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| Author |
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| 25 new of 221 responses total. |
krj
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response 195 of 221:
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Jul 8 18:26 UTC 2001 |
Wow, I never write reviews any more on stuff I have seen. Sigh.
Upcoming: Friday, July 13: the Arbor Opera Theater, a local company
which Leslie has been doing some singing with, performs two 45-minute
chamber operas: Leonard Bernstein's "Trouble in Tahiti" and
Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Telephone." 8 p.m., $10, at the Vitosha
bed & breakfast & arts center (the former Unitarian Church),
1917 Washtenaw Avenue.
"Trouble in Tahiti" is about a crumbling marriage, in a setting using
lots of 1950s cultural idioms. I saw a student production of it
about a decade ago and it's a favorite work of mine.
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krj
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response 196 of 221:
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Jul 14 00:17 UTC 2001 |
The chamber opera presentation (resp:195) was cancelled.
Apologies if anyone showed up for it besides me.
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arianna
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response 197 of 221:
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Jul 19 04:25 UTC 2001 |
how was The Telephone? (MEnotti's one of my favs.)
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krj
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response 198 of 221:
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Jul 19 04:53 UTC 2001 |
Haven't seen it; the performance I was going to see was cancelled.
Arbor Opera Theater are doing "The Telephone" and "Trouble In Tahiti"
Thursday-Sunday at the Ann Arbor Civic Theater on Washington St.,
which I think is the old Performance Network space. I plan to
see the presentation Thursday.
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arianna
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response 199 of 221:
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Jul 19 06:11 UTC 2001 |
which show is Leslie in?
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krj
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response 200 of 221:
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Jul 19 15:53 UTC 2001 |
Leslie is in neither of these shows; Leslie is coming to the end of a
four week opera workshop in the Czech Republic, in the towns of
Kromeriz and Karlovy Vary.
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arianna
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response 201 of 221:
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Jul 22 04:35 UTC 2001 |
it's nice to be an audience on occassion. (:
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coyote
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response 202 of 221:
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Jul 23 03:39 UTC 2001 |
I saw Arbor Opera Theater's production of these shows today at the old
Performance Network/new Civic Theater. Both were highly enjoyable and
well-executed. I'll plan to attend other Arbor Opera productions in the
future.
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krj
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response 203 of 221:
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Nov 9 15:50 UTC 2001 |
Forgot to put this in earlier. The first performance of this show
has already run. This is the U.Michigan School of Music fall
opera presentation. I think it's an excellent modern opera,
we saw it in Montreal about four years ago.
>Nov.
>8-11 Opera Theatre Department: "The Consul" by Gian Carlo Menotti
>Thu-Sun Power Center for the Performing Arts
> 8:00 PM Thu-Sat/2:00 PM Sun.
> Directed by Joshua Major. Conducted by Kenneth Kiesler.
> The Consul tells the tale of a family trying to flee
> political tyranny in Eastern Europe. Sung
> in English. Tickets are available at the League Ticket
> Office for $20 (center
> orchestra/balcony), $15 (rear orchestra/ balcony); students
> with proper ID can purchase
> tickets for $7. For more information, call 764-2538.
Also running this weekend is UMS presenting Gluck's opera "Orfeo & Eurydice,"
with spectacular Polish contralto Ewa Podles singing Friday and Sunday
performances.
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krj
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response 204 of 221:
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Nov 11 05:54 UTC 2001 |
We saw the Saturday presentation of "The Consul." This was Gian
Carlo Menotti's 1950 opera set in Eastern Europe in the
early days of the cold war. Overall this was
a very good production from the UM School of Music. The dream &
hypnotism sequences still seem to have dated a bit for me, but
those are in the book, not unique to this presentation, and we
felt the final dream sequence was better in this production than
in the one we saw in Montreal. The main story is still pretty
chilling and sad.
The set of the Consul's waiting room was monumental -- one of the
best sets I've seen in a UM opera. Behind the desk of the Secretary,
the file drawers went up to the roof...
|
orinoco
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response 205 of 221:
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Nov 13 16:02 UTC 2001 |
Some housemates of mine say that one and loved it. I spent the weekend in
Pittsburgh and missed out. Pity, really. Menotti rocks my world.
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katie
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response 206 of 221:
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Nov 15 18:39 UTC 2001 |
Then you will be happy to know that Menotti, himself, (age 90!) will be
conducting 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' in Detroit next month. That is,
if you live around here. My friend's son will be be one of the two actors
portraying Amahl.
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orinoco
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response 207 of 221:
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Nov 15 20:40 UTC 2001 |
Oh wow. Thanks for the tip.
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flem
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response 208 of 221:
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Nov 19 03:35 UTC 2001 |
I saw Ewa Podles in something else at Hill a year or two ago. I think it was
the Messiah, but I coudl be wrong. She was fantastic. I was hoping to go
to O&E, but this work thing is really messing me up.
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krj
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response 209 of 221:
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Mar 22 05:54 UTC 2002 |
OK, so it's taken me four months to say something about the UMS production
of Gluck's "Orpheus & Eurydice." *sigh*.
Seeing this the same weekend as Menotti's "The Consul" was like
bookending Western culture, both in theme and in operatic style.
Thematically, we leapt from Greek mythology to totalitarian horrors;
musically, Gluck is "The Great Reformer" of opera, who is considered to
have stripped away all the aspects of opera which were only to showcase
the singers, to try to get to presenting drama, and of course
Menotti represents almost-the-present-day. Before the 20th century's
excavation of Monteverdi's operas, Gluck's works were the oldest ones
likely to be performed.
Gluck's drama seems kind of slow for contemporary sensibilities, which
may be why the dance company was included to perk up the visuals a bit.
I think it's an interesting approach and might be fun to apply to some
of the Haydn operas which are recorded for their musical beauty, but
rarely performed on stage.
Eva Podles sang Orpheus, and she's a favorite in our house, ever since
she won over the Ann Arbor audience when she filled in for Cecelia Bartoli
at Hill Auditorium. Leslie said "she sings like a force of nature."
Gluck left one aria in the old florid style for Orpheus to sing,
and it was delightful to hear Ms. Podles navigate all those ornaments.
I've forgotten the name of the Euridyce; we saw her two years ago
as the daughter in Bolcom's "A View From The Bridge."
OPERA NEWS gave this production a tremendously enthusiastic review
and suggested that it should tour. This was the first time that the
University Musical Society had assembled its own opera production,
rather than importing one, and we were quite pleased. Having
front-row seats was an extra treat.
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krj
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response 210 of 221:
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Mar 22 05:58 UTC 2002 |
... and so much for advance warnings on local opera.
The University of Michigan School of Music has already opened their
spring opera, Rossini's "La Cenenterola," a character better known as
Cinderella. At Lydia Mendellsohn Theater through Sunday, I think,
check your favorite arts guide.
Eskarina mentioned that MSU's music school is performing
Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld" this weekend. I have NO
details, try to contact the MSU music school if you are interested.
And, we completely missed the Comic Opera Guild's production of
Mozart's "The Magic Flute," in part because Leslie doesn't like
that opera much, and I only like the first act, before the heavy
Masonic symbolism comes crashing down like a ton of bricks.
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flem
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response 211 of 221:
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Mar 22 18:21 UTC 2002 |
One of the evil stepsisters in Cenerentola (sp?) is the director of the
Arts Chorale, that I sing in. I may or may not get to see it this weekend.
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dbratman
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response 212 of 221:
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Apr 2 00:30 UTC 2002 |
The most enjoyable opera production I've seen in recent years was a
Berkeley opera production of Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, with an
English-language script that updated the story more than slightly.
It was titled "The Riot Grrrl on Mars." Freapin' wonderful.
(Hearing James Morris sing Horace Tabor in the San Francisco Opera
production of Ballad of Baby Doe was pretty impressive, too.)
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krj
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response 213 of 221:
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Sep 28 14:56 UTC 2002 |
Upcoming opera events in the Ann Arbor area:
Michigan Opera Theater's production of Verdi's IL TROVATORE
runs October 12-20 in Detroit, so now is the time to look into tickets
if one is interested. This is a major Verdi opera which we
have never seen, so I'm looking forward to it. Leslie tells me
the critical consensus is that the music is glorious but the
drama is a bit of a mess. I haven't got the rest of the fall
MOT schedule handy.
Ann Arbor Symphony offers Bizet's CARMEN in a concert presentation
(no sets or staging) at the Michigan Theater; Saturday November 9.
CARMEN is possibly the most popular opera; one of my opera guidebooks
writes that if you don't like CARMEN, maybe you should give up on
opera completely and move on to something else. :)
I haven't got the dates, but the University of Michigan School of Music
fall production is Janacek's THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN.
And, TV ads report that Andrea Bocelli is singing at The Palace of
Auburn Hills, that acoustic wonder. :)
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krj
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response 214 of 221:
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Sep 29 17:07 UTC 2002 |
Toledo Opera has Verdi's LA TRAVIATA coming up the weekend of
October 5, and MOT's second fall opera in Detroit is DON PASQUALE.
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gelinas
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response 215 of 221:
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Oct 7 03:27 UTC 2002 |
How bad *are* the acoustics in the Palace? I've seen nought but the circus
there.
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albaugh
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response 216 of 221:
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Oct 28 20:16 UTC 2002 |
I saw the most amazing thing (to me) on cable TV Sunday morning: On something
calling itself the ARTS channel, there was an item (each item lasting a few
minutes and having a musical piece accompanied by "something" visual) which
in the credits just said "animation" that I can best describe as "claymation".
This one happened to be from Rigoletto (Act I, "The affectionate (?) Duke,
abduction of Gilda"). The characters seemed to be singing in English. Call
me a "hillbilly" :-) but I wouldn't mind actually possessing (or renting)
video tapes of such a rendering - the entertainment value was high, and I can
appreciate the music.
Thoughts?
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dbratman
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response 217 of 221:
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Oct 29 00:02 UTC 2002 |
There was a Claymation Christmas special some years ago that I remember
fondly. I liked their "We Three Kings" with the camels singing the
chorus.
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coyote
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response 218 of 221:
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Nov 2 21:36 UTC 2002 |
re 216:
there's an entire video of little opera snippets set to animation (I think
it's mostly computer animation) call "Opera Imaginaire" or something like
that. some of the animation has nothing to do with the music (a la fantasia)
and some of it is a little scene from the story. it might be distributed by
miramax, but I don't remember.
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krj
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response 219 of 221:
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Nov 12 02:04 UTC 2002 |
I've been trying to come up with something to say about the Michigan
Opera Theater production of Verdi's IL TROVATORE without much success.
Singing in the production was mostly good; acting was just fair.
Dramatically this opera is a bit of a mess, probably because
the librettest died midway through, if I remember correctly.
TROVATORE is one of those improbable opera plots which everyone
sneers at: two brothers separated at birth on opposite sides of
a civil war, in love with the same woman. It's interesting that
TROVATORE is lumped in with two of Verdi's strongest dramas,
RIGOLETTO and LA TRAVIATA, all three premiering in a brief
period in the early 1840s.
What makes TROVATORE worthwhile is the music, which is oriented towards
choruses and ensemble pieces, which I love. It's always great to
catch up with one of the mid or late-period Verdi operas which I
have not seen.
Before the show, the director of the company came out to make a pitch
for Proposal K, which was (in part) a plan to get the Detroit suburbs
to kick in some millage money for the Detroit cultural institutions.
"Arts, Parks and Kids" it was called. I didn't hear if it passed.
-----
Coming up this weekend: Janacek's THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN, presented
by UM School of Music. I think it's at Power Center, but I'm not sure.
Sung in Czech with projected English titles.
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