Broad(way) strokes, opera folks Oct 13, 2009
Entertainment Features. " onclick="Next();" src="/images/butt_next. (Channelnewsasia.com)
Toms Bretn Opera La Dolores Oct 12, 2009
Tom;s Bret;n, who both wrote the libretto and composed the music, was attempting in part to create a Spanish national opera. The story is based on a famous Spanish legend, "Los Amantes de Teruel.". (Suite101.com)
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis freezes salaries Oct 7, 2009
the world premiere of The Golden Ticket in 2010, with music by Peter Ash and libretto by Donald Sturrock, based on Roald Dahl s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. a new production of John Adams s The Death of Klinghoffer in 2011, which will be the opera s first staged production in the United States in 20 years. (St. Louis Business Journal, MO)
Street named after Twitter account Oct 6, 2009
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Initially derided for its promotion of inane chatter, Twitter has become a valuable news syndication platform, a campaign tool, and was even used by London's Royal Opera House to commission an opera libretto made up of tweets sent in from around the world. The @ sign on this street in the West Bank conveys a more literal meaning than usual. (CNN)
Review: 'House in Bali' creative yet distant Sep 30, 2009
Much of his music has been shaped by his involvement with gamelan music, and this two-act opera, with a libretto by Paul Schick drawn largely from McPhee's memoir, is only the latest in a long series of works in which European and Balinese traditions intersect. "A House in Bali" is at its most vibrant, in fact, when drawing big stylistic connections and contrasts. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Alex Ross: “Tosca” at the Met. Sep 30, 2009
to suggest the settings specified in the libretto, and if singers and orchestral players merely approximate the notes in the score, you are assured of a passable evening s entertainment ... The major gaffe of the night comes after Tosca kills Scarpia, when, according to the libretto, she places candles by his side and a crucifix on his chest. (New Yorker)
Making musical sense of new rock opera ‘American Idiot’ Sep 24, 2009
Mayer, part-time collaborator and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, and the American Idiot designers had to craft a sort of wordless libretto, making sure the audience understood every step of the story. The ambitious project started with an offhand comment Mayer made around the time of the off-Broadway opening of Spring Awakening. (Boston Globe)
Met's Gala Opening Evokes Chorus of Boos Sep 23, 2009
Once he is dead, with his head on the floor and his feet still on the sofa, the libretto and score call for Tosca to place a candlestick on either side of his body and put a crucifix on his chest before rushing out of the room in horror at what she has done. With Bondy, there are no candlesticks, no crucifix, no hasty departure. (CBS News)
Early Anchorage theater figure dies Sep 22, 2009
He also wrote the libretto for "Toyon," an opera by New York composer Willard Straight, on the same subject, commissioned for the centennial of the purchase of Alaska, and a musical, "Song of the Great Land.". Brink was also an announcer and reporter for local radio and television stations. (Anchorage Daily News)
In Pynchon’s tales, music is the backbeat Sep 20, 2009
Gravity s Rainbow has so many songs in it, both actual and made up, it s practically a libretto disguised as a novel. The parents of Frenesi Gates, the heroine of Vineland, named her after their favorite Artie Shaw recording. (Boston Globe)
Eclectic musical styles converge at five-college festival Sep 11, 2009
Holy Ghosts is based on a play by Romulus Linney, with a libretto by Linney and Bell s wife, Andrea Olmstead. The plot involves a man and woman whose troubled marriage leads them, somewhat obliquely, to involvement with a snake-handling sect of Southern Pentecostals. (Boston Globe)
Rimsky-Korsakov Opera The Golden Co... Sep 4, 2009
Libretto was written by V. Bielsky after a poem by Aleksandr S. Pushkin. It was first performed in Moscow, Solodovnikov Theater, October 7th, 1909. (Suite101.com)
Puccini Opera Manon Lescaut Aug 31, 2009
Libretto was written by Giuseppe Giacosa, Domenico Oliva, Giulio Ricordi and Luigi Illica, based on the novel by the Abb; Antoine-Francois Pr;vost. It was premiered in Turin, Teatro Regio, February 1, 1893. (Suite101.com)
Isolde Alone Cannot Save This Production Aug 29, 2009
The orchestral complement to this opera is arguably the finest he has ever written _ and the libretto reflects it, with the instruments often left to complete the main characters' half-uttered unfinished phrases of ardor with wave after wave of crashing emotion breaking on breathtaking musical sensitivity. But in Marthaler's production it's not a question of little staging, and little action. (CBS News -- World)
Local firm selected for Puccini/Coppola world premiere Aug 24, 2009
Last year, Anton Coppola decided to rework the libretto and touch the operatic score to transform the opera, which reportedly had been a disappointment to Puccini, into a new work. The final product, Coppola said, is a supposition or conjuncture on what Puccini would have wanted. (Catskill Daily Mail, NY)
Cautionary Tale Has Weak Roots Aug 15, 2009
Adams and director Peter Sellars crafted a libretto that unconvincingly interprets the couple's suffering as a rite of passage, modeled on the mystical trials in Mozart's "The Magic Flute.". Despite his exotic source material, Adams stays well within the traditions of Western music. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Local singers prove pitch perfect at Cooperstown Aug 14, 2009
Search Local Business Listings. Central Jersey Entertainment NewsLocal music, restaurants and arts stories from The Times of Trenton. (NJ.com -- Times)
View: Twittering a happier libretto Aug 13, 2009
Fans can contribute to the libretto line-by-line, subject, of course, to Twitter's maximum of 140 characters at a time, which will then be put to music by professionals. Clearly the people who run the Royal Opera House aren't fuddy-duddies, unlike some of their loyal patrons, whose combined ages would likely make Dracula look like a spring chicken. (India Times, India)
* Composers tweak Twitter opera for Covent Garden Aug 13, 2009
Fans are contributing to the libretto line by line, their imaginations limited only by the Twitter format, which allows a maximum of 140 characters to be posted at a time. The plot that is taking shape is surreal and, at the same time, very dramatic, said Alison Duthie, director of ROH2, the Royal Opera Houses contemporary program. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
Royal Opera House to do show of tweets Aug 12, 2009
Royal Opera House officials claim it will be the world's first "online opera story." Fans are contributing to the libretto line by line, their imaginations limited only by the Twitter format, which allows a maximum of 140 characters to be posted at a time ... Duthie encouraged people to contribute to the libretto and to view the work-in-progress at. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Which new opera has a new score and 140 characters? Aug 11, 2009
Members of the public have been invited to submit their "tweets" online - messages of up to 140 characters - which will form the new libretto ... Contributions can still be made to the libretto on ROH's Twitter feed. (BBC News -- Technology)
Beauty and soul amid Kosky's eros Aug 8, 2009
The minor characters are excised from Busenello's libretto and the plot emerges with stark force as we observe the fallout from the adulterous romance between Poppea (Melita Jurisic) and the Roman emperor Nero (Kyrre Kvam), and the hatching of a murder plot by Nero's wife, Ottavia (Beatrice Frey). In a grey factory-like space, Kosky creates a world ruled by bestial passion and erotic compulsion. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
George Bluestone, pioneer in cinema studies; at 80 Aug 6, 2009
He was 23 when he first published a short story in The Atlantic Monthly, and he was just as adept at poetry, novels, and penning a libretto for an opera. Novels Into Film, meanwhile, was hailed as a seminal work in examining the art of adaptation. (Boston Globe)
Marschner Opera Der Vampyr Aug 6, 2009
Characters and plot summary for the opera Der Vampyr (The Vampire) by Heinrich August Marschner, with a libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrck based on "The Vampyre." ... The libretto was written by Wilhelm August Wohlbr. (Suite101.com)
B'WAY COMPOSER TAKES OPERA TURN Aug 6, 2009
I had to do the entire libretto first. I couldn't just get a tune in my head. (New York Post -- Gossip)
Marschner Opera The Templar and the... Aug 5, 2009
The libretto was written by Wilhelm August Wohlbr. ck, based on the novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. (Suite101.com)
Review: Werner Herzog's 'Conquest of the Useless' Aug 4, 2009
Aghast at a libretto from which the "most blatantly unbelievable passages" have been deleted, he defends opera in a way that speaks directly to his films. The fantastic "appear(s) in opera as the most natural, thanks to the powerful transformation of an entire world into music. And the Grand Emotions in opera, often dismissed as over the top, strike me on the contrary as the most concentrated, pure archetypes of emotion, whose essence is incapable of being condensed any further. They are axioms... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Porgy and Bess: An American Folk Op... Jul 21, 2009
Complete with lyrics by DuBose Heyward and his brother Ira Gershwin and libretto by DuBose Heyward, a three hour version of Porgy and Bess opened at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts on September 30, 1935 to a wildly enthusiastic audience. Two weeks later at the Alvin Theatre in New York City, the company received a crushing disappointment after mixed reviews from the well-known critics of the day stifled the previous enthusiasm. (Suite101.com)
Verdi Opera La Battaglia di Legnano Jul 18, 2009
The libretto is written by Salvatore Cammarano based on "La Battaille de Toulouse" by Joseph M de Toulouse" by Joseph M;ry. It was premiered at Rome, Teatro Argentina, January 27, 1849. The setting is in Milan and Como in 1176. Notable arias: Ah! M'abbraccia d'esultanza" and "Se al nuovo di pugnando" sung by the character Rolando. While its first performance was successful, La Battaglia di Legnano, unlike some of his masterpieces including is rarely performed. (Suite101.com)
Kurt Weill The Three Penny Opera Jul 18, 2009
Kurt Weill (March 2, 1900 April 3, 1950) composed Die Dreigroschenoper (The Three Penny Opera), a German satire in three acts, libretto by based on The Beggar's Opera by. It was premiered at Berlin, Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, August 31, 1928. (Suite101.com)
Bernstein biography Jul 11, 2009
Seldes speculates that the kind of major American opera that Bernstein conceived of required a big libretto and a sympathetic American audience -- neither of which emerged in the 1970s or 80s. Almost two decades after Bernstein s death, this is the first in-depth look at the man with his politics. (Boston Globe)
Jacques Offenbach Opera The Tales o... Jun 28, 2009
Libretto is written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carr; based on stories. It was premiered at the Op;ra Comique, Paris, on February 10th, 1881. (Suite101.com)
Music review: S.F. Symphony's 'Iolanthe' Jun 21, 2009
Gilbert's libretto, a dexterous parody in which the worlds of Fairyland and the British Parliament rub elbows, is packed to the gills with elusive detail - elaborate rhymes, multilingual jokes - and Sullivan's brisk, tuneful score offers them an ideal setting ... Baritone Lucas Meachem and soprano Sally Matthews as the two young lovers sang with full operatic splendor, but couldn't make a word of the libretto understood. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Sleep and Wakefulness Serve as Dueling Themes in a Present-Day Production of Bellini's La Sonnambula, Airing on Great Performances at the Met on PBS July 11 Jun 17, 2009
Themes of jealousy, mistaken identity, and innocence prevail, as Bellinis sleepwalking beauty is put to the ultimate test to prove her undying love for her betrothed to the hauntingly mysterious music of Bellini and libretto by Felice Romani. Great Performances at the Met: La Sonnambula is the eighth of 11 productions airing this season on the series. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Scaling back, festival finds its voice in 'Poppea' May 31, 2009
The libretto, by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, uses historical and literary sources to tell an episode from the life of the decadent Roman Emperor Nero ... Somewhat unexpectedly, the libretto celebrates the triumph of passion over morality. (Boston Globe)
Rumpelstiltskin goes to the opera May 29, 2009
Epstein, who teaches at Berklee School of Music, wrote the libretto herself after what she estimates were six or seven drafts. "I got together all of my writer friends and got them to help me do it myself. I had a lot of eyes look at it before I actually set it to music.". (Boston Globe)
Nicholas Maw; brought 'Sophie's Choice' to stage May 23, 2009
Mr. Maw invited Styron to write the libretto, or lyrics, but Styron reportedly declined, saying he couldn't reengage with "that painful subject matter." So Mr. Maw wrote it himself. The 2002 London premiere of "Sophie's Choice" received mixed reviews. (Boston Globe)
* [CLASSICAL DVD REVIEW] Apr 8, 2009
It was Sellars himself who assembled the libretto, a montage of recently declassified documents, Native American prayers, and poems by, among others, Baudelaire, John Donne and the 1930s pacifist and feminist Muriel Rukeyser ... Youd think that a libretto such as Sellars provides, lacking conventional dialogue, would inhibit characterization. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna Apr 1, 2009
Wainwright wrote the score and a French-language libretto for Prima Donna, his new work set in Paris in 1970, in which aging opera singer R. gine Saint Laurent struggles to regain her status as a top-flight soprano on the world stage. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
On screen, a tenor learns to dial down the opera Mar 28, 2009
But back in 2005, when Kaiser was in the Young Artists program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, he was intrigued to hear that Kenneth Branagh was auditioning singers for an English-language film of Mozart's The Magic Flute that he was directing, with a libretto written by Stephen Fry. Fortuitously, Branagh attended a Chicago rehearsal of Beethovan's Fidelio on a day that Kaiser was singing the role of First Prisoner. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Harbison's ambitious 'Winter's Tale' arrives with spring Mar 24, 2009
Harbison created his own libretto from the play, streamlining the action and synthesizing its five acts into two, which divide neatly along emotional lines. The first act is centered on Leontes, the King of Sicily, who mistakenly suspects that his wife, Hermione, has betrayed him with his friend Polixenes. (Boston Globe)
Dvorak's lyric fairy tale is brought to life by BLO Mar 21, 2009
Braving the difficulties of the Czech-language libretto, soprano Marquita Lister sang the role of Rusalka respectably, and seemed to gain in strength and confidence as the night went on. When she was vocally at her best, her lower range revealed an alluring mix of colors and her upper register had the strength to cut through the orchestra without sounding brittle. (Boston Globe)
'West Side Story' revival gets a cultural makeover Mar 20, 2009
To that end, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the young creator and star of In the Heights, last season's Tony Award-winning musical focusing on modern-day Latin Americans in upper Manhattan, was enlisted to translate parts of the libretto and some of Sondheim's lyrics into Spanish. Certainly, most people are familiar enough with the basic story and songs so that when Maria sings Siento Hermosa instead of I Feel Pretty, we get her drift. (USA Today -- Life)
Boston Lyric Opera presents a full staging of Dvork's 'Rusalka' Mar 20, 2009
For the libretto of his opera, Dvork used a text written by the Czech writer Jaroslav Kvapil. He in turn borrowed elements from the famous Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Little Mermaid." The libretto incorporates many references to local Czech and Moravian folklore, reflecting the strong nationalistic streak in Czech culture around 1900 ... Most had not enjoyed particular success on the stage, however, because of clumsy librettos and arcane subject matter. (Boston Globe)
Hsiu-Lan Chang named Brookline Woman of the Year Mar 19, 2009
One is, of course, the Madame White Snake opera because this is taking my activities with Cerise [Jacobs, a Brookline resident who wrote the libretto], taking it from this community out into the world and through that trying to bridge East and West. That s something I believe is a gift that Cerise gave to me. (Brookline TAB, MA)
Works by Kent Playwright, 15, to Raise Funds for Church Mar 6, 2009
"Theater is completely about entertainment and illusion, and comedy has its place. But theater is also a mirror of our world, and I think tragedies and downer plays are really the most human and reflect how life really is. I think that is why some people don't like depressing plays-they don't want to think about what life really is." Never one to be hemmed-in when it comes to creativity, Mr. LaRocca said, "Right now I am brainstorming for an opera about the Holocaust." While he has faith in the... (Litchfield County Times, CT)
Modern shine for a multicultural jewel Mar 3, 2009
The 16th-century poet Fuzuli's Azerbaijani adaptation formed the libretto for Hajibeyov's opera. In the modern era the tale has been a motif in paintings, dances and songs and the inspiration for more than one Bollywood movie. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Met Opera makes a travesty of 'La Sonnambula' Mar 3, 2009
Zimmerman clearly has no use for the libretto by poet Felice Romani, referring to it in program notes as "famously light and ... a little incredible." She shares this opinion with soprano Natalie Dessay, who stars as Amina and who reportedly insisted the production be set just about anywhere except a real Swiss village. Dessay gets two of the evening's biggest laughs, both at the expense of genuine feeling. (International Herald Tribune)
Snicket is back with a kids' mystery, CD Mar 2, 2009
"But as a musician, Daniel understands the role a libretto plays. It has to bow down before the music.". The detective bows down to history, listing all the great composers who are dead: "Beethoven dead! Schubert unfinished, but dead! Schoenberg incomprehensible, but dead!". (USA Today -- Life)
Critic's picks: classical music Feb 27, 2009
"THE NOSE" Opera Boston presents the New England premiere of Shostakovich's brash and brilliant satirical opera, with a libretto based on Gogol's famous story about a bureaucrat who loses his nose and then pursues it around St. Petersburg. Russian-born director Julia Pevzner stages this production, with a cast that includes Stephen Salters, Torrance Blaisdell, Vladimir Matorin, Frank Kelley, and Anton Belov. (Boston Globe)
Macabre royal tale given fado flavour Feb 24, 2009
The libretto gives Pedro a job in the morgue, which makes it easy for him to spirit Ins's body off to the local cathedral for the denouement. Bentley's references to Portugal's ugly colonial adventures in Angola (from which Pedro has fled) are timely, but they tend to make the parents' concern for duty to family and country more rigidly unappealing than it might have been. (Globe and Mail)
Gala Concert | Victorian Opera Feb 23, 2009
Heavily weighted with symbolism, the libretto questions the power of love to overcome an individual s isolation. Bart;k s score is beautifully controlled in its expression, awakening the imagination with its subtle yet vivid orchestral palette. (Australian Stage Online)
'The Nose' gets a rare showing by Opera Boston Feb 22, 2009
Based on a story published in 1836 by Nikolai Gogol, the cartoonish, cinematic libretto tells the bizarre tale of a vain St. Petersburg civil servant (Platon Kovalyov) who wakes up one day to find his "olfactory organ" missing ... Gogol was one of Shostakovich's favorite writers, and so highly did he value the author's rich language that he sought to retain it as much as possible in the libretto ... In three acts and an epilogue in 10 scenes, the libretto has a montage-like structure, with... (Boston Globe)
Boston Opera opens with Rossini's 'Tancredi' Feb 21, 2009
In February and March 2010, the company will present the premiere of its newly commissioned opera "Madame White Snake," by the Chinese-American composer Zhou Long. Its libretto, by Brookline-based Cerise Lim Jacobs, adapts the story of a Chinese legend. It will be staged by Robert Woodruff, former artistic director of the American Repertory Theatre, working with Opera Boston for the first time. (Boston Globe)
Jackie Chan, Alain Robert, Coldplay Feb 18, 2009
Midway into a performance of George Benjamin's "Into the Little Hill" at the Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House, the lights went out - "just after Martin Crimp's libretto had spookily reached the line: 'What are those sparks? Rats feeding on electricity,"' The Times of London reported. The two singers and the 16-member orchestra moved to the bar and performed perched among empty glasses; the 400 members of the audience were given free drinks. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Anna Nicole Smith's life story to be staged at the Royal Opera House Feb 15, 2009
Her controversial relationships, court battles over the paternity of her children and the sudden death of her 20-year-old son will among the dramatic twists in a libretto written by the co-creator of Jerry Springer The Opera ... The opera will be written by Mark-Anthony Turnage, one of the most celebrated names of British contemporary music, with the libretto provided by Richard Thomas. (Telegraph.co.uk)
A Daring New Look Feb 15, 2009
The basic libretto remains: Prince Siegfried falls for the tragic swan queen Odette, but is tricked into pledging his love to her evil double, the black swan Odile. Ivanov's beloved second act, with its famous lakeside pas de deux and bobbling cygnets, has not been tinkered with. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
New Jersey Opera revises cast for 'Die Fledermaus' Feb 13, 2009
To replace the Swenson, Alt man looked beyond the operatic world for someone who could bring theatricality as well as vocal excel lence to the frisky libretto by Carl Haffner and Richard Genee. He hit upon soprano Lisa Vroman, who combines a classically trained voice with extensive Broadway theater experience. (NJ.com -- Times)
Life of Anna Nicole Smith to become opera Feb 13, 2009
The libretto is by Richard Thomas, co-creator of Jerry Springer: The Opera, an earlier merger of highbrow and lowbrow culture. It is due to run in the Royal Operas 2011 season. (MSNBC -- Lifestyle)
Opera Planned On Life Of Former Central Texas Restaurant Worker Feb 13, 2009
The libretto is by Richard Thomas, co-creator of "Jerry Springer: The Opera," an earlier merger of highbrow and lowbrow culture. . (KWTX.com, TX)
From soap to opera: the life of a Playboy bunny Feb 13, 2009
The libretto will be provided by Richard Thomas who, as the co-creator of Jerry Springer: The Opera (see breakout), is no stranger to controversy. "It is not going to be a horrible, sleazy evening," says Elaine Padmore, Covent Garden's director of opera. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
SM Philharmonic to offer ‘La Traviata’ Feb 10, 2009
Because the lyrics will be in Italian, the libretto will be projected in English on overhead monitors. Singing the role of Violetta will be soprano Courtney Huffman, who will make her New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall in June. (Santa Maria Times)
A daunting 'Die Ägyptische Helena' Feb 8, 2009
" The problems begin with the title role, which requires a soprano capable of singing Strauss's soaring melodies while plausibly representing the world's most beautiful woman. But coming to grips with Hofmannsthal's libretto - a fanciful confection about Helen of Troy's post-Trojan War reconciliation with her cuckolded husband Menelaus - is an even more daunting challenge. An important literary figure in his own right, Hofmannsthal never considered himself a junior partner to Strauss and... (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
