Archives for June 2013
Mark Your Calendar for the Klyde Warren Park Simulcast
June 28, 2013
We’re baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Yes, it’s an enormous thrill to present simulcasts at a spectacular venue like Cowboys Stadium, but it’s also great to bring people to the Dallas Arts District to experience what for many is their first taste of live opera. October 25th. Mark your calendar and plan to be there for “Carmen!” FOR IMMEDIATE... Read more →
From the Artistic Desk of Jonathan Pell – Venice
The chandelier in the auditorium of the Teatro la fenice. I have come to Venice for a few days and attended performances of MADAME BUTTERFLY with different casts on successive nights. This new production was abstract and highly stylized, with a white cyclorama that also covered the stage floor, sort of like an old... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, Florence Part II
June 26, 2013
The interior of the Teatro della pergola in Florence The last few days have been very rewarding—I have heard more than 100 singers from 30 countries, and attended a performance of Verdi’s original 1847 version of MACBETH (which I had never had an opportunity to hear “live”) in the very theatre in which it premiered,... Read more →
The Extraordinary Nicole Paiement
June 25, 2013
It was fascinating to watch the singers and musicians tackling our new production of THE LIGHTHOUSE, a tremendously difficult 1980 work by Peter Maxwell Davies, falling “in trust” with the amazingly talented conductor Nicole Paiement. They couldn’t say enough about the importance of her conducting to their superb execution of the piece and everyone was... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell – Florence Part I
June 24, 2013
View of Florence from the Palazzo Pitti I am in Italy for the European NYIOP auditions, and just finished hearing the second day of preliminary auditions, where a panel of nearly twenty opera companies from around the world heard more than fifty singers from twenty-five countries. These auditions were held in a rehearsal room at... Read more →
Nancy Ritter, Rest in Peace
June 21, 2013
Former Dallas Opera Guild President Nancy Ritter has passed away in Dallas after decades of service to the community and the Dallas Opera. Visitation will be at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home Monday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. (located off West Northwest Highway) and her funeral is scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. (June... Read more →
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, St. Louis Part II
June 17, 2013
Photo Credit Ken Howard Last night was the opening night of New Orleans jazz trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard’s first opera CHAMPION, with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Michael Cristofer, and based on the life of prize fighter Emile Griffith. To borrow a sports term, it was a knockout!
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, St Louis Part I
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is celebrating their 38th season, and remains the only American opera company devoted to performing all their productions in English. The company performs in a theatre that seats about 1,000 people so there is a tremendous sense of intimacy and immediacy which can be extraordinary. The first production I attended... Read more →
Jennifer Higdon (and Cat), Working Like a Dog
June 5, 2013
Yes, she’s unbelievably genuine, gifted, and grounded – but she is also a product of her own impressive work ethic that keeps her steadily moving from one project to the next (as well as publishing her own compositions and managing all the other aspects of her professional life with aplomb). Jennifer Higdon came to Dallas... Read more →
Managing the Opera Company of the Future
June 3, 2013
There’s a lot of talk these days about how arts organizations are going to survive the impact of staggering economies, government cuts, and a lack of consumer confidence. But, frankly, if survival is the ultimate goal–why bother? Arts organizations need to think beyond the immediate pressures we face and begin implementing ways to make... Read more →