Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Sexed-up opera shocks German Mozart purists
MOZART lovers got more than they bargained for when they turned up for a new interpretation of the great composer's classic work The Abduction from the Seraglio, where they were greeted with naked performers, prostitutes, on stage sex and public urinating.
The modern interpretation of the classic work, funded by German taxpayers, has failed to impress Germany's cultural elite, but the producers have remained defiant and say Mozart was obsessed with sex and would have been proud of the new adaptation, paid for with German arts council funding.
— Read more at
scotsman.com
The First Spaghetti Western
WITH his 1964 film "A Fistful of Dollars," the Italian director Sergio Leone invented the spaghetti western. After its American release, the film made an international star of Clint Eastwood, who played a sullen gunslinger embroiled in a rivalry between two ruthless families in a dusty frontier town. The original, "Per un Pugno di Dollari," with the dialogue in Italian (dubbed, in Mr. Eastwood's case) and an opulent score by Ennio Morricone, had a wonderfully incongruous operatic sweep.
— Read more at
The New York Times
Opera stars stage last-night protest
MEMBERS of Scottish Opera ended last night's final performance of La Boheme with a dramatic on-stage protest against job cuts at the troubled company. Shouts of support rang out from the packed audience at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre as performers unveiled T-shirts bearing the words: "No Chorus? No Opera? No way!"
The protest, which involved the 34 members of the chorus whose jobs are to be axed, as well as technical staff, principal singers, and the orchestra, was then greeted with a lengthy standing ovation.
— Read more at
scotsman.com
Opera fascinates festival fans
The Valkyries descended on Glastonbury on Sunday as the English National Opera roused tired festival-goers with a groundbreaking performance.
It was the first time opera had been performed at the festival, with thousands of fascinated revellers gathering in front of the main Pyramid stage for the event.
— Read more at
BBC NEWS
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Detractors Complain About Mozart Opera
A Mozart opera modernized to feature prostitutes, full-frontal nudity, drugs and sadistic violence has created a storm in Berlin.
The premiere of "
The Abduction from the Seraglio" at the Komische Oper last week was met with shouts of "Scandal!" and "That's not Mozart!," and threats by opera house sponsor DaimlerChrysler that it would pull its $24,000 annual funding.
— Read more at
ABCNEWS.com
Piazzolla opera gets staging
SINCE HIS DEATH in 1992, the music of Astor Piazzolla has begun to receive the recognition it so richly deserves, with top classical artists including Yo-Yo Ma and the Kronos Quartet performing and recording his works.
Yet even people who love the Argentinean composer often think he wrote only instrumental music. Not true: Piazzolla, also known as the "Tango King," left the world more than 1,000 compositions. Among these, one of the most original and evocative is "Maria de Buenos Aires," a tango opera, or -- as he called it -- "operita."
— Read more at
ContraCostaTimes.com
Monday, June 14, 2004
Critic's Notebook: Rejection Won't Stop City Opera's Quest
Sadly, Paul Kellogg, the general and artistic director of the New York City Opera, was not at all surprised that his proposal to move his company to ground zero was rejected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. The powers that be have seemed allied against the plan for some time. Reached by phone on Thursday he said that he and his company would "absolutely continue to look for a new home."
— Read more at
The New York Times
New Jersey Opera Theater to field three productions on Princeton University campus
New Jersey Opera Theater will present three productions at Princeton University's Hamilton Murray Theater Aug. 16-22.
They are Mozart's "
Don Giovanni," in Italian with subtitles; Benjamin Britten's "
Albert Herring," in English; and a double bill of Ravel's "
L'enfant et les Sortileges" and Offenbach's "
Ba-Ta-Clan," in French with subtitles.
— Read more at
zwire.com
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Opera: Norma
The much-hyped Savoy Opera may be about to disappear down the plughole but Opera Holland Park continues its upward rise.
This ambitious company has established itself as a serious player in the summer country-house opera league from its unlikely open-air base in London's back garden.
This year's improvement comes in the orchestra pit. Having switched orchestral horses once before, Opera Holland Park has now upgraded again and hired the City of London Sinfonia to play for the six operas of the 2004 season.
Bellini's Norma may not be an orchestral showpiece but it helps when the solo flute is in tune and the strings are together for their see-sawing arpeggios. With an alert conductor in Brad Cohen, with the style at his fingertips, the music was in good hands.
— Read more at
FT.com
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Changing of Guard at the Volatile Paris Opera
At first glance, director of the Paris National Opera is a job to be envied. The institution, which dates back to 1669, has two large theaters as well as a permanent chorus, a 174-member orchestra and a top-flight ballet company, all supported by a hefty government subsidy. But there is also a caveat. Its 1,600 employees are led by Communist-backed labor unions with a penchant for last-minute strikes and low-intensity class warfare.
— Read more at
The New York Times
Singers that have sung at the Teatro Amazonas
We recently received a note from a site visitor inquiring about famous singers that have sung at the Teatro Amazonas in Manaos. If you can assist with this question, please
click here.
