Well, no one can accuse Mostly Mozart of being in a rut. Even though the name of this season's first program, “The Singing Heart,” under Music director Louis Langree (heard on the 26th), is not so different from last year's opener, “The Illuminated Heart,” the two evenings couldn't have been more different. They did have one thing in common: They were both wonderful.
Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival , one of New York's premier summer performance series, kicks off its 51st season on July 25. Among the highlights in the first two weeks are a special opening concert led by Louis Langrée, Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director, featuring traditional and indigenous songs from Mozart's time; a choral presentation by Les Arts Florissants; and guest conductors Edward Gardner and Gianandrea Noseda; festival debuts by more than 10 artists, including Kit Armstrong, Janai Brugger, Jennifer Johnson Cano, S? Percussion, Beatrice Rana, Ksenija Sidorova, and the Young People's Chorus of New York City; and the New York premiere of David Lang's concerto for percussion, man made. A complete listing of events from July 25 through August 6 follows.
Broadway star Bernadette Peters, who currently appears in the Amazon hit show Mozart in the Jungle, will host the opening-night presentation of the Mostly Mozart Festival, The Singing Heart, on Tuesday, July 25, at 8:00 pm. Ms. Peters, a three-time Tony Award winner, will introduce this program, which celebrates the sense of optimism that emerged during Mozart's time, embodied in the composer's music and that of his contemporaries. The performance also features Renee and Robert Belfer Music Director Louis Langree leading the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, pianist Kit Armstrong, the Young People's Chorus of New York City , and soloists who join together for Beethoven's rousing Choral Fantasy.
The security was tight in the Monastery last night as politicians, tennis legends, celebrities and Friars gathered in the Frank Sinatra Dining Room to pay tribute to David Dinkins on his 90th birthday. The security protection wasn't good enough however to stop one of the greatest comedians on the planet, Dean Emeritus Freddie Roman (MC) to have some fun with the former Mayor. As a matter of fact Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who made a special trip down from Albany to be at the Friars got some laughs himself during his heartfelt tribute to Mr. Dinkins. There was much love, laughter, joy, and a few tears in the club during the evening, as there always is in the Friars Club. I couldn't help thinking as I watched all the Democrats and Republicans in the room enjoying each others camaraderie, how great it would be if all our representatives in Washington would become Friars, meet in The Monastery, feel the love, and solve the nations problems.
Classic and contemporary, opera and orchestral, the music doesn't stop when the temperatures climb in New York, whether you're in New York City, or ready to travel to one of the festivals that dot the landscape of the Northeast. Musical life doesn't stop when the Met closes its doors: Here's a look “from here to eternity”…in the first part of our series on summertime's opera/vocal venues, covering New York City and Westchester.
Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival , one of New York's premier summer performance series, kicks off its 51st season on July 25. Among the highlights in the first two weeks are a special opening concert led by Louis Langrée, Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director, featuring traditional and indigenous songs from Mozart's time; a choral presentation by Les Arts Florissants; and guest conductors Edward Gardner and Gianandrea Noseda; festival debuts by more than 10 artists, including Kit Armstrong, Janai Brugger, Jennifer Johnson Cano, S? Percussion, Beatrice Rana, Ksenija Sidorova, and the Young People's Chorus of New York City; and the New York premiere of David Lang's concerto for percussion, man made. A complete listing of events from July 25 through August 6 follows.
Last June, New York City Opera inaugurated its Opera en Español series with the long-awaited New York premiere of Daniel Catàn's Florencia en el Amazonas. This May, following the critical success of the company's modern day revival of Respighi's rarely heard La Campana Sommersa, New York City Opera will present the second installment in its Opera en Español series with the American premiere of Antonio Literes's circa 1713 Spanish Baroque opera, Los Elementos. Richard Stafford will direct and choreograph the compact, one-hour work with sets by John Farrell, costumes by Janet O'Neill, lighting by Susan Roth and hair and makeup by Georgianna Eberhard. Sopranos Samarie Alicea and Chelsea Bonagura and mezzo-sopranos Melanie Ashkar and Kelsey Robertson will make their City Opera debuts as the four elements: Air (El Ayre), Water (El Agua), Earth (La Tierra), and Fire (El Fuego). City Opera veteran baritone Marco Nisticó returns to portray Time (El Tiempo) and mezzo-soprano Magda Gartner is featured as the Dawn (La Aurora). Pacien Mazzagatti, New York City Opera's Principal Conductor, will lead the New York City Opera Orchestra in Literes's evocative and atmospheric score.
New York City Opera continued the season with a rare production of Ottorino Respighi's 1927 opera La Campana Sommersa (The Sunken Bell).
Since opening the 2016 - 2017 season last September, New York City Opera has reestablished itself as a vital part of New York City's cultural landscape, delivering new productions, New York premieres and sold-out performances.
Since opening the 2016 - 2017 season last September, New York City Opera has reestablished itself as a vital part of New York City's cultural landscape, delivering new productions, New York premieres and sold-out performances. The season opened with a critically acclaimed double bill of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Rachmaninoff's Aleko bringing the latter to the New York stage for the first time. In November, City Opera presented the New York premiere of Tobin Stokes' Iraq War opera, Fallujah. Last month City Opera's new production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, directed by Broadway legend Harold Prince became a highlight of the New York season, with a run that was extended from six to ten sold-out performances.
Opera Exposures (http://www.operaexposures.org), the not-for-profit opera company founded by Edna Greenwich in 2004, will present a special recital celebrating Elizabeth Taylor Browning, the first African American opera singer to gain recognition in Europe and the United States in the mid to late 19th century, on Sunday, September 18, at 3:00 PM at the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, 1466 Manor Road. Tickets, available at the door, are $25. Children under ten will be admitted free of charge.
MasterVoices, formerly The Collegiate Chorale, was honored at the Martina Arroyo Foundation's11th Annual Gala.MasterVoices was recognized along with American couture designer Joanna Mastroianni and The Michel Maurel award-winner Ernst Rieser. Brian Kellow and Terrance McKnight hosted the gala, with performances by the young artists of Prelude to Performance, Jennifer Rowley, Michele Angelini and Cecilia Violetta Lopez (both featured in the October issue of Opera News), as well as other special guests.
Videos
