Here we will list links to other web sites and blogs that we at Opera Lively endorse for their quality and high standards.
First,
our first official partnership with a professional opera company - we are proud and honored that maestro James Meena, artistic director and principal conductor at
Opera Carolina, has accepted us as one of his Media Partners. Opera Carolina is one of the premier regional companies in the United States, with high standards of quality, presenting beautiful productions in the state-of-the-art, 2,100-seat Belk Theater in Charlotte, NC. Their web site is very informative, with excellent content including some 50 in-depth analyses of different operas - look for their interesting Operaphobic Guides which can be downloaded in pdf format. Visit them at
www.operacarolina.org, and see one of their productions which you can find announced in our Local area.
UNC Opera UNC Department of Music
Second,
our second official partner, UNC Opera, is the opera program at
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Music. They produce regularly (twice a year) operas with a focus on contemporary American composers, and boast undergrad and grad voice and opera education.
Timeline-wise, Piedmont Opera and the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts became our 3rd and 4th (or 4th and 3rd) official partners simultaneously, since a good part of the leadership of these two organizations is manned by the same people. Piedmont Opera is a small but excellent professional regional opera company headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC. They produce two operas and one concert per year, and have a reputation for very excellent productions, thanks to their association with the Fletcher which provides resources such as student singers, dancers, production school, etc. The Fletcher / UNCSA is one of the most prestigious art schools in this part of the country, and their opera program attracts high school, undergrad, and graduate students from all over the country. Their websites:
www.piedmontopera.org, and
www.fletcheropera.com
Our fifth parnership is with North Carolina Opera, as of early April 2012. North Carolina Opera is a very dynamic regional company with interesting productions. They are a recently established company but with longer tradition, since they have originated from the merger of two older institutions, the Capital Opera Raleigh and the North Carolina Opera Company. See our announcement for their upcoming performances in our Local Area, and visit their beautiful website at
www.ncopera.org
Our sixth partners to join us are Asheville Lyric Opera, the company from Western North Carolina headquartered in a beautiful and arts-rich mountain city. They are in their 14th season. A trip to Asheville to see one of their productions is a treat, given that the city offers outstanding gourmet restaurants, upscale hotels and spas, wineries, art galleries, etc. Visit their web site at
www.ashevillelyric.org.
Opera Lively is an Associate Member of Opera America, the service organization for opera in the United States and Canada. We're very proud of this membership since it is not granted lightly.
www.operaamerica.org
As part of our support for local organized groups of opera fans, we are delighted to direct our member's attention to the The Chapel Hill Opera MeetUp Group (a.k.a. "Eyes on Opera"), in activity since 2007. They screen opera monthly (3rd Saturday at 10 AM) in a well equipped auditorium and boast a membership corps of 105 opera fans. The group came from the work of Victoria Windler, who was a passionate opera lover who passed away, leaving a collection of 500 opera CDs and DVDs, which her husband Stan Cheren has used to continue her work. Three of Opera Lively current members are also members of this group, and we're hoping that more of them will join us. Visit them at
http://www.meetup.com/Chapel-Hill-Opera/
CVNC.org is an online arts journal in North Carolina. Its acronym stands for Classical Voice of North Carolina, but since it has expanded to cover many other disciplines beyond classical music, it now goes exclusively by its initials. It covers music, dance, theater, opera, and visual arts. John W. Lambert, its executive editor, is an insightful and competent critic, and the journal, in its 12th year of operation, counts on many other collaborators (33 distinguished arts writers, plus interns in two colleges). Joel Adams and Joe Kahn are co-chairs. Reviews and calendars are provided - it contains the most extensive performing arts calendar in the state (annualy, they list about 2,500 events!). Those interested in diffusing their events should send email to
events@cvnc.org. Opera Lively is happy to endorse this organization - a worthy destination for donations, for those who want to support the performing and visual arts, since it helps diffusing - for free - the events offered by many NC non-profits.
Ionarts.org is a web site with high quality coverage of classical music and opera, including reviews of live opera, CDs and DVDs, and links to broadcasts. It's very well done, by Charles T. Downey, who also freelances for the Washington Post. We recommend it.
www.voix-des-arts.com is a North Carolina-based web site by Joseph Newsome, who is passionate about opera and classical music, having received musical education in piano, violin, and voice. We are glad to know that he also supports one of our favorite charities, UNICEF, and we like his well-written and informative reviews. We loved his stated mission: he is "dedicated to ensuring that opera and classical music do not merely endure but triumph in the 21st century." Please visit his site.
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Other Links:
This blog is authored by member Superhorn. This gentleman has often posted insightful comments about opera and other genres of classical music, so we're happy to support his blog. Visit him at
http://www.blogiversity.org/blogs/th...n/default.aspx
We also support member itywltmt's blog, and we are glad that he often posts his interesting contributions on Opera Livelly as well, both in English and in French. Visit him at
http://itywltmt.blogspot.com/
One of Opera Lively's members, treemaker, strongly endorses this operation. Mr. Norm Hollingshead seems to be doing a wonderful job in educating the public about opera, and diffusing the art form. He gives lectures about every opera that Seattle Opera schedules, in libraries throughout the county. He also organizes tours to the main American opera houses, so that his costumers can attend opera. Bravo, Mr. Hollingshead, keep up the good work! We encourage our Washington State readers to patronize Mr. Hollingshead's business. Here is a link to his website
Norm Hollinghshead's OperaPlus
We believe in the work that noted American baritone Mr. Thomas Hampson is doing for the rediscovery of American art songs. Please visit his
Hampsong Foundation site.
More links will be added to this space as we develop more partnerships and relationships with other content providers - stay tuned.
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Apparently, the performances of Die Frau ohne Schatten in which he'll sing with Camilla Nylund aren't scheduled until October,
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New Book by Opera Lively Press - the Eugene Onegin guidebook
It is difficult to appreciate in the 21st century how much of a novelty was Onegin, when it premiered in Moscow. Back in 1879, most of Russian and Slavic opera was devoted to political topics (A life for the Tsar, Boris Godunov, Khovanschina…), fairy tales (Ruslan and Ludmila, Rusalka, May Night…) or even biblical adaptations like Serov’s Judith. However, Onegin was centered on the life and passions of standard human beings.
Onegin is a Romantic opera. It is also full of melody. There are no formal experiments here. It was the perfect daughter of her times. Of course, with such a skillful instrumental music composer for the orchestra as Tchaikovsky, we can find many fine details in the orchestration, as well as some motif building. But the prominent role is never in the pit: it’s in the voices of the singers.
This Opera Lively guidebook will walk the reader through the opera’s libretto (with a new translation), musical structure (in terms that can be understood by all), circumstance of composition, trivia, and wil provide CD and DVD reviews, comments on live performances, and interviews with singers and a conductor. Enjoy!
Available now on Amazon.com (and various international Amazon sites for the Kindle e-book): click [here] for the paperback and [here] for the Kindle edition.... read more