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Baltimore Sun (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
With some input from assistant director Andrea Dorf (there was no official director) and ideas from several of the singers, the performance had a remarkable amount of what could be described as staging. This was not a stand-and-bark affair. Other than the presence of music stands in most of the scenes, it didn't look that much different from what you might encounter in a trendy, minimalist production,...
5Vote!
The Washington Times (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
Renowned soprano Kiri Te Kanawa's Saturday-evening recital at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall was billed as her "farewell" appearance in Washington. Having effectively retired from the operatic stage after singing the title role in Samuel Barber's "Vanessa" with the Washington National Opera several seasons ago, she has apparently decided to wind down her concert appearances now,...
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The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Last Saturday night, Gidon Saks gave a phenomenal performance as Hagen in the Washington National Opera’s “Götterdämmerung.” On Sunday afternoon, he and the soprano who sang Brünnhilde, Irene Theorin, turned around and sang a matinee performance of “Ariadne auf Naxos.” It was a marathon for both of them -- especially for Theorin, following the most challenging...
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The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Today marks the start of the first National Opera Week. The NEA Opera Awards, which will be conferred in a ceremony tomorrow night, mark the start of a week of opera-related events at companies all around the country, from discounted tickets to open rehearsals to free concerts. A full listing, searchable by state, is available on Opera America’s website. Washington National Opera events include...
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Ionarts (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
In 2006, when Washington National Opera opened its American Ring Cycle, few could have imagined that it would end as it did on Saturday night, with a concert performance of Götterdämmerung. After very promising productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre in 2006 and 2007, financial considerations delayed the staging of Siegfried by one season, to last spring, when it ended up with a...
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The Washington Times (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Richard Wagner's four-opera "Der Ring des Nibelungen" — better known in English as the "Ring Cycle" — follows the tale of golden ring that confers great powers upon its owner. But it also carries a deadly curse. Staging this epic multi-evening extravaganza can really put an opera company on the map. The Washington National Opera, with its philosophically flawed but visually...
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oboeinsight (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia will have nonspeaking roles Saturday night in a production by the Washington National Opera. They’ll be dressed in black-tie attire and remain on stage for nearly 90 minutes during the opening performance of “Ariadne auf Naxos” (are-EE-AHD-nay off NACKS-ohs). Heh … hope they have fun. No gavels allowed, I’m [...]
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MediaBistro.com (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
What do Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a DC gossip columnist have in common'? A love of the opera, according to TWT 's "Green and Glover" columnist Stephanie Green . The Washington National Opera is asking Washingtonians to guest star as "supers" or extras during the operas run. As pictured above, Green made her debut this week in the production of "Ariadne auf Naxos."...
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The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Watching others dress up is a hallmark of October 31; some choose to pursue this activity in a theater, and several operas are appearing on Saturday night to oblige them. Apart from the Washington National Opera's "Ariadne auf Naxos," two short operas come courtesy of the InCite Festival, a Boston University affair that has come to Washington for the next few days and is taking over the Olney...
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Abovethelaw.com (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Despite their ideological differences, Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg bond over their shared love for the opera. Both judicial luminaries attended Saturday's opening night performance of Ariadne auf Naxos , at the Washington National Opera. If you're into Article III celebrity sightings, the D.C. opera house is where it's at. Not only did the justices attend the opera; they also participated....
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The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Web-only review: More Maw, in memoriam by Charles T. Downey The 21st Century Consort opened its season of concerts at the Smithsonian American Art Museum on Saturday with a tribute to the British-born composer Nicholas Maw, who died last May. The group celebrated its long relationship with Maw, who lived in Takoma Park for more than two decades (and whose "Sophie's Choice" was staged by the...
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The Washington Times (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
The Washington National Opera's production of Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" is simply fabulous. Brilliantly performed and sung and sharply directed, Saturday's opening-night performance brought good humor and artistic coherence to a work whose ultimate aim eluded even the composer and his librettist. The initial 1912 version of "Ariadne," composed as a hybrid evening of music...
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Washington Post (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
The story of the German repertory at the Washington National Opera this year was supposed to be triumphant: the conclusion of the company's "American Ring" cycle. Instead, it's been about cancellations: the postponement of the "Ring," the ill health of the company's music director, Heinz Fricke, and...
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