Whether it’s the high desert or the verdant English countryside, there’s great opera brewing throughout the summer months and this year was no exception. In his latest installment of ”Off the Cuff” for Theater Jones, Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny sends all of us his “Postcard from Glyndebourne” about the overall experience. Enjoy [...]
Last night was the second of two apprentice concerts showcasing the young singers who participate in this extraordinary program. These forty young artists are selected from across the country (I was told that this year there were nearly one thousand applicants) and last night’s program was every bit as interesting and exciting as the first [...]
Last night’s performance of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hoffmannsthal’s ARABELLA was utterly delightful. Wonderfully directed by British director Tim Albery (who returns to Dallas in April to stage THE ASPERN PAPERS) and conducted with romantic sweep by Sir Andrew Davis, this was Santa Fe Opera at its best. Long known for its tradition of [...]
I was invited yesterday to a small luncheon being given in honor of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who you may know is a huge opera fan. I was delighted to discover that she had toured the Winspear Opera House last year when she was in Dallas for a speaking engagement at SMU, but [...]
Last night’s performance of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s 1926 opera KING ROGER was one of those magical nights in the theatre that we all hope to experience but which in reality happens so rarely. Everything about the evening was extraordinary, including the piece itself, which I had never heard “live” before. The libretto is enigmatic, [...]
The interior of the Santa Fe Opera House just before a performance of Bizet’s THE PEARL FISHERS. Last night didn’t start off too well. I had met one of my artist manager colleagues for an early dinner before the opera (his client, Eric Cutler was the tenor in the performance of PEARL FISHERS we were [...]
It isn’t quite like any other summer opera festival. And that is, no doubt, why it continues to draw devoted opera-philes from all parts of the U.S. (and beyond) to a serene spot in Northern New Mexico far from the overheated urban corridors. In addition to offering night after night of great opera, does Santa [...]
I am convinced that Santa Fe must be a suburb of Dallas (or maybe it is the other way around?) but it seems as if I have run into half of the people I know since I got here two days ago! Last night was the first of two Apprentice Concerts that showcase the aspiring [...]
Last night was the second Apprentice Concert, and if last week’s opera scenes were slightly disappointing, last evening more than made up for it. The performance got off to a roaring start with a clever staging by Kathleen Clawson from Jonathan Dove’s opera FLIGHT, featuring a dazzling performance by countertenor John Holiday,who was this year’s [...]
I was invited to attend a performance in a beautiful private home yesterday afternoon of a new song cycle composed by Frederic Chaslain, Santa Fe Opera’s new chief conductor. The songs were a setting of poems by Robert Frost, and were performed by mezzo-soprano Jennifer Holloway who is here this summer for the role of [...]
