Seasons Greetings from Bradley Vernatter

 

A Note from Bradley Vernatter

Each year as we gather with family and friends to celebrate the holiday season, I am reminded of the extraordinary people I am privileged to meet through my work at Boston Lyric Opera. This year I was able to make new, lasting connections through our educational partnership programs and our work in our Fort Point Arts Neighborhood. 

In the fall, we launched the Opera Innovators Series, a new educational and artist development partnership with Boston Conservatory at Berklee voice and opera programs. This partnership fulfills our Company goals and unlocks incredible opportunities for the next generation of opera artists - BLO's Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artists and PCP students. 

I saw that come to life last week with soprano Karen Slack's terrific master class presentation. Seeing her support these young singers in their artistic development was a treat. Up next for the series, I can't wait to welcome BLO Artistic Advisor Nina Yoshida Nelson and Anne Bogart, visionary director of BLO's 2019 The Handmaid's Tale, whose work you will see again for our upcoming production of Bluebeard's Castle/Four Songs.

Pictured from left to right: Brett Hodgdon, Pianist (BCB Faculty; BLO Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist Alumnus), 

Julia Janowski, Mezzo-Soprano (BCB '24), Fred C. VanNess Jr., Tenor (Jane & Steven Emerging Artist),

Kayla Kovaks, Soprano (BCB '24), Laura Santamaria-Mendez, Soprano (BCB '23), Karen Slack, Soprano,

Jamila Drecker-Waxman, Soprano (BCB '23)

Our programming in the Fort Point Arts Neighborhood has also brought new relationships, like the many artists and operagoers I met at the Fort Point Open Studios in the fall. When BLO relocated to Midway Artist Studios, we joined an established group of creative people who have made this rapidly growing area friendly and affordable for artists. Good things happen in places where the arts thrive. I see that here, and it inspires me to continue working with our partners to make arts and cultural spaces that strengthen our community.

Of course, my most rewarding connection is with you, our audiences, and the champions of BLO. I am so thankful for the support we receive, and so are the many artists we work with each year. Thank you for being a vital part of making opera and contributing to a strong arts community in Boston.

From all of us at Boston Lyric Opera, we wish you a joyful holiday season and a very Happy New Year.

Wish warm wishes-and gratitude,

Brad

Bradley Vernatter

Stanford Calderwood General Director & Chief Executive Officer

Show Us Your Pride

Have you ever heard the old joke, “I went to the fights and a hockey game broke out”? Even if you have, you’ve never heard, “I went to the Stanley Cup finals and an opera broke out.” BLO wants to do something about that, and so we are challenging the Lyric Opera of Chicago to a friendly bet.

Think about it: Opera has all the spectacle and drama of a sporting event. Three acts.  Triple overtime. Need we say more?

In some ways, opera has it over sports. At a hockey game, you can hear music and singing only at the beginning (unless it’s a win at the Garden and then you get Dirty Water at the end).  

And this year is the first time in decades that two teams from the original six NHL teams are facing off in the season finale. We’ve got the traditions and history too. BLO and Lyric Opera of Chicago have almost a century of opera drama under their collective belt.

Boston and Chicago take pride in their world-class cultural organizations and in their championship franchises. We’ve got great museums, orchestras and opera companies. We’ve got major league soccer, basketball, football and baseball teams.

But it’s been almost 30 years since the Patriots and the Bears met in Super Bowl XX. And in spite of Theo Epstein’s move from our city to yours, it doesn’t look like the Red Sox and the Cubs will face each other in this year’s World Series. So the time is now.

BLO and Lyric Opera of Chicago are two teams at the top of their game.  

How about it Lyric, are you ready to take to the ice? 

Follow @BostLyricOpera and show us your @NHLBruins pride! Re-tweet for a chance to win dinner at a local restaurant + 2 tix to #MagicFlute. Can we beat @LyricOpera's RTs?? #OperaBruins #CHIvsBOS

Pucciniana #4



Puccini



The Un bel di Variations

by John Conklin, BLO Artistic Advisor

Sometimes it is interesting to see MADAMA BUTTERFLY sung "naked" - without the white makeup, the piled up geisha hair, the enveloping kimono. Here are such performances by Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, Eleanor Steber and Teresa Stratas.

 Renata Tebaldi

Leontyne Price

 Eleanor Steber

Teresa Stratas

Remember - Butterfly's "real" age in the opera is but one year older than this teenager

In this excerpt from Franco Zeffirelli's 2002 film Callas Forever, the captivating French actress Fanny Ardant plays ( a mostly fictionalized ) Maria Callas in the last year of her life. Alone (except for eavesdropping figure of her manager - Jeremy Irons) she listens - and sings along - to her own recording of Butterfly

Another place where we can see singers deeply involved in a role but out of a theatrical context (and away from the gaze of an audience) - "on their own" as it were - is in, often very revelatory, rehearsal footage. In this instance it is, of course, the BUTTERFLY Act 1 love duet, Vogliatemi bene,  rather than our Un bel di.

With Jonas Kaufmann and Angela Gheorghiu

Dr. von Lyric's “Curious and Amazing Cabinet of Musical Marvels and Miracles”

We start off with a quite extraordinary performance - a recording of a live concert. No it was not pre-recorded... the students indeed play from memory (and play very beautifully) while executing hypnotic choreographic patterns. The whole event somehow lets us HEAR the music in a totally revelatory way at the same time as we are seeing a liberating kind of "deconstruction" of the formal symphonic event we are so used to. The simplicity and informality of the dress, the bare feet, the intense concentration, even the sometimes endearingly quasi-awkward movement as the young players "dance" with their often bulky instruments all add to the undeniable appeal of this unique event. - Dr. Von Lyric

Introducing Dr. von Lyric and his "Curious and Amazing Cabinet of Musical Marvels and Miracles"

Dr. von Lyric will open his “Curious and Amazing Cabinet of Musical Marvels and Miracles” each Wednesday on our blog “In the Wings” so stay tuned!

Dr. Otto Nicolai Bonaventura von Lyric was born in Bratislava. His mother was a famous ornithologist and his father a distant descendant of Emile Zola. He attended the Richard Wagner kindergarten in Bremen for “overachieving youngsters under 3”, the Beethoven Hochschule in Marseilles and the Giuseppi Verdi University in Modena. He studied singing, musical criticism, and riot control before making his operatic debut in Parma as Hans Sachs at age 19. He’s sung at all of the minor opera companies in Europe and America in such roles as Mephistopheles, Wozzeck and Radames to mixed acclaim. He served for a short stint as the music critic of the Lincoln, Nebraska Times-Union. He lives in an elegant converted factory warehouse in Braintree, MA uneasily sharing the space with his aging Russian wolfhound Amadeus.

Dr. von Lyric, has since retired from the stage and the world of newspapers and devotes his time to collecting musical curiosities on video, a mixture of the charming, extravagant, off-kilter, and sometimes deeply serious. He has agreed to share his collection exclusively with Boston Lyric Opera online and says:

“I hope this will bring a constantly changing and ever amusing perspective on the rich diversity of musical expression that exists out there in cyberspace. I consider myself a kind of 21st century flaneur, in the mode of Baudelaire. But rather than roaming the streets of 19th century Paris looking for, and recording, the unusual and the curious, I wander down the streets and byways of the Internet, seeking out (and bringing back to you), the sights, sounds, and impressions that intrigue me and hopefully will do the same for you!” - Dr. von Lyric



Program Change: Opera Night at the BPL

Overcoming Obstacles: Producing Opera in Boston

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
6:00--7:00pm
Rabb Lecture Hall

Boston Public Library, Copley Square

 

In opera, perhaps the  most dramatic of art forms, the danger, peril and passion are not always exclusively on the stage. Behind the scenes are a multitude of challenges to be met. Join a panel of Boston opera producers, Esther Nelson of Boston Lyric Opera, Aliana de la Guardia of Guerilla Opera, and Sharon Daniels of the Boston University Opera Institute, to discuss what must be overcome and what must go right to bring opera to the stage.

the wilder things at Macbeth

Charlotte Wilder, creator and author of the wilder things, attended our production of Macbeth and as an ardent classical music and opera fan, shares her thoughts with us.

Wilder Happenings: Boston Lyric Opera's "MacBeth" 
(and what one wears to go see it)
Opera is in my blood. Literally. My grandfather Hugo Weisgall was a composer who wrote over ten operas; his last, Esther, was the season opener for New York City Opera's reopening in 2009. It therefore follows that I grew up listening to opera and classical music (my parents met when my father studied music with Hugo). In fact, when I was in elementary school the only music I listened to was classical, with the exceptions of big band jazz and the occasional Beatles or Rolling Stones album. You can imagine how embarassing it must have been to live through the Spice Girls and not know it, but that's for another post. I can assure you I'm more up-to-date these days. 

Read the entire piece over at the wilder things.

MACBETH MURDERS (at the MOVIES)

I'm breezily skipping over some of the more familiar MACBETH movies (which are certainly not to be thus ignored) Polanski, Welles, what I call the Judi Dench MACBETH (with Ian Mckellen ... directed by Trevor Nunn ... highly recommended by the way), etc. to get at some other takes.

MACBETH ... it's a cinematic natural--ruthless power struggles, violence, murder, insatiable ambition, ghosts, madness, a bit of kinky sex. In that direction MACBETH has translated with apparent ease from royal Scotland to a gang or criminal empire milieu--from JOE MACBETH (1995) a Ken Hughes film with Paul Douglas and Ruth Roman to the 2006 Australian MACBETH starring Sam Worthington (who went on to deal with all those blue people in AVATAR). Set and filmed in Melbourne it overlays Australian accents on top of Elizabethan blank verse for more or less maximum incomprehensibility. The expected violence and buckets of blood plus the seemingly inevitable nudity of the crazed Lady M seems generic and ultimately tiresome. Australians coping with blank verse, Shakespeare and a contemporary vision and psychology are on better display with Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET (to my mind a pretty brilliant movie-- but others disagree violently).

SCOTLAND, PA. is a 2002 film by Billy Morrissette set in 1970s and revolves around the desperate (and bloody) and eventually grotesque struggle for not a throne but a hamburger drive--in emporium in semi-rural Pennsylvania. Broadly satiric often very funny, it is ultimately dark and disturbing. Containing no verbal Shakespeare to speak of (and a lot ... a lot ... of profanity) it has a kind of manic charm and, yes, a kind of Shakespearean vitality and exuberance and madness. You'll probably either love it ... or hate it ... but you might check it out.

The MACBETH of Patrick Stewart (a film made for PBS and the BBC in 2011 from the stage production seen in New York and London) is for the most part a intense and gripping (and often truly terrifying) vision of the play but the Wes Craven--George Romero horror film trappings can get a little overdone and hence lose their shock. Kate Fleetwood is a neurotic very scary lady and Patrick Stewart speaks the intricate verse and illuminates the depths (both repellant and sympathetic) of Macbeth with profound conviction and even beauty. Set in a kind of mad underground world of a Soviet era dictatorship it is brutal and effective ... and you'll never be comfortable around nurses again. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLBfH3o1TU]

Just for fun (and after the Stewart film you may need some) check out Hogwarts:

And for the best Shakespearean film of all (at least in my opinion ... and many others) look at Kurosawa's THRONE OF BLOOD if you don't know it. MACBETH infiltrates a Japanese samurai culture and everybody wins (except for Macbeth...but then he gets one of the greatest death scenes in film) …

--John Conklin

Musical men about town

By David Angus, Music Director

Well, tonight’s the opening of Macbeth–very exciting–and we are all winding ourselves up for a high energy performance. The Dress Rehearsal was a big success and the invited audiences were thrilled with it. First Night is always quite a nervous affair, wondering if everything will go right and if the audience will like it, but having such a good Dress Rehearsal sets us up well and means that the nervous excitement should all be positive.

Meanwhile, life goes on, and we are already getting going with the next project–The Lighthouse--in the background. We have been extremely lucky that the composer, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, happens to be in the USA for a short tour at the moment, and is spending nearly 3 days in Boston. He lives on a remote island off the north of Scotland and is 77 years old, so he doesn’t travel to the US very often any more. He will be attending Macbeth tonight, but I spent most of yesterday with him.

We began with a visit to the JFK Memorial Library, where we will perform his Lighthouse, and we showed him around and explained why we had chosen that location. I interviewed him (you will be able to see this on our website) and we caught up with each others' news.  We had worked together many years ago at Glyndebourne Opera and had also crossed paths at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra a few times. We also both studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and both began our careers as music teachers in schools, so we have a lot of common background.

The view of Boston from Smith Hall, our venue for The Lighthouse

 Sir Peter, or “Max” as we all know him, is a remarkably sprightly man with a very alert mind, and he is highly articulate, so talking with him is very stimulating. I found out many new things about the opera, including several very spooky coincidences which you will hear about on the interview. 

We visited the museum while we were there and were taken back in time to our childhood memories by all the history and artifacts of that time. It was a real nostalgia trip. When JFK was assassinated I was an 8-year-old at boarding school in Cambridge, and Max was studying over here at Princeton. We both remembered clearly hearing the awful news.

We travelled back into Boston for a lovely lunch of Scallops at Legal Seafoods, where the waiter turned out to be a Musicology Major from Harvard, who was thrilled to meet Sir Peter–what a coincidence!

The trip ended with a visit to see the set for the Lighthouse under construction in Cambridge, and to have the model explained. Everyone is very excited about the whole concept and it is really going to be a very strong show.

We finished the day with a lovely dinner at the home of Esther Nelson, our General and Artistic Director, with some VIP guests and a delicious meal cooked by her husband, Bernd. All in all, a great way to relax before tonight’s big event!

Turning back the clock on ticket prices!

BOSTON LYRIC OPERA TURNS BACK THE CLOCK ON TICKET PRICES FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY IN CELEBRATION OF 35^TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
WHAT
The first 35 people to arrive at the Shubert Theatre on the evening of Friday, November 4th will enjoy Boston Lyric Opera’s Opening Night performance of Verdi’s Macbeth for only $3.50. In celebration of its 35^th Anniversary Season, the Company is reserving 35 seats and selling them at 1976’s opera ticket prices. Tickets may only be purchased in person and in cash; first come, first served. Macbeth runs through November 13th at the Shubert Theatre.
WHEN
Friday, November 4, 2011 6:00PM – Ticket sales open; 7:30PM – Performance begins
WHERE
Citi Performing Arts Center^SM Shubert Theatre
265 Tremont StreetBoston, MA

Celebrate 35 years of excellent entertainment!

Three Witches

A few guests at our Hocus Pocus Gala got into the spirit of the evening!

In honor of the 2011 production Macbeth, Hocus Pocus Gala and the Halloween season, we present …

MACBETH inspired photo contests!

Want to win a FREE Macbeth t-shirt?

Here’s what you do:

1)      Get a group of three friends together and pose for a picture as the three Weird Sisters from Macbeth

2)      Tweet “Double, double toil and trouble… #Macbeth #BLO” with the picture to @BostLyricOpera

OR

1)      Take a picture posed in a witch Halloween costume

2)      Tweet the picture to @BostLyricOpera and include a short ‘witchy’ phrase, along with #Macbeth #BLO

Not on Twitter? Post one of the above pictures to our Facebook wall along with a ‘witchy’ phrase.

This contest begins on Friday, October 28^th and concludes on November 4^th (opening night of Macbeth!) One entry per person.

Winners will be randomly selected.

Check back on ‘In the Wings’ on Tuesday, November 8^th to find out if you are a winner!

A Great Day for Boston!

It was a great day for Boston on Monday (4/18). The sun glinted off the gold dome of the State House; the blue sky was glowing, in the radiant morning light a seemingly endless stream of bright yellow school buses glided down Tremont Street carrying hardy runners to the race. And then -- it was by many accounts the best Boston Marathon ever. Geoffrey Mutai took almost a minute off the world's record - an astounding feat. The USA's Ryan Hall came in fourth and still set a record time for an American. The women's race had an unbelievably dramatic finish as Caroline Kilel out sprinted American Desiree Davila (sounds like an opera singer to me) in the final stretch and then collapsed at the finish with a victory in her Boston debut. Davila was only two seconds behind Kilel and set a course record for US women herself. If you didn't catch any of this live or on TV check out The Boston Globe website ... pure theater.

And so what if the International Track and Field Federation doesn't recognize the Boston Marathon (it doesn't meet its topographical requirements -- something about too much "drop") -- we, (and the world) know, that the Boston Marathon is the oldest, most famous and by every count the best -- and it will always be so.

As if that weren't enough, it was announced Monday that the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism went to Sebastian Smee of The Boston Globe for his "vivid and exuberant writing about art" and his knack for "bringing great works to life with love and appreciation." Smee, a native of Australia, joined The Boston Globe in 2008.  Yesterday he lauded the Globe for "a belief that the arts matter and that good writing about the arts is going to be an important part of newspapers as they evolve."

And, if even that weren't enough, congratulations to Opera Boston as Zhou Long won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Madame White Snake, premiered by the company in 2010.

Performance, strength, determination, creativity, innovation, excitement and empowerment for the arts - all alive in Boston.

-- John Conklin