Met Lifts Curtain on Opera You Don't Have to Dress Up for

Experts say there's nothing to worry about

(NEWSER) - A pair of New York’s top opera stars due to sing in Japan have canceled their performances following the earthquake, the AP reports. Now, the Metropolitan Opera has to “scour the world” to find replacement singers for soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Joseph Calleja, even though experts said the trip to Tokyo and Nagoya was safe. “Part of what makes opera such an exciting art form is that it is so unpredictable," said a rep for the Met. "If there were a rationality clause in opera singers' contracts, not many opera singers would perform." More»

Critics pan new production of Puccini opera

(NEWSER) - New York's Metropolitan Opera opened its season last night with a gala production of Puccini's Tosca, a crowd-pleasing war horse given an aggressive new staging by the Swiss director Luc Bondy. The black-tie crowd was not pleased with the stark, modern production, erupting in boos during the curtain call. Critics were disappointed, too; Manuela Hoelterhoff of Bloomberg laments, "God, this production is depressing." More»

(NEWSER) - Most operas weave pretty far-fetched tales, but that isn't license for directors to retell them in ironic or mocking ways, Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker. Reviewing two recent productions at the Met, Ross hails a faithful staging of Verdi's Il Trovatore—but dismisses a high-concept version of Bellini's La Sonnambula that ignores the naturally "languid, trancelike aura of the early arias and duets." More»

(NEWSER) - Natalie Dessay is still butting heads with opera purists after twenty-some years in the business. The zesty soprano, an actor at heart, upsets some critics by adding theatrical gestures and even screams to her roles. "At least it's alive," Dessay says of her style. Opera, on the other hand, "is dusty. But it can be dusted. That's my mission." The freethinking diva is profiled by Rebecca Mead in the New Yorker. More»

Company names Steel new GM after chaotic year

(NEWSER) - The New York City Opera, the deeply troubled company based at Lincoln Center, has named Dallas-based director and conductor George Steel as its new general manager. The announcement comes after last fall's departure of Gerard Mortier, the Belgian iconoclast who promised a shake-up of the opera but quit before he began the job. As the New York Times reports, Steel faces an uphill battle to balance City Opera's budget and revive its artistic mission. More»