Boston Gets New Opera Company
Gil Rose, the artistic director of the now defunct Opera Boston, is the general and artistic director of brand new Odyssey Opera, according to the Boston Globe. Odyssey is a smaller, less ambitious company than its predecessor, so it should have a better chance of surviving the vicissitudes of Boston’s artistic life. Its only named funder is millionaire Randolph Fuller who once helped fund Opera Boston. It was when he withdrew his support for the older company that it had to close.
Odyssey Opera expects to offer a blend of classical and contemporary opera, beginning with a five-hour concert performance of Wagner’s Rienzi on September 15. Although Rose says that the new company will be much leaner, tickets for Rienzi can cost almost $200 each. Meanwhile, Boston Lyric Opera will continue to perform more familiar operas like Verdi’s Rigoletto and Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2013/07/18/out-opera-boston-ashes-new-opera-company-rises/c1uId4YQzsyIWClR24C8gI/story.html
Wang Writes Opera about Supreme Court Justices
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia are judicial opponents, but they both enjoy opera. Musician and lawyer Derrick Wang has put together an opera that sets some of their more memorable words to music, according to NPR.com. Instead of composing original music, however, Wang set his text to themes from well-known 19th-century operas by composers such as Bizet and Verdi.
Ginsburg and Scalia have been friends for decades, having met long before either was appointed to the Supreme Court. “It was wonderful,” said Scalia to a reporter for National Public Radio. “The music was wonderful.” Next spring members of the Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program will perform excerpts from Wang’s opera.
www.npr.org/2013/07/10/200137481/scalia-v-ginsburg-supreme-court-sparring-put-to-music
Wendy White Sues Met Opera over Fall
Mezzo soprano Wendy White is suing the Metropolitan Opera Company for damages resulting from the eight-foot fall she took while singing Marthe in Gounod’s Faust, according to the New York Times blog, Arts Beat. She was about to make her entrance when she stepped onto a platform above the stage, which immediately gave way. An investigation by her lawyer, Martin Edelman, shows that the platform collapsed because it was held together with an inadequate hinge.
White has sung more than 500 performances at the Met since her debut in 1989. Edelman said she waited until summer to file suit because she had expected to resume her career by then. Unfortunately, she claims that she still has nerve damage. She cannot stand for very long and is unable to sustain notes, so she cannot work as an opera singer. Her lawsuit, which does not name a specific sum of money, seeks compensation for medical care, loss of wages, and pain, some of which is caused by her inability to perform her art. Met management was served with papers on Monday, August 5.
artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/singer-files-suit-against-met-opera-over-fall/?_r=0
Alexander Pereira Will Take Over La Scala Next Year
The New York Times reports that Alexander Pereira’s tenure as the general manager of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan will begin on October 1, 2014. The Scala transition will occur a year earlier than originally planned because Pereira’s position as artistic director of the Salzburg Festival has ended earlier than expected.
Among the first tasks he will be faced with is the replacement of Artistic Director Daniel Barenboim, whose contract is set to end in 2016. Pereira is thought to prefer an Italian conductor in the position. Current General Manager Stéphane Lissner, who has held the post since 2005, takes over the Paris Opera in 2015.
artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/pereira-to-take-over-la-scala-in-2014/?_r=0
Opera Philadelphia Performs in Unusual Venues
Opera Philadelphia is launching Opera in the City, a series of fully staged performances funded by the Knight Foundation that will be seen in unexpected venues around town, according to Broadway World. In November 2013, the opera company will collaborate with FringeArts on Ana Sokolovic’s new work, Svadba-Wedding. It will be performed at an early 20th century pumping station that is being converted into a new home for FringeArts.
The opera tells a Serbian story that mixes opera with folk music. After each show, ticket holders will be treated to an authentic Balkan wedding celebration with traditional cuisine and live Balkan dance music played by the West Philadelphia Orchestra.
opera.broadwayworld.com/article/Opera-Philadelphia-Launches-OPERA-IN-THE-CITY-with-American-Premiere-of-SVADBA-WEDDING-112-20130805
