(A)nything (B)ut <em>(C)armen</em> (A)nything (B)ut <em>(C)armen</em>

Calling from 2066, Brendan Latimer argues that the best way to save opera might be to just blow up the standard repertoire altogether.

Comic relief Comic relief

Pacific Opera Project’s high-spirited revival of Fra Diavolo is both therapy and an escape.

Bernstein Double Bill Bernstein Double Bill

Trouble in Tahiti and A Quiet Place in a performance recorded last fall in London

Back to the island Back to the island

Annapolis Opera presented a celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s reflections on love, relationships, and marriage, pairing a fully staged production of Trouble in Tahiti with a collection of songs from other Bernstein compositions.

Easily assimilated Easily assimilated

I’ve never liked the term “crossover.”

Trouble in paradise Trouble in paradise

Although Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti is always categorized as an opera, the piece certainly has one foot planted firmly in his jazzy musical-theater style.

Lakeside ‘Story’ Lakeside ‘Story’

Sunny, lakeside Cooperstown presents a peppy, exuberant, winning production of West Side Story, the musical.

Midcentury, modern Midcentury, modern

In recent years, Opera Paralléle has established a reputation for creative programming of contemporary opera in San Francisco. Persuaded both by the promise of an unusual Bernstein-Heggie double bill, and the unusual venue of SF Jazz’s Miner Auditorium, I had the pleasure of attending an excellent production this past week. 

What’s at stake for a soul on fire? What’s at stake for a soul on fire?

Norman Dello Joio, who was knocking about winning prizes for film and TV scores, composed The Trial at Rouen, his second opera on the subject, for NBC.

Trouble in Thebes Trouble in Thebes

What to do with all those glorious short operas: play them alone or find companion pieces?

Abel bodied

I received a package in the mail this afternoon from La Cieca, and eagerly tore it open.  I knew that this was to be my parterre review assignment… rapture!  It was a CD of an opera: The Brothers composed by… George Antheil?  Who the fuck is that? After researching him for a bit, I got…

Off the air

I’ve found myself procrastinating endlessly over this review. I’m always excited by the chance to hear recently composed operas, and have a weak spot for the American repertoire. So I had overly high hopes for Paul Salerni‘s Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast. At first listen, I found myself underwhelmed, slightly off put by the blending of…

None dare call it twaddle

“In Leonard Bernstein‘s clever one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti, the heroine describes a gaudy movie musical as so much ‘Technicolor twaddle.’ If Tan Dun‘s new work The First Emperor (heard at the Metropolitan Opera on December 29) can hardly be dismissed as twaddle, it never attains the epic status to which it aspires.” Our publisher…