The distinguished soprano Patricia Racette once advised this observer, “If you are coming to the opera to review me, please attend the latest performance you can.” I knew what she meant. 
When discussing the evolution of opera as a genre, the towering figure of Richard Wagner cannot be ignored. Lawrence Zazzo’ last visit to the Wigmore Hall, in April earlier this year, saw him present an intriguing sequence of American song from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Zaira, Tragedia lirica in two acts.
Superstitions surround theatrical productions of Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/e086f992-e8e6-11e0-ac9c-00144feab49a.html#axzz1ZCvC3xiwFrederick Delius counts among those many composers whose reputations rely on their orchestral efforts, but who dearly wanted to make a lasting contribution to the opera repertory. 
Bad news travels fast. Though you are about to read another version of how American diva Renée Fleming failed to bring Lucrezia Borgia alive, let us begin by discussing a few other things you already know.http://www.operatoday.com/documents/Levine_Met.pdfWhy would a French composer take an opera which epitomises German Romanticism and Nationalism and adapt it to the conventions of the French grand opera tradition? It’ becoming rather a fashion to set operas in English public schools. Hermann Melville wrote a poem called “Fragments of a Lost Gnostic Poem of the Twelfth Century”:Le Cid, Opéra in 4 actshttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/independent-podcast--eno-operatalks-david-pountney-2362895.htmlI puritani, opera seria in three actshttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/f8bc389c-e9c2-11e0-bb3e-00144feab49a.html#axzz1ZHEnUjraFilm biographies of great musicians notoriously exhibit a preference for talking heads nattering on over any music passages. 
Opera companies around the world — though relatively few in the United States — cannot resist the temptation to stage Sergei Prokofiev’s first major opera. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/78bcc222-d222-11e0-9137-00144feab49a.html#axzz1WXzEXs00http://blog.dallasopera.org/2011/09/28/the-dallas-opera-announces-meeting-of-key-milestones-in-the-planned-turnaround-of-the-company%E2%80%99s-finances/In its final performances of the Summer 2011 season the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus along with guest soloists gave two performances of Verdi’ Requiem. The house lights dimmed, SFO General Director David Gockley instructed us to stand and sing the Star Spangled Banner. This crucial moment revealed the intentions and complexities of this fine production at San Francisco Opera.Love and Death is the name of one of Woody Allen’s earlier films, one built around parodies of Tolstoy and other Russian 19th century literary giants. Dialogues des Carmélites is a magnificently anti-operatic opera.When the opera opens, a chorus of Trojan is rejoicing that the Greeks have abandoned the war and gone home. Among recent recordings of Britten’s opera Billy Budd, the recent
release conducted by Daniel Harding has much to offer in terms of performance
quality, interpretation, and also the quality of recording. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/arts/music/salvatore-licitra-tenor-at-the-met-dies-at-43-after-crash.html
As one of the most successful Italian opera composers of the late-eighteenth
century, Domenico Cimarosa’ reputation lasted well into the following
century during which his operas were staple repertoire in all the major
European opera houses. 
Los Angeles has been good to Turandot. The gritty 1984 Andre Serban production inaugurated an opera company in Los Angeles where a mere eight years later L.A. Opera bestowed the splendid Luciano Berio ending upon the world in an uber-pompous Gian-Carlo del Monaco production.http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/09/27/arts/music/100000001076456/excerpt-anna-bolena-at-the-met.html?ref=music
Whether or not one agrees with Joseph Kerman’ immortal definition of
Tosca as a “shabby little shocker,” Puccini’
melodramma, the inaugural production of the Washington National
Opera’ 2011-12 season, is intense, “blood-and-guts” kind of
entertainment. In a program of Italian and French arias and duets Lyric Opera gave to
Chicago audiences a preview of the first operas in its forthcoming season and
an opportunity to hear familiar voices as well as those soon destined to grace
the operatic stages of the world. 
Lesson 1: Composition and Disastrous Premiere(s)
Lesson 2: Beethoven’s Struggle with Fidelio
Lesson 3: AN “ORCHESTRAL OPERA”
by Luke Howard
Many consider the ensemble pieces the most successful examples of vocal writing in Fidelio. The Act 1 quartet (discussed in Lesson 2), the “Prisoners’ Chorus,” the final trio, the concluding rejoicing—these are precisely the ...
The below post was written by Eric Einhorn, who is the director for Utah Opera's production of Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven running Oct 8 - 16.
[caption id="attachment_1722" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Director Eric Einhorn gives instructions to Brenda Harris (Leonore/Fidelio) and Corey Bix (Florestan)"][/caption]
When I first began studying Fidelio, I couldn’t ...
Our Utah Opera Resident Artists have another exciting week ahead of them as they educate youngsters about Opera. This week they're visiting Jackling Elementary (Granite), West Valley Elementary (Granite), Orchard Elementary (Davis), Ellis Elementary (Logan), Freemont High School (Davis), and Dee Elementary (Ogden).
Tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 27) is the first ...
by Luke Howard
Lesson 1: Composition and Disastrous Premiere(s)
Lesson 2: Beethoven's Struggle with Fidelio
So why precisely did Beethoven, the great musical genius, struggle so much with Fidelio? First, Beethoven was not a natural dramatist—certainly not in the way that, for example, Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi were. He ...
It's installment #2 of our Beethoven Countdown! Or, as it's sometimes called by our orchestra: the Beethoven Boot Camp. This week we're thrilled to perform a double dose of Beethoven. You'll get to hear his Symphony No. 8 AND his final piano concerto, the "Emperor" Concerto (No. 5). We also ...
Our Utah Opera Ensemble Artists have a busy week ahead of them! They'll introduce the students of Herriman Elementary (Jordan SD), South Kearns Elementary (Granite SD), Jim Bridger Elementary (Granite SD), Whittier Elementary (SLC SC), and Polk Elementary (Ogden) to opera! They're also going to do a presentation of their ...
Lesson One: Composition and Disastrous Premiere(s)
by Luke Howard
It might seem strange that one of the most innovative and talented composers in the history of Western music, the man who single-handedly revolutionized the symphony, string quartet, and piano sonata in the early 19th century, should write only one opera. Music ...
The British are Coming! Every opera deserves to be celebrated and what better way to do so than over a finely crafted martini. Come listen to the performers from The Pirates of Penzance sing arias, enjoy an originally crafted martini from well-known master mixologist, Mark Allen from Red Feather, and enjoy delectable appetizers provided by [...]