Inspirazione! : Leaving 'Die Tote Stadt'
Once in a while, when the stars are aligned, when the director, conductor, singers, and designers are all on the same page and of the same skill level, opera has the potential to become what the composer in Ariadne auf Naxos calls “die heilige unter den Künsten” (the highest of the arts). What follows is not a review, but an appreciation of one recent occasion where singer and writer Lisa Houston saw that potential realized, causing her to reevaluate the possibilities for the art form of opera.