Rebel Singer Out to Save 'Dusty' Operas

(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»

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»

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau excelled at Schubert lieder

(NEWSER) - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, perhaps the greatest singer of art songs in the 20^th century, died yesterday at home in Bavaria, the New York Times reports. He was 86. The German son of a classical scholar and a schoolteacher, Fischer-Dieskau (pronounced FEE-sher DEES-cow) studied voice in Berlin and got two years of unexpected practice singing for fellow POWs during World War II. Returning to Germany at age 22, he quickly became a singing sensation. "I passed my last exam in the concert hall," he said. More»

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»