The first great opera artist I experienced live was Rise Stevens as Octavian in a 1946 performance of Der Rosenkavalier by the touring Metropolitan Opera in Dallas. I had no idea at the age of nine that she was a great artist, but she certainly impressed me. Since then I have had lots of opportunities to hear many of those who have been called great--and over the past three decades to present … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2015
AN AMAZING COMPOSER IN SEATTLE
Inappropriate as it may be for me to comment on the Ariadne auf Naxos that I planned and cast for Seattle Opera, my only justification is that I had nothing to do with its preparation as I retired last August. I am writing about it because of one truly astonishing performance, that of Kate Lindsey as the Composer. The level of this artist's singing and acting is always high; in this Composer she … [Read more...]
A NEW HELDENTENOR
Three years ago in auditioning for the International Wagner Competition of 2014, which took place last August at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, my colleague, Aren Der Hacopian, and I scoured the world for young dramatic singers between 25 and 40. It was the third such competition. In our New York auditions in the fall of 2012 we heard a tenor named Issachah Savage. A very … [Read more...]
Theatre in London and New York
Recently I attended several plays in New York and London. The most thought provoking, creative and arresting was the Carmen Disruption at the Almeida Theater in London. Written by Simon Stephens after suggestions by the director Sebastian Nuebling and the mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham (who, according to the program, had played Bizet’s heroine 400 times), the piece received its premiere at the Hamburg … [Read more...]