Maria Nockin - Page 11

On June 30, 2018, Santa Fe Opera continued the season begun the night before with a revival of the 1904 Brescia Version of Giacomo Puccini's tragic MADAMA BUTTERFLY. The late Lee Blakeley put together the original 2010 production with simple visual lines and a bold structure. Eight years later, Matthew Ozawa restated it poetically for a new audience.

On Sunday June 24, 2018, Los Angeles Opera gave a matinee presentation of two one-act Gordon Getty operas, USHER HOUSE and THE CANTERVILLE GHOST, which LAO calls SCARE PAIR. USHER HOUSE is Getty's 2014 edgy, operatic version of of Edgar Allan Poe's story, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER. THE CANTERVILLE GHOST is Getty's realization of the Oscar Wilde story.

Cinderella has fled the royal ball having left her bracelet with the Prince as a remembrance. On June 8, 23018, Opera Las Vegas presented a jubilant version of Gioacchino Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA (CINDERELLA) in Las Vegas at the University of Nevada's Judy Bayley Theatre. Director Audrey Chait injected some form of comedy, often slapstick, into every possible situation and the result was an evening of one laugh after another.

On May 25, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented a concert version of Matthew Aucoin's third opera, CROSSING. This work was first seen in Boston in June of 2015. Its story deals with Walt Whitman's stint as a volunteer at a Civil War military hospital near Washington DC. In 1862,

On May 12, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented a searing rendition of RIGOLETTO, Giuseppe Verdi's dark tale of curses and murder. Recently, General Director Placido Domingo said of this work, 'I can think of no opera that better demonstrates the power of deeply emotional music melded with incredibly gripping drama.'

American mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick is one of the world's leading exponents of the dramatic Verdi repertoire. Her talent was first noticed when she was a pre-med student at the University of Nevada in Reno. Some years after that, she debuted with the San Francisco Opera as Azucena in IL TROVATORE, and it brought her international stardom. Decades later, she is best known for her interpretations of Amneris in AIDA, Eboli in DON CARLO, Ulrica in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, Ježibaba in Dvo?ak's RUSALKA, and Adalgisa in Bellini's NORMA.

On Sunday, April 22, 2018, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra gave a matinee performance of Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms together with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor.

On April 21, 2018, Opera Santa Barbara presented Douglas Moore's GALLANTRY and Leonard Bernstein's TROUBLE IN TAHITI at the Center Stage theater in downtown Santa Barbara. The Center Stage is a 130-seat black box auditorium on the third floor of the chic, user-friendly Paseo Nuevo.

On April 20, Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented Mozart's DON GIOVANNI at The Vortex in downtown Los Angeles's arts district. DON GIOVANNI is the perfect choice for a small opera company. Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote an opera that required few choristers and contained only eight solo parts because he knew the limitations of the Prague opera company which would premiere DON GIOVANNI.

Artistic and Executive Director of Pacific Opera Project (POP) Josh Shaw was recently named 'One of Musical America's Top 30 Innovators in Classical Music.' Over the past six seasons, he has directed 23 productions at POP including THE RAKE'S PROGRESS, ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, and LA CALISTO. His reimagining of THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO as an episode of Star Trek has gained national attention and has been produced by seven companies.

On March 11, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented Christoph Willibald Gluck's ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE in conjunction with Joffrey Ballet Chicago at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Having previously presented the Italian version of the opera with a mezzo-soprano as Orfeo, L. A. Opera offered the 1774 French version with a tenor Orpheus and a great deal more dance this time

On March 2, 2018, Opera Santa Barbara presented Gioachino Rossini's THE BARBER OF SEVILLE. Based on a libretto by Cesare and staged in a more modern manner by director Josh Shaw, the California performance of the early nineteenth century work was thoroughly amusing from overture to final bow.

On January 27, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented the Bernstein work at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with a cast that included Emmy-winning television star Kelsey Grammer. He is best remembered for his two-decade-long portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the situation comedies Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. As Voltaire and Pangloss, Grammer had a huge speaking role that he acquitted with a commanding personality and considerable wit. Surprisingly, he sang quite well, too.

Santa Fe Opera is preparing to bring holiday cheer to towns throughout New Mexico beginning December 10. Former apprentices Sarah Coit and Jorge Espino will join pianist and music director Wojciech Milewski to perform operatic selections and carols in several cities.

LA PHIL Reveals Plans for Celebrating One-Hundred Years of Symphonic Music.LA Phil Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, Board Chair Jay Rasulo, and CEO Gail Samuels spoke of major world wide artistic programs, educational and social impact initiatives, as well as public celebrations that begin September 2018 and extend through October 2019.

On November 9, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Keeril Makan and Jay Scheib's opera PERSONA. Scheib based his libretto on the 1966 film of the same name by iconic Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.

LA BELLE ET LA B TE is a post World War II romantic fantasy film written and directed by Jean Cocteau. For the Los Angeles Opera version, Philip Glass replaced Georges Auric's original sound track with a complete opera score. On October 28, 2017, L. A. Opera presented the work, sung live and coordinated with a screening of the film, at the beautifully restored 1920s movie theater in the city's Ace Hotel.

On Oct 14, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, NABUCCO in a new and extremely well detailed production by Thaddeus Strassberger.

On October 7, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Georges Bizet's THE PEARL FISHERS starring sweet-voiced Mexican star tenor Javier Camarena as Nadir. Steel-voiced Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza, was Zurga, his rival for the hand of Leila, a beautiful priestess who had taken a vow of chastity.