Category Archives: Opera

THE MET’S “LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN”: WHERE THE PARTS ARE GREATER THAN THE WHOLE

  Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann, was possibly the most original and influential fiction writer of the German Romantic era. Known today primarily for his literary works, Hoffman was also a lawyer and composer. He changed his middle name to Amadeus due to his great […]

October 7, 2024 – 9:17 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Dance, from Paul, History, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on THE MET’S “LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN”: WHERE THE PARTS ARE GREATER THAN THE WHOLE

BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC SPARKLES IN LYRIC’S FIDELIO

Beethoven wrote only one opera – Fidelio. The Lyric Opera’s production of this singular work highlights the season’s debut of the famous Lyric chorus under the inspired direction of Michael Black, the thrilling playing of the Lyric orchestra led by the always meticulous Enrique Maszzola, and the uniformly dynamic singing of the principal vocalists. Beethoven […]

September 27, 2024 – 10:45 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Politics, Theater, World Affairs | Comments Off on BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC SPARKLES IN LYRIC’S FIDELIO

MAZZOLA, BIRNBAUM, AND SINGING ACTORS OFFER A BRILLIANT RIGOLETTO TO OPEN OPERA SEASON

For the past several years one couldn’t find a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto outside of a “new and improved interpretation”, usually set in a time and place closer to our own. The reasoning was that such a reinterpretation made it easier for the  “boobus Americani” to see how the themes of the work relate […]

September 15, 2024 – 11:59 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, from Paul, History, Music, Newspapers, Opera, Quotations, Theater, Uncategorized | Comments Off on MAZZOLA, BIRNBAUM, AND SINGING ACTORS OFFER A BRILLIANT RIGOLETTO TO OPEN OPERA SEASON

MADAMA BUTTERFLY AT THE MET: ASMIK GREGORIAN IS BUTTERFLY

The most recent study names Puccini’s Madama Butterfly as the sixth most popular opera in the world. In fact, seeing the opera at the age of sixteen prompted Yoko Watanabe (1953-2004) to a singing career, eventually to the position of the most famous of Japanese opera singers, certainly to be one of the most acclaimed […]

May 12, 2024 – 7:43 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Books, Dance, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Quotations, Theater | Comments Off on MADAMA BUTTERFLY AT THE MET: ASMIK GREGORIAN IS BUTTERFLY

MET OPERA OFFERS RONDINE, PUCCINI’S FRAGILE BITTERSWEET DELICACY

The invitation from Vienna to create an opera based on a sketch by Alfred Maria Willner, Franz Lehar’s librettist, tested Puccini’s stated dislike of the operettas with spoken dialogue . “It is the usual slipshod, banal operetta, the usual contrast between East and West, ballroom festivities and opportunities for dancing, with no study of character […]

April 22, 2024 – 10:52 am | By Paul Kuritz | Posted in Acting, Art, from Paul, History, Men and Women, Music, Opera, Poetry | Comments Off on MET OPERA OFFERS RONDINE, PUCCINI’S FRAGILE BITTERSWEET DELICACY