|
|
| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 221 responses total. |
rcurl
|
|
response 40 of 221:
| 
Mar 4 06:57 UTC 1997 |
I think it would depend upon the theatre. At Power Center the stage
is at about eye height for a tallish person in the front row. It would
be better to be able to see the stage floor at an angle of at least a few
degrees, but no action was lost because of the geometry.
|
jiffer
|
|
response 41 of 221:
|
Mar 8 08:08 UTC 1997 |
that is true.... and good thing opera and stages weren't done like they used
to be... the proportion was set for the guest of honor (king or baron) and
if you were not next to the guest of honor... the proportion was off kilter...
but rather interesting bit of history about thes tage..
that is one reason why i usually like center rows center ceats... that is
usually where the designers go for when i want to watch scenery and
costumes... and also its usually a general good location for the music...
though the amazing thing about stages is that sometimes (if the theater was
designed right) you could hear a whipser spoken on stage.
|
krj
|
|
response 42 of 221:
|
Mar 20 00:53 UTC 1997 |
We just got the ad in the mail for the UM School of Music production
of Mozart's opera MARRIAGE OF FIGARO. This will be performed at the
Lydia Mendellsohn Theatre from Wednesday March 26 through Saturday
March 29. Tickets are quite reasonable, something like $14/$18, with
generous student discounts.
If you live in the Ann Arbor area and you want to try an opera with a
minimum of investment, this is for you!! Similarly, if you have never
experienced opera in a house as small as the Mendellsohn, you should
try this.
If the past is a reliable guide: all four performances will sell out
by early next week, and then tickets will be made available for one or
both of the dress rehearsals. These will be even cheaper!
Rane, do you go to the student operas?
|
rcurl
|
|
response 43 of 221:
|
Mar 20 06:42 UTC 1997 |
We have - and thought they did a quite credible job. We are thinking of
going to the dress rehearsal anyway, to enjoy the performance being created.
Whoops...I think our calendar is full then. Bummer. Well, *someone* go
to a dress rehearsal, and report to us?
|
tpryan
|
|
response 44 of 221:
|
Mar 23 17:43 UTC 1997 |
Since I am listening to the Rock Oper "Jesus Christ Superstar"
here on a Palm Sunday, I was wondering if this 25 year old is
classic opera yet?
|
rcurl
|
|
response 45 of 221:
|
Mar 24 06:13 UTC 1997 |
Nope. Nor is "Oklahoma".
|
krj
|
|
response 46 of 221:
|
Apr 10 01:10 UTC 1997 |
It's past time for me to comment on the two performances we saw
of UM's production of MARRIAGE OF FIGARO. Thusday's performance
was a little shaky, though it tended to light up whenever the
Countess was on stage. I spent a lot of time losing myself in
Mozart's instrumental textures.
The Easter Sunday performance, which had been added at the last minute,
was only sparsely attended. Y'all should have come. In place of the
full orchestra there were just two pianos; but the two pianos seemed
to often hold together better than the Thursday orchestra, and the
spare accompaniment allowed me to "see" into the vocal lines in
a very appealing way. The Sunday cast was much better: special
praise goes to Allan Schrott, the Sunday Figaro, who has his
singing and stage presence very well together.
---
David Daniels, a UM alum who had an opera performance class with
Leslie some years ago, has been given the Richard Tucker Award for 1997.
The Tucker award is probably the most prominent given to young American
opera singers; David Daniels will be appearing in this year's
Richard Tucker Gala, a concert at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC
in November which is broadcast over PBS during the holiday season.
---
We just got a flyer from Cleveland Lyric Opera, which is doing a summer
season in English. "My Fair Lady," Mozart's "Abuduction from the Seraglio,"
and two contemporary operas I have never heard of, one aimed at children.
We'll try to get out for the "Abduction," since we have never seen that
opera before.
|
krj
|
|
response 47 of 221:
|
Apr 29 18:49 UTC 1997 |
David Daniels, the rising young countertenor and UM alum who I mentioned
in the preceding response, is being presented by the University
Musical Society in their 1997-1998 schedule. I don't have the
exact date at hand.
|
jiffer
|
|
response 48 of 221:
|
Jun 15 14:20 UTC 1997 |
I don't know if anyone is actually reading this item anymore, but what the
hey!
Jane England, I found out today, has a CD out of her singing solos of some
famious Wagner and other operas! Quite good!
|
rcurl
|
|
response 49 of 221:
|
Jun 15 17:14 UTC 1997 |
(I'm reading it...just haven't seen any opera lately.)
|
krj
|
|
response 50 of 221:
|
Jun 15 19:14 UTC 1997 |
I need to find the dates for the BUTTERFLY being sung in English
in Adrian, Michigan, this summer. Argh.
|
jiffer
|
|
response 51 of 221:
|
Jun 16 16:49 UTC 1997 |
wow! neat! that is only an hour away as well! Good luck ken!
|
arabella
|
|
response 52 of 221:
|
Jul 1 07:55 UTC 1997 |
Re #48: Do you mean Jane Eaglen? She is a Wagnerian soprano who
appeared at the gala for the Detroit Opera House in April of 1996
(for which I was a member of the chorus). I think I might be
interested in getting her CD.
Re Puccini in Adrian: Performances are in late September, according
to my accompanist, who is also chorus master for that production.
|
jiffer
|
|
response 53 of 221:
|
Jul 1 21:57 UTC 1997 |
That is the gal! Sorry on the mess up of her name.
Hmmmmm... sounds interesting, and i might be able to afford that... and its
not too far away! I miss cheap concerts....
|
krj
|
|
response 54 of 221:
|
Aug 15 19:38 UTC 1997 |
Opera Lenawee is performing Puccini's MADAME BUTTERFLY, September 19
through September 27. SUNG IN ENGLISH!! Performances are at the
Crosswell Opera House in Adrian, Michigan.
Tickets 517-264-3121. Webpage: http://www.aso.org/
|
krj
|
|
response 55 of 221:
|
Aug 15 19:40 UTC 1997 |
I forgot to mention: most tickets are $20. Thursday, Sept. 25 is a
discount show, tickets $10.
|
mcnally
|
|
response 56 of 221:
|
Aug 16 20:10 UTC 1997 |
You know, I'm not by any stretch an opera purist but I've concluded
(admittedly after only one or two performances) that I don't like
opera performed in English. I'm still almost totally unable to
comprehend the lyrics and the performances I've been to in English
have omitted supertitles (because after all, it's in English and we
all understand English, right? arrgghh..)
Anyway, it's ironic but true -- I've had much better luck following
operas that are sung in Italian or French thanks to the projected
supertitles..
|
srw
|
|
response 57 of 221:
|
Aug 30 06:24 UTC 1997 |
Me too, I'd much rather have supertitles than have it sung in English.
However, it is impressive just to consider that they are staging this
work in any language. I just checked out the ASO and Opera Lenawee
sites. I'll admit, I did not know that they ever tackled anything on
this scale. I'm impressed. I obviously didn't know very much about these
musical organizations.
|
krj
|
|
response 58 of 221:
|
Aug 31 01:30 UTC 1997 |
Leslie and I only became aware of Opera Lenawee because Leslie's
accompanist works with their chorus. We saw t their production
of Britten's comic opera Albert Herring in spring '96, and we
enjoyed it. Part of the compaany's appeal is their cozy little
opera house, which only seats around 600. I would say, gear one's
expectations to about the level of a UM student opera production.
I certainly understand where mcnally & srw are coming from regarding
opera in English. I have a bit of a fetish for opera in English, as
I think I've written before; I believe it has the potential to be
much more emotionally involving. But a lot of my excitement is
that productions in English are pretty rare; I don't think I have
seen any, other than at the UMich School of Music.
The world's chief advocate of opera in English is the English
National Opera (ENO). Unfortunately, our 1995 London visit was
mis-timed, and we missed the opening of their season by one week.
The ENO is the only company which records opera in English.
|
orinoco
|
|
response 59 of 221:
|
Aug 31 13:29 UTC 1997 |
Are we talking translated versions of foreign operas, or operas written in
english, or what?
|
krj
|
|
response 60 of 221:
|
Aug 31 16:40 UTC 1997 |
Operas in foreign languages translated into English, for t the most part.
In the case of Puccini's MADAME BUTTERFLY, the original language of
the book is Italian.
Of course some people would argue that English is a difficult language
to understand when sung... I *have* seen references, mostly on TV,
to operas in English with English titles. I think THE ASPERN PAPERS
was presented this way.
|
orinoco
|
|
response 61 of 221:
|
Aug 31 23:22 UTC 1997 |
Certainly English has more vowel shades than some languages. The difference
between Hell, Heal, Hall, and Hull is fainter than the analagous difference
in, say, Italian.
|
srw
|
|
response 62 of 221:
|
Sep 4 05:29 UTC 1997 |
or nearly any other language.
|
krj
|
|
response 63 of 221:
|
Sep 10 21:30 UTC 1997 |
If I am remembering the radio ad from WQRS correctly: the fall season
for the Michigan Opera Theatre opens on Saturday September 20, with
Verdi's AIDA. WQRS will be broadcasting the performance live.
The other opera on MOT's fall schedule is THE MAGIC FLUTE. For this
Mozart opera, MOT is bringing back the charming sets of Maurice Sendak.
|
srw
|
|
response 64 of 221:
|
Sep 12 01:53 UTC 1997 |
Just seeing those sets would be interesting enough by itself.
|
