Vocal focus from CCMN Southern CA Vocal Events Lauri D. Goldenhersh’s Weekly Highlights Composers, a challenge: We need a really big, fun, novelty Thanksgiving song, preferably with a series of verses that can be customized by menu, and an infectious fugue in the middle, built on the words “Gobble”, “Pies” and “Hike!” Shopping-related features are … Read more
LA Opera‘s latest jaunt into challenging contemporary opera is making waves, as the world premiere of David Lang‘s Anatomy Theater opens Thursday, and gets four more performances through Monday, the last of which is followed by a free after-party hosted by Time Out Los Angeles. The opera was mentioned in last week’s issue of CCMN, but … Read more
More looking into the future, as San Diego Opera announced their next season over the weekend. After a fairly conservative season this year (understandable under the circumstances), next year’s lineup includes two Verdi classics, Rossini’s fairy tale, Peter Brook’s Carmen redux and the West Coast premiere of a new multimedia exploration by David T. Little, as well as … Read more
Vocal focus from CCMN* Southern CA Vocal Events Lauri D. Goldenhersh’s Weekly Highlights The season is wrapping up, with finales, festivals and fine music, everywhere you look! CCMN will be released every two weeks through the summer, so this is the first double issue of the off-season. However, with so much packed into the next … Read more
John Adams‘ The Death of Klinghoffer is an opera designed to leave its audience with much to contemplate, and it succeeds mightily. The subject has sparked repeated controversy since the 1991 premiere, so much so that most of the headlines in the last year that refer to the external conflict. (Do a quick Google search and … Read more
A fond little hat-tip to JFK seems appropos this week, and Los Angeles Opera gives us a dubious opportunity to crack wise, as well as a glorious opp to cheer, with the German-born production of The Magic Flute that debuts this weekend. Here’s the nutshell version: get your butt in a seat. This version of … Read more
Yesterday was a big day for Los Angeles Opera. With a Dulce Rosa dress rehearsal in Santa Monica and a Tosca dress at the Music Center, the company was plenty busy. Placido Domingo is conducting both productions, and several of the chorus members are in both, as well. As luck would have it, we were … Read more
Please refrain from terrifying the fishes. Please turn off all cell phones. These unorthodox requests of courtesy came as operagoers became the fish out of water at the US premiere of The Paper Nautilus. On September 7, the Aquarium of the Pacific was transformed into a theater for this unique contemporary work by Gavin Bryars, … Read more
