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The Lowry strikes not of discord over Royal Opera House in Manchester Lowry Centre
By Ben Hoyle [Times Online, 25 June 2009]
Plans for a £100 million outpost of the Royal Opera House in the North West suffered a potentially serious setback yesterday when one of Manchester’s leading arts complexes said a new opera house in the city would “destroy” it.
Aspen Music Festival goes back in time
Stewart Oksenhorn
[The Aspen Times, 25 June 2009]
It was 60 years ago this summer that the Goethe Bicentennial came to town, and there is good reason to celebrate the anniversary of that momentous event. The Bicentennial spawned the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and School — and, oh yes, the modern rebirth of this sleepy, former mining town.
Resignations, ENO Model, Might Save City Opera: Norman Lebrecht
Commentary by Norman Lebrecht [Bloomberg.com, 25 June 2009]
This is the tale of two city operas, both of which present high art at popular prices.
John McCarthy: Charismatic choral conductor and arranger
Kenneth Shenton [The Independent, 22 June 2009]
During the second half of the 20th century, John McCarthy was perhaps the most charismatic choral conductor of his generation. Highly adept at operating on all sides of the musical divide, amid a career of great length, distinction and influence, he became one of the most powerful and potent figures in British musical life.
Wagner's great-granddaughter to probe composer's family links with Hitler and the Nazis
By Allan Hall [Daily Mail, 21 June 2009]
For decades the shadow of Nazism has hung over the descendants of Richard Wagner.
His monumental music was embraced by Hitler while, 50 years after his death, the composer’s family were favourites of the dictator and his cronies.
'Ghosts of Versailles' an entertaining evening
By Sarah Bryan Miller [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 18 June 2009]
Opera Theatre of St. Louis has a history of taking fresh looks at operas that had less-than-stellar beginnings (Britten’s “Gloriana” and Adams’ “Nixon in China,” to name two gleaming examples) and illuminating something greater within them.
Vu et entendu : Carmen à l’Opéra-Comique
La critique d’Emmanuel Dupuy [Diapason, 16 June 2009]
C’est l’événement le plus antidémocratique de la saison : Carmen à l’Opéra-Comique, pour sept représentations. Mais l’art et la démocratie font-ils bon ménage ? Vaste débat, auquel le degré de jouissance que l’on atteint en ce soir de première apporte un élément de réponse. Carmen chez elle, rendue à ses dimensions d’origine, dans ce théâtre qui abolit les distances et rend inutiles les surtitres.
A classic confection that's near perfection
By William Randall Beard [Minneapolis Star Tribune, 16 June 2009]
Skylark Opera’s second annual summer festival includes a trademark operetta, Sigmund Romberg’s “The Desert Song,” and one of the great comic operas, “Don Pasquale” by Gaetano Donizetti. The latter is the only one worth seeing.
Anna Netrebko returns to S.F. in 'La Traviata'
By Joshua Kosman [San Francisco Chronicle, 15 June 2009]
From its second act onward, the San Francisco Opera’s new production of “La Traviata” attempts something radically new with Verdi’s familiar melodrama.
AOP & Opera On Tap Present 2nd Part Of Opera Grows In Brooklyn Series 7/11
[Broadway World, 15 June 2009]
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS (AOP), “known for bringing cutting-edge vocal production to the masses,” (New York) and OPERA ON TAP (“…raucous and sublime…un-elitist, imperfect, and fun…”- NY Sun) will present the second installment of its Opera Grows in Brooklyn series, an evening of all new opera scenes and songs from contemporary composers, including new music from David T. Little and the NYC premiere of Stefan Weisman’s opera Fade.
NEWS ARCHIVES »
Current Feature
15 Jun 2009
PUCCINI: Turandot — Buenos Aires 1965
Turandot, dramma lirico in three acts. »
This weeks theme
Operas based on the works of Friedrich von Schiller
“Friedrich Schiller (1759 - 1805) , German dramatist and poet, is best known for his early drama of political revolt, Die Räuber (1781); for his classical masterpiece, the Wallenstein trilogy (1798-99); and for Wilhelm Tell (1804)—in all of which he exhibits his fervent concern for freedom and the ideals of humanity. In German literary history Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are considered the major representatives of German classicism, which lasted from 1786 until Goethe’s death in 1832.” Robert Weninger, Schiller, Friedrich, The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism (2nd ed. 2005). Here we will present a rich and varied selection of operas:
- VERDI: Luisa Miller — Reggio Emilia 1976
- VERDI: Don Carlo — Rome 1954
- DONIZETTI: Maria Stuarda — Paris 1972
- ROSSINI: Guglielmo Tell — Rome 1954
- TCHAIKOVSKY: The Maid of Orléans — Moscow 1971
- VERDI: I masnadieri — Baden-Baden 1998
- PUCCINI: Turandot — Buenos Aires 1965
Previous Themes:
Historic Performances: Maria Callas
Works on the Theme of “Greeks Bearing Gifts”
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