Shadows of a doubt Shadows of a doubt

R.B. Schlather‘s shadowy production with Heartbeat Opera at the Williamstown Theatre Festival proves that Vanessa might be coming into its own at last

High ‘Society’ High ‘Society’

Off-and-on since last fall my PPP (Personal Pandemic Project) has been assembling a chronology of the American Opera Society. For 19 years beginning in 1951 it presented a remarkable series of concert performances of works unperformed by either the Met or New York City Opera.

‘Lady’ Willpower ‘Lady’ Willpower

Lady M, an Online Fantasia on Verdi’s Macbeth, Heartbeat Opera’s creative and thought-provoking foray into the Zoom opera scene, left me feeling alternately pensive, hopeful and somewhat uneasy, in a good way.

Speak loudly Speak loudly

Do we do what we have to do? Or do we have to do what we do?

The vinyl countdown The vinyl countdown

At one point I spent a couple of months on the dole and dollar record shopping had a number of obvious virtues as a pastime.

The unusual suspects The unusual suspects

Mad Scenes and Exit Arias:  The Death of the New York City Opera and the Future of Opera in America provides ample fodder for the legions of amateur opera sleuths seeking to confirm their theory of “Who Killed City Opera?”

Change the world – I want to get off Change the world – I want to get off

A dozen women or more talk and sing about all sort of important and exciting things, with “a man” near the bottom of their list of priorities.