Competing Opera Companies Merge
After seven years of competing with one another and frustrating potential donors, the Opera Company of North Carolina and Triangle Opera have decided to overcome their differences and combine forces.
Be Careful What You Practice…
In Berlin, the police were summoned to an apartment after reports of horrific screaming. Upon arrival, however, they fortunately did not find a gruesome crime scene but rather a 76-year-old women practicing for a yodeling diploma. “The officers weren’t able to judge whether the neighbors were unfamiliar with Bavarian folk music or whether the lady still requires a lot of practice,” police said in a statement.
Mother Nature Gives Her Blessing to Santa Fe Opera
The New Mexican reported that after a bull snake crawled into a transformer, Santa Fe Opera experienced a power outage which impacted the first hour of Aug. 5th’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. The performance went on as planned with just a few improvisations: a back-up generator lit up the theater, the singers performed in front of the electronically-controlled pit orchestra which was stuck halfway between the stage and the pit (thereby blocking any possible staging or set changes), bathrooms were lit by battery-operated lanterns, and bartenders served by flashlight. After power was restored, the rest of the performance went on as rehearsed. Opera patrons were reportedly very accommodating.
Alagna Runs Into Trouble…Literally
During Act Three of opening night for Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette at the Chorégies of Orange, France, Roberto Alagna injured a previously sprained ankle while running across stage. He managed to hobble through the remaining two acts and was apparently even carried during some scenes, obviously in a great deal of pain. His dedication to the performance earned him a standing ovation at the end of the performance.
“Divas Bare All! This Week on Springer”
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival had a very interesting premiere this summer; the new production, Jerry Springer, The Opera (by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee) has had the audiences talking about the Ku Klux Klan dance scene and the diaper fetishist who confesses all to his lover, among other scenes. Springer himself apparently attended a performance of the opera later in the summer. Thomas has been approached by seven different countries interested in staging the show; however rights are pending the approval of the corporation that owns the rights to The Jerry Springer Show, which has not, as of yet, reacted favorably towards the production.
Semper Opera House Under Water
Reuters reports that the basement of the Semper Opera House in Dresden, Germany was under about eight feet of water due to severe flooding of the nearby River Elbe. Adi Luick, the opera’s director, has stated that the theater itself has not been damaged, but all performances for the next two months have been cancelled.
“Please Email Me Your Theory Homework…”
We would just like to let you know about a relatively new institution of learning: the Eastern Conservatory of Music, which is a “distance-learning music school.” All courses are run through the website, and your recitals are given in the community and then web-cast. For more info see http://easternconservatory-music.org.
