Since his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1971, conductor James Levine has come to represent the house’s commitment to artistic excellence — reliable, professional, and immaculately presented.
In his memoirs, Five Thousand Nights at the Opera, Sir Rudolph Bing, general manager of the Met from 1950 to 1972, discusses the Met’ move from 39th street to its current home at Lincoln Center.
When Captain Ahab sailed the Pequod into San Diego this week, he brought a new American opera with him. Jake Heggie’ Moby-Dick is a stunning work likely to have universal appeal.
Once the province of only the most dedicated opera fanatics, mid-20th century recordings of privately taped live performances have become more widely available.
In this stimulating and uplifting performance, The Cardinall’ Musick, led by director Andrew Carwood, continued their comprehensive project to examine the works of one of England’s greatest composers — William Byrd (c.1540—1623).
Sometime everything seems to go right. Just as the Los Angeles Opera Company
did last fall, it opened its spring season with a baritonal eponymous opera; this time, Giuseppe Verdi’ Simon Boccanegra.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an interesting opera production will be met with incomprehension and lazy, philistine hostility by vast swathes of the audience in many, perhaps most, of the world’s ‘major’ houses, a truth that renders one all the more grateful for the Royal Opera showing the courage to stage this new — to London — production of Rusalka.
The novels of Sinclair Lewis once shot across the American literary skies like comets, alarming and fascinating readers of that era, but their tails didn’t extend far behind them.
André Previn’s leadership of the London Symphony Orchestra in the early 1970s resulted in some highly regarded recordings, including one of the classic accounts of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony.
The Barbican’ six-month series celebrating the English oratorio, has now reached Mendelssohn’ Elijah — or perhaps we should
follow the Victorians and refer to it as ‘he Elijah’ given that it was performed in English, in William Bartholomew’ translation.
The Los Angeles Opera, anticipating Benjamin Britten’ centennial gave
the composer, as well as its patrons, an early birthday present of performances
of his charming comic opera, Albert Herring.
For sixty years, the Chelsea Opera Group has adorned London opera life. It doesn’ do mass market, but focuses on unusual and obscure repertoire. This audience comes for the music!
Is there somewhere in Italian opera repertory where, as a comic interlude, the portentous clichés of German opera come in for a skewering amid the luscious sunshine of Italianate lyricism?
The Barbican’s English oratorio series now reaches the twentieth century, with Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, though it will step back to The Dream of Gerontius next month.
Based on performances given on 2 and 3 March 2011 (at the Barbican, London), Valery Gergiev’s recording of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is an engaging and persuasive reading of the score.
Los Angeles is often identified as “tinsel town,” a cultural wasteland. The city has long been considered as artistically irrelevant. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially with the arrival of the Los Angeles Opera in 1984.
Flute players in opera orchestra around the world must look forward to the frequent appearances of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, knowing that while the stage spotlight in the mad scene will be on the soprano, the orchestral spotlight will be on their instrument.
“Opera is an emotional fitness centre”, says Kasper Holten, new Director of Opera, announcing the Royal Opera House 2012-13 season which mixes daring with prudence.
Inaugurated in 1995, the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition is a triennial competition, held in the National Concert Hall in Dublin, which takes place over a week in January.
Two live camels with trainers in Egyptian garb were stationed in front of Phoenix’s Symphony Hall to publicize the opening of Arizona Opera’ new production of Aida.
Modern and historic responses to classical tragedy and myth formed the unifying focus for this latest stage of Ian Bostridge’ year-long ‘ncient and Modern’project at the Wigmore Hall.
Last night’s French classical music awards show, the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2012, awarded the “Best Composer of the Year” honors to Philippe Manoury, 59, for his opera, “La Nuit de Gutenberg” (“The Night of Gutenberg”).
Abduction from the Seraglio contains not a single ironic or cynical moment. Enlightened mercy and sincere love triumph totally over revenge, slavery and tyranny.
A perennial favorite among opera enthusiasts since its 1871 premiere in Cairo, Aida remains a popular work, and its strengths are apparent in the recent Decca DVD from the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Join us this Thursday, March 29 at the Ada Community Library for a free program featuring a look at Opera Idaho’s April production The Ballad of Baby Doe, its history, [...]
This year through Concert Connections (the UBS-sponsored display in the lobby prior to performances) we've had some great questions about the different musicians in the orchestra and also about the different instruments that make up the orchestra. As part of a weekly feature on the Utah Symphony blog, we thought ...
: The Opera Tattler Subscribe to this blog's feed Notes On About SF Opera's Future Seasons How Standing Room Works Official Blogs of West Coast Opera Companies Los Angeles Opera Portland Opera San Diego Opera San Francisco Opera Seattle Opera Vancouver Opera PBO's 2012-2013 Season Main SF Opera Annual Meeting 2012 March 15, 2012 Opéra National de Paris' 2012-2013 Season September 7- October 3 2012 : Les Contes d'Hoffmann September 8-27 2012 : Capriccio September 15- October 25 2012 : Le Nozze di Figaro October 10-30 2012 : The Rake's Progress October 15- November 11 2012 : La Fille du régiment October 23- November 20 2012 : Tosca November 22 2012- March 25 2013 : La Cenerentola December 4-29 2012 : Carmen January 22- February 9 2013 : Khovanshchina January 23- February 13 2013 : Le Nain
So, I'm pretty sure you know about the new Nordstrom that is opening downtown this month. Who doesn't? The opening of City Creek is quite a big adventure for downtown, and there are some great events happening. One of them is the Nordstrom Grand Opening Gala that will benefit Utah ...