One Of These Mornings / You're Going To Rise Up Singing

Porgy and Bess is getting a fresh coat of paint à la Broadway: a new (happier) ending, extra dialogue, revamped music, modernized sets and costumes, the works!

Not to show my hand too soon, but based on the New York Times preview I think this production sounds amazing:
It seems as though the impetus for the makeover was a fleshing out of Bess' character - and, in fact, the musical is directed by Diane Paulus; Suzan-Lori Parks modernized the libretto; Deirdre L. Murray adapted the music; and Audra McDonald signed on for the title role. Despite the fact that this will be a commercial musical designed to appeal to a variety of theatergoers, the production team is in no way skimping on the issues written into the plot, including rape, drugs, poverty, and racism.
In other words: a group of strong, mostly African-American women are re-examining what has always been a (beloved, but) problematic opera, they are introducing an entirely new audience to an old work, they are making it relevant to the 21st century, they are pushing at the boundaries of how we interact with "the canon," and in the process they are making new art.


But Stephen Sondheim hates everything about it, so.

I could get on my soap box and write about how adaptations do not debase the original - but it may be enough to say that I would hate to live in a world without gems like these:

I Love To Laugh / Ha Ha Ha Ha!

#Operaplot2011! Winners!! Announced!!!

(Runner-up Nixon Goes to China: you'd get my vote.)





(More about #operaplot from The Omniscient Mussel so you can play next year.)

The System Is Down, Yo

The Cairo Opera House is closed until further notice: WQXR reports.

I Can't See Nobody

"Opera Seen Through the Ears" at The Australian.













Figure: Not like this.

(via The Omniscient Mussel)

And Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect

David Leventi's latest project is entitled "Bjoerling’s Larynx: World Famous Opera Houses": a photo series documenting famous and not-so-famous (but always opulent) theaters. The Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans will display the photos August 7 - September 11, 2010, but you can see them online at the artist's website here.

(via neatorama and pdn)

You're A Shining Star

The thing is: it's not as though opera STAR Renée Fleming is in want of an audience. And yet her newest cd is a collection of indie covers (Arcade Fire, The Mars Volta, Tears for Fears) - songs she had never heard before the producers handed her a mixtape. Adventurous, okay!, but the problem I have with this album is the pretty clear "this-is-slumming-it" attitude in the interviews - maybe a touch more condescension than would be ideal ("I was heartened by the social involvement of these young artists and I was really thrilled to know there's a generation of young people coming up who care" - well, yes, non-classical musicians can care too). I would be so curious to know who exactly is listening to this album...

Honestly? There are some just-fine covers on this cd (and the novelty of Renée Fleming singing Death Cab for Cutie is going to take a few more listens to wear off), but there's a reason every critic panned this one. Crossover albums are funny things.

Your Flight Was Smooth, I Hope?

A complete video recording of Adams' "Nixon in China"! In seventeen parts.

(I'll get you started:)



(what a treasure! via metafilter)

Flash Dance

Verdi-style.



(via metafilter)

I Could Be Purple / I Could Be Anything You Like

"Opera's coolest soprano" (that would be Danielle de Niese) teams up with Mika on "Pop Star to Opera Star". So...that happened.

All Around Me Are Familiar Faces

I wanted to get you a present, and I decided on Luciano Pavarotti's eyebrows (please see 0:24).



Forget women; those eyebrows are mobile, that's what I think.

Stars Of Our Stars

C. Bartoli
M. Uchida
R. Muti

FOR THE WIN!!!!!



(via collabpiano)

If We Bought A Trailer / We Could Go To Vegas / And Be Very Happy

Trailers from the Royal Opera House: Le Nozze di Figaro, Salome, The Cunning Little Vixen, Carmen, more.

They might not be comprehensive, but they are compelling.

Everyone Wants Something New

Anna Nicole Smith (based on the life of ANS): The Opera.

"Tomorrow, In A Year" (based on the life of Charles Darwin): The Opera.

"Bliss" (based on the Peter Carey novel): The Opera.

Rock Paper Scissors

These ice dancers are performing to a tango from...Schnittke's 1992 opera "Life With an Idiot." Not your average ice dancing music!



(via youtube)

So This Is The New Year / I Don't Feel Any Different

"I see two [Gagas], or mine eyes deceive me."
Angela Gheorghiu, International Opera Star. (She also answers to "the world's most glamorous opera star," in case you were wondering.)


Check out Opera Chic (wonderful. the end.) for more of the soprano's latest gaga-style publicity shots.