Vincent d’Indy lived eighty years and, when not composing, spent his time revising the teaching of music in France or simply annoying everybody.
Month: October 2009
On opening night, the sounds of success fill Winspear Opera House
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/101609dnentattpac.3ef3f78.html
The Truth about Love — unusual new work by young American singer and composer.
Steven Ebel is a young American, and a member of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, which nurtures young singers and theater artists, and commissioned this unusual new work, The Truth about Love.
Aida at the MET
Noblesse oblige: The Met feels it must present Aida — and
Tosca — and La BohËme — and certain other gaudy spectacles — because it’s the Met and everyone expects the grandest of the grand.
Abduction from the Seraglio in San Francisco
Some of the more memorable achievements of San Francisco Opera occurred in the brief life-span of its Spring Opera season, 1961-1981.
Turandot at ENO
A writer goes to dine in an urban Chinese restaurant, where his eye is caught by a distressed young woman among the crowd of diners.
‘10 for 10’ recital gets 10 out of 10 for performance and audience
The Wigmore Hall never stands still: not content with having increased its audience by 300% over the past year, it now seeks both to reward its loyal patrons for their support in acquiring the Lease, and to bring in new audience members, with an innovative series of ten concerts where all the seats are priced at £10.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the MET
Bartlett Sher’s production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia has
proved one of the more admired stagings of the Peter Gelb regime, but
I’ve avoided it due to a surfeit of Barbieres and to fond
memories of the John Cox production on Robin Wagner’s delicious turntable
set, about as ideal a Barbiere as could be imagined.
Wozzeck in designer khaki : Salonen and Keenlyside in London
In the opera house, stagings can impress by gorgeous sets and costumes. But in semi-staged performances, there’s no where to hide behind. Semi-staging tests whether a director understands the music and what its dramatic soul might be. In dramaturgy, less is more.
Don Carlo at Covent Garden
The full five-act version of Verdi’s historical epic, Don Carlo, makes for a long evening, but thanks to some fine singing and to the driving sweep of the baton of Semyon Bychkov this four-and-a-half hour performance raced by.