Opera Season in your neighbourhood

[Shapley]

TB,

RE:if you've seen Juan you've seen Amahl.

For that joke you should be boiled in oil.

V/R
Shapley

[treebeau]

Bump!

On October 17 I went to see "La Boheme"and it was AWESOME! Everything about it was top notch. When Rodolfo shows his anguish over Mimi dying it brought me to tears.


Then, out of the blue, a woman I know invited me to join her to see "Madama Butterfly". This was at a theater in Greensboro. Though not as pretty a theater the set was drop dead gorgeous (pun intended, since Cio-Cio San does indeed die). It looked JUST LIKE we were looking at a garden house in Japan. When Butterfly sang "un bel di" I wept. My date did not see that...she was too intent on the stage. Then, when Pinkerton sings his "woe is me" song at the nd, we were both in tears. I whispered to my date "you big BABY !" She whispered "Yep! Do you want a Kleenex too?" I whispered "Yep!"

There will be several good things coming. "Rigor Mortis" by Joe Geen, and the ol' "Cav/Pag" standard. But next up for me will be "Cosi Fan Tutte."

http://www.piedmontopera.org
http://www.greensboroopera.org

Regards,
Tim B.

[OperaTenor]

*ig, I believe we have ourselves another Puccini convert.

Jack's the best, no doubt about it.

I'm glad you enjoyed those operas so much, Tim.



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IIRC, I mentioned it earlier, but in case anyone missed it, I was contracted for FOUR shows with the SDO this coming season: Boris Godunov(Mussorgsky), Samson and Delilah, Il Trovatore, and Wozzeck.

[bignaf]

yay Jack!

which reminds me, which opera composers can you think of that quote an older opera of theirs in a later opera? I can think of 3 right now.

[Marye]

Opera Season at The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, in Toronto, has been brilliant with our new world class opera house. The sound is so glorious that it takes my breath away.


So far we have seen:

Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk - ooh, I heard patrons at the intermission whisper, soft porn.. wow . It was a great opera.
Gounod's Faust - It was wonderful!!

Up next:

Verdi's Luisa Miller - I know nothing of this opera
Strauss' Elektra - Surtitles were invented for this opera and I saw it in the 1980's
Verdi's La Traviata[i] - I have seen this a number of times. Love it.


This year the COC has offered a series of lectures for each opera and I forgot to sign us up!! I think I really want to be on stage as part of the scenery.

What is happening in your neighbourhood?

[GreatCarouser]

SD Opera has been reviving many of the 'old warhorses' and using the extra bucks to:
1. upgrade facilities
2. Showcase world-class talent
3. Cover the expenses involved in producing less seen/heard works.


This year, so far we've had Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov in a version without tinkering by Rimsky-Korsakov

Denyce Graves as Delilah in Samson et Delilah. Saint-Saens' first opera and musically wonderful to listen to. SD opera also offers a lecture to those with a ticket one hour before curtain. Both lectures were informative but the one for S&D was really a delight as the presenter was a 'ham' (in the best sense of the word) and his knowledge of French opera around the time of the premiere gave wonderful insight into that world and it's rigors.

Il Trovatore is next followed by OT's new favorite 'Wozzeck' by Berg. The season will conclude with 'The Marriage of Figaro' by some Austrian who used to be a prodigy and who's name escapes me. Wozzeck is a tough act to follow...maybe the guy's work will 'stand up' to it? Isabel Bayrakdarian will sing Susanna.

[Marye]

I loved Wozzeck and Il Trovatore is still one of my favourites. The last act is brilliant.

Boris Godunov... scenery by COC - (I am looking at the SD site) "tired looking scenery"... hahaha that would be us. I think we borrow from you a great deal. Nice of us to return the favour with merely adequate decoration. Directed by Lofti Mansouri, I see, long time departed from the COC.

I have never seen Samson et Delilah but adore the music.

Have you looked at the Opera Chic blog that b.com posted on their front page? Good find b.com..

Thanks for responding GC...

[piqaboo]

I think I really want to be on stage as part of the scenery.

What is happening in your neighbourhood?

Have you ever considered being a supernumary and doing just that? There will be a small ad in the paper around the time rehearsals start for a given opera. They're looking for people who look the part. You get costume, makeup, and you dont have to sing!
GC did this in Don Carlo. In OT's fav, Turandot, the executioner is a super, and he was the featured performer in the local newspaper's photo of the production.

I didnt think the Gudonov sets looked tired, except as the whole country looked tired at a time of continual bickering and fighting.

After 3 seasons (nearly), Im kinda starting to like this opera stuff. It might help that I havent had to sit thru one featuring a soprano in a while. The sopranos have been thin on the ground so far this season, and its all to the good.

[barfle]

I keep looking for Prince Igor but so far it's only electronical.

[treebeau]

On Friday I took my mom, 74 years old, to her FIRST opera..."Cosi Fan Tutte" by Wolfie. What a fabulous production.

The staging, lighting, orchestra, and cast were all TOP NOTCH. Of particular note were soprano Karin Wolverton who played the role of "Fiordiligi" and Mezzo-sporano Janine Hawley who played "Dorabella". Wolverton had the best scored arias and Hawley had the most opportunity to ham it up for comedy.

The part of Don Alfonso was played by Stephen Eisenhard. During some of his parts I was reminded of a DVD of Donizetti's "L'elisir d'Amore" that I watched not long ago, and the role of Dulcamara. I said to my mom that I thought he would make an excellent Dulcamara. Well, looking at his information in the program I found that he has indeed played Dulcamara. Hopefully they will bring that here one day with him in the role.

Next season (October 2007) will bring Joe Green's "La Traviata", "Amahl..." in December (If you've seen "Juan"...), and in March of 2008 will be Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" !! Yippee!

Regards,
Tim B.

[piqaboo]

Friday is Il Trovatore night. Its getting very mixed reviews. The director seems to have stolen the critics' attention away from the singers.
I'm looking forward to hearing Dario Volente again, to see if Turandot was representative or if he was off his feed for that show.

Wozzek I'm half dreading. Not the music - the story. I dont think I'll tell the sitter its only a 90 min one act opera.

[Marye]

I love Il Trovatore. The entire last act sends shivers down my backbone and sometimes shakes in my thighbone...

but I understand about Wozzeck

[bignaf]

speaking of Wozzeck, we're having Lulu done here. the play, not the opera.

[Shapley]

Opera season is upon here in beautiful Thebes, IL. The soprano has moved onto the stage. Drawing her breath, she begins her aria...

"YOU KIDS BETTER GET YOUR A***S OUT OF THAT FLOWER GARDEN. I'LL WRING YOUR NECKS AND...DON'T GIVE ME THAT! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE. NOW!"

Like most operas, the actions soon dissolves into violence. The soprano has descended from the stage towards the chorus, who have approached the stage but would not ascend the front stairs. The members of the chorus gathered around the front steps, begin a haunting chorus, which sounds more like crying than singing. The only instrument to be heard is a percussive 'whap, whap, whap'. The tenors and altos alternately sing a yelping 'OUCH' on each note of the percussion. The Soprano continues her singing, but the words are lost in the din of the chorus.

Soon, the act is ended. Scurrying in front of the soprano, the chorus trot up the stairs, across the stage, and exit, each holding their rear and singing the sobbing chorus. The soprano follows, looking for any area of exposed backside on which to strike her percussive notes. Her song has faded into a low mumble. "Wait 'til your father gets home' is the last line of the aria, as the screen door slams behind her.

I wait patiently for the next act to begin. The lights slowly fade. The chorus can still be heard from offstage, but no one returns to the stage. Finally the stage goes dark as the last of the light disappears beyond the western horizon. No encore is heard, the soprano does not return to take her bow. The chorus is probably now in the bath, nursing their wounds and awaiting the dreaded return of the father. His return is not to be seen in this performance.

Perhaps that is the composers' intent. We, like the chorus, are left to await the arrival of the father. Will he never come? What terrible retribution will befall those defilers of the flower garden? We leave the opera and head for home, never seeing the father, never seeing the final curtain. Perhaps that, too, is a part of the composers' intent. The curtain does not fall, the waiting will go on and on.

It's not great opera. The costumes are cheap and the singing second rate at best. But it does tell a story...

[Nicole Marie]

Did you hear that we started a new opera program on Beethoven Radio!?

Saturday Nights at the Opera started last Saturday at 8PM... Each Saturday at 8PM EST tune in and hear a full length opera, commercial free! This Saturday (7 April) will be the Marriage of Figaro!

[OperaTenor]

Cool!

However, in our neck of the woods right now...

I'm having difficulty reconciling what's being done in our current production of Wozzeck. The only bodliy functions/activities not being acted out on stage are defecating and copulation. One of the principles even has to burp on cue during one of his "arias". There is even a point where a woman mimes performing fellatio on Wozzeck, which contradicts the plot, IMO - Wozzeck's wife cheats on him, not the other way around.

We've taken to referring to it as "shock opera" or "crapera". Is this the coming thing in opera anymore, to make some kind of tacky, tedious postmodern statement?

And then there's the "music": Atonal from start to finish.

It seems like a huge waste of resources and talent.

I predict people walking out on this production in droves...

And the director...

Artistic Director DES McANUFF
is a two-time Tony Award-winning director and writer. He served as Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse from its 1983 rebirth through 1994, during which time he directed 21 productions. Under his leadership, the Playhouse won over 200 theatre awards, including the 1993 Tony Award® as America’s Outstanding Regional Theatre. McAnuff returned as Artistic Director of the Playhouse in 2001. Productions directed by McAnuff during his first tenure at the Playhouse include How to Succeed in Business ... (Playhouse 1994, Broadway 1995), The Who’s Tommy (director as well as co-author with Pete Townshend; Playhouse 1992, Broadway 1993, Tony Award Best Director of a Musical, London Olivier Award Best Director 1994), A Walk in the Woods (Playhouse 1987, Broadway 1988, Moscow and Lithuania 1989-90) and Big River (Playhouse 1984, Broadway 1985, seven Tony Awards including Best Director of a Musical and Best Musical). Recent productions directed at the Playhouse include Zhivago, Palm Beach (2005), Private Fittings (2005), Jersey Boys (2004), Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (2004; Broadway 2004, Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event), Tom Donaghy’s Eden Lane (2003), Molière’s Tartuffe (2002), Dracula, The Musical (2001;Broadway 2004), and Michael Ondaatje’s The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (2001), for which he also composed the original score. In 2003, McAnuff directed the multi-media extravaganza Sinatra: His Voice. His World. His Way. at Radio City Music Hall. His First feature film was 1998’s Cousin Bette, starring Jessica Lange. In 1999, he produced the widely acclaimed Warner Bros. film Iron Giant, which went on to win nine 1999 “Annie” Awards from the International Animation Society and a 1999 BAFTA Award from the British Academy. In 2001, McAnuff directed The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, starring Robert DeNiro, Jason Alexander and Rene Russo. He also served as Executive Producer for Quills, which was named Best Picture by the National Board of Review. His production of Jersey Boys opens on Broadway this fall.

He asked one of the assistant stage managers to fetch him some eggs the other morning at the start of the day. Yes, he wanted someone to get him breakfast.

[piqaboo]

I enjoyed Il Trovatore. I posted my thoughts in the Live Music thread.

[Marye]

Oh my, OT, Wozzeck sounds awful. I have walked out of only one opera, Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande. It was intolerable so at intermission Brian and I left. The exodus was striking - fewer than half the house remained. One COC director, at the time, is a partner in the law firm in which I work and I said to him, 'Pelleas, was awful' and he said, "Perhaps, YOU didn't get it." I responded, "Please what's there to get - either it is a good production or it isn't." The Wozzeck production in Toronto I rather liked but then again I am not on stage having to put up with it.

[Marye]

I enjoyed Il Trovatore. I posted my thoughts in the Live Music thread.

Where is the Live Music Thread please?

[Catmando]

I enjoyed Il Trovatore. I posted my thoughts in the Live Music thread.

Where is the Live Music Thread please?

It's in the Musical Notes.