In 2015, Bampton Classical Opera’s production of Salieri’s La grotta di Trofonio – a UK premiere – received well-deserved accolades: ‘a revelation … the music is magnificent’ (Seen and Heard International), ‘giddily exciting, propelled by wit, charm and bags of joy’ (The Spectator), ‘lively, inventive … a joy from start to finish’ (The Oxford Times), ‘They have done Salieri proud’ (The Arts Desk) and ‘an enthusiastic performance of riotously spirited music’ (Opera Britannia) were just some of the superlative compliments festooned by the critical press.
Category: Commentary
The nature of narropera?
How many singers does it take to make an opera? There are single-role operas – Schˆnberg’s Erwartung (1924) and Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies (1969) spring immediately to mind – and there are operas that just require a pair of performers, such as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart i Salieri (1897) or The Telephone by Menotti (1947).
Battles administration neglects FLO’s assets by defunding the program
The college administration and President Denise Battles’ recent
decision to defund the Finger Lakes Opera came as a shock to many and a concern
to more. This decision reflects the administration’s blatant disregard
for the arts and reveals a mindset that is counterproductive to the mission of
the college.
BEMF Chamber Opera Series Presents Splendors of Versailles
The GRAMMY Award-winning BEMF Chamber Opera Series returns with an all-new production inspired by the splendor and music of the palace of Versailles. King Louis XIV transformed his father’s pastoral hunting lodge at Versailles into a lavish palace that served as the seat of government and culture in France.
And London Burned: in conversation with Raphaela Papadakis
Raphaela Papadakis seems to like ‘playing with fire’. After her acclaimed performance as the put-upon maid, Anna, in Independent Opera’s production of äimon Vose?ek’s Beidermann and the Arsonists at Sadler’s Wells last year, she is currently rehearsing for the premiere this week of And London Burned, a new opera by Matt Rogers which has been commissioned by Temple Music Foundation to commemorate the 350th anniversary of The Great Fire of London.
Center for Contemporary Opera presents Jane Eyre (World Premiere)
Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre, a full-length opera in three acts with a libretto by Diane Osen based on Charlotte Bronte’s novel, will receive its world premiere at The Kaye Playhouse (Hunter College) on Thursday, October 20, 7:30pm with a second performance on Saturday, October 22, 8pm. Jane Eyre is Karchin’s second opera, composed in 2014, following his critically acclaimed one-act comic opera Romulus.
Boston Early Music Festival announces the appointment of Melinda Sullivan to the new position of the Lucy Graham Dance Director
Cambridge, MA–The Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Melinda Sullivan to the new position of the Lucy Graham Dance Director.
Oxford Lieder Festival: in conversation with Julius Drake
In October 2014, the Oxford Lieder Festival – under its imaginative and intrepid founder, Sholto Kynoch – fulfilled an incredibly ambitious goal: to perform Schubert’s entire corpus of songs – more than 600 – and, for three marvellous weeks, to bring Vienna to Oxford. ‘The Schubert Project’ was a magnificent celebration of the life and music of Franz Schubert: at its core lay the first complete performance of Schubert’s songs – including variants and alternative versions – in the UK.
When Performance Gets Political: A Brooklyn Concert Benefiting the ACLU
What’s an artist’s place in politics? That’s the question
many were asking after actress Meryl Streep made a pointed speech criticizing
President Trump at the Golden Globes. Trump responded directly to Streep, using
his preferred communication medium of Twitter to call Streep
“overrated.”