Friday, May 28, 2004
May Festival opera singer promotes female composers
If opera singer Heidi Grant Murphy had not won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions as a 22-year-old student at Indiana University, her life would have taken a much different turn.
"I thought that I would be a choral conductor at the local high school - they were saving a position for me," says Murphy. "I thought I'd do that and be a high school volleyball coach. But then I changed my plans - drastically!"
— Read more at
cincinnati.com
Thursday, May 27, 2004
NZ Opera presents a deeper Rigoletto
New Zealand Opera is rehearsing its new production of Rigoletto in what used to be the rock venue, the Powerstation, a shell of a place at the top of Mt Eden Rd, where the Mutton Birds once shared the stage with a Highland Pipe Band.
— Read more at
nzherald.co.nz
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Berlin opera gets new boss
German director Kirsten Harms will take over Berlin's troubled Deutsche Oper, filling a post that has been vacant for a year.
Harms will replace Udo Zimmermann, who quit a year ago after only two seasons. Zimmermann complained that he was forced out by the cash-strapped city government.
— Read more at
cincinnati.com
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Curtain rises Friday on Spoleto's 28th season
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Mikhail Baryshnikov in a new play, an 18-hour Chinese opera and performance artist DJ Spooky deconstructing "Birth of a Nation." Such an eclectic mix can only mean one thing: Spoleto Festival U.S.A.
— Read more at
thestate.com
2004 Summer Opera Festivals at AllAboutOpera.com
on May 4th AllAboutOpera.com unveiled a new section: " 2004 Summer Opera Festivals". Selected venues include:
- Central City Opera
- Chautauqua
- Cincinnati Opera
- Glimmerglass Opera
- Lake George Opera at Sartoga
- Opera Theatre of St. Louis
- Santa Fe Opera
- Summer Opera Theatre
- Utah Festival Opera
- Wolf Trap Opera
Click here for the 2004 Summer Opera Festivals schedule.
Monday, May 24, 2004
May Festival's opera evening a stunner
The audience rose with a roar in the gripping conclusion of Wagner's Act I from Die Walkure, in the season's second May Festival concert Saturday night in Music Hall. Deborah Voigt, one of the world's great sopranos, soared magnificently in this stunning performance.
— Read more at
Cincinnati.com
libretto for The Snow Maiden, by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Recently, we received a note from a site visitor inquiring about where to purchase the libretto for The Snow Maiden, by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Anyone who can help can click here and we'll pass the information along. Thanks
Sunday, May 23, 2004
A rising star in the opera world hits from downtown
FOR BARITONE Erwin Schrott, who will sing the role of Figaro for the first time in the Los Angeles Opera production of Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' beginning tonight at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, there couldn't have been a better time to be in Southern California.
— Read more at
Redlands Daily Facts
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Western 'Il Viaggio' an inspired bit of daffy opera
Chicago Opera Theater opened the final production of its first, stellar season at the new Harris Theater for Music and Dance Wednesday night. Directed by Christopher Cowell with Raymond Leppard conducting, it was an evening of Rossini at his most daffy, opera as fizzy and festive as a spritz of saloon seltzer water.
— Read more at
suntimes.com
Friday, May 21, 2004
Pig to appear in opera
A German pot-bellied pig called Berta has passed an audition to star in an opera.
Moenchengladbach opera house had been looking for a pig to take part in its new production of Friedrich von Flotows' Martha or Richmond Market.
— Read more at
Ananova
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Not all pigs can stomach comic opera
Germany's Krefeld-Monchen-gladbach Theater is looking for a potbellied pig for its upcoming production of the 19th-century comic opera Martha by Friedrich Flotow.
Three potential scene-stealers attended Tuesday's open auditions in Monchengladbach, said soprano Debra Hays, a University of Houston graduate who will sing the title role.
— Read more at
HoustonChronicle.com
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Scottish Opera accuses McConnell in crisis details leak row
CHRISTOPHER Barron, the chief executive of Scottish Opera, has accused Jack McConnell of involvement in the leaking of confidential proposals affecting staff at the beleaguered company, plunging relations between the Scottish Executive and the organisation to a new low.
The details, including the ending of permanent contracts for the companyâ??s 35-strong chorus, were leaked just hours after they were revealed to members of the Scottish Opera board last Friday.
— Read more at
Scotsman.com News
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Opera steps off celluloid 'Streetcar'
Andre Previn took on an American cultural icon when he made an opera of " A Streetcar Named Desire."
In Tennessee Williams' drama Previn confronted a script full of unchangeable lines, and he had to cope with the indelible images and characterizations of Elia Kazan's film. Any Blanche DuBois will be held up to comparison with Vivien Leigh, any Stanley Kowalski with Marlon Brando.
— Read more at
TimesDispatch.com
Monday, May 17, 2004
Previn's Concerto evokes childhood
Andre Previn's own compositions have been the high points of recent Pittsburgh Symphony concerts led by the former music director, including a concert version of his opera " A Streetcar Named Desire."
— Read more at
PittsburghLIVE.com
NPR : An Opera Understudy's Chance to Shine
Burak Bilgili was understandably nervous. Last week, without the benefit of a full-stage or orchestra rehearsal, Bilgili made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Leperello in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
— Read more at
NPR
Sunday, May 16, 2004
UW has fun tweaking Mozart opera
Nobody goes to "The Magic Flute" expecting the opera to make sense: It is a fairy tale, and a rather incoherent one, set to consistently wonderful music. Nonetheless, the new production at the University of Washington Opera has its own internal logic, in a show that's a bright and imaginative take on the Mozart classic
— Read more at
The Seattle Times
Saturday, May 15, 2004
Opera issues casting call for porkers
MOENCHENGLADBACH - An opera company in Germany Thursday issued a casting call for real porkers - swine to serve as on-stage performing extras during a production next month.
An open audition will be held next Tuesday at the Krefeld- Moenchengladbach Theater and veterinarians will be on hand to examine the porky applicants.
"No prior operatic stage experience is necessary," said Bernd Motti, who is directing the production of Friedrich von Flotow's 19th Century comic opera "Martha: or Richmond Market" that opens 11 June.
— Read more at
expatica.com
Friday, May 14, 2004
Reasons to give Opera a try
Opera's a tricky business - complex, expensive and burdened by prejudice. Pictures of toffs picnicking at Glyndebourne or yuppies with their expensive tickets for Covent Garden create an image of exclusivity that is hard to dispel.
— Read more at
icnetwork.co.uk
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
'Barber' witty end to opera's season
The Portland Opera closes its crowd-pleasing season Saturday with arguably the most popular comic opera of all time: Gioacchino Rossini's " The Barber of Seville."
If you're a fan of witty and romantic opera, you're receiving a double dose this season. Earlier, the Portland Opera performed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's " The Marriage of Figaro."
— Read more at
columbian.com
Italy creates taste for opera
VERONA, ITALY - How do you make the long journey from being an opera hater to an opera lover? When does the shrieking of sopranos and bellowing of tenors resolve into lovely music?
— Read more at
Beacon Journal
Monday, May 10, 2004
Light opera from Spain is pleasant little detour
Some 350 years ago, Spain was in decline under the exceedingly inept King Philip IV.
Despite his political and military shortcomings, Philip was a great patron of the arts. Yet even he couldn't persuade any Italian opera troupes to bring their then-new art form to the isolated Spanish court.
— Read more at
OrlandoSentinel.com
Un Renard a l'Opera to premiere in Limoges France
The new creation of the french opera composer Isabelle Aboulker Un Renard a l'Opera will be played in the Grand Theatre of Limoges, for the pleasure of young and adult public, on the 18th and 19th of May. [visitor submission]
— Read more at
perso.club-internet.fr [in French]
Sunday, May 09, 2004
Opera Company Will Close - Reports
An opera company which aimed to attract mainstream audiences by cutting ticket prices is set to close, it was reported today.
Savoy Opera became London's first new full-scale opera company for 75 years when it was launched at the Savoy Theatre in April with a top ticket price of £50, compared to £170 at the Royal Opera House and £70 at English National Opera.
— Read more at
Scotsman.com
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Opera 'is as Scottish as art or literature'
THE director of the British Museum has weighed into the debate over Scottish Opera, telling an international audience of commentators and musicians that opera is as much a Scottish art form as literature or music.
— Read more at
Scotsman.com
Friday, May 07, 2004
Weepy Verdi opera leaves fans happy
Tragic heroine Violetta gasps her last in Verdi's La Traviata, but Vancouver Opera can breathe easy with a successful season closer.
— Read more at
canada.com
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Opera show wins classical awards
Channel 4 series Operatunity, which turned inexperienced singers into professional opera performers, has won two Royal Philharmonic Society awards.
— Read more at
BBC NEWS
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Ballarat opera singer wins $85,000 break
AS a 16-year-old in a Ballarat Light Opera Company production, opera singer Maxine Montgomery said it was her goal to take her career to London's West End theatre precinct Covent Garden.
Now 29, Ms Montgomery's dream was realised on Saturday night when she was awarded the prestigious Covent Garden National Opera Studio Scholarship at Government House in Melbourne.
— Read more at
thecourier.com.au
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Sarasota Opera features young voices
Every three to four years, the Sarasota Opera's goal is to commission an opera for young people. One result of this commission is "The Language of Birds" by John Kennedy, composed especially for singers ages 9 to 18.
— Read more at
floridatoday.com
Monday, May 03, 2004
Scottish Opera to lose £35,000 taking La Boheme to Inverness
SCOTTISH Opera's new production of La Boheme cost £400,000 to produce, the company has revealed - in what it insists is value for money.
However, the figure covers only the initial costs of creating, building and rehearsing the brand-new production, Scottish Opera said. Every night it produces the show costs close to £20,000 or more.
— Read more at
scotsman.com
Sunday, May 02, 2004
'Girl of the Golden West' packs six-gun, killer voice
Movie fans may think the "spaghetti Western" was invented when Clint Eastwood starred in a trio of 1964-66 Sergio Leone films, starting with "A Fistful of Dollars."
But grand opera got there first.
— Read more at
The Seattle Times
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