Prick and choose
Heartbeat Opera knows how to party.
John Taylor Ward
12 pieces since 2014 — in 7 roles, at 4 companies, most often at Heartbeat Opera.
12
pieces
7
roles
4
companies
13
years
By role
Role baritone in The Golden Cock
Role bass-baritone
Some unholy war
Rather than focusing on a narrative, Unholy Wars explores a series of timeless yet current themes: war, destruction, alienation, and what it means to be perceived as outsider—particularly from the Middle East—in the context of a violent world.
Role Don Giovanni
Too much, too soon
Heartbeat is, after all, a company that loves to tinker.
Role Judge
Witchery and bitchery
Double double, toil and trouble, y’all, and happy spooky season from Slaylem. (It’s like Salem, but fun.)
Role Manoa
Partial eclipse
We must be doubly grateful that The English Concert’s recent Theodora was so quickly followed by the American Classical Orchestra’s fine Samson on Tuesday evening at Alice Tully Hall.
Role Mephistopheles
Satan keeps the beat
With tight, jazzy orchestrations, a queer-coded Mephistopheles, and sassy modern recitative, Heartbeat Opera’s fast 100-minute Faust delivers Gounod in miniature, minus some of the schmaltz.
Role Mercurio
Crepuscolo
“It’s not easy being green”: especially if you’re the two greatest Italian opera composers.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).