opera' movement, Aging Magician opens on Friday, March 13, 2020 at 7:30 PM at the Balboa Theatre. Additional performances are Saturday March 14 at 2 PM and at 7:30 PM, 2020.
Metropolitan Opera Has Announced 23 Semifinalists in its National Council Auditions by BWW News Desk
- February 18, 2020
The 23 young opera singers who have won regional auditions around the United States will compete in the semifinal round of the country's leading vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, on Monday, February 24. The closed semifinal competition, held on the Met stage before a panel of judges, will determine the select group of finalists who will advance to the final round of the competition-the Grand Finals, which is open to the public and will be held on the Met stage on Sunday, March 1.
Modern Dancer Alison Clancy Takes On Wagner At The Metropolitan Opera by BWW News Desk
- February 18, 2020 Alison Clancy – an accomplished contemporary dancer fluent both in high-brow and downtown style – will be making her debut as a soloist at The Metropolitan Opera during the overture of Richard Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer. In this New York premiere, directed by François Girard and choreographed by Carolyn Choa, Clancy takes center stage at the venerable NYC institution in a dance prologue, created especially for this staging, in which she is a psycho-spiritual embodiment of Senta, the opera's leading lady.
LUNA PEARL WOOLF: Fire and Flood Composer-Portrait Album Now Available by BWW News Desk
- February 17, 2020 From a deeply stirring Mass to hauntingly re-imagined Leonard Cohen masterpieces, LUNA PEARL WOOLF: Fire and Flood encompasses 25 years of vocal and choral works by the innovative American-Canadian composer. The composer-portrait album features new and compelling performances from The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and NOVUS NY conducted by Julian Wachner, cellist Matt Haimovitz, soprano Devon Guthrie, mezzo-soprano Elise Quagliata, and Broadway actress Nancy Anderson.
BWW Review: COSI FAN TUTTE at the Met Opera by George Weinhouse
- February 17, 2020 Two years ago, when I first saw photos of the projected new COSI FAN TUTTE,which was a production that originated at English National Opera and was slated to come to the Met, I was circumspect. I had grown up on three previous incarnations of COSI, the first dating from the 1950's a very traditional production which starred Richard Tucker and Eleanor Steber, the subsequent one dating from the 1980's, which had featured Kiri TeKanawa, and the last from 1996, which starred Carol Vaness and Suzanne Mentzer as the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella. All were very much 'period' pieces which made no effort to update or change the locale from the original setting of eighteenth century Naples.
Review: The MOTHER of All Operas, by Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson, Staged by Juilliard at that Other Met by Richard Sasanow
- February 15, 2020 With great success, Juilliard's Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, including a notable alumna, Felicia Moore, as Susan B. Anthony, along with members of the New York Philharmonic under Daniela Candillari performed Louisa Proske's production of the Gertrude Stein-Virgil Thomson opera THE MOTHER OF US ALL. It took place in the Engelhardt Court of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as part of the MetLiveArts series.
Opera Lafayette Adds Second Performance Of LEONORE In NYC by BWW News Desk
- February 13, 2020 The centerpiece of Opera Lafayette's 25th anniversary season is Ludwig van Beethoven's Leonore (1805), the composer's first version of his opera Fidelio. Performances on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, 7:00 p.m. at The Kennedy Center, Eisenhower Theater in Washington, DC and Monday, March 2, 2020, 7:00 p.m. at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York City.
OPERA America Announces 2020 Mentorship Program For Women by BWW News Desk
- February 13, 2020 OPERA America is pleased to announce the three pairs of protégés and mentors selected for the organization's Mentorship Program for Women, now in its third year. The Mentorship Program for Women provides a unique opportunity for promising opera company administrators to be paired with established industry leaders who can help them identify barriers to advancement and develop plans for professional growth.
The Metropolitan Opera Has Announced its 2020–21 Season by BWW News Desk
- February 13, 2020
Today, the Metropolitan Opera announced its 2020-21 season, the first in which Yannick Nézet-Séguin assumes his full breadth of musical duties as the company's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducting six productions. His schedule includes the Met premiere of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, the first contemporary opera conducted by the maestro on the Met stage, as part of his ongoing commitment to opera of our time at the Met, which will expand in the seasons to come.
English Touring Opera Will Return To Storyhouse This Spring by BWW News Desk
- February 13, 2020 English Touring Opera returns to Storyhouse in Chester for Spring 2020 with a trio of stunning new shows to entertain audiences - Handel's Giulio Cesare, Mozart's Così fan tutte, and the St John Passion by J.S Bach.
Pikes Peak Opera League Announces Special Event by BWW News Desk
- February 12, 2020 The annual winter event, 'Starlight Lounge: Claire Anderson's Celestial Songbook' will be Friday evening, February 28, 2020 from 5 to 8 pm at the charming Patty Jewett Golf Club, 900 East Espanola Street, Colorado Springs 80907. Accompanied by pianist, Jana Lee Ross, local songstress Claire Anderson will perform favorite songs inspired by the Great American Songbook, with a celestial theme. There also will be surprise cameo appearance. Your reservation includes the special music program and multiple appetizer food stations along with carving tables and a cash bar. The event benefit's Pikes Peak Opera League's Scholarship Fund to assist aspiring young area singers, with a focus on Opera Theatre's summer Vocal Arts Festival.
The First Lotos Foundation James McCracken and Sandra Warfield Opera Prize to be Awarded to Tenor Joshua Blue by BWW News Desk
- February 12, 2020 The Lotos Foundation, with a philanthropic mission of encouraging and supporting the creative arts and sciences, will bestow eight grants to in-school and after-school programs across New York City, as well as award six monetary prizes to creative artists at the outset of their careers across a broad spectrum of the arts. This year's awards include a new prize, The Lotos Foundation James McCracken and Sandra Warfield Opera Prize, honoring the late internationally-acclaimed American tenor and mezzo-soprano.
Opera Omaha Announces Third Annual ONE FESTIVAL by BWW News Desk
- February 12, 2020 Opera Omaha announces its third annual ONE FESTIVAL. The ONE Festival is a place for wild dreams, wilder execution, and exploration of those ideas on a grand scale. Programming is driven by the artists, not the executives. With an emphasis on experimentation and new worka?'yet not tethered to premieresa?'ONE fosters an environment that encourages and celebrates bold risks and transformative storytelling. At a glance, one might assume this is happening in NYC or LA; but this opera hothouse sizzles in the dead center of our country, far from the coasts.
Houston Grand Opera Will Present 68th World Premiere with HGOco-Commissioned MARIAN'S SONG by BWW News Desk
- February 12, 2020 Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its 68th world premiere Marian's Song, composed by Damien Sneed to a libretto by Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton, Houston's poet laureate emeritus. The opera will run for two nights only, March 5 and 6 in the Cullen Theater of the Wortham Theater Center, both at 7 p.m.
5th Annual New York Opera Fest Announces Line-up by BWW News Desk
- February 12, 2020 Hailed as “a remarkably strong and diverse exploration of everything opera can be in the city (The New York Times),” the New York Opera Fest celebrates its fifth season with performances by 20+ local opera companies in all five boroughs of New York City.
Valentine's Weekend Is HOT With Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO by BWW News Desk
- February 11, 2020 'Happily ever after can be a challenging, but funny, road.' Part chaos, a dash of beauty, and a healthy dose of comedy combine with beautiful melodies to create Mozart's most beloved opera, a tale of two young servants trying to get married despite the mischievous machinations of the royal couple they serve.
CD Review: Live from Carnegie Hall, Moravec-Campbell SANCTUARY ROAD with Oratorio Society by Richard Sasanow
- February 10, 2020 I was delighted to hear that the Oratorio Society of New York's world premiere at Carnegie Hall of SANCTUARY ROAD (Naxos 8.559884)--a work for orchestra, chorus and a quintet of soloists--had been captured on disc. Not only is the story worth bringing to a broader audience, but the magic of the work, composed by Paul Moravec with a libretto by Mark Campbell based on the writings of William Still, “a conductor for the Underground Railroad,' merits hearing over and over again.
Sarasota Opera Opens 2020 Winter Opera Festival With Fanfare And Ceremony by BWW News Desk
- February 10, 2020 On Saturday, February 8, Sarasota Opera opened the 2020 Winter Opera Festival with a festive brass fanfare played from the outside balcony of the Opera House, followed by the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the completion of the Verdi Cycle.
BWW Review: San Diego Opera's Sly and Whimsical HANSEL AND GRETEL at the Civic Center by Ron Bierman
- February 10, 2020 Engelbert Humperdinck's HANSEL AND GRETEL opened Saturday to an audience that included several dozen children, who followed their attention from beginning to end with color, movement, and singing backed by lushly orchestrated music. Even a five year-old girl sitting in front of me on a raised seat kept her eyes on the stage without a single fidget. Director Brenna Corner's playful production emphasized the fairy-tale nature of the story. During the overture a boy entered in front of the curtain, picked up a large book lying center stage and blew a cloud of dust from its cover. Fascinated, he dropped to the floor reading with a rapt expression while members of the San Diego Opera's children's chorus entered behind him, each with a letter on the front of their costumes. Once assembled the letters lit up to say, 'Once upon a time...,' and the story began. It continued after intermission with 'And then...' though not before a necessary rearrangement of the 'And...' brought a second laugh. The approving audience laughed again when the production closed with 'The end.'
DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES and More to Be Presented at the Glyndebourne Festival 2020 by BWW News Desk
- February 10, 2020 The 86th year of the U.K.'s internationally renowned Glyndebourne Festival will offer six major opera productions from May 21 through August 30, including compelling new productions, rising stars and debuts, and the return of treasured Festival favorites, as well as an exceptional international roster of artists from more than 14 different countries from the United States, Australia and Russia to Finland and Croatia.
BWW Review: THE PAJAMA GAME at Opéra De Rennes by Patrick Honoré
- February 10, 2020 After the concert version of West Side Story and an extensive tour of the musical Bells Are Ringing, director Jean Lacornerie and musical director Gérard Lecointe have chosen to collaborate again, delivering to the French public a comparatively little known musical of the 50s, The Pajama Game, which, outside being the work of the dream team Jerome Robbins directing, George Abbott writing the book, and Bob Fosse choreographing on Broadway for the very first time, stands as perhaps the only musical dealing with unions and labor conflicts. The least we can say is that this choice couldn't be more on point given the political context of France today, with major strikes going on in sync with the show, which began its run at Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon, followed by an extensive tour at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, also in the Lyon area, and now for a three-day run at the gorgeous Opéra de Rennes, where I caught a sold out performance on February 1st.