INTERVIEW: Soprano Liv Redpath on Singing in the Best of All Possible Worlds Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 18, 2019March 18, 2019 Opera is seemingly everywhere in the Twin Cities in March, with productions and concerts by the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Opera, Skylark Opera Theatre, and more. Into this tangled period leaps the choral music ensemble VocalEssence, which has chosen "The Best of All Possible Worlds" – that is, to perform Leonard
REVIEW: Timely The Fix (MN Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 The ensemble of Minnesota Opera's world premiere production of The Fix, which opened Saturday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota. Photo by Cory Weaver. It's rather poetic that Minnesota Opera's The Fix premiered just days after breaking news of a major college admissions fraud and bribery
INTERVIEW: Bob Neu on Skylark’s Così fan tutte Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 8, 2019March 8, 2019 A word cloud showing the most popular words in an English-language translation of the opera Così fan tutte, which will be staged by Skylark Opera Theatre from March 22-31 at The Historic Mounds Theatre in St. Paul, MN. Long before Trading Spaces, Celebrity Wife Swap, and other reality televsion, Wolfgang Amadeus
REVIEW: Older Humor in The Italian Straw Hat (Minnesota Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Amy Donahue - January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 Wedding planning runs into some snags in Minnesota Opera's production of The Italian Straw Hat. Photo by Cory Weaver. Alignment is key. Whether it's about car wheels, shakras, or humor, it's essential that elements designed to work together be arranged so that they complement and build upon individual virtues and needs, rather
INTERVIEW: David Cote and Adapting a Children’s Classic The Scarlet Ibis Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 14, 2019January 16, 2019 A page from the libretto of David Cote and Stefan Weisman's opera The Scarlet Ibis, which opens Thursday in Cambridge, MA in a production by Boston Opera Collaborative. January may be a frigid stormy time in much of the United States, but it's a florid time for new opera in the
INTERVIEW: NYC’s PROTOTYPE Festival Leaders Talk New Opera and Music-Theatre Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 A promotional image for The Infinite Hotel at the NYC PROTOTYPE Festival of new operas. Artwork based on photos by Matthew Soltesz and Rachel Shane. Minnesota has long had a tradition of artistic leadership, influence, and practice beyond its borders. Whether in choral or popular music (or the odd Grammy-nominated orchestra
AWARDS: The Inaugural Spice Awards in the Performing Arts Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Hanne Appelbaum - December 25, 2018December 28, 2018 It's been a whiplash year for awards and the Twin Cities performing arts scene. In fact, it's just been a whiplash year, period. In 2018, allegations of sexual assault and other misbehavior emerged at several local arts organizations. Cornerstone organizations such as Intermedia Arts and the Soap Factory remain shuttered
INTERVIEW: Mill City Summer Opera’s New Artistic Director Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 17, 2018November 4, 2018 Crystal Manich, the recently named Artistic Director of Mill City Summer Opera. Photo by Laura Marie Duncan. Next summer, Mill City Summer Opera will open its festival season under new leadership: Crystal Manich, the company's recently named artistic director. Manich has directed operas across the United States and in far-off cities
REVIEW: Long La Rondine Worth the Wait (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 14, 2018November 17, 2018 Celine Bryne as Magda, Leonardo Capalbo as Ruggero, and the Minnesota Opera Chorus in Minnesota Opera’s new production of La Rondine. Photo by Cory Weaver. There is a temptation that directors and designers face to re-encapsulate or reframe an old stage work for today's audience. Sometimes it is about trying to highlight
PHOTOS: Minnesota Opera’s La Rondine Takes Flight Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 6, 2018October 9, 2018 Celine Bryne as Magda, Leonardo Capalbo as Ruggero, and the Minnesota Opera Chorus in Minnesota Opera’s new production of Puccini's La Rondine. Minnesota Opera's 2018-2019 season kicks off tonight with Giacomo Puccini's La Rondine, a tale of new love and spectres of the past. [Editor's note: Naturally, this plot has no bearing at all