Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma, the crown jewel of Bel Canto operas, premiered at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on December 28, 1831 to an unenthusiastic reception. Following the path of other famous opening night fiascos (Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Sivilglia, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Verdi’s La Traviata come to mind,) the opera’s importance was recognized after its second performance, and the story of the Druid Priestess who falls in love with the enemy quickly established itself as part of the international repertoire.…
Author: Daniel Vasquez
Atlanta Opera | Mozart: Cosi fan tutte
The Atlanta Opera’s presentation of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte was heard for the first time this season last Saturday at the Cobb Energy Center. With a cast composed of primarily young artists, most making their Atlanta Opera debuts, the performance was well attended and enthusiastically received by the audience. …
Lovers schooled – Anticipating Atlanta Opera’s production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte.
In the program notes introducing his new production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte for the Dresden State Opera in 1983, producer Joachim Herz made this striking statement: “First things first: Cosi fan tutte does not take place today. It is a period piece from the past, and it reflects, in the most delightful way possible, an epidemic of the time: sentimentalism”.…
Victorian Terror – The Center for Contemporary Opera presents “The Secret Agent” By Michael Dellaira
This month, the Center for Contemporary Opera will present The Secret Agent, a new opera based on Joseph Conrad’s novel with music composed by Michael Dellaira and a libretto by J.D. “Sandy’ McClatchy. The following conversations took place in New York City last week during the final rehearsals of the new work.…
OONY | Meyerbeer: L’Africaine
On March 2, Eve Queler ascended the podium one last time as Music Director of the Opera Orchestra of New York to conduct a concert performance of the same work that inaugurated the company back in 1972: Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine. Following the thunderous applause that greeted her entrance, Ms.…
An exploration of the grand exotic – Anticipating OONY’s performance of Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine
Grand Opera, what is it? To the common man, and certainly to many an opera company’s PR departments, all operas ranging from Mozart’s to Giordani’s are grand operas. But Grand Opera, or rather French Grand Opera, is commonly defined by operas composed primarily for the French stage between the years 1828 to roughly 1868.…
Minnesota Opera | Donizetti: Maria Stuarda
Minnesota Opera’s production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda opened last Saturday, January 29 at the Ordway theatre to an enthusiastic, near sold out house. Patrons who attended last year’s first installment of the so-called “Tudor Trilogy”, Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, were instantly brought back to director Kevin Newbury’s vision of the English court.…
When Queens Attack – Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda goes to Minnesota
As the plane skids on patches of ice along the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport runway, my eye turns to the window to witness the exotic landscape of white snow that awaits me once outside the plane. Yet, a Southern boy must suffer to get his fix of Donizetti, and as the weight of carry-on bags crush my left shoulder during my search for the bus terminal, my mind races towards the events that await me as Minnesota Opera premieres Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda this Saturday. …