REVIEW: Powerful, Bloody Elektra (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 8, 2019October 16, 2019 A scene from Minnesota Opera's new production of Elektra, which opened Saturday in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Cory Weaver. Before there was Kill Bill, there was Elektra: a drama from Classical Greece whose culmination is a well-telegraphed murder. Did your father kill your sister and your mother kill your father?
PHOTOS: Minnesota Opera’s Elektra Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 5, 2019October 14, 2019 A scene from Minnesota Opera's new production of Elektra, which opens tonight in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Cory Weaver. Minnesota Opera's production of Elektra opens tonight at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN. This production of an opera by Richard Strauss treats Greek myth with
INTERVIEW: Sabine Hogrefe on Battling the Soprano-Wrecker in Elektra Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - September 24, 2019September 28, 2019 Costume sketches by Mathew LeFebvre for Minnesota Opera's upcoming production of Richard Strauss's opera Elektra. The Soprano-Wrecker. The End of Harmony. The Most Horrific Tragedy in Opera. The First Freudian Opera. These are but a few of the nicknames for the opera Elektra. Composed by Richard Strauss, the opera first took
REVIEW: Journey North Opera Company Bounds Back with Powerful Rape of Lucretia Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - September 7, 2019September 11, 2019 A promotional photo for Journey North Opera Company's production of The Rape of Lucretia. Photo by Justin Sims Photography. Journey North Opera Company's been in hibernation for a long time. Not since 2015 has the company produced in the Twin Cities, back when it was still called Twin Cities Fringe Opera.
REVIEW: Rare Dafne Brought to Light (Twin Cities Early Music Festival) Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 A 16th-century painting of the Greek legend of Apollo and Daphne by Paolo Veronese, showing Daphne morphing into a tree in front of Apollo's anguished eyes. The featured portions of the Twin Cities Early Music Festival launched yesterday with a performance of Marco da Gagliano's 1608 opera La Dafne. The rarely performed
REVIEW: La Serva Padrona Ascends at Icehouse (Mill City Summer Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - July 16, 2019July 17, 2019 Rodolfo Nieto (center) and Madison Holtze (right) in Mill City Summer Opera's production of the opera La serva padrona. Photo by Jasmin Kemp. Mill City Summer Opera leaped onto its first-ever second stage last night. The company's compact production of La serva padrona is a light-hearted, entertaining gem staged at the
BREAKING NEWS: Stephen Lord Resigns From Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - June 19, 2019June 19, 2019 Following last night's publication of an investigative feature on Stephen Lord, the American conductor has resigned from his positions at Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Statements from both organizations follow. MOT's complete statement reads: Michigan Opera Theatre announced today that its Principal Conductor Stephen Lord has resigned from
FEATURE: Threats, Quid Pro Quo Harassment, & Obscene Messages: Abuse on an Operatic Scale Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - June 18, 2019June 21, 2019 Photo by Toni Maksan. [Editor's update: Following the June 18th publication of this article, Stephen Lord resigned from Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.] [Warning: This article includes a detailed discussion of sexual harassment.] "If you sleep with me, you would have so many jobs." "I could cast you in so
REVIEW: Everything Great About Minnesota Opera’s La Traviata Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 Jésus León and Nicole Cabell star as doomed lovers Alfredo and Violetta in Minnesota Opera's La Traviata, now playing at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Dan Norman. Editor's Note: This is the second of two reviews looking at Minnesota Opera's production of La
REVIEW: Everything Wrong with Minnesota Opera’s La Traviata Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - May 6, 2019May 7, 2019 The famous Brindisi scene in Minnesota Opera's production of La Traviata, which opened Saturday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Dan Norman. Editor's Note: This is the first of two reviews looking at Minnesota Opera's production of La Traviata, which opened on Saturday