Royal Opera House

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Musician's Landmark Win: Orchestra Ruined My Hearing

Viola player sues Royal Opera House over too-loud rehearsal of Wagner

(Newser) - A viola player in Britain has won an unusual legal case against the Royal Opera House seen as groundbreaking in the music industry. Chris Goldscheider says he got blasted so loudly by the brass section during a 2012 rehearsal that it permanently wrecked his hearing and ended his music career,...

'Twitter Opera' Wins Over Londoners

900 authors wrote Twitterdammerung libretto in tweets

(Newser) - The first-ever Twitter opera—a melding of high tech and high art with a libretto written in chunks of 140 characters—received an unexpectedly positive reception when it opened pver the weekend, the Washington Post reports. One critic called Twitterdammerung “an accident waiting to happen.” But it “...

Twitter Opera Invites Your Tweets

(Newser) - England’s world-famous Royal Opera House is getting with the times by launching the world’s first Twitter libretto, the Independent reports. Participants send lyrical tweets to @youropera, which will be set to familiar and original opera music in The Twitter Opera next month. Some critics worry it cheapens the...

Conductor Downes, Wife End Lives in Swiss Suicide Clinic

Couple faced failing health

(Newser) - British conductor Edward Downes and his wife, Joan, have died at a Swiss suicide clinic, ending their lives “under circumstances of their own choosing,” the couple’s children said today. Downes, 85, was largely blind and Joan, 74, had cancer, the Times of London reports, which their children...

No-Longer-Fat Lady Sings Part She Was Denied

Slimmed-down Voigt mocks 'little black dress' incident online

(Newser) - In 2004 Deborah Voigt, one of the world's most gifted sopranos, was dismissed from a London production of Ariadne auf Naxos for being too fat to fit in the little black dress that the director insisted was integral to the production. On Monday Voigt, who has gone from a size...

Anna Nicole Opera Bound for London
Anna Nicole Opera Bound
for London
Apr 4, 2008 5:46 PM CDT

Anna Nicole Opera Bound for London

Work based on tabloid queen's life will play Covent Garden

(Newser) - Playboy playmate, reality TV wreck, tragic heroine? London's famed Covent Garden has commissioned an opera based on the tumultuous life of Anna Nicole Smith, Reuters reports. The librettist best known for creating the hit musical Jerry Springer: The Opera is penning what he called an "incredible story" and planning...

6 Stories