Houston Grand Opera News

One of the most popular American operas, Susannah is the tale of an innocent Tennessee mountain girl who is accused of sinful behavior by the church-going elders of the town. Written in the 1950s the opera is surprisingly modern in its treatment of women's empowerment. Carlisle Floyd wrote this opera while a professor at Florida State University and our cast will feature a member of the original cast! Mr. Floyd will be in residence the week prior to the performances and events featuring him will be announced at a later date.

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG (Steven Blier, Artistic Director • Michael Barrett, Associate Artistic Director) concludes its 2013-14 Mainstage series at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center with WARSAW SERENADE.

The Canadian Opera Company unveiled a season dominated by the most important, respected and talked-about artists working on the operatic world stage today at a public launch of its 2014/2015 season at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Three sopranos will sing their first Met performances of the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Met this season.

Stark Naked Theatre Company is kicking off 2014 with two plays, Brian Friel's FAITH HEALER and Conor McPherson's THE GOOD THIEF, being performed in repertory. John Tyson is directing both productions. FAITH HEALER stars Philip Lehl, Kim Tobin, and John Tyson, and Santry Rush is reprising his role in THE GOOD THIEF. In the midst of their busy rehearsal schedule, I got to speak with all four artists about the two plays.

The February broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with Music Director Alan Gilbert leading the Philharmonic in Beethoven's Fidelio Overture and Symphony No. 1; Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, with Lisa Batiashvili as soloist; and Gershwin's An American in Paris. The following week, guest conductor Andrey Boreyko will lead the Philharmonic in a performance of Stravinsky's The Song of the Nightingale; Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, with Philharmonic Principal Bassoon Judith LeClair as soloist; and Zemlinsky's The Mermaid, Fantasy for Orchestra.

Critics have called her 'the ideal Carmen of our time' and 'one of the leading singer-actresses of her generation.' The New York Times called her 'naturally seductive and vocally alluring.' But this down-to-earth southern girl prefers the moniker: The Dixie Diva!

Houston Grand Opera is proudly presenting the US Premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Alexander Medvedv's 1968 opera THE PASSENGER. After the Second World War, a German couple, Lisa and Walter, are sailing to Brazil. Lisa, unbeknownst to her husband, was a camp guard at Auschwitz and feels she recognizes a former Polish inmate, Marta. In anticipation of opening night, Melody Moore, who plays Marta, spoke with me about Houston Grand Opera's production of THE PASSENGER and her career.

Mark Morris Dance Group returns to Houston for two nights, Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014, at 8 p.m. in the Wortham Center's Cullen Theater, presented by Society for the Performing Arts.

American soprano Patricia Racette, known throughout the world for her portrayal of Cio-Cio-San (a.k.a. Madama Butterfly), will star in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Puccini's ever-popular masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, which opens at Lyric tonight, January 11. There will be six performances - Jan. 11, 14, 17, and 20 beginning at 7:30pm, and Jan. 23 and 26 beginning at 2pm.

American soprano Patricia Racette, known throughout the world for her portrayal of Cio-Cio-San (a.k.a. Madama Butterfly), will star in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Puccini's beloved masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, which opens at Lyric with a new cast this Saturday, January 11. There will be six performances - Jan. 11, 14, 17, and 20 beginning at 7:30pm, and Jan. 23 and 26 beginning at 2pm.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the east coast premiere of the new American opera Moby-Dick, February 22 to March 8 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Written by composer Jake Heggie and featuring an English- language libretto by Gene Scheer based on Herman Melville's 19th-century literary classic, Moby-Dick sweeps audiences straight out to the high seas with its massive nautical sets and dazzling multimedia visual effects, in what is perhaps the most technically challenging opera WNO has ever mounted. Renowned American director Leonard Foglia leads a talented all- American cast in performances conducted by Evan Rogister, a dynamic young American maestro making his WNO debut.

Nigel Redden, director of Lincoln Center Festival today announced the 2014 Festival's line-up, which runs from July 7 through August 16, 2014, with performances by artists and ensembles from 11 countries unfolding in six venues on and off the Lincoln Center campus. These productions join the previously-announced Lincoln Center Festival and Park Avenue Armory co-presentation of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's opera, The Passenger, performed by Houston Grand Opera, directed by David Pountney, and conducted by Patrick Summers.

General Director Speight Jenkins announced the singers selected for Seattle Opera's popular International Wagner Competition on August 7, 2014, where emerging artists will go head-to-head American Idol style.

The Atlanta Opera continues its 2013-2014 season with a production of Charles-François Gounod's grand opera Faust. The opera will be presented on March 8, 11, 14, and 16 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and will be dedicated to Atlanta Opera Chorus Master Walter Huff in honor of his 25th anniversary with the company. Single tickets, ranging from $26-$133, can be purchased online at atlantaopera.org, or by calling 404-881-8885. Two-opera season ticket packages, which include Faust and the upcoming production of The Barber of Seville, are also available, offering patrons premium seating at discounted prices.

On Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 7:30pm at Opera America's National Opera Center, New York Festival of Song opens the 2013-14 edition of its forward-looking NYFOS Next series with MARK ADAMO & FRIENDS.

The January broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with an all-American New Year's Eve Concert conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert with Thomas Hampson as soloist. The program, recorded on New Year's Eve in 2009, includes Copland's Suite from Appalachian Spring and Old American Songs (selections), in addition to selections from Broadway musicals and Gershwin's An American in Paris. The following week, composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the New York Concert Premiere of his Violin Concerto, featuring Leila Josefowicz as soloist, as well as Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, and Sibelius's Symphony No. 5.

Voting is now underway for Houston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Wow, is 2013 almost over already? Looking back over these last 365 days, we can't help but bubble over with joy when we reflect on Houston's ever-growing, diverse, and expansive theatre scene. Living in the fourth largest city in the United States and being involved in the second largest theatre district guarantees us, the denizens of Houston, and visitors of the city access to some of the absolute best theatre that this nation has to offer.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, is pleased to announce it has awarded grants to nine opera companies through its Opera Fund: Repertoire Development grant program. These grants provide vital financial support to opera companies developing new North American opera and music-theater works.