Robert Brubaker News

One of opera's biggest stars just sang the National Anthem at the Superbowl! New operas are being premiered all the time, stretching beyond old forms, traditions, and expectations. Opera is alive and well as a vigorous art form and it is flourishing in Lancaster!

The Metropolitan Opera's 2014-15 season will feature 26 operas, three of them company premieres, in six new productions and 18 revivals showcasing the talents of the world's leading singers, conductors, and theater artists. The three operas that will have their first-ever Met performances, each staged by a director making his Met debut, are John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, conducted by David Robertson and directed by Tom Morris, opening October 20; Rossini's La Donna del Lago, conducted by Michele Mariotti and directed by Paul Curran, opening February 16, 2015; and Tchaikovsky's one-act opera Iolanta, conducted by Valery Gergiev and directed by Mariusz Treli?ski. Iolanta will be presented in a double bill with a new staging of Bartok's one-act Duke Bluebeard's Castle, also conducted by Gergiev and directed by Treli?ski.

One of opera's biggest stars just sang the National Anthem at the Superbowl! New operas are being premiered all the time, stretching beyond old forms, traditions, and expectations. Opera is alive and well as a vigorous art form and it is flourishing in Lancaster!

(Los Angeles) November 8, 2013 — Today, Bridge Records releases a CD of Franz Schreker's haunting 1915 masterpiece Die Gezeichneten (The Stigmatized) in a live recording from LA Opera conducted by James Conlon. LA Opera presented the work in 2010 as part of its Recovered Voices series, dedicated to reviving operas by composers who were suppressed by the Holocaust. The three-disc set features a complete libretto of the opera in German and English, and annotation by Christopher Hailey.

Today, on the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Plácido Domingoannounces the full casting and production details for LA Opera's upcoming production of Falstaff, Verdi's final opera based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. 'All year long, opera houses around the world have been celebrating the bicentenary of Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest of all Italian composers,' said Mr. Domingo, LA Opera's General Director. 'In just a few weeks, we will unveil a new staging of Verdi's comic masterpiece, the crowning glory of his extraordinary career.'

In the early 1970s he lit up the Lancaster stage. These days, much acclaimed tenor Robert Brubaker spends his time singing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, and in the great opera houses around the world.

New York City Opera's 2013-14 season and BAM's 2013 Next Wave Festival opened Sept. 17 with the U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole, an opera by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Richard Thomas based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. This highly anticipated co-production includes seven performances at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, on September 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 28 at 7:30pm. Click below to go behind the scenes with the opera's cast and creative team!

ANNA NICOLE tells the story of Anna Nicole Smith, a small-town Texas waitress (and later, exotic dancer) in pursuit of the American Dream. Smith wed an octogenarian billionaire and became a Playboy model and tabloid celebrity, living a life of excess and substance abuse under the constant glare of the media until her death at the age of 39.

With a story that is somehow poignant despite its scatological language, ANNA NICOLE's heroine is nicer than Berg's LULU, less lucky than TRAVIATA's Violetta and more cunning than MANON's Manon (though maybe not MANON LESCAUT's). Whatever she is, Anna Nicole Smith is definitely a full-fledged operatic heroine. As portrayed by American soprano Sarah Joy Miller in the local premiere of the Marc-Anthony Turnage-Richard Thomas work about the life and times of minor celebrity Smith, this is a wildly entertaining evening. The opera, which debuted two years ago in London, opened on September 17 at Brooklyn Academy of Music, compliments of New York City Opera and BAM's Next Wave Festival, directed by Richard Jones.

New York City Opera's 2013-14 season and BAM's 2013 Next Wave Festival opened Sept. 17 with the U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole, an opera by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Richard Thomas based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. This highly anticipated co-production includes seven performances at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, on September 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 28 at 7:30pm. Individual tickets are on sale at BAM.org or through BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below!

New York City Opera's 2013-14 season and BAM's 2013 Next Wave Festival begin today, Sept. 17, with the U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole, an opera by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Richard Thomas based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. This highly anticipated co-production includes seven performances at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, on September 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 28 at 7:30pm. Individual tickets are on sale at BAM.org or through BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100.

New York City Opera's 2013-14 season and BAM's 2013 Next Wave Festival begin with the U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole, an opera by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Richard Thomas based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. This highly anticipated co-production includes seven performances at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, tonight, September 17 and September 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 28 at 7:30pm.

Where does the Mark-Anthony Turnage-Richard Thomas opera, ANNA NICOLE, stand? “On the line of opera and musiktheatre,” said Elaine Padmore, former director of opera at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, speaking on a panel at the Guggenheim Museum's “Works & Process” event on September 8. This “obscene and marvelous show,” which debuted in 2011 at London's famed opera house, tells the story of tabloid queen Anna Nicole Smith not only through music and words but nonstop movement as well, choreographed by Aletta Collins. It will have its American premiere on September 17 as a co-production of New York City Opera and BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), directed by Richard Jones.

If you are looking for family-­?friendly entertainment and culture, look no further! This season, OperaLancaster presents four shows, ranging from the spine-­?tingling Halloween fun to heart-­?warming holiday wonder.

Riccardo Zandonai's masterpiece Francesca da Rimini, staged by the Met for the first time in more than a quarter of a century, airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, August 18 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.) Check out the photos below!

New York City Opera's 2013-14 season and BAM's 2013 Next Wave Festival begin with the U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole, an opera by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Richard Thomas based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. This highly anticipated co-production includes seven performances at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, on September 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 28 at 7:30pm. Individual tickets are on sale August 12 (August 5 for Friends of BAM) at BAM.org or through BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100.

New York City Opera is pleased to announce casting for numerous roles in its 2013-14 productions: Anna Nicole, a co-production with BAM that kicks off the 2013 Next Wave Festival, September 17 - 28 at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House; Johann Christian Bach's Endimione, February 8 - 16, 2014 at El Museo del Barrio; Bluebeard's Castle, a co-production with St. Ann's Warehouse, February 28 - March 15, 2014; and The Marriage of Figaro, April 19 - April 26, 2014 at New York City Center. The Company will announce additional casting soon.

New York City Opera opens its 2013-14 season with the U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole (2010), a colossal co-production with theBrooklyn Academy Of Music (BAM) that launches the 2013 Next Wave Festival. Running for seven performances (September 17-28) in BAM's 2,100-seat Howard Gilman Opera House, where New York City Opera has presented two critically acclaimed chamber operas this spring, Anna Nicole will provide a sensational beginning to the Company's 2013-14 season.

New York City Opera Announces 2013-14 Season.

The Hartt School has announced that celebrated tenor Robert Brubaker '77 (Bachelor of Music) will be honored with the 2013 Hartt Alumni Award at the annual Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 19. Mr. Brubaker has established himself as a leading tenor in opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, praised for the clarity and power of his voice and the impact of his acting. He has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Opera National de Paris, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, and other major opera houses around the world. Mr. Brubaker, who will speak at Hartt's graduation ceremony, also will share his experiences and insights with students and other interested members of the University of Hartford community at Hartt's Paranov hour on April 25, from 12:15 PM to 1:05 PM, in Millard Auditorium.