As the Boston Marathon wrapped up earlier this week, I was reminded of how truly close we are to summer here in New England. And with that comes a real sense of community, especially when it comes to concert music. And just because the BSO’s season is winding down, doesn’t mean the whole scene is coming to a close. Of course, I’m talking about Tanglewood—one of the Northeast’s premier performing …more…
Arts America Blog
A Field Day for Virtuosi
April 16, 2012 by
Michele Angelini, Susannah Biller, Marie-Eve Munger
Il sogno di Scipione is seldom performed – for the simple reason that the author, a 16-year-old Mozart, was feeling his adolescent oats and loaded it with intricate, high-flying arias that would challenge the most skilled of singers, then or now. In fact, the piece was never even produced in this country until 2002, when the then brand-new (and apparently fearless) Gotham Chamber Opera …more…
Gotham Chamber Opera Celebrates Tenth Anniversary with Mozart Revival
April 1, 2012 by
Fittingly, Gotham Chamber Opera in New York City has come full circle since its debut production of W.A. Mozart’s one-act opera Il sogno di Scipione during the 2001-02 season. Fast forward 10 years to April 11, 2012, when the opera company will stage a revival of the work at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College.
Celena Shafer in the 2001 producion of "Il sogno di Scipione;" photo …more…
Yale in New York Presents “De Profundis: The Deep End”
March 29, 2012 by
David Shifrin, Artistic Director of Yale in New York; photo culled from the Yale School of Music web site.
Too often in concert music, the bassoon, string bass, trombone and others on the lower end of the sonic spectrum are neglected as solo instruments. This premise is the driving force behind the “Yale in New York” series’ De Profundis: The Deep End led by Artistic Director David Shifrin on …more…
“Abduction” at the OCP: When Good Ideas Go Bad
March 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Updated productions of an opera can do wonders to reach modern audiences. By ditching the powdered wigs and huge dresses, a Mozart opera no longer feels like a museum piece, or a quintessential diversion of the elite; if done properly (and this is the “opera”-tive phrase), it can make the opera relevant to today’s audiences while preserving the work’s original freshness and vitality. It takes vision and iron-clad artistic sense to straddle this tightrope between the past and the present, but all too often, the result falls short and the production comes across as pretentious, gimmicky, and downright bizarre (or some combination of the three). ...more...
The Berkshire Symphony presents “Out of the Shadows”
February 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Berkshire Symphony will be performing at Chapin Hall, an 1100-seat concert hall built in 1910, located on the Williams College campus in Williamstown, MA.
What if Beethoven’s only opera had never premiered because he couldn’t get the overture just right? Or Brahms’s first symphony had never been composed because he felt like he couldn’t live up to Beethoven’s standards? And what if one of the greatest pieces in the …more…
Spring Is Here, or at least musically
February 4, 2012 by
Conductor Mary Woodmansee Green
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) gets ready to take on the challenge of Spring tonight without worrying about hay fever or the possibility of “spring fever” in a concert at the Kenner First Baptist Church at 7:30 p.m.
Set to conduct the LPO this evening is talented and beautiful conductor Mary Woodmansee Green, a 24-year-veteran as music director and conductor of the Kennett Symphony of Chester County. …more…
Opera Colorado Brings Mozart to the Mile High City in 2012
December 10, 2011 by
Opera Colorado’s upcoming 2012 season is scheduled to kick off with an Italian opera, composed by an Austrian legend; Mozart’s inimitable The Marriage of Figaro. It has been seven years since the company’s last performance of the well known classic. The four scheduled performance are to span two weeks this February. ...more...
