Opera - my/maSCENA

Backstage at Carnegie Hall: Opera by Tim Brady

By Justin Bernard on 2 September 2022 Classical Music, Contemporary, Opera, Vocal Jazz

Tim Brady is very single-minded. For six years, he has nurtured his opera about the history of the electric guitar, as personified by its pioneer, Charlie Christian (1916-1942). As a guitarist and composer himself, Brady knew quite well that this story would open the door to those who transcend individuals and borders. The life of Charlie Christian effectively aligns not only with the history of the electric guitar, but with that of jazz, Black musicians, and the Black community as a whole in its struggles against segregation and racism. Instead of limiting himself to one time period or place, Brady…

Ashkenaz Festival: The Unveiling of Bas-Sheve

By Zenith Wolfe on 31 August 2022 Classical Music, Contemporary, Opera, World Music

The story of Bas-Sheve—the first Yiddish opera ever composed—extends far beyond what’s in the score. The work was first written by Henekh Kon and performed with piano accompaniment in 1924 Warsaw, only to be lost in the annals of history for nearly a century, never interpreted as Kon imagined. Dr. Diana Matut rediscovered the manuscript in 2017, though it was 16 pages shy of its original 95-page length, leading her to commission Joshua Horowitz and Michael Wex to complete the score and libretto, respectively. Its restoration, performed in Germany at the Yiddish Summer Weimar Festival in 2019, caught the attention…

Promotional image from the City Opera Vancouver website

Newswire | City Opera Vancouver’s “CHINATOWN” Now Opening in September at Vancouver Playhouse

By Newswire on 25 August 2022 Newswire, Opera

Vancouver, 25 August 2022 – City Opera Vancouver has decided to offer its presentation of CHINATOWN in a new format. We are now offering a complete presentation of the opera, but in a staged concert format. We began general rehearsals on August 23rd and due to production and staffing issues we have run out of time to offer the version we originally intended. A revised format is the best-possible solution available to us in this complicated environment. The only alternative would be to postpone it another year. All of the elements of this meaningful and timely opera are intact. At…

Alain Zouvi (Credit: Julie Beauchemin)

Newswire | Opéra Bouffe du Québec Presents “La belle de Cadix”

By Newswire on 22 August 2022 Classical Music, Newswire, Opera

Laval, August 22, 2022 – After two years of silence, “l’Opéra bouffe du Québec (OBQ)” is eager to present “La belle de Cadix”, famous French operetta from Francis Lopez, renowned through time for its unforgettable arias! Staged by Alain Zouvi, with musical director Simon Fournier, the seven soloists, thirty chorus singers and the OBQ orchestra will carry the public to Spain, from October 22nd to 30th, at the “Théâtre des Muses” in the “Maison des arts de Laval”! L’OBQ is back on stage for the first time since November 2019, back when it presented “La fille du tambour-major” where Alain…

Tim Brady

Newswire | Tim Brady’s Opera “Backstage at Carnegie Hall” Premieres September

By Newswire on 17 August 2022 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Newswire, Opera

Montréal, May 4, 2022 – Bradyworks, in co-presentation with Chants libres and Le Vivier, announce the world premiere of Backstage at Carnegie Hall : an opera about racism and the electric guitar. The music is by Tim Brady and the libretto is by Audrey Dwyer. The performances will take place on September 23 and 24, 2022 at the Centaur Theatre. Backstage at Carnegie Hall is an audacious, multiracial work that explores racism as seen through the eyes of legendary jazz guitarist Charlie Christian (1916 – 1942). The opera brings us back to December 1939, backstage at Carnegie Hall, just minutes before…

Newswire | Chants Libres Presents: Oper’Actuel – Works in Progress 2022 – 7th edition

By Newswire on 17 August 2022 Classical Music, Newswire, Opera

Montréal, Monday, August 1, 2022 – Chants Libres is thrilled to announce the program for its seventh edition of OPER’ACTUEL | Works in Progress, where audiences will be treated to performances of operas in progress by five composers from Canada and abroad (Canada, France, Italy and Lithuania). Three performances will be held on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28, at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal’s Théâtre Rouge. Discover the operas of tomorrow… OPER’ACTUEL has promoted the work of many composers and librettists since its inception. The seventh edition will feature five new pairings, selected through an international call…

Newswire | The Quebec Opera Festival: an 11th Edition That Makes its Mark

By Newswire on 12 August 2022 Classical Music, Newswire, Opera

Quebec City, August 12, 2022 – The 11th edition of the Festival d’opéra de Québec concluded on August 4 with Faust’s final performance at the Grand Théâtre de Québec. This show, along with the other presentations on the program, will have established the mark of Jean-François Lapointe as the new general and artistic director of the event. Its programming offered the high level of quality that one could expect from a singer who has had a remarkable career, especially in French opera. Presented by BMO Financial Group in collaboration with Le Soleil, the Festival featured a flagship production (Faust de…

Bayreuther Festspiele 2022's "Das Rheingold". From left to right: Elisabeth Teige as Freia, Attilio Glaser as Froh, Christa Mayer as Fricka (Credit: Enrico Nawrath)

Review | New Bayreuth Festival Ring Cycle — A Stew of Undercooked Ideas

By Gianmarco Segato on 11 August 2022 Concert Reviews, Opera

After a long, pandemic-induced delay, the Bayreuther Festspiele finally premiered its new production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle on July 31, but not before a myriad of changes. Back in the before-times, the Cycle was to have been staged by German director Tatjana Gürbaca, who mounted an exciting Ring deconstruction that I saw at the Theater an der Wien in 2017. Its first installment entitled Hagen – a mashup of Rheingold and Gӧtterdämmerung – followed the titular character’s development from a traumatized youth to the brutal villain we love to hate in the final installment in Wagner’s tetralogy (put a pin…

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Newswire | Opera Night Out With the “Barber of Seville” in Little Italy

By Newswire on 11 August 2022 Newswire, Opera

Montreal, August 2nd, 2022 – On Sunday, August 14th at 9:00 pm, on the Mastro® and San Daniele® stage in Little Italy, all eyes will be on the presentation of the opera, “The Barber of Seville”, starring a cast of exceptional singers including Raphaëlle Paquette as Rosina, Hugo Laporte as Figaro, Louis-Charles Gagnon as Count Almaviva, Doug MacNaughton as Bartolo, and Alexandre Sylvestre as Don Basilio. Under the artistic direction of Salvatore Sciascia, with a symphonic thirty-piece orchestra directed by Maestro Gianluca Martinenghi (Italy), the opera is always sure to be one of the festival’s highlights. The performance of this year’s…

UCLA Philharmonica (from the UCLA Philharmonica website)

Newswire | Ashkenaz Festival to Premiere First Yiddish Opera Ever Presented in Canada

By Newswire on 27 July 2022 Newswire, Opera

Toronto, Ontario (July 27, 2022) – Ashkenaz 2022 proudly presents the North American premiere of Henekh Kon’s “Bas-Sheve,” based on the controversial biblical story of David and Bathsheba. The only known pre-Holocaust Yiddish opera, and never performed after its 1924 premiere in Warsaw, the work was forgotten for decades before the only known existing manuscript was unearthed by German musicologist Dr. Diana Matut in 2017. After Matut discovered 16 pages missing from the original score, she enlisted Toronto-based Yiddishist (and New York Times best-selling author) Michael Wex to complete the libretto. Renowned klezmer musician, composer and ethnomusicologist Joshua Horowitz was…

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