REVIEW: Suffused with Roses – Roméo et Juliet (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Lydia Lunning - September 26, 2016March 11, 2017 Tempers flare and swords are drawn in Minnesota Opera's production of Roméo et Juliette. Photo by Dan Norman. Minnesota Opera kicks off the 2016-2017 season with a sparkling and stylish reimagining of Roméo et Juliette, Charles-Franҫois Gounod’s 1867 adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tale of famous star-crossed lovers caught between two feuding houses. A
INTERVIEW: Kelly Kaduce of The Shining Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - May 12, 2016March 11, 2017 Wendy (Kelly Kaduce) and Danny (Alejandro Vega) Torrance meditate on the strange turns that their life has taken in The Shining. Photo by Ken Howard. Soprano Kelly Kaduce is Minnesota-born and raised, but since graduating from St. Olaf's she has traveled and sung all across the United States. The month of May finds
REVIEW: The Shining = Brilliant Psychodrama (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - May 10, 2016March 11, 2017 A disturbed Jack Torrance (Brian Mulligan) menaces his wife Wendy (Kelly Kaduce) and son Danny (Alejandro Vega) in The Shining. Photo by Ken Howard. Minnesota Opera's 2015-2016 season comes to a crashing bang with The Shining, an adaptation of the bestselling horror novel by Stephen King. The main thing wrong with this production appears
PREVIEW: Tosca (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - March 7, 2016March 11, 2017 A scenic design sculpture for Act 2 of Minnesota Opera's 2016 production of Tosca. Design by Lorenzo Cutùli. Tosca, which opens this Saturday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, is one of the most lethal operas in the standard repertoire. Les Troyens' mass suicide of Trojan maidens kills off more
REVIEW: Lush Rusalka Delights (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Lydia Lunning - January 24, 2016March 11, 2017 Minnesota Opera’s production of Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, with soprano Kelly Kaduce in the title role, has returned to the Ordway after its premiere in 2008. This fairy tale opera had not appeared in United States until the mid-1970s, but this richly textured staging and Dvořák’s full-bodied score should be an
Minnesota Opera Names New President Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - January 14, 2016March 11, 2017 Minnesota Opera announced today that Ryan Taylor will become its president and general director, effective May 1, 2016. Taylor joins the company from Arizona Opera, where he currently serves as general director. Taylor is a distinguished singer, director, and artistic administrator – and, as an alumnus of MNOpera's Resident Artist Program,
INTERVIEW: Nina Archabal on 1 Year at the Helm of Minnesota Opera Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - December 14, 2015March 11, 2017 A production photo from Minnesota Opera's 2008 production of Rusalka. Photo by Michal Daniel. In November 2014, Nina Archabal was appointed as Interim General Director at Minnesota Opera. At the time, the organization was not in the best of health: despite overall strong ticket sales, the company had accrued operating deficits in two consecutive
PREVIEW: Minnesota Opera’s The Magic Flute in Duluth Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 31, 2015March 11, 2017 Minnesota Opera's revival of The Magic Flute isn't playing in the Twin Cities for two weeks, but the production opens out of town this afternoon for a special 2 PM Halloween performance in Duluth. Here are some pictures from the tour: All photos courtesy of Minnesota Opera. MN Opera's Duluth tour is sponsored by
INTERVIEW: Dale Johnson on Minnesota Opera’s Magic Flute Madness Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 29, 2015March 11, 2017 Minnesota Opera Artistic Director Dale Johnson. Photo by Michal Daniel. Minnesota Opera's innovative 2014 production of The Magic Flute was one of the surprise hits of the 2013-2014 season. This adaptation of the classic Mozart opera smashed the company's box office records, selling 14,584 tickets and bringing in $951,000 in ticket revenue. A year and
REVIEW: Minnesota Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - September 27, 2015March 11, 2017 The 1912 world premiere of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos had a built-in pacing problem: while the opera itself was only 90 minutes, it was performed second on the same bill as Le bourgeois gentillehomme – a lengthy play that by itself ran 4.5 hours. This, unsurprisingly, was not the best combination even before the advent