Archives for June 2012
Professional Chameleons
June 29, 2012
I’m trying to make the mental leap from Papageno to Henry Kissinger and finding it downright difficult. However, it appears that baritone Patrick Carfizzi (our scene-stealing Papageno in “The Magic Flute”) has now inhabited the character of the former Secretary of State for San Francisco Opera’s new production of John Adams’ “Nixon in China” and... Read more →
August at the Dallas Opera
By August, even those who love the summer heat are getting a bit weary. We understand and have put together a series of casual, don’t even think about dressing up, indoor events designed to perk you up and get your blood pumping in anticipation of the upcoming “Pursuits of Passion” Season. Details in the release below:... Read more →
Lean, Green, Cycling Machine
June 27, 2012
Meet the new generation of opera divas – making big inroads for the arts with a teensy, tiny carbon footprint, Canadian style! They’re taking the art form on the road to battle outdated stereotypes and convert skeptical naysayers. Read on in this politically correct report from canada.com and please note my favorite bit: “Brun Hilda.” Is that a first and middle... Read more →
The SSNT Casts a Spell of Its Own
June 26, 2012
It’s definitely the little newspaper “that could,” and I mean that in the nicest possible way. The “Sulphur Springs News-Telegram” and its intrepid, award-winning arts editor Terry Mathews continue to defy the odds with detailed, in-depth interviews and articles that have kept the spotlight on the Dallas Opera all season long – and beyond! Or so... Read more →
B-I-G, Big Berlioz
For the first time in forty years, Berlioz’ grand five-and-a-half hour masterpiece, LES TROYENS, is trodding the boards in a complete staging at London’s Royal Opera House. Critic Andrew Clements at “The Guardian” gave the new David McVicar production four out of five stars in this review. Perhaps he knocked off a star for the questionable use of... Read more →
June 24, 2012
A shot of the interior of Berlin’s Komische Oper with a sold out house for Handel’s XERXES I am heading for the airport in a few minutes for my flight back to Dallas, but I wanted to report on yesterday while it was still fresh in my mind. Yesterday afternoon I met with a colleague... Read more →
Jonathan Pell, Artistic Director, Berlin Part IV
June 23, 2012
End of Act I of Mozart’s IDOMENEO at Berlin’s Komische Oper Last night was a performance of Mozart’s IDOMENEO at Berlin’s Komische Oper. It was sad to see so few people in the audience—I would guess that there were only around 250 people in attendance. It was a stark, modern production with a unit set... Read more →
Berlin III – Jonathan Pell, TDO Artistic Director
June 22, 2012
Today was the final day of auditions in Berlin, and the quality was consistently higher than the previous two, with one outstanding Korean bass named Jongmin Park. There were several other interesting singers today (an Australian mezzo, a Polish bass-baritone, a Finnish soprano and two Romanian sopranos) so all in all, this was well worth... Read more →
Jonathan Pell Artistic Director – Berlin II
June 21, 2012
Today I heard auditions from another 36 singers, representing 9 more nationalities, bringing the grand total to singers from 30 different countries in just two days. The singers today were from some of the same countries I mentioned yesterday, but also included people from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cuba, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Switzerland. No... Read more →
Berlin Part I by Jonathan Pell, TDO Artistic Director
I arrived in Berlin at 7:30 this morning on an overnight flight from New York and went straight into a full day of auditions that started at 10:30. Even with a few cancellations, I still managed to hear 41 singers from 21 countries, only two of whom I had heard before. The list of places... Read more →
When Pay Day Deserves to be in Caps
June 20, 2012
Bloomberg dug into the Metropolitan Opera’s 2011 tax return and wrote up a piece claiming that Artistic Director James Levine saw a 39% increase in his paycheck that year, due “in part” to the success of the opera company’s HD screenings which have attracted audiences all around the globe. No mean feat for the Met or Maestro... Read more →
3 Questions for Keith – Desert Island Edition
June 19, 2012
3 QUESTIONS FOR DALLAS OPERA GENERAL DIRECTOR AND CEO KEITH CERNY FROM DAVID FELD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF MODERN LUXURY DALLAS MAGAZINE 1. What if I still don’t like opera after having gone to numerous opera’s, Verdi, Puccini and Wagner, and reading “The Queen’s Throat: Opera, Homosexuality, and the Mystery of Desire,” to boot? Almost everyone I meet... Read more →
Out There
“Dallas Morning News” Classical Music Critic Scott Cantrell is checking out this year’s offerings during the summer season in St. Louis and has flipped for “Alice in Wonderland” writing, “South Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s five-year-old Alice in Wonderland might be the most ‘out there’ work I’ve seen in 22 years of coming here.... Read more →
Keeping “Dallas” in Dallas
June 13, 2012
Although it doesn’t make sense for the new TNT “Dallas” to shoot anywhere but, we live in a strange age in which such decisions are based not on logic, but on the highest bidder. And, evidently, there are other cities just itching to stand in for Big D. For this reason, and more, on... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell
June 12, 2012
I made it back from Saint Louis on Sunday, and leave tomorrow for the Opera America Conference in Philadelphia. One of the promising highlights should be the Opera Company of Philadelphia production of Nico Muhly’s new opera Dark Sisters, which debuted earlier this year at New York’s Gotham Chamber Opera, and which will star Caitlyn... Read more →
Blockbusters, Opera-Style
June 11, 2012
It’s the time of year when oceans of ink are devoted to the cinematic summer blockbusters du jour. However, there’s more than one “gateway” to attract eager paying audiences, as explored in the latest edition of “Off the Cuff” by Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny–his ongoing “Theater Jones” series on opera, arts and culture. Check it... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell
Last night’s COSI was a pleasant surprise with some excellent singing. I say it was a surprise because it started off with a frenetic (and noisy) staging of the overture, which usually sends a signal that I am in for a long, tedious night, but once the action began, the audience and I enjoyed a... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell
Yesterday afternoon was the first orchestra dress rehearsal for the American premiere of Unsuk Chin’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND, in a very imaginative and clever production by OTSL’s artistic director James Robinson. Particularly considering the fact that this was the first time all the elements were coming together (orchestra, singers, sets and costumes) it went amazingly... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell
June 8, 2012
I have been coming to Saint Louis every summer for nearly thirty years to see the festival at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. I always enjoy coming here, but I have to confess the humidity can be almost unbearable. Well not this year—the weather has been glorious! Last night’s performance of Stephen Sondheim’s SWEENEY TODD... Read more →
Megan’s Musings Volume 9: Mary Dibbern
June 7, 2012
I am sitting down with Mary Dibbern, who is new to the Dallas Opera musical staff. Mary will serve as our Music Director for Education and Family Programs. Mary is currently working with our young artists on the children’s opera Jack & the Beanstalk.
In Kepler’s Orbit
One of the intersesting aspects of this summer’s Spoleto Festival USA in South Carolina is a new production of Philip Glass’s “Kepler” about the famed German mathematician and astronomer who discovered the laws of planetary motion that now bear his name. Heidi Waleson of “The Wall Street Journal” writes: “Mr. Glass’s signature repetitive musical style deftly... Read more →
The Book is Now Closed
June 6, 2012
I don’t know quite why I am grieving so. His world rarely intersected with ours although he exerted considerable influence on television, theater and film–as well as generations of American writers. Yet the reported death of science fiction’s “poet laureate” Ray Bradbury in Los Angeles last night at the age of 91 is worth noting for its... Read more →
JULY BLAZES AT THE DALLAS OPERA!
June 4, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 4, 2012 Contact: Suzanne Calvin (214.443.1014/suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org) Or Megan Meister (214.443.1071/megan.meister@dallasopera.org) TDO’S CASUAL SUMMER EVENTS SERIES “BARITONES & BEACHBALLS” PRESENTED BY THE FRIENDS OF THE DALLAS OPERA JULY BLAZES AT THE DALLAS OPERA! ~~~~ DALLAS, JUNE 4, 2012 – The Dallas Opera promises a... Read more →
The Talented Ms. Almond–Writ Large
June 1, 2012
I think everybody around these parts is aware of our high regard for Karen Almond, our longtime production photographer at the Dallas Opera. Now, she’ll enjoy a wider audience for her outstanding work as fourteen of her images from performing arts organizations in the Arts District are going on display in the newly remodeled Dallas... Read more →