Archives for March 2013
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell – Chicago
March 31, 2013
Thursday morning I flew to Chicago for a weekday matinee of Puccini’s LA BOHEME, starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Elizabeth Futral and Lucas Meachum. The production was borrowed from the San Francisco Opera (which was also seen in Dallas in 1998) with scenery by Tony Award winning designer Michael Yeargan. Michael, who was born and... Read more →
Kelbert Taylor, R.I. P.
March 28, 2013
Kelbert Taylor, 3rd bassonist/contrabassonist for the Dallas Opera, who contributed to many, many performances at our company in the past two decades, passed away this week. We are told that services for Kelbert will be held tomorrow: Friday, March 29, 10:00 a.m. at The Village Church, 3877 Walnut Hill Ln. 75229 (east of Marsh). All... Read more →
2013 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition Results
March 24, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, March 23, 2013 Contact: Suzanne Calvin 214.443.1014 Or Megan Meister 214.443.1071 suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org megan.meister@dallasopera.org The 25th Annual “Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition” Awards $25,000 in Cold, Hard Cash! ~~~~ 28-Year-Old Bass Nicholas Masters Takes Top Prize and $10,000 Cash! Also Named Winner of the “People’s Choice Award” for an additional $1,500 ~~~~... Read more →
The Dallas Opera’s New Production of THE ASPERN PAPERS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Contact: Suzanne Calvin 214.443.1014 Or Megan Meister 214.443.1071 suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org megan.meister@dallasopera.org TDO IS THRILLED TO COMMEMORATE THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1988 DALLAS OPERA WORLD PREMIERE OF DOMINICK ARGENTO’S THE ASPERN PAPERS WITH A NEW PRODUCTION DIRECTED BY TIM ALBERY BASED ON A NOVELLA BY HENRY JAMES ~~~~ STARRING... Read more →
Henry James: Stories of Style and Substance
March 20, 2013
The writer Henry James once claimed to be “unlyrical, unmusical, unrhythmical, and unmanageable.” It’s remarkable, then, that his fiction has inspired operas by several prominent composers: Dominick Argento (The Aspern Papers), Benjamin Britten (The Turn of the Screw and Owen Wingrave), Douglas Moore (The Wings of the Dove) and Thomas Pasatieri (Washington Square). Why did... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell – DC II
March 19, 2013
After a day of meetings, I attended a free concert at the Kennedy Center at 6:00 p.m. with some of the singers from the Washington National Opera’s young artists program and three of the cover singers who had been engaged to stand by for the current productions playing in repertory. The Kennedy Center sponsors these... Read more →
Heroic Musicianship
March 18, 2013
There are many “Holy Grails” in the world of music ranging from places where important works were first premiered to the instruments upon which they were composed to the autograph scores themselves. But there’s also a little corner of intense musical interest in an ensemble that was probably more fashionable than formidable in their musical... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell – DC I
It is cold and rainy in Washington DC and none of the famous cherry trees are in bloom yet (although the annual festival is next week) so I am disappointed. Saturday afternoon when I arrived I heard six of the eight singers in the Washington National Opera’s young artist program, and there were two of... Read more →
THE DALLAS OPERA IS PROUD TO PRESENT Puccini’s Final Masterpiece TURANDOT
March 14, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, March 14, 2013 Contact: Suzanne Calvin 214.443.1014 Or Megan Meister 214.443.1071 suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org megan.meister@dallasopera.org THE DALLAS OPERA IS PROUD TO PRESENT GIACOMO PUCCINI’S FINAL MASTERPIECE TURANDOT LIBRETTO BY GIUSEPPE ADAMI AND RENATO SIMONI, BASED ON THE CARLO GOZZI FABLE ~~~~ STARRING AMERICAN SOPRANO LISE LINDSTROM IN HER DALLAS OPERA DEBUT AS PRINCESS... Read more →
Fondly Remembered
March 13, 2013
This year’s Juanita and Henry S. Miller Founders Award Luncheon presented by the Women’s Board of the Dallas Opera was especially poignant, due to the untimely and unexpected passing of Vance Miller just days before. Here’s a lovely write-up from Jeanne Prejean on her site, “My Sweet Charity,” with all the details. (Top photo, Jolie... Read more →
April at the Dallas Opera
March 12, 2013
April is just around the corner, bringing with it warmer temperatures and exciting days and nights of opera! Here’s the rundown for the entire month, which includes two mainstage productions and a free Dallas Opera Cowboys Stadium Simulcast! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Contact: Suzanne Calvin 214.443.1014 Or Megan Meister 214.443.1071 suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org megan.meister@dallasopera.org... Read more →
Kinda Nice to be Noticed
March 11, 2013
Actually, it’s very nice that classical music writer/critic Wayne Lee Gay at D Magazine’s “Front Row” blog took special notice of the adventurous 2013-2014 Season announced just last month at an event at Cowboys Stadium. Read his take on it here. (Photo of composer/inventor Tod Machover courtesy of CSMonitor.com) Suzanne Calvin, Manager/Director Media and PR
Presenting America’s Favorite Mezzo
March 8, 2013
A very personal interview with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, arriving in Dallas to headline our Spring Gala and for rehearsals for the 25th anniversary production of Dominick Argento’s THE ASPERN PAPERS – her long-awaited Dallas Opera debut. Gregory Sullivan Isaacs of Theater Jones gets the answers…and then some. Read it here. (Photo courtesy of Dario Acosta)... Read more →
A “Dangerous” Experiment
(So easy, a child could do it! Photo by Karen Almond, Dallas Opera, at Cowboys Stadium Simulcast of The Magic Flute Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. I’m referring to supertitles, of course. The once fiery controversy has largely faded, as supertitled or subtitled opera has become the norm rather than the exception... Read more →
More Than 10K Sign Up for Opera Stadium Simulcast
Above the ten thousand mark, and counting. Today we reported reaching our first official milestone in connection with the upcoming April 13th Cowboys Stadium Simulcast of Puccini’s TURANDOT. Sponsored by The Dallas Foundation, everything is free from the parking to your seat – unless you decide to hit the concession stands (in which case, you’re... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director, Jonathan Pell – NYC – 4
March 4, 2013
Thursday’s auditions were extremely productive and I heard most of the singers currently involved in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Program, as well as some of the singers from the Juilliard Opera Center. It is a day like this that makes me really sad that we aren’t able to do more productions because there... Read more →
The Last of the Great Italian Operas
March 1, 2013
Audience members in Milan, Italy, attending the world premiere of Turandot on the evening of April 25, 1926, knew full well they were viewing the end of one composer’s output; Puccini had been laid to rest some seventeen months earlier with the sort of pomp and national outpouring reserved in Italy for her greatest composers.... Read more →