Browsing all posts in July, 2010.

Calling All Nerds

by Christie Connolley Four words: Star Wars in Concert.  NPR has all the details on what they term ‘nerd heaven’, “It’s like the Star Wars movies, but cooler. Because the stars here are the 85-member symphony orchestra and the 60-voice choir that bring this story to life in a uniquely visceral way. There’s a three-story-high [...]

TSTQ4: Vocal Gambling- ‘Playing the Odds’ vs. ‘A Sure Thing’

Too Stupid to Quit 4: Vocal Gambling- Playing the Odds’ vs. ‘A Sure Thing’. by Donald Kaasch The photograph taken in the early Fall of 1985 of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists shows a glowing group of young ‘Operatic Stars of Tomorrow’ and one young tenor who was anything but. I was now [...]

Figaro Down Under

by Christie Connolley Opera Australia is in the full swing of things with Neil Armfield’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro.  The company announced last year that this production would reset the opera in a modern, possible controversial new staging.  However, the modern production never materialized and reviewer Melissa Lesnie, thinks it may have been [...]

Question of the Week

by Melissa Wimbish If opera had its own reality show, what would be the best setting? Real World: Opera singers who don’t know one another sharing an apartment in New York City. “Did you just stick your finger in the peanut butter jar?” Survivor: Opera singers stranded on a desert island with no access to [...]

You too can live like Bubbles

by Christie Connolley Do you have an extra $7 million in your bank account?  Then you may want to consider snapping up the newest New York apartment that is now on the market.  The three bedroom co-op on the fourth floor at the Beresford, where Beverly Sills once lived.  The twenty-three story building with views [...]

More American Art Song for Your Face!

We featured this article back in February in honor of Black History Month and are giving it another showing for July’s focus on American music. Beef up your knowledge of American music! by Melissa Wimbish I just realized that my repertoire list does not include one single work by an African-American composer or feature any [...]

Carreras returns to La Scala Oct 10

Associated Press MILAN — La Scala says the Spanish tenor Jose Carreras will sing at the famed Milanese opera house for the first time in 14 years for a benefit concert later this year. La Scala said Wednesday the Oct. 10 concert is being sponsored by the European Society for Medical Oncology, which will be [...]

Quote of the Week

This, then, is the state of the union:  free and restless, growing and full of hope.  So it was in the beginning.  So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith. – Lyndon B. Johnson

The Dean of African-American Composers: His Words

by Judith Anne Still WILLIAM GRANT STILL: A VOICE HIGH-SOUNDING[1] We ride amid a tempest of dispraise. Now, when the waves of swift dissension swarm, And Honor, the strong pilot, lieth stark, Oh, for thy voice high-sounding o’er the storm,…   Judith Anne Still, daughter of William Grant Still He was a sometime friend to [...]

Castleton Festival Is A Gem Indeed

by Christie Connolley Anne Midgette of the Washington Post recently reviewed the double bill that closed the Castleton Festival this season,   Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat and Falla’s Master Pedro’s Puppet Show. “The Castleton Festival is a small gem. There are a lot of festivals out there that specifically offer experience to young professionals, but not [...]