Anyone who has ever been to the opera knows that it can be funny. Some of the plots are so far-fetched, it's ridiculous. My favorites are the ones when someone disguises themselves, like in The Marriage of Figaro. I'll put on this wig! He'll never know it's me!! Or when we are supposed to believe that a plump woman of a certain age is meant to be a consumptive teenaged courtesan... or, gosh, I could go on, but we don't have all afternoon. Sometimes the opera is unexpectedly amusing, like the time we sort of saw the woman without a shadow (frau of something something). I say sort of because we left after the 2nd act. True story. It's the only time I've ever walked out of anything. First of all, I know the singer actually has a shadow, but there must be a lighting trick to make it look like she doesn't yes? Because Lyric hadn't figured that out when I saw it, so old Deb Voigt was down there going on about her shadow and it was like, no, it's right there, problem solved. We can save ourselves 4 hours of this. That and they had this lame prop horse that lowered down from the rafters and it was supposed to be dramatic, but it hit the stage with a thud and rocked back and forth...
Ahem. Sorry. The point is, opera can be funny. So who better than the talented cast of the Second City to help demystify the experience and poke a little fun at the world of opera? Lyric teamed with Second City to present The Second City Guide to the Opera last night. The gorgeous and all-around fabulous diva Renee Fleming was on hand to host with Sir Patrick Stewart (yes. Because what I think of when I think "opera" "Chicago" and "Second City sketch comedy" is Patrick Stewart. But anyway...) and basically it was a pretty fun evening. It began with an overture, sung by the cast about... all of the stuff that happens during an overture. They did similar songs about the intermission and the finale. Other sketches included a master class with an ego-maniacal, multi-scarf wearing diva, whose star pupil turned out to be... Ms. Renee Fleming, a couple on a first date (to the Ring Cycle! The guy wanted to prove he wasn't afraid of commitment and pointed out that if you could survive 40 hours of Wagner together, you could survive ANYTHING), and "Doctor Opera" therapy sessions for operatic characters including Mimi and Rudolfo, Hansel and Gretel and Elektra. Both of our genial hosts performed in sketches and were both quite funny (P-Stew, I am sorry I doubted you!).
There was an audience participation sketch which resulted in an improvised Shakespearean rendering of the selected audience member's life. Which was weird. Because, hello, how is that related to opera? And also, the audience member they picked was from the bank sponsoring the show and he seemed extremely uncomfortable and gave one word answers (clearly he never read Tina Fey's book, because she tells us the first rule of improv is to agree and add - so if someone says, do you have any pet peeves and you say "No", you've shut the sketch down before it's even started). So did they pick this guy on purpose? Because if they told him ahead of time, you'd think he would have been more willing to play along. I find it a little weird that they picked him randomly out of all the people there, but it's not usually common practice to embarrass your lead sponsor. They ended up having a good time with him because he's a banker and he said he didn't have any pet peeves and that nothing bothered him. That added a little humor, because like, really dude? Nothing bothers you in the world of banking? Are you not living in America right now?
There was also a funny sketch where Patrick Stewart taught the cast to find the opera in regular life situations - so you're at Starbucks and they're out of soy milk (holy crap, Patrick Stewart goes to Starbucks?)? Unleash merry hell on that barista in the form of an aria. Someone has stolen your parking spot even though you've claimed it with a folding chair? Whip out your sword and make that sucker pay. Your friend loses your favorite sweater? Fall on your sword and kill yourself. That, folks, is opera.
In the middle of this mayhem, Renee sang two arias, as if to say, yes, the plots can be stupid and outlandish and unrelated to real life, but at the heart of it is this - stunning music and amazing singing and artistry. That's opera, too.
Showing posts with label opera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opera. Show all posts
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
one more, in the name of love...
CAR UPDATE: Methinks I will need a new bumper... Joy, unbounded. I will keep y'all posted.
(Funnily, now I've got Mazeppa "Revolution in Dance" in my head with her line "Maybe there's something wrong with your bumpah")
But back to happier days... last Thursday. I'll spare you all the travel details. Original 8:00 AM flight got canceled - LaGuardia + rain = disaster. But American Airlines seemlessly seated me on the 9:00 flight which left without incident. I landed, arrived at the hotel and had lunch. Imagine, if you will, a weary and hungry traveler, just off her flight. It is raining and she just wants some hot soup and a sandwich. Or better, a sandwich and a cup of tea as she's not had any caffeine yet today. Off she wanders down Amsterdam, looking for a cozy diner to park in. Wanders. And wanders. Her jeans are getting wet. She passes many places that are either too expensive or too fried (her stomach just cannot handle something called "The Chirping Chicken") or too bizarre (sushi, and what appeared to be a Japanese Italian restaurant. Quoi??) when all she wants is a damn bowl of soup, people! Suddenly, a light shines out in the darkness. It is a divine establishment known as "Crumbs" they sell not soup, but perhaps the next best thing - CUPCAKES. Ah, she's gotta come back here. But wait! She's getting wetter and wetter and thinks that's it, goddamn it, it's my VACATION. If I want a cupcake for my lunch, I'm gonna have one!!! So the weary traveler rested her wet self and had a not so nourishing but nonetheless delicious lunch of a massive red velvet cupcake and a steaming cup of earl grey tea. After that, our heroine goes back to the hotel and commences to... take a nap.
Yeah, I know. Livin' it up in Manhattan! I am very very exciting!!! But I needed my strength for the opera. LONG shower and sinus steam, then off to dinner (spinach ravioli at La Grolla, also on Amsterdam, yum!) and The Met.
I arrived really really really early, and it was pouring down bucketfuls of rain. I wandered some more around the Renee Shop, oh, wait, I mean the Met Shop - which had a gigantic shrine erected to the Diva, complete with her (gorgeous!) opening night gowns, her cds, her (gorgeous!) face plastered on season posters, the season book, and kniccknacks like mint boxes and something else... but I don't remember. Also bottles of her perfume La Voce. I was afraid I'd drop the bottle, so I didn't venture near it. The new shop is nice, but not as cluttered with stuff as the old one was, so it didn't take too long for me to browse around in there. So I hung around for, oh, I think it was close to an hour, looking at the neat looking Dr. Atomic sculpture (I WISH I had made it to the Met to see Dr. A again!! It was UNBELIEVEABLE! And this from someone who seriously dislikes modern opera. It rocked. If I had not been otherwise engaged at a work function, I would have gone to see it in HD.)Anyway, the Met is pretty spectacular, all shiny chandeliers and red velvet walls... My seat was not great - orchestra, left side all the way in the back, a few rows before the Standing Room area.
Thais is actually one of the only operas I have seen multiple times. I saw it three times when Renee and Thomas Hampson performed it in Chicago in 2003 (and one of those was the infamous dress rehearsal that I got to attend because I also purchased a ticket to a planned giving lecture. Now they seem to think I've got money and send me stuff all the time. HAHAHA! Yeah, right.) Thais has some incredibly gorgeous music, including the moving "Meditation" which I think is one of my favorite classical pieces of all time. The plot is... odd. Fun loving actress courtesan Thais is living it up in Alexandria, when this monk sees her in a dream and decides he needs to - what else - save her soul. The chief monk tells him to keep his nose out of it, but does he listen?? No. So off he goes to the ugly set of Alexandria to find Thais. She laughs in his face, but later, when she's alone (in her weird bedroom set that features many additional chairs all facing the bed - WTF? Guest chairs? Is she expecting an audience??) she ponders his words. She worries that when she's old and ugly, nobody will love her and CERTAINLY Christian LaCroix won't be designing her glam designer wardrobe any more. The monk appears and convinces her, in the span of maybe 20 minutes? That she should follow him. He sells it well - eternal life! Happiness! A convent! Wheee! Sign me up! And then - after a little "Meditation" she decides to go with it. Great, he tells her. Burn all your stuff and then we'll take a little walk through the desert. Awesome, she says, I'll be right with you, padre. So he brings her to the convent. His "teachings" she tells him, have shown her the way, and she has traded all of her great clothes for sackcloth (which looks pretty glam, too!). He goes home, tormented because - wait for it - he has really loved her all along. He realizes he'll never see her again, then gets another dream that she's dying. But no! He heads back across the desert to find her - 3 months later - a saint and waiting to be welcomed into heaven. Then she dies.
So yeah, totally believeable. Great music though. Thomas Hampson is simply incredible. At one point, the man is singing off stage and yet he was as clear as though he was still standing front and center. I don't think he was mic'd either. And Renee? Well, she was just sublime. What a perfect role for her, it fit her like a glove, perfect for her voice, a joy from beginning to end. The production was imported from Lyric, so it was like being home except you know, 100 times cooler. It was, in fact - Metacular. Hahahaha.
More to come...
(Funnily, now I've got Mazeppa "Revolution in Dance" in my head with her line "Maybe there's something wrong with your bumpah")
But back to happier days... last Thursday. I'll spare you all the travel details. Original 8:00 AM flight got canceled - LaGuardia + rain = disaster. But American Airlines seemlessly seated me on the 9:00 flight which left without incident. I landed, arrived at the hotel and had lunch. Imagine, if you will, a weary and hungry traveler, just off her flight. It is raining and she just wants some hot soup and a sandwich. Or better, a sandwich and a cup of tea as she's not had any caffeine yet today. Off she wanders down Amsterdam, looking for a cozy diner to park in. Wanders. And wanders. Her jeans are getting wet. She passes many places that are either too expensive or too fried (her stomach just cannot handle something called "The Chirping Chicken") or too bizarre (sushi, and what appeared to be a Japanese Italian restaurant. Quoi??) when all she wants is a damn bowl of soup, people! Suddenly, a light shines out in the darkness. It is a divine establishment known as "Crumbs" they sell not soup, but perhaps the next best thing - CUPCAKES. Ah, she's gotta come back here. But wait! She's getting wetter and wetter and thinks that's it, goddamn it, it's my VACATION. If I want a cupcake for my lunch, I'm gonna have one!!! So the weary traveler rested her wet self and had a not so nourishing but nonetheless delicious lunch of a massive red velvet cupcake and a steaming cup of earl grey tea. After that, our heroine goes back to the hotel and commences to... take a nap.
Yeah, I know. Livin' it up in Manhattan! I am very very exciting!!! But I needed my strength for the opera. LONG shower and sinus steam, then off to dinner (spinach ravioli at La Grolla, also on Amsterdam, yum!) and The Met.
I arrived really really really early, and it was pouring down bucketfuls of rain. I wandered some more around the Renee Shop, oh, wait, I mean the Met Shop - which had a gigantic shrine erected to the Diva, complete with her (gorgeous!) opening night gowns, her cds, her (gorgeous!) face plastered on season posters, the season book, and kniccknacks like mint boxes and something else... but I don't remember. Also bottles of her perfume La Voce. I was afraid I'd drop the bottle, so I didn't venture near it. The new shop is nice, but not as cluttered with stuff as the old one was, so it didn't take too long for me to browse around in there. So I hung around for, oh, I think it was close to an hour, looking at the neat looking Dr. Atomic sculpture (I WISH I had made it to the Met to see Dr. A again!! It was UNBELIEVEABLE! And this from someone who seriously dislikes modern opera. It rocked. If I had not been otherwise engaged at a work function, I would have gone to see it in HD.)Anyway, the Met is pretty spectacular, all shiny chandeliers and red velvet walls... My seat was not great - orchestra, left side all the way in the back, a few rows before the Standing Room area.
Thais is actually one of the only operas I have seen multiple times. I saw it three times when Renee and Thomas Hampson performed it in Chicago in 2003 (and one of those was the infamous dress rehearsal that I got to attend because I also purchased a ticket to a planned giving lecture. Now they seem to think I've got money and send me stuff all the time. HAHAHA! Yeah, right.) Thais has some incredibly gorgeous music, including the moving "Meditation" which I think is one of my favorite classical pieces of all time. The plot is... odd. Fun loving actress courtesan Thais is living it up in Alexandria, when this monk sees her in a dream and decides he needs to - what else - save her soul. The chief monk tells him to keep his nose out of it, but does he listen?? No. So off he goes to the ugly set of Alexandria to find Thais. She laughs in his face, but later, when she's alone (in her weird bedroom set that features many additional chairs all facing the bed - WTF? Guest chairs? Is she expecting an audience??) she ponders his words. She worries that when she's old and ugly, nobody will love her and CERTAINLY Christian LaCroix won't be designing her glam designer wardrobe any more. The monk appears and convinces her, in the span of maybe 20 minutes? That she should follow him. He sells it well - eternal life! Happiness! A convent! Wheee! Sign me up! And then - after a little "Meditation" she decides to go with it. Great, he tells her. Burn all your stuff and then we'll take a little walk through the desert. Awesome, she says, I'll be right with you, padre. So he brings her to the convent. His "teachings" she tells him, have shown her the way, and she has traded all of her great clothes for sackcloth (which looks pretty glam, too!). He goes home, tormented because - wait for it - he has really loved her all along. He realizes he'll never see her again, then gets another dream that she's dying. But no! He heads back across the desert to find her - 3 months later - a saint and waiting to be welcomed into heaven. Then she dies.
So yeah, totally believeable. Great music though. Thomas Hampson is simply incredible. At one point, the man is singing off stage and yet he was as clear as though he was still standing front and center. I don't think he was mic'd either. And Renee? Well, she was just sublime. What a perfect role for her, it fit her like a glove, perfect for her voice, a joy from beginning to end. The production was imported from Lyric, so it was like being home except you know, 100 times cooler. It was, in fact - Metacular. Hahahaha.
More to come...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
TOMORROW NIGHT....
Barring all snow-related flight delays, I will be in New York City tomorrow, and seeing the Divine Ms. Renee Fleming in Thais... Oh, I am so very excited. I saw Renee sing this role in Chicago back in 2003, and it is gorgeous. Speaking of gorgeous, check out the Thais photo from the Met.
Wow & wow & wow. So glamorous. They are, it must be said, doing an outstanding job with... pretty much everything. The promotional photos (which started - last year?)are AMAZING, the HD broadcasts, I even got an email reminder for the performance tomorrow night (as if I could forget!). Bravo, Peter Gelb. Bravo.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
pearl fishers @ lyric opera
Last night, my personal Lyric season kicked off with Bizet's rarely performed Pearl Fishers, starring Nicole Cabell, Nathan Gunn and Eric Cutler. We were in NEW subscription seats, having moved from the upper balcony to the back of the first balcony. Way hey hey, movin' on up... Our neighbors were much better behaved, thankfully and we are conveniently located close to an aisle at the back of the balcony, making intermission escapes and after show dashes to the parking lot much more speedy.
So, anyway, Pearl Fishers... very very beautiful music, and well, plenty of opera hunks running around half clothed. Nathan Gunn cut a powerful figure as Zurga who conveniently was crowned king at the opening of the opera. It was very relaxed though, he was all, "We have to choose a leader" and everyone else was like "How about... you?" If only things could really be decided so easily. Anyway, then his friend the tenor shows up and they kind of relive old times through the one famous duet from this opera, and they vow to never let chicks get in the way of their BFF-hood. Bros before hos, yo. And then... you'll never guess what happens... a girl gets between them! The high priestess who is supposed to pray to keep everyone safe while they're diving for pearls has a thing for Nadir (the BFF) and they become secret lovahs for about half of a scene. Then the high priest catches them and sentences them to death. Quel dommage and sacre bleu. Their fate is in the hands of Zurga who's jealous of the secret relationship (he seems more upset over the loss of Nadir than the loss of the girl, whom he also secretly loved, but whatever). She comes to plead for Nadir's life, but it backfires and it just makes Big Z more angry.
In the end though, he goes and sets fire to the pearl fisher's camp and creates a ruse for the lovahs to escape - there's a bit of a plot twist where he discovers that Leila (the priestess) once saved his life so he pays her back by saving hers. Big Z is in trouble for sure, and the head priest shows up at the very end with a scythe... blackout and curtain falls.
So yeah. It got good at the end, but was a little slow going the rest of the time. The music, as I said, was gorgeous, and all three lead singers were wonderful. At the beginning, they announced that Nicole had a cold but would sing for us anyway (yay!) She sounded wonderful.
In two weeks... Natalie Dessay in Manon...
So, anyway, Pearl Fishers... very very beautiful music, and well, plenty of opera hunks running around half clothed. Nathan Gunn cut a powerful figure as Zurga who conveniently was crowned king at the opening of the opera. It was very relaxed though, he was all, "We have to choose a leader" and everyone else was like "How about... you?" If only things could really be decided so easily. Anyway, then his friend the tenor shows up and they kind of relive old times through the one famous duet from this opera, and they vow to never let chicks get in the way of their BFF-hood. Bros before hos, yo. And then... you'll never guess what happens... a girl gets between them! The high priestess who is supposed to pray to keep everyone safe while they're diving for pearls has a thing for Nadir (the BFF) and they become secret lovahs for about half of a scene. Then the high priest catches them and sentences them to death. Quel dommage and sacre bleu. Their fate is in the hands of Zurga who's jealous of the secret relationship (he seems more upset over the loss of Nadir than the loss of the girl, whom he also secretly loved, but whatever). She comes to plead for Nadir's life, but it backfires and it just makes Big Z more angry.
In the end though, he goes and sets fire to the pearl fisher's camp and creates a ruse for the lovahs to escape - there's a bit of a plot twist where he discovers that Leila (the priestess) once saved his life so he pays her back by saving hers. Big Z is in trouble for sure, and the head priest shows up at the very end with a scythe... blackout and curtain falls.
So yeah. It got good at the end, but was a little slow going the rest of the time. The music, as I said, was gorgeous, and all three lead singers were wonderful. At the beginning, they announced that Nicole had a cold but would sing for us anyway (yay!) She sounded wonderful.
In two weeks... Natalie Dessay in Manon...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thank you, Peter Gelb!
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Since I can't actually go to New York City to see the dazzling Ms. Renée Fleming in the Metropolitan Opera's Opening Night gala on September 22nd, it looks like I will have to settle for the next best thing... the Met in HD, coming soon to a theater near you (& me!). Seriously, I think this is one of the best ideas anyone has ever had, ever. I get to see the Met's gorgeous productions, have some popcorn and milk duds if I want, and not have to leave the state.
In other news, since I can't let an entire year go by without actually physically going to the Met, I've bought a ticket for Thais in December. It is all part of my 30th birthday blowout extravaganza. This will also hopefully involve another trip to see Patti in Gypsy (stay open, please!) and maybe a few other shows...
Monday, March 03, 2008
Tonight...
Barber of Seville at Lyric...
Nathan Gunn! And uh, some other people. Haha. No, seriously, I have heard nothing but good things about this production, including much praise for Joyce DiDonato, so I am excited to see it.
I'd be MORE excited if Juan Diego Florez hadn't choked on a fish bone (or something) and hadn't withdrawn from the first half of the run, but c'est la vie ("la vie!") and Juan D, stick to soup next time, ok?
Nathan Gunn! And uh, some other people. Haha. No, seriously, I have heard nothing but good things about this production, including much praise for Joyce DiDonato, so I am excited to see it.
I'd be MORE excited if Juan Diego Florez hadn't choked on a fish bone (or something) and hadn't withdrawn from the first half of the run, but c'est la vie ("la vie!") and Juan D, stick to soup next time, ok?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tutto il mondo e burla...
Meet Sir John Falstaff, a rogue and a scoundrel of a human being with ample girth and a booming baritone. It seems Sir John's gotten himself into a spot of trouble - after stealing a drinking buddy's money and then spending it on (what else?) more drinks - he realizes he hasn't gotten any money of his own left and must come up with a scheme to get some more.
This being opera, of course his scheme involves getting two rich women to fall in love with him and then magically, give him all their money (yeah, I'm not sure about that one either). He writes two identical letters (tsk tsk, Jacko, where's the romance in your soul?) not realizing that the objects of his affection ("Meg" and "Alice") will compare notes and hatch a scheme of their own to teach him a lesson. Of course their scheme involves luring Falstaff into believing Alice is madly in love with him, setting a secret rendez-vous where they are (oh no!) nearly caught by her jealous husband, causing Sir John to hide in the laundry basket and get tossed into the Thames with the rest of the laundry. (For some reason, all of Alice's laundry was white. Lemme tell you, if it was getting tossed into the Thames on a regular basis, her stuff would SO not be white). Sir John's mad for being made a fool of but this does not stop him from falling for another trick - this one involving the Queen of the Fairies and creatures of the forest and a haunted tree (I wish I was making this up) but he sees the error of his ways and repents. There's a wedding (two characters who appear to have stumbled into all this from another opera) and then everyone happily accepts that men are all fools and trot off to dinner. And.... curtain.
Lyric's production of Falstaff was pretty - the set was compact and had trapdoors everywhere and pieces that could be moved into different configurations. The last time Lyric performed Falstaff (I was still at Loyola so maybe 1999 or 2000? Earlier? I never got to see it when he did it and am just kicking myself now.) the title character was played by Bryn Terfel. He sang Falstaff's Act One aria a the Gala concert and stole the show. Andrew Shore (who stepped in for the originally cast Falstaff) had big shoes to fill, but sang the role very well. He was also really funny as Falstaff and was getting all kinds of laughs.
The other members of the cast - Veronica Villarroel (Alice), Boaz Daniel (Ford), Stacey Tappan (Nannetta - and ohmygoodness what gorgeously floated high notes!), Bryan Griffin (Fenton), Meredith Arwady (contralto - last seen in Dr. Atomic - superb), Elizabeth de Shong (Meg), David Cangelosi (Dr. Caius), Rodell Rosel (Bardolfo), and Andrew Funk (Pistola) no "big names" among them (although David Cangelosi is pretty well known in Chicago and also was at the Met in... something... I read the review and he got a good notice). Many of them are members of the Ryan Opera Center for American Artists, Lyric's training program for young singers. All of them did very well - sang like the pros they are and were also decent actors. I basically ignored the plot (you pretty much had to) and the gibbering old biddies behind us (arrghhh! Can i tell you how well behaved the main floor audience is by comparison? Next year - single tickets = better seats! I swear, some of this audience nonsense is really starting to sour the experience for me)
Next up - Eugene Onegin and Barber of Seville...
** Update: so reviews for Falstaff are in today's Tribune and Sun Times and apparently this production had three of its principal singers bow out (the singers playing Falstaff, Ford and Quickly). I had initially thought it was a little strange of them not to have any major cast members, but I guess this is why. Still, it is a great opportunity for the Opera Center members to be on the stage and they were all wonderful. So go! See Falstaff if you can. But for future reference for any potential subscribers - stay away from the upper balcony on Monday nights unless of course you enjoy kabbitzing blue haired biddies blabbing noisily throughout the performance, people taking illegal photography DURING THE PERFORMANCE (curtain calls though I think are fair game) and seat neighbors who unwrap candies or peanut butter sandwiches - during the performance.
This being opera, of course his scheme involves getting two rich women to fall in love with him and then magically, give him all their money (yeah, I'm not sure about that one either). He writes two identical letters (tsk tsk, Jacko, where's the romance in your soul?) not realizing that the objects of his affection ("Meg" and "Alice") will compare notes and hatch a scheme of their own to teach him a lesson. Of course their scheme involves luring Falstaff into believing Alice is madly in love with him, setting a secret rendez-vous where they are (oh no!) nearly caught by her jealous husband, causing Sir John to hide in the laundry basket and get tossed into the Thames with the rest of the laundry. (For some reason, all of Alice's laundry was white. Lemme tell you, if it was getting tossed into the Thames on a regular basis, her stuff would SO not be white). Sir John's mad for being made a fool of but this does not stop him from falling for another trick - this one involving the Queen of the Fairies and creatures of the forest and a haunted tree (I wish I was making this up) but he sees the error of his ways and repents. There's a wedding (two characters who appear to have stumbled into all this from another opera) and then everyone happily accepts that men are all fools and trot off to dinner. And.... curtain.
Lyric's production of Falstaff was pretty - the set was compact and had trapdoors everywhere and pieces that could be moved into different configurations. The last time Lyric performed Falstaff (I was still at Loyola so maybe 1999 or 2000? Earlier? I never got to see it when he did it and am just kicking myself now.) the title character was played by Bryn Terfel. He sang Falstaff's Act One aria a the Gala concert and stole the show. Andrew Shore (who stepped in for the originally cast Falstaff) had big shoes to fill, but sang the role very well. He was also really funny as Falstaff and was getting all kinds of laughs.
The other members of the cast - Veronica Villarroel (Alice), Boaz Daniel (Ford), Stacey Tappan (Nannetta - and ohmygoodness what gorgeously floated high notes!), Bryan Griffin (Fenton), Meredith Arwady (contralto - last seen in Dr. Atomic - superb), Elizabeth de Shong (Meg), David Cangelosi (Dr. Caius), Rodell Rosel (Bardolfo), and Andrew Funk (Pistola) no "big names" among them (although David Cangelosi is pretty well known in Chicago and also was at the Met in... something... I read the review and he got a good notice). Many of them are members of the Ryan Opera Center for American Artists, Lyric's training program for young singers. All of them did very well - sang like the pros they are and were also decent actors. I basically ignored the plot (you pretty much had to) and the gibbering old biddies behind us (arrghhh! Can i tell you how well behaved the main floor audience is by comparison? Next year - single tickets = better seats! I swear, some of this audience nonsense is really starting to sour the experience for me)
Next up - Eugene Onegin and Barber of Seville...
** Update: so reviews for Falstaff are in today's Tribune and Sun Times and apparently this production had three of its principal singers bow out (the singers playing Falstaff, Ford and Quickly). I had initially thought it was a little strange of them not to have any major cast members, but I guess this is why. Still, it is a great opportunity for the Opera Center members to be on the stage and they were all wonderful. So go! See Falstaff if you can. But for future reference for any potential subscribers - stay away from the upper balcony on Monday nights unless of course you enjoy kabbitzing blue haired biddies blabbing noisily throughout the performance, people taking illegal photography DURING THE PERFORMANCE (curtain calls though I think are fair game) and seat neighbors who unwrap candies or peanut butter sandwiches - during the performance.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Oppenheimer's Lament: I am split like the atom...
Quote of yesterday -
My mom to her co-workers: I'm going to see Dr. Atomic.
Co-Worker: Really? Is that an oncologist?
Mom: No - it's an opera!
Dr. Atomic was just, I don't know, WOW. I will write more about it later. But I just had to say, if you're in Chicago and have a chance to see this, do it. Lyric, my faith is more than restored in you.
My mom to her co-workers: I'm going to see Dr. Atomic.
Co-Worker: Really? Is that an oncologist?
Mom: No - it's an opera!
Dr. Atomic was just, I don't know, WOW. I will write more about it later. But I just had to say, if you're in Chicago and have a chance to see this, do it. Lyric, my faith is more than restored in you.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Doctor Atomic
Monday I will be seeing Doctor Atomic at Lyric Opera. I am not the biggest fan of modern operas and initially, this seems like an odd combination - when opera meets... nuclear physics? It's hard to imagine a scientist (any scientist, actually, but Dr. Oppenheimer in particular) bursting into song about cold fusion (or whatever. I never took physics). What would it be? "Howwwwww doooo yoooouuu split an atooommmmmm???" And then, of course, a chorus singing "Boom, boom, boom - KABOOM!" (GOOONNNNGGGG!)
But the more I think about it, the more it seems like the creation of the atomic bomb is perfectly operatic, chock full of drama, internal struggles and ethical dilemmas. Plus, it sounds like there will be a GREAT opportunity for a gong solo somewhere. (I've always wanted to be a gongist.)
Lyric describes the piece thusly:
The Bomb. It changed our lives and our world forever. Hard to fathom a bigger — or more personal — subject.
Director Peter Sellars takes us to Los Alamos, New Mexico. It's 1945. Scientists are working on a top-secret project for the U.S. government: development of the A–Bomb. We're there for the frenzied three weeks before the blast, and we're there for the final countdown. We watch real people grapple with monumental moral and ethical dilemmas. Could "the gadget" ignite the world's atmosphere?
At the helm, the mercurial Robert Oppenheimer; plus a take-no-prisoners general and scientists — some hawks, some doves — racing for a "successful" conclusion — and unleashing the unfathomable.
I will keep you all posted...
But the more I think about it, the more it seems like the creation of the atomic bomb is perfectly operatic, chock full of drama, internal struggles and ethical dilemmas. Plus, it sounds like there will be a GREAT opportunity for a gong solo somewhere. (I've always wanted to be a gongist.)
Lyric describes the piece thusly:
The Bomb. It changed our lives and our world forever. Hard to fathom a bigger — or more personal — subject.
Director Peter Sellars takes us to Los Alamos, New Mexico. It's 1945. Scientists are working on a top-secret project for the U.S. government: development of the A–Bomb. We're there for the frenzied three weeks before the blast, and we're there for the final countdown. We watch real people grapple with monumental moral and ethical dilemmas. Could "the gadget" ignite the world's atmosphere?
At the helm, the mercurial Robert Oppenheimer; plus a take-no-prisoners general and scientists — some hawks, some doves — racing for a "successful" conclusion — and unleashing the unfathomable.
I will keep you all posted...
Monday, December 03, 2007
Goodbye to a Lyric Legend
Danny Newman, creator of the subscription model that is currently used by all major opera houses, and most orchestras and theater companies (and author of "Subscribe Now!") passed away at the age of 88.
I had the chance to meet Danny a few years ago when I interned at Lyric. He still had an office at the Lyric's administrative offices, and he'd come in every once in a while to (as my supervisor told me) "Use the copier and flirt with the ladies." A dapper figure who always wore a hat and coat, Danny would come into the office and chat, and yes, flirt. I was standing by the printer one afternoon, and he said to me "Where did we get you from?" And then we had a nice little conversation about Columbia College.
The below is from the Chicago Sun Times.
Legendary press agent, lyric founding father dies
December 3, 2007
BY WYNNE DELACOMA (Chicago Sun Times)
Danny Newman, one of the last of the great arts and entertainment press agents, died Saturday at home after a long illness. At age 88, the Chicago native went out with the consummate pro's ultimate gesture: preparing his own obituary in the form of a five-page press release, with the details of his death to be filled in later.
Mr. Newman, a decorated veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, had been in failing health since 2004, when he underwent surgery to repair spinal injuries caused by a fall. With his wife Alyce at his side, he died of pulmonary fibrosis at his Lincolnwood home.
A longtime hero on the internationational arts scene, Mr. Newman was the first to champion the use of subscriptions -- first at Lyric Opera of Chicago, his professional base since 1954, and then throughout the world.
"Danny was one of the founding fathers of Lyric," said William Mason, Lyric's general director. "It's safe to say that there probably wouldn't have been a Lyric Opera without Danny. Who knows if there would have been a lot of companies if not for Danny. He was one of the greatest arts patrons of the last half-century."
Mr. Newman was a member of the staff assembled by Carol Fox and two associates when theyfounded the company in 1954, and even though he subsequently traveled the world preaching the gospel of subscription-ticket sales to arts organizations from Canada to Australia, Lyric remained his home.
From 1961 through 1981, he traveled extensively for the Ford Foundation, working on a major effort to expand and strengthen American arts organizations. He outlined his theories in a 1977 book titled Subscribe Now!, which went through 10 editions over the ensuing years.
"Not only did Danny help companies launch subscription campaigns himself, he also helped the staffs of those companies to be able to carry on the work," said Susan Mathieson Mayer, Lyric's director of communications. "He was a teacher par excellence. He has a nation filled with proteges, including me, who took what he taught them and carried on the work."
"What he did for all these companies, giving them a sound financial base through subscriptions, was much better than giving them, say, $100,000," Mason said. "It's like the adage, 'teach someone how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.' Danny taught them how to fish through the use of subscriptions."
Mr. Newman retired in 2001 but retained the title of public relations counsel emeritus. In honor of his 88th birthday last Jan. 24, Lyric named its box office after him, with his famous motto -- "Subscribe Now!" -- engraved on the plaque.
A colorful figure, Mr. Newman was known for tapping out press releases of precise detail and florid prose on a manual typewriter in his small office in the Civic Opera House building. When necessary, he would stride onto the opera house stage to announce that Soprano X or Tenor Y was unfortunately unable to sing the evening's performance. His stentorian voice riding over the audience's groans, he introduced the substitute singer's name with a ring of triumph, implying that the listeners' dismay would be short-lived, that the next Callas, Gobbi or Vickers was about the take the stage.
Bustling through Chicago's newsrooms, his signature soft, broad-brimmed, dark fedora pushed back on his head, he was the kind of man who called women "darling'' long past the era when such greetings were deemed politically correct. His courtly way with that greeting, however, not to mention his attendant hand-kissing, made us smile.
A jack of many arts and entertainment trades, starting at age 14 in 1933, Mr. Newman produced and promoted local, national and international theater and dance companies, vaudeville and movie houses and classical music artists. Or, as he put it, with only slight exaggeration, "he was also actor, script writer, oratorio narrator, modern-dance impresario, classical-concert presenter, vaudeville, film, radio, television and legitimate theater publicist, advance agent, playwright's agent, house manager, personal manager, general manager and producer.''
During the 1940s and '50s, his projects reached from one end of Loop to the other. Among them was promoting the Chicago premiere in 1941 of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane'' at the Woods Theatre (Welles attended) and foreign art films at the World Playhouse in the Fine Arts Building. He promoted movies at city and suburban drive-ins and downtown performances of American Ballet Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet. He also was publicist for the annual Prep Bowl, a hotly contested football championship game between Chicago public and Catholic schools at Soldier Field.
He received many honors for his work, ranging from a knighthood from the Italian government to an orchestral piece commissioned in his name by the Vancouver Symphony. An Al Hirschfeld caricature, which makes much of Mr. Newman's bushy, flaring eyebrows, adorns his book of reminiscences, Tales of a Theatrical Guru, published in December 2006.
Born in the Douglas Park neighborhood, he attended Wright Junior College. A decorated World War II veteran, Mr. Newman won the Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star and five Battle Stars.
In 1948, he married Dina Halpern, an internationally known Yiddish stage and screen actress. She died in 1989. In 1994, he married Alyce Katz of Chicago. She survives, along with his stepsons, Paul Andre Katz and Leonard Katz.
"He was a lovely gentleman," Mason said. "I knew for 50 years and never heard him utter an unkind thought. With his boundless warmth and humanity, he was unique, one of a kind. We'll miss him."
"He truly believed with all his heart in what he was promoting," Mathieson Mayer said. "He loved singers, he loved theater -- the worst thing you could do to an artist was to present him with an empty seat. That where he started from.
"For me, he was quite something. I've known Danny for 30 years -- he just changed my life, he was an incredible man," she said. "I stayed in the business because of him. Once you got religion from Danny, there was no turning back."
Services, which will be open to the public, are scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Weinstein Funeral Homes, 111 Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Chicago Jewish Federation, Lyric Opera of Chicago or the Chicago Yivo Society.
I had the chance to meet Danny a few years ago when I interned at Lyric. He still had an office at the Lyric's administrative offices, and he'd come in every once in a while to (as my supervisor told me) "Use the copier and flirt with the ladies." A dapper figure who always wore a hat and coat, Danny would come into the office and chat, and yes, flirt. I was standing by the printer one afternoon, and he said to me "Where did we get you from?" And then we had a nice little conversation about Columbia College.
The below is from the Chicago Sun Times.
Legendary press agent, lyric founding father dies
December 3, 2007
BY WYNNE DELACOMA (Chicago Sun Times)
Danny Newman, one of the last of the great arts and entertainment press agents, died Saturday at home after a long illness. At age 88, the Chicago native went out with the consummate pro's ultimate gesture: preparing his own obituary in the form of a five-page press release, with the details of his death to be filled in later.
Mr. Newman, a decorated veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, had been in failing health since 2004, when he underwent surgery to repair spinal injuries caused by a fall. With his wife Alyce at his side, he died of pulmonary fibrosis at his Lincolnwood home.
A longtime hero on the internationational arts scene, Mr. Newman was the first to champion the use of subscriptions -- first at Lyric Opera of Chicago, his professional base since 1954, and then throughout the world.
"Danny was one of the founding fathers of Lyric," said William Mason, Lyric's general director. "It's safe to say that there probably wouldn't have been a Lyric Opera without Danny. Who knows if there would have been a lot of companies if not for Danny. He was one of the greatest arts patrons of the last half-century."
Mr. Newman was a member of the staff assembled by Carol Fox and two associates when theyfounded the company in 1954, and even though he subsequently traveled the world preaching the gospel of subscription-ticket sales to arts organizations from Canada to Australia, Lyric remained his home.
From 1961 through 1981, he traveled extensively for the Ford Foundation, working on a major effort to expand and strengthen American arts organizations. He outlined his theories in a 1977 book titled Subscribe Now!, which went through 10 editions over the ensuing years.
"Not only did Danny help companies launch subscription campaigns himself, he also helped the staffs of those companies to be able to carry on the work," said Susan Mathieson Mayer, Lyric's director of communications. "He was a teacher par excellence. He has a nation filled with proteges, including me, who took what he taught them and carried on the work."
"What he did for all these companies, giving them a sound financial base through subscriptions, was much better than giving them, say, $100,000," Mason said. "It's like the adage, 'teach someone how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.' Danny taught them how to fish through the use of subscriptions."
Mr. Newman retired in 2001 but retained the title of public relations counsel emeritus. In honor of his 88th birthday last Jan. 24, Lyric named its box office after him, with his famous motto -- "Subscribe Now!" -- engraved on the plaque.
A colorful figure, Mr. Newman was known for tapping out press releases of precise detail and florid prose on a manual typewriter in his small office in the Civic Opera House building. When necessary, he would stride onto the opera house stage to announce that Soprano X or Tenor Y was unfortunately unable to sing the evening's performance. His stentorian voice riding over the audience's groans, he introduced the substitute singer's name with a ring of triumph, implying that the listeners' dismay would be short-lived, that the next Callas, Gobbi or Vickers was about the take the stage.
Bustling through Chicago's newsrooms, his signature soft, broad-brimmed, dark fedora pushed back on his head, he was the kind of man who called women "darling'' long past the era when such greetings were deemed politically correct. His courtly way with that greeting, however, not to mention his attendant hand-kissing, made us smile.
A jack of many arts and entertainment trades, starting at age 14 in 1933, Mr. Newman produced and promoted local, national and international theater and dance companies, vaudeville and movie houses and classical music artists. Or, as he put it, with only slight exaggeration, "he was also actor, script writer, oratorio narrator, modern-dance impresario, classical-concert presenter, vaudeville, film, radio, television and legitimate theater publicist, advance agent, playwright's agent, house manager, personal manager, general manager and producer.''
During the 1940s and '50s, his projects reached from one end of Loop to the other. Among them was promoting the Chicago premiere in 1941 of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane'' at the Woods Theatre (Welles attended) and foreign art films at the World Playhouse in the Fine Arts Building. He promoted movies at city and suburban drive-ins and downtown performances of American Ballet Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet. He also was publicist for the annual Prep Bowl, a hotly contested football championship game between Chicago public and Catholic schools at Soldier Field.
He received many honors for his work, ranging from a knighthood from the Italian government to an orchestral piece commissioned in his name by the Vancouver Symphony. An Al Hirschfeld caricature, which makes much of Mr. Newman's bushy, flaring eyebrows, adorns his book of reminiscences, Tales of a Theatrical Guru, published in December 2006.
Born in the Douglas Park neighborhood, he attended Wright Junior College. A decorated World War II veteran, Mr. Newman won the Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star and five Battle Stars.
In 1948, he married Dina Halpern, an internationally known Yiddish stage and screen actress. She died in 1989. In 1994, he married Alyce Katz of Chicago. She survives, along with his stepsons, Paul Andre Katz and Leonard Katz.
"He was a lovely gentleman," Mason said. "I knew for 50 years and never heard him utter an unkind thought. With his boundless warmth and humanity, he was unique, one of a kind. We'll miss him."
"He truly believed with all his heart in what he was promoting," Mathieson Mayer said. "He loved singers, he loved theater -- the worst thing you could do to an artist was to present him with an empty seat. That where he started from.
"For me, he was quite something. I've known Danny for 30 years -- he just changed my life, he was an incredible man," she said. "I stayed in the business because of him. Once you got religion from Danny, there was no turning back."
Services, which will be open to the public, are scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Weinstein Funeral Homes, 111 Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Chicago Jewish Federation, Lyric Opera of Chicago or the Chicago Yivo Society.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
What's the German for "Major Suckfest"?
Die Frau ohne Schatten at Lyric now has the distinction of being the only opera I've ever walked out on. I've seen my share of clunkers in the several odd years I've been going to Lyric (Turandot? Anyone? Mahagonny with the polar bears? Mouring Becomes Electra?). And I've also seen my share of really really looooonnnng operas - Marriage of Figaro, Alcina, Rodelinda, etc etc etc. But this is the only one I hated instantly. With the fire of a thousand suns.
Let me say first that the cast is a complete dream come true - Deborah Voigt, Christine Brewer, Robert Dean Smith, Franz Hawlata, Jill Grove - they all sang magnificently. But even Deborah (or 'Debz' as she is affectionately known - at least at my house)couldn't save this mess. The music was LOUD and discordant - it seems almost kind of Wagnerian - through composition with no overture, no breaks in the action for applause, no big showstopping arias to speak of. The story made NO SENSE AT ALL. I'm not talking like in an operatic way, where people trade clothes and are in instant disguises. I'm talking seriously no sense. Gazelle becomes woman. Has no shadow, can't have children. Husband will turn to stone. Goes out to make faustian kind of deal with a human woman to buy a shadow. Chaos ensues. I didn't really follow and I didn't really care.
Now to the length. Some operas (Rodelinda) are really long but they don't feel long. This one dragged on and on and on and on. The first act ALONE felt like it was 4 hours (in reality, it was just one). And then there was the production. First of all, if the title of the thing is "the woman without a shadow" I think it might be an idea to make sure that that particular character doesn't, oh, I don't know, actually cast a shadow? During the whole first act, the lighting was such that Debz was casting a shadow. And it was really obvious - the set didn't help that. I think if it was a little brighter, it may have. In other acts (okay, act) I noticed they moved the spot around with her so the shadow thing didn't happen.
We decided to give Act 2 a shot - hoping it would get better. At the very beginning, I was settling into my seat and a bony finger tapped me on the shoulder from behind. One of the little ancient ladies behind me wanted me to move so she could see better (is it me, or is that odd? What if I'd been a man with a large melon? What is it with these entitled 'I'm older than dirt so you have to do what I want' kind of opera patrons?).
The best part of the second act came when the 'Emperor' was lowered onto the stage on a large fake horse. They plonked him on the stage with an unceremonious thud. When he tried to get back on, the horse almost fell over. It was vair amusing. Then, he was lifted back into the air, to make it seem like he was moving, all the while, talking to his 'falcon' - hovering in the air in sequins and feathers in a neon floating box. I'm not even making this up. Then the idiot and his horse were lowered again, he got off, etc. Talked about killing the empress because she lied to him. Pondered using arrows. No. Sword? No. Good lord, the man can't even get on a horse, how's he going to kill anyone? Got back on the horse again and almost fell over (again). That was the highlight of the second act, so that should tell you something. While Debz and the Nurse (who was singing with a cold, but you'd never know it) were tempting the dyer's wife with a lovely young man, for some reason, Batman (a guy in black sequined cape and hat) showed up. Why? Why? Why? Also, someone dropped in to give the dyer (named 'Barak') a glowing, light-saber looking sword. It glowed in the dark. Why? Was the force especially strong with him? (how strong? as strong as a small pony!)
We left after that so I can't tell you what happened then. Overall synopsis: it SUCKED. A lot.
And for this, I missed Dancing with the Stars. Huummmph.
Let me say first that the cast is a complete dream come true - Deborah Voigt, Christine Brewer, Robert Dean Smith, Franz Hawlata, Jill Grove - they all sang magnificently. But even Deborah (or 'Debz' as she is affectionately known - at least at my house)couldn't save this mess. The music was LOUD and discordant - it seems almost kind of Wagnerian - through composition with no overture, no breaks in the action for applause, no big showstopping arias to speak of. The story made NO SENSE AT ALL. I'm not talking like in an operatic way, where people trade clothes and are in instant disguises. I'm talking seriously no sense. Gazelle becomes woman. Has no shadow, can't have children. Husband will turn to stone. Goes out to make faustian kind of deal with a human woman to buy a shadow. Chaos ensues. I didn't really follow and I didn't really care.
Now to the length. Some operas (Rodelinda) are really long but they don't feel long. This one dragged on and on and on and on. The first act ALONE felt like it was 4 hours (in reality, it was just one). And then there was the production. First of all, if the title of the thing is "the woman without a shadow" I think it might be an idea to make sure that that particular character doesn't, oh, I don't know, actually cast a shadow? During the whole first act, the lighting was such that Debz was casting a shadow. And it was really obvious - the set didn't help that. I think if it was a little brighter, it may have. In other acts (okay, act) I noticed they moved the spot around with her so the shadow thing didn't happen.
We decided to give Act 2 a shot - hoping it would get better. At the very beginning, I was settling into my seat and a bony finger tapped me on the shoulder from behind. One of the little ancient ladies behind me wanted me to move so she could see better (is it me, or is that odd? What if I'd been a man with a large melon? What is it with these entitled 'I'm older than dirt so you have to do what I want' kind of opera patrons?).
The best part of the second act came when the 'Emperor' was lowered onto the stage on a large fake horse. They plonked him on the stage with an unceremonious thud. When he tried to get back on, the horse almost fell over. It was vair amusing. Then, he was lifted back into the air, to make it seem like he was moving, all the while, talking to his 'falcon' - hovering in the air in sequins and feathers in a neon floating box. I'm not even making this up. Then the idiot and his horse were lowered again, he got off, etc. Talked about killing the empress because she lied to him. Pondered using arrows. No. Sword? No. Good lord, the man can't even get on a horse, how's he going to kill anyone? Got back on the horse again and almost fell over (again). That was the highlight of the second act, so that should tell you something. While Debz and the Nurse (who was singing with a cold, but you'd never know it) were tempting the dyer's wife with a lovely young man, for some reason, Batman (a guy in black sequined cape and hat) showed up. Why? Why? Why? Also, someone dropped in to give the dyer (named 'Barak') a glowing, light-saber looking sword. It glowed in the dark. Why? Was the force especially strong with him? (how strong? as strong as a small pony!)
We left after that so I can't tell you what happened then. Overall synopsis: it SUCKED. A lot.
And for this, I missed Dancing with the Stars. Huummmph.
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Woman Without a Shadow...
I know I haven't been posting a lot about opera lately. Reason being, I haven't been to any lately. Since I was sick last week, we ended up not going to Caesar. I love David Daniels as much as the next girl, but 4 and a half hours of Handel with a pounding headache, runny nose, sniffles and sore throat didn't sound like a good time to me (imagine that).
But we're back to Lyric tonight for this. It is another long one - clocking in at 4 hours, with an early curtain time of 6:30. I am looking forward to seeing Deborah Voigt, who is wonderful.
Just a sidebar here - can anyone explain to me that ugly cracked out Skrebneski photo of her they're using for this opera?? YUCK. She doesn't have a shadow, so that must mean she's neon green and visible from outer space? Very very very strange. I much prefer the new production images from the Met. Go to their website www.metoperafamily.org and there's a menu on the left side that gives you a link for new production images for 2007-2008. Natalie as Lucia? Gorgeous. Susan as Iphigenie? Also gorgeous. And the new Hansel and Gretel images are kinda cute, too.) Paging Lyric's marketing department: Watch and Learn.
Oh, and while you're at it, can you please stop sending me single ticket brochures? I already subsrcibe. What makes you think I want to buy tickets for multiple viewings of "Doctor Atomic"?? I'm not even sure I want to see it once!
Right, okay sorry. Full report of Frau tomorrow.
But we're back to Lyric tonight for this. It is another long one - clocking in at 4 hours, with an early curtain time of 6:30. I am looking forward to seeing Deborah Voigt, who is wonderful.
Just a sidebar here - can anyone explain to me that ugly cracked out Skrebneski photo of her they're using for this opera?? YUCK. She doesn't have a shadow, so that must mean she's neon green and visible from outer space? Very very very strange. I much prefer the new production images from the Met. Go to their website www.metoperafamily.org and there's a menu on the left side that gives you a link for new production images for 2007-2008. Natalie as Lucia? Gorgeous. Susan as Iphigenie? Also gorgeous. And the new Hansel and Gretel images are kinda cute, too.) Paging Lyric's marketing department: Watch and Learn.
Oh, and while you're at it, can you please stop sending me single ticket brochures? I already subsrcibe. What makes you think I want to buy tickets for multiple viewings of "Doctor Atomic"?? I'm not even sure I want to see it once!
Right, okay sorry. Full report of Frau tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
1st Opera of the Season....
Monday night was the kickoff of my personal opera season - La Boheme at Lyric Opera of Chicago. With all the brouhaha surrounding the opening of the season - ie the 11th hour contract settlement with AGMA - and with this opera in particular - ie the dramatic firing of Ms. Angela G (look it up, I don't know how to spell it) several days before the production was set to open - I was very very curious.
But Lyric is like the Rock of Gibraltar, or at the very least, the Rock of Wacker Drive. Sturdy, solid, unflappable. Opening Night on Saturday went off without a hitch and the performance of La Traviata earned glowing reviews for Elizabeth Futral and Joseph Calleja. Monday night rolled around - and quiet changes had been made. The poster of season stars that faces Wacker Drive had already been altred to remove the dismissed diva. The only other indication that the cast had been changed was an insert in the program announcing Elaine Alvarez in the role of Mimi. They did not make any announcement of the cast changes. They did not need to. From the Grand Foyer to the Dress Circle, and all the way up to the first Upper Balcony (a painful hike in uncomfortable shoes. Pant, pant) all anyone was talking about was Angela being fired and this new soprano stepping into her place.
I had never seen La Boheme before, but the story was familiar (from Rent. I was a big huge Renter when I was an undergraduate. I saw it many times when it toured here. But don't worry. It's out of my system.) and so was the music. The cast boasted many Lyric favorites - Quinn Kelsey, an opera center alum, played Marcello, Andrea Silvestrelli (a big, booming basso) played Colline, and Singer of the World winner (and also an Opera Center alum) Nicole Cabell played Musetta. Roberto Aronica was Rodolfo and Elaine Alvarez was Mimi.
Ms. Alvarez is 27 years old just (gulp!) one year younger than myself, and I can't even imagine what she must have been feeling when she stepped out onto that stage in her first appearance at a major American opera house. She did not disappoint the audience, who waited with baited breath to hear her first note. Honestly, she stepped into the role like an old pro. She had a big beautiful voice and was a good match with the rest of the cast (even though the orchestra, at times, threatened to drown the singers out). The audience knew what was going on, and really embraced her as the opera went on. She got a huge, well-deserved, standing ovation at the end of the performance.
It was a great night, and I am looking forward to the rest of the season. I only hope the perfume soaked woman in front of me(who made my eyes itch the entire opera), the chatty couple next to me (who shushed ME for shushing THEM - didja ever??) and the cluster of old biddys behind me (who scolded both my mom and myself for STANDING UP DURING THE CURTAIN CALL. Hello?? It's called a standing ovation?) are NOT subscribers. Sitting around this cranky lot for another 7 performances is NOT something I am looking forward to. Maybe it's the Monday night crowd??
But Lyric is like the Rock of Gibraltar, or at the very least, the Rock of Wacker Drive. Sturdy, solid, unflappable. Opening Night on Saturday went off without a hitch and the performance of La Traviata earned glowing reviews for Elizabeth Futral and Joseph Calleja. Monday night rolled around - and quiet changes had been made. The poster of season stars that faces Wacker Drive had already been altred to remove the dismissed diva. The only other indication that the cast had been changed was an insert in the program announcing Elaine Alvarez in the role of Mimi. They did not make any announcement of the cast changes. They did not need to. From the Grand Foyer to the Dress Circle, and all the way up to the first Upper Balcony (a painful hike in uncomfortable shoes. Pant, pant) all anyone was talking about was Angela being fired and this new soprano stepping into her place.
I had never seen La Boheme before, but the story was familiar (from Rent. I was a big huge Renter when I was an undergraduate. I saw it many times when it toured here. But don't worry. It's out of my system.) and so was the music. The cast boasted many Lyric favorites - Quinn Kelsey, an opera center alum, played Marcello, Andrea Silvestrelli (a big, booming basso) played Colline, and Singer of the World winner (and also an Opera Center alum) Nicole Cabell played Musetta. Roberto Aronica was Rodolfo and Elaine Alvarez was Mimi.
Ms. Alvarez is 27 years old just (gulp!) one year younger than myself, and I can't even imagine what she must have been feeling when she stepped out onto that stage in her first appearance at a major American opera house. She did not disappoint the audience, who waited with baited breath to hear her first note. Honestly, she stepped into the role like an old pro. She had a big beautiful voice and was a good match with the rest of the cast (even though the orchestra, at times, threatened to drown the singers out). The audience knew what was going on, and really embraced her as the opera went on. She got a huge, well-deserved, standing ovation at the end of the performance.
It was a great night, and I am looking forward to the rest of the season. I only hope the perfume soaked woman in front of me(who made my eyes itch the entire opera), the chatty couple next to me (who shushed ME for shushing THEM - didja ever??) and the cluster of old biddys behind me (who scolded both my mom and myself for STANDING UP DURING THE CURTAIN CALL. Hello?? It's called a standing ovation?) are NOT subscribers. Sitting around this cranky lot for another 7 performances is NOT something I am looking forward to. Maybe it's the Monday night crowd??
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
cosi fan tutte...
Friday night was the last opera of the season for me, and it was Cosi. Mom & I got all dolled up and headed down to Lyric. It was a fun one to see, with beautiful music (if not as memorable as some of Mozart's other operas) but there were some recognizeable pieces and beautiful, beautiful duets and ensembles. Ahhhh, Mozart.
The cast was not "big name" but it was quality: Ryan Center (GAHHH!! It sounded SO MUCH BETTER to call it "Lyric Opera Center of American Artists"!) alums Erin Wall and Lauren McNese as Fiordiligi and Dorabella, Eric Cutler and Opera Hunk Extraordinary, Nathan Gunn as the boys, Nuccia Focile as Despina and Sir Thomas Allen as Don Alfonso. All of them solid. Good actors. Sounded like a dream when they all sang together.
The production was updated tp a resort in 1914. That made for a pretty, modern, set design scheme (at one point, a sheer curtain at the back of the stage swept aside to reveal a beachscape - lots of brightly colored umbrellas clustered around. the supernumeraries were kept busy bustling around in the background in crisp red uniforms, and in two cases, old fashioned striped bathing costumes) and stunning period costumes. It did make it kind of hard to believe that 20th century people would fall for the lame plot twists. As Despina says "These girls are so stupid!" and they were. I mean, honestly. "Let's put on false moustaches - they'll NEVER recognize us then!" Not even clever Despina saw through the boys' disguises. So the plot was one of the more goofy ones in the operatic repertoire, but really, it hardly mattered. Everything was put together so well, love more or less conquered all, and the curtain went down on another great season at Lyric.
Already have my subscription for next year sorted out - Renee in Traviata!!! YES! Oh, and some other stuff, too.....
The cast was not "big name" but it was quality: Ryan Center (GAHHH!! It sounded SO MUCH BETTER to call it "Lyric Opera Center of American Artists"!) alums Erin Wall and Lauren McNese as Fiordiligi and Dorabella, Eric Cutler and Opera Hunk Extraordinary, Nathan Gunn as the boys, Nuccia Focile as Despina and Sir Thomas Allen as Don Alfonso. All of them solid. Good actors. Sounded like a dream when they all sang together.
The production was updated tp a resort in 1914. That made for a pretty, modern, set design scheme (at one point, a sheer curtain at the back of the stage swept aside to reveal a beachscape - lots of brightly colored umbrellas clustered around. the supernumeraries were kept busy bustling around in the background in crisp red uniforms, and in two cases, old fashioned striped bathing costumes) and stunning period costumes. It did make it kind of hard to believe that 20th century people would fall for the lame plot twists. As Despina says "These girls are so stupid!" and they were. I mean, honestly. "Let's put on false moustaches - they'll NEVER recognize us then!" Not even clever Despina saw through the boys' disguises. So the plot was one of the more goofy ones in the operatic repertoire, but really, it hardly mattered. Everything was put together so well, love more or less conquered all, and the curtain went down on another great season at Lyric.
Already have my subscription for next year sorted out - Renee in Traviata!!! YES! Oh, and some other stuff, too.....
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