The Dallas Opera thrilled audience members at this evening's “Composing Conversation” at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, when Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny made the surprise announcement that Mark Adamo, one of America's most successful and accomplished composer-librettists has agreed to create a new holiday opera for the 2015-2016 Season.
As the Associated Press observes, Deborah Voigt boasts 'a stage presence that radiates an endearing charm.' This fall, the superstar soprano returns to Boston's Celebrity Series with two performances of Voigt Lessons at the Calderwood Pavilion on Thursday, November 21 and Friday, November 22, with Kevin Stites on piano. An intimate one-woman show, Voigt Lessons was developed in working sessions with award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and director Francesca Zambello at the famed MacDowell Colony, and takes the leading dramatic soprano's life and career as the basis for a revealing script that incorporates 18 songs and arias of special importance to her. At its premiere at the 2011 Glimmerglass Festival, Voigt Lessons impressed the New York Times as 'chatty, witty, and sometimes painfully poignant,' while Toronto's Globe and Mail pronounced it 'an absolute gem.'
Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. This month Lyric Opera of Chicago is doing just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.
Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. In November Lyric Opera of Chicago will do just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.
The Merola Opera Program presents Opera & Ornaments: A Merola Opera Program Holiday Concert, on Sunday, December 7th, at 2 pm in the Community Hall of the Lafayette Library (3491 Mt Diablo Blvd). This special holiday concert features renowned opera performers Kristin Clayton, soprano, and Bojan Knezevic, bass-baritone.
The Collegiate Chorale presents its first concert of the season, Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito tonight, November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, NYC. The Collegiate Chorale will hold its Annual Fall Gala immediately following the concert.
November sees Thomas Hampson - a recent inductee into the Gramophone Hall of Fame - return to Lyric Opera of Chicago to help celebrate the Wagner bicentennial, singing Amfortas in the company's new production of Parsifal (Nov 9-29). Wagner's conflicted ruler is one of the baritone's signature roles, and earlier this month he joined Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony for a concert rendition of the opera's final act. The results, according to the Washington Times, were a 'revelation.' Awarding the concert full marks, the review singled out Hampson's performance as 'genuinely electrifying, yet moving at the same time.' Similarly, while impressed by the concert as a whole, the Washington Post nonetheless felt that 'it was Thomas Hampson's Amfortas who showed everyone how it is done. ... He effectively carried the end of the evening.' The Washington Times spoke for many in concluding: 'We can confidently assure Lyric Opera patrons that their Amfortas will not disappoint.'
The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are teaming up for Merola Goes to the Movies, a new, free series that presents great opera-themed movies.
The Collegiate Chorale announces its first concert of the season, Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito on November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, NYC. Tickets are available at www.carnegiehall.org or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Single tickets for this concert start at $15. The Collegiate Chorale will hold its Annual Fall Gala immediately following the concert.
Nearly 100 opera companies, schools and organizations across the nation will celebrate the fifth NATIONAL OPERA WEEK from Friday, October 25 through Sunday, November 3, 2013, by offering free, accessible events in their communities. National Opera Week is coordinated by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
OPERATHON 2013, Lyric Opera of Chicago's annual live-radio marathon fundraiser on 98.7WFMT, celebrated its 34th anniversary by raising $501,036 during its 16-hour broadcast on Saturday, October 19, exceeding the $500,000 goal.
Beginning with the 2013-14 season, the New York Philharmonic's Insights Series - in which artists and experts will explore some of the season's themes and concerts - will now be free, and take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. This season's events will include discussions with Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow during his farewell season (TODAY, October 23); composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and violinist Leila Josefowicz (October 28), who will discuss Mr. Salonen's Violin Concerto, written for Ms. Josefowicz (which they will perform with the Philharmonic in its New York Concert Premiere, October 30-November 5); Music Director Alan Gilbert and Executive Director Matthew VanBesien on the state of the Philharmonic (March 3, 2014); The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Yefim Bronfman (May 20, 2014), who will talk about Beethoven's piano concertos (which he will perform during The Beethoven Piano Concertos: A Philharmonic Festival, June 11-28, 2014); and discussions relating to the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, the details of which will be announced at a later date. All Insights Series events begin at 7:30 p.m.
Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. In November Lyric Opera of Chicago will do just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.
On Monday, November 11, the Metropolitan Opera Guild's 79th Annual Luncheon presents "Welcome Home, Jimmy!" to salute music directorJames Levine on his triumphant return to the Met podium. A perennial highlight of the opera season, the luncheon will bring together a host of artists who have collaborated with the preeminent conductor over the course of his long and celebrated Met tenure, as well as opera fans and an array of New York's society, business, and civic leaders. "Welcome Home, Jimmy!" will feature musical tributes by Dolora Zajick, "a mezzo in a class by herself" (New York Times); Thomas Hampson, "America's foremost baritone" (International Herald Tribune); and Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone Eric Owens, all accompanied by the Met's Director of Music Administration, Craig Rutenberg. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Guild's education programs in New York City and throughout the country.
The Collegiate Chorale announces the addition of two new members of the company's executive team. Ted Sperling and Edward Barnes join Music Director James Bagwell and Executive Director Jennifer Collins as Artistic Director and Producing Director, respectively, effective immediately.
The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are teaming up for Merola Goes to the Movies, a new, free series that presents great opera-themed movies.
Symphony Space opens its 2013-14 Music season with 'Kurt Weill on Broadway,' tonight, October 7 (8 pm) at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Broadway opening of Weill's One Touch of Venus. Ted Chapin hosts a stellar cast featuring Melissa Errico, Brent Barrett, Judy Blazer, and Ron Raines, plus winners of the international Lotte Lenya Competition.
The Collegiate Chorale announces its 2013-14 season of three important works: Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele at Carnegie Hall, followed by with Max Bruch's Moses at Carnegie Hall, and David Lang's battle hymns at Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
The Collegiate Chorale announced its first concert of the season, Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito on November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, NYC. Tickets are available at www.carnegiehall.org or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Single tickets for this concert start at $15. The Collegiate Chorale will hold its Annual Fall Gala immediately following the concert. (For more information or tickets to the Gala, please contact Mariane Lemieux at mlemieux@collegiatechorale.org or 646-435-9052.)
Superstar soprano Deborah Voigt opens her fall season on October 2, hosting a benefit concert for the Sing With Haiti project at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco; a live webcast will be available here. The same week, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise her role as host for their popular “Live in HD” series, hosting the worldwide broadcast of a new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (Oct 5).