opera

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Protesters Denounce Met Opera That 'Glorifies Terrorism'

Rudy Giuliani among those objecting to opera's 'historical inaccuracy'

(Newser) - Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined hundreds of demonstrators last night to protest an opening-night opera performance at the Met, the New York Times reports. Protesters shouted "Shame on the Met!" and sported signs that read "The Met glorifies terrorism," and it's all thanks to...

Courtney Love's Next Gig: Opera Star

She's cast in a 'pop opera' next year

(Newser) - You probably did not see this one coming: Courtney Love has been cast ... in an opera. Specifically, Kansas City Choir Boy, which Rolling Stone calls a "pop opera." It will run from Jan. 8 to 17 in New York City, as part of the Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now Festival . "...

Opera Singer Farts When Singing, Files Lawsuit
Opera Singer Farts When Singing, Sues Over Surgery
in case you missed it
Feb 1, 2014 8:01 AM CST

Opera Singer Farts When Singing, Sues Over Surgery

Amy Herbst says unkind cut ruined her singing career

(Newser) - Hitting a high C is hard enough without worrying about passing gas—and an opera singer in Nashville is suing over the dilemma, Fox News reports. Amy Herbst, a mezzo-soprano, says she was doing fine until an Army nurse screwed up her childbirth operation in 2012. The nurse at an...

X-Ray Reveals 216-Year-Old Opera Aria

Stanford lab able to read scrubbed-out notes of Luigi Cherubini

(Newser) - Stanford physicists have made it possible to listen to a renowned opera in full for the first time in more than 200 years, reports the San Jose Mercury News . Scientists at the university's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory used X-rays to reveal the closing aria from the 1797 opera Medee ...

Soprano to Become First Singer in Space

Sarah Brightman plans Soyuz trip

(Newser) - The world's best-selling soprano has booked her ticket to space. British singer Sarah Brightman, who rose to fame as the heroine in The Phantom of the Opera, plans to head to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz in 2015, reports the Guardian . Brightman, who plans to spend...

World's 'Finest' Interpreter of Art Songs Dead at 86

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau excelled at Schubert lieder

(Newser) - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, perhaps the 20th century's greatest singer of art songs, 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 had two years of unexpected...

Opera Stars Ditch Japan Tour Over Radiation Fears

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...

Opera Legend Joan Sutherland Dead at 83

Stupendous soprano had 'voice of the century'

(Newser) - Joan Sutherland, the soprano Luciano Pavarotti once called "the voice of the century," has died at her home in Switzerland at age 83. The Australian-born singer—known as "La Stupenda" or "The Stupendous One" to opera audiences—became one of the most celebrated opera singers of...

Drug War: The Opera, Premieres in Mexico

Opera is first to tackle theme of country's drug conflict

(Newser) - Mexico's drug war has reached its fingers all the way into the country's premier opera house: The first opera based on the conflict, Only the Truth, has premiered in Mexico City. The opera, based on a popular Mexican song, tells the story of a woman who smuggles marijuana north into...

Anna Nicole Opera Will Premiere in 2011

Libretto is by 'Jerry Springer: The Opera' writer

(Newser) - Britain's Royal Opera House will stage the premiere of an opera about Anna Nicole Smith in 2011. The libretto of Anna Nicole is by Richard Thomas, a creator of the controversial Jerry Springer: The Opera. Covent Garden commissioned the opera about the former Playmate in 2008. It will focus on...

Harlem Aria Hits Sour Note
 Harlem Aria Hits Sour Note 
MOVIE REVIEW
Mar 5, 2010 12:35 PM CST

Harlem Aria Hits Sour Note

Apparent Soloist knockoff actually from 1999, where it should stay

(Newser) - Harlem Aria hit the festival circuit in 1999, and contemporary critics are baffled by the timing of the release of the uneven story of a developmentally disabled young black man with a heart and voice of gold:
  • The performances and William Jennings' direction are "no more than adequate,"
...

2 New Theaters Make Dallas a Hotspot
 2 New Theaters 
 Make Dallas a Hotspot 
ARCHITECTURE REVIEW
Oct 15, 2009 9:13 AM CDT

2 New Theaters Make Dallas a Hotspot

One traditional, one progressive, they reaffirm the Big D's vibrancy

(Newser) - Dallas has several museums and concert halls that would be the envy of any city, but until now they've seemed more like standalone monuments than elements of a city center. Two new venues opening this Sunday have transformed downtown, "giving the area the cultural stature Dallas has long been...

Met Audience Boos Drab Tosca
 Met Audience Boos Drab Tosca 
OPERA REVIEW
Sep 22, 2009 8:48 AM CDT

Met Audience Boos Drab Tosca

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...

'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...

Opera Sounds Good, But How Does It Smell?

New work opening at Guggenheim blasts 23 scents at audience

(Newser) - A new opera premiering at the Guggenheim Museum in New York later this month will be a feast for the ears, the eyes—and the nose. Green Aria, a 30-minute "scent opera" years in the making, pairs music with 23 distinct odors blasted at the audience via individual...

José Carreras Retires From Opera

62-year-old's departure leaves one of Three Tenors

(Newser) - Unable to perform at the level he considers acceptable, José Carreras will retire from opera, the least prominent of the Three Tenors tells the Times of London. Unamplified lead roles in opera houses are more than the 62-year-old Spaniard can handle, he said. “If I can do concert recitals,...

Few Blacks Followed Anderson's Lead
 Few Blacks Followed 
 Anderson's Lead 
analysis
Apr 6, 2009 5:01 PM CDT

Few Blacks Followed Anderson's Lead

(Newser) - Marian Anderson shattered a racial barrier when she sang at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939—70 years ago this week—yet despite planned tributes, the power of the moment has faded, Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker. Most young people know nothing of Anderson, and "black...

High-Concept Sonnambula Misses at Met

 High-Concept 
 Sonnambula 
 Misses at Met 
opera review
Mar 23, 2009 2:35 PM CDT

High-Concept Sonnambula Misses at Met

(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...

Newbies' Passion for Opera 'Like Love at First Sight'

Research suggests if you don't swoon first time, opera may not be for you

(Newser) - The passion that opera fans feel for the art form is more akin to love at first sight than a slow-growing desire, Reuters reports. A sociologist focused on fans in the cheap seats who hadn't been brought up on opera, and found they tended to have an intense, explosive attraction...

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