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



Christian Lacroix teams up with the SF Opera

Our Scenic Designer for Clemency, Julia Noulin-Mérat comments on the collaboration between Christian Lacroix and the San Fransisco Opera: (read the SF Gate article HERE)

I remember fondly, when growing up in Paris, walking by Christian Lacroix’s boutique on the Champs Elysees; I was fascinated with his color palettes, fabrics, use of silhouettes – and his dramatic designs that were so interestingly inspired by costumes of the past. When I first read that his costumes were going to be used in the San Francisco Opera’s production of Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi in a co-production with Bayerische Staatsoper, I could not have been more thrilled!

The sneak peek released in the SF Gate article reveals a world rich in textures, a visual feast of vivid color palettes. This marks a grand return for the fashion couturier to the world of American opera after his costumes for Renée Fleming in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Thaïs .

Vincent Boussard’s production is such a sexy version of the Romeo and Juliet story and I cannot wait to see it!  - Julia Noulin-Mérat

Opera brings people together!

Towards the end of our August 8, 2012 concert in collaboration with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra at the DCR Hatch Memorial Shell, we at the Boston Lyric Opera information tent were treated to some heartwarming news... Two of our audience members and fans had gotten engaged during the Quartet from Puccini's La Rondine! We caught up with the happy couple to bring you details of this wonderful addition to an already spectacular night. We wish happiness, love, and lots of opera to the happy couple!

Couple: Leah Moss and Zachary Brooks

Hometown: Both moved here from Lafayette, Indiana for graduate school (Zach has lived in Boston since summer 2010 and Leah moved out here in summer of 2011).

Occupation: Zach is working toward his Master of Divinity degree at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and Leah is earning her Master of Social Work degree in clinical practice at Boston University School of Social Work. Both graduate in May of 2013

How Leah felt about the proposal: "A friend told me a few months ago that Zach knew two things for sure about the proposal - that when it happened a) I would not see it coming and b) I would cry. He was right on both accounts! It was such a beautiful evening - it was sunset, we were on the waterfront, and I was listening to Puccini, my favorite composer. Zach could not have picked a better time to hold out his mother's ring and ask me to marry him. Although it definitely could have gone a little smoother - he swears I asked him if he found the ring yet before realizing that he was proposing. We feel so fortunate to have had such a beautiful setting, gorgeous music, and our dear friends as well as many supportive and well-wishing concert goers for the proposal."

Photo by Ben Gebo

FREE Opera! What more can an opera lover ask for?

With our FREE concert with the Landmarks Orchestra on the Esplanade just one week away, we are dusting off our picnic baskets and planning how to best make the most of a lovely evening of live music.

Around the World in 80 Minutes takes audience members on a sweeping operatic journey – for free! Making musical stops in France, Italy, Japan, the US, and even Sri Lanka, the program features excerpts from popular works by Puccini, Wagner, Mozart, and Bernstein, several of which are drawn from Boston Lyric Opera’s upcoming 2012/2013 Season. Featuring singers from BLO and led by Music Director David Angus. More information can be found here.

In the spirit of picnic planning we've rounded up a few links to help you decide just what to pack in that basket! [Just remember no alcohol this time :)]

From Sunset Magazine: Pack a Perfect Picnic
From The Huffington Post: How to Pack the Perfect Picnic
From Thriftfulness: How to Pack a Perfect Picnic
From Vegetarian Times: How to Pack the Perfect Picnic
From Taste of Home: Perfect Picnic Plan

Can you tell we want your picnic to be pitch perfect? Let us know your picnic favorites in the comments below! Opera Cake perhaps?

How many people did you impact?

Hint: It's 2.5x the capacity of TD Garden and 4x the average attendance at a Lady Gaga Concert! 

If you have not made a gift this year, or would like to increase your gift, please consider giving to The 35th Anniversary Challenge - a $100,000 matching grant.

In order to secure this gift, BLO needs 350 new gifts and a total of $250,000 in individual contributions (from $1 to $3,000) by June 30th. There is no minimum amount to participate in the Challenge, and gifts over $3,000 may qualify for the EnVision Opera Challenge.

Every little bit helps, and we couldn't do it without you. 

Visit blo.org/give to make it your BLO today.

 

BLO Appoints Dan Duro Managing Director

Today our fearless leader, Esther Nelson announced an exciting new appointment within the Company's leadership. Dan Duro, formerly Producing Director for BLO, has been appointed Managing Director. Read the full press release below.

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Boston, MA—General & Artistic Director Esther Nelson today announced that Dan Duro has been appointed Managing Director of Boston Lyric Opera (BLO). Duro joined BLO in 2008 as Producing Director. As Managing Director he will oversee Company-wide operations, along with the execution of BLO’s three annual mainstage productions, Opera Annex, and special events.

“BLO has been fortunate to have Dan Duro as Producing Director for the last four years,” said Nelson. “His proven and excellent ability to oversee and manage complex production and operational challenges offered the opportunity to expand his level of management responsibility. I am pleased to announce his new role as Managing Director, which includes the oversight of daily operations. This will further strengthen the organizational stability of BLO, and allow me to focus more on artistic growth, strengthen community relationships, and realize the financial support necessary to ensure the long term stability of Boston’s major opera company.”

Duro has worked in technical, production, and organizational management of the arts for more than three decades. His prior positions, held at over 13 performing arts companies, include: Production Director at The Santa Fe Opera; Director of Production for Portland Opera, Opera Pacific, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Acting Company, and The Shakespeare Theatre; Vice President for Operations at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia; and Production Manager for Brooklyn Academy of Music.

"Boston Lyric Opera is a company of great depth and breadth; it's been producing great work and is poised for much more,” said Duro. “What gives me the greatest confidence about the future of BLO is Esther Nelson's dedication to upholding the highest artistic standards, and I am pleased to assist her by providing the organizational support that will make this vision possible."

Duro and Nelson are both featured presenters at the 2012 OPERA America conference taking place this week in Philadelphia. OPERA America is the national service organization for opera.

A Small Gift for our Friends - Happy Holiday!

You made it.

You’re on your way home.

Memorial Day weekend started just a minute ago at 5:01pm, and there’s only one thing standing between you and the warm, fuzzy sun of Cape Cod—2 ½ hours in a cramped car with a grandkid or two in tow and your son-in-law calling every five minutes to find out if-you’re-here-yet-and-can-you-please-pick-up-sunscreen-and-whale-watch-tickets-on-your-way-ok-thnx-bi.

We thought you could use a little TLC en route!

Behold, BLO’s Vacay Survival, err… Relaxation Kit.

More on the Met/Opera News story...

BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin follows up his post from yesterday regarding the continually unfolding story of the Met/Opera News relationship... 

Well, that didn't take long.  The mighty Met blinked, retreated, gave in with what appears to be a humiliating defeat. You can check out the veritable (and almost instantaneous) avalanche of criticism, reproach, anger, scorn, bitterness, ridicule directed at  Peter Gelb when the story hit. …and this just on the New York Times website. Is there more fall-out coming?

Interesting...  the Gelb "censorship" news was on the front page of The New York Times yesterday but the story of today's retraction was on page 3 of the Arts Section. It's getting to be like trying to interpret news from the Kremlin or psyching out the meaning of where the Russian leaders are standing for the May Day parade. Incidentally, there were many blog comments on the Soviet-Stalinist tone of the Met pronouncements... as well as calls for the overthrow/deposition of Comrade Gelb. Occupy the Met? Audiences of the World Unite?

The New York Times on an ongoing struggle. Let's discuss!

The crucial relationship between critics and opera producing companies is often difficult (even contentious). Here is another very recent wrinkle in the ongoing struggle between one of  the most powerful opera companies in the world and the press, explored in The New York Times this week - read the article here. Censorship? Prudent concern over image? Comments? (I love to get  feedback about these blog posts.)

- BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin

After Hours at BLO - Thoughts from a singer, opera lover, and development geek

Howdy!

My name is Ceceilia Allwein, and I work at BLO. My official title is Development Coordinator, which means that I manage direct mail, telefund, digital outreach, print advertising and pretty much any other communications that come out of development in service of the annual fund. It’s a super creative job, and I love it! 

At the end of my day at BLO, I don’t go home though.

I hop on my bike, go to a practice room and start singing.

To be absolutely clear, I don’t work at BLO in an artistic capacity, and I don’t make my living as a singer. I was trained as a singer (and music theory!) though and still make my way onto stages about town every now and then.

Five years ago I had no idea I would end up working in development. What I learned over time, however, was that I care deeply about people’s relationship to music and the role that financial support plays in that relationship.

Since joining BLO I have found that my development work and after hours musical activity inform each other, and I would love to share with you a few intriguing things that I’ve learned about my relationship to BLO and opera in Boston. 

1. Taste Does Not Equal Support

My musical tastes are pretty far out. Most of the time when I sing I use electronics, noise or extended vocal techniques. This summer I’ll be a vocal interpreter at the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt in Germany for a few weeks. The definition of opera in Darmstadt would fall way outside most people’s realm of musical decency, but to my taste those are some righteous times just waiting to happen! 

But I also want to live in a community where I can hunker down in a theater seat on any given weekend and bathe in a lush wall of vocal and orchestral sounds.

Butterfly, I’m looking at you!

Regardless of whether I’m a die hard fan of every single opera that’s made the stage (I’m not), I want to experience the breadth of the genre’s influence in musical discourse. I support BLO financially because Boston’s rich musical culture benefits from opera.  

2. Music education is the gift of transferable skills

Through BLO’s Music! Words! Opera! curriculum, students get the opportunity to write an opera—music and libretto—right in their own classroom, and teachers learn how to incorporate opera, which is to say, musical practice, into their teaching. 

As a product of music education similar to Music! Words! Opera! myself—and a conservatory trained, Gen Y, digital native—I can attest to the job skills that music education offers: I have executed complex tasks on stage since I was an itty bitty kid, become comfortable expressing myself verbally in public on abstract topics, and developed a huge autodidactic streak from years of self-directed practice. My music education has given me a significant advantage.

Supporting music education at BLO is not only about cultural appreciation, developing new audiences, or spending Saturdays in prestigious pre-college programs. It is also about giving kids the opportunity to learn transferable skills right in their own classrooms that will serve them for their entire lives.

3. It takes both artistic and financial context to cultivate artistry

I give performances as a non-vocational singer, because it puts the expression and vulnerability that professional artists give in every performance into context. I also founded a contemporary music ensemble a few years ago, because I wanted to know first-hand what it was like to build an organization from the bottom up. (Conclusion: It’s hard. Very hard.)

Now that I work at BLO I do considerably fewer performing projects, but the experience continues to renew my appreciation for the leadership at BLO. I am blown away by the quality of opera and the budget on which it is produced. Go Esther, John, David, Nick and Dan!

It boils down to this: Financial gifts provide a framework for material possibility--a framework that impacts the strength of opera’s voice in Boston, the exposure to art and skills that kids get through music education, and the artistic vision of BLO’s leadership.

I’ve been on a journey to really explore these three points for the past few years, and I feel stronger than ever about the importance of supporting BLO. Not to mention the fact that giving just feels good. (Don’t believe me? Read this.)

I invite you to make a direct impact on BLO’s material possibility by donating now. If you donate before June 30, you will have double the impact through the 35^th Anniversary Challenge matching grant as well.  

MAKE A GIFT NOW

And! If you’d like to check out the musical stylings of an avocational classical singer, you can join me at my next concert TONIGHT!  

Nonce Ensemble + Friends

Thursday, May 17, 2012, 8pm

New England Conservatory

Williams Hall

Free

I would love to meet you in person and chat about how you can be a part of the amazing things that BLO has planned!

"Milk-punch o wisky?"

The Inspector cast toasts to "new Italy." Photo by Erik Jacobs.

That's what Lieutenant Pinkerton offers the American consul Sharpless as they await the arrival of Pinkerton's geisha bride, Madama Butterfly. (What IS "milk-punch" anyway? It sounds rather nasty... I'll have to Google it.)  Next season at BLO, it turns out, is full of drinking and eating. There are two on-stage wedding celebrations complete with toasts (and snacks?) - Madama Butterfly and Così Fan Tutte - and an obviously boozy  sailors' homecoming celebration in The Flying Dutchman. One of the central actions and important symbolic gestures of Clemency is the preparation (on stage) and serving of a meal to three strangers (who turn out to be angels - moral obvious). Interestingly, all of these ostensibly happy celebrations turn out in the end to lead to or prefigure dire, even tragic, events. ("That's opera, Doc.")

The New York Times took a closer look at operatic eating and drinking this week, read the full article here.  

 - BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin 

 

In Paris... Front-of-house glamour, behind-the-scenes mystery

Grand foyer at the Palais Garnier.
Opéra national de Paris/ Delagarde/Moatti.

From The Wall Street Journal today, a quite fascinating glimpse backstage at one of the ultimate expressions of front-of-opera-house glamor and behind-the-scenes hidden mysteries and technical wonders... and some very enticing photographs. Read the full article by Lennox Morrison.

I'm thinking of posting on this blog (probably starting sometime this summer) a series of (mainly photographic) "visits" to various unique opera houses (startlingly new and richly old) around the world, so maybe this entry acts as a good introduction and beginning. Boston, of course, has its own quite distinguished operatic venues (the ones we've left standing)... the Opera House with its almost Parisian take on the extravagant  glories and delirious excesses associated with opera at it's grandest and our own more intimate Schubert Theater... granted somewhat more restrained and classically chaste in its approach, but still  deliciously elegant with its smooth manipulation of the white and gold, red velvet and cut crystal traditions of the operatic interior.

- John Conklin, BLO Artistic Advisor

The Inspector EXPOSED

During intermission at Wednesday evening’s performance of The Inspector, something dramatic happened.

The curtain stayed up.

What? Why!?

The curtain stayed up, because we presented BLO Exposed, which is a conversation designed to bring you closer to the opera.

At BLO’s Wednesday night shows, we round up a few individuals involved with the production and have a live conversation about what it’s really like behind-the-scenes at the opera.

We also scour Facebook and Twitter for your questions (@bostlyricopera, #bloexposed) and answer them live. BLO Exposed is really all about you.

This past Wednesday’s performance was great fun. David Angus, BLO’s Music Director and conductor of The Inspector, Sandra Kott (concertmaster), and Craig McNutt (percussion) answered questions from quite a few people in the audience.  

Here are a few of the questions and answers you may have missed:

John Conklin on THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

This was one of Danny Kaye's first big movie roles. Made in 1949, it features Kaye's inimitable blend of broad farce, unrivaled patter song prowess, unmerciful mugging, and a screen presence that, to me, can vary widely from charming to annoyingly overstated. A quite wonderful cast of supporting farceurs including Walter Slezak, Gene Lockhart, and Elsa Lancester add spice. 

A bit of trivia -  in the film, the ingenue role is played by Barbara Bates who had a quite brief and somewhat undistinguished film career - except that she played the girl (the new "Eve" as it were) in the last scene of ALL ABOUT EVE - that memorably ironic scene with Ann Baxter. This INSPECTOR GENERAL, like the Musto-Campbell opera currently onstage at the Shubert Theater, transfers the action from its original Gogolian Russia to some unnamed Mitteleuropa country during the Napoleonic era - but the plot stays essentially the same. The extended GYPSY SONG (lyrics written by the future wife of Kaye - Sylvia Fine) is a great showcase for the comic. The whole movie (available on DVD) is uneven and sometimes a bid draggy but when it's good (like Kaye) it is quite special. 

- BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin

 

Free Open House this Saturday - Learn how BLO makes opera happen!

Boston Lyric Opera invites you to attend our Third Annual FREE Open House this Saturday, April 28 from 11am  - 5pm at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre^SM - 265 Tremont Street, Boston.

From the main stage to the mezzanine and everything in between, we're giving you an all-access pass to explore opera in a casual, exciting new way.

Activities will appeal to all ages and include performances, backstage tours, demonstrations, and more!  Opera fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this rare chance to see the inner workings of a theater and explore the set of a professional production - BLO’s 35^th Anniversary Season closer, The Inspector.

BLO will be joined by several partners and producers in this day of celebrating and exploring opera including Boston Conservatory, BU Opera Institute, New England Conservatory, Boston Metro Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, Boston Midsummer Opera, Guerilla Opera, Puppet Showplace Theatre, and Wheelock Family Theatre.

Musto's Many Talents

Another facet of The Inspector composer John Musto's talents....a dynamic and virtuosic arrangement of Bernstein's music... interesting performance although it sounds as if it was recorded in the 103rd Street Subway stop. 

- BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin

Bombalina is in charge.

Michelle Trainor as Bombalina. Photo by Julius Ahn.

By soprano Michelle Trainor, a BLO Emerging Artist who sings the role of Bombalina in John Musto's The Inspector April 20 - 29 at the Shubert Theater.

Wednesday night we had our final dress rehearsal for The Inspector, and I just love playing my role - Bombalina, Director of Education in Santa Schifezza. It was so thrilling to finally have an invited audience and to hear their laughter and feel their energy. Having an audience makes all the difference. Everything felt very natural and any small bumps we may have had will work themselves out. I can’t wait until opening night!

I love what my costume, wig, and makeup have done to my character. It is all exactly how I pictured Bombalina to be as I was working through the music. I am having so much fun with my colleagues that I forget this is “work.”  I know I’m going to feel separation anxiety after this show because we are such a tight-knit family. When you spend so much time with the same people for such a long period of time, it’s inevitable that you build bonds and grow quite fond of everyone.  

We are all really feeling our roles develop and are having fun with them now. Once the music and the staging are ingrained we can take the time to let go and everything becomes more natural. It's thrilling to sing with the orchestra and is one of my favorite things about opera. People often ask me if I get scared singing with so many instruments.  It doesn’t feel that way at all.  In fact, I find that it is easier to sing with orchestra.  It’s like going for a ride, you just relax and sail over it all.

One of the inevitable challenges I will be facing is what happens when the show ends and I am unemployed again. One of the most difficult things for a singer is securing a job in between gigs - I still have bills to pay! Will I be fortunate enough to find a business opportunity that will carry me for a few months and give me the flexibility I need in order to fit in coachings, lessons, and trips to New York to audition? My previous employer was flexible until one day when I was given the choice to stay on and give up my next role, or lose the job. This was an unbelievably difficult decision to make. Not because I didn’t know the answer to the question, but because I was being forced to make it. My story is not unique. I know many singers who have been faced with this type of situation. It’s the difference between a steady paycheck and an inconsistent one. During these times it’s so important to have a spouse who is emotionally supportive and I am so blessed to have one. I’m not sure what I will be doing in the following months to help support my little family, but I do know this… I don’t regret my choice! For the next two weeks Bombalina is in charge of education in the little town of Santa Schifezza… and she is earning her paycheck!

Workin' 9 to 5 - A day (and night) in the life of an opera singer.

Michelle Trainor and her cat, Sut.

By BLO Emerging Artist and The Inspector cast member Michelle Trainor.

Rehearsals for The Inspector are going really well.  It's amazing how quickly it all flies by.  In no time we will be rehearsing with the orchestra and leaving our rehearsal space. I look forward to being on the set and in the space of the theatre. As wonderful as stage management is at making our rehearsal space feel as close to the real thing, it always feels quite different. I can't wait to slip into my costume. The designer has done such a wonderful job giving me a costume that not only enhances my character but also accentuates my body's features to make me feel my best. Costume, makeup and wigs really give you that extra boost when you’re performing.

I find that building your character when you have a smaller role is much more difficult than when you have a leading role. You receive much less information from the score to build on.  Another challenge is keeping the energy up all the time. You may be singing less but could find yourself in scenes when you are not singing and having to stay in character and reacting to the action. I find that in comedy you are required to deliver even more energy and when you feel like you can’t give any more. What do we do on days when we don't feel so great? This is something a singer has to face a lot. More times than not, we have to perform even if we are under the weather but not let anyone know that we are. Speaking of weather, this is a terrible time for allergies and I am one of Mother Nature’s chosen ones, allergic to all of her beauty.

I am often asked what a typical rehearsal day looks like. For me, it starts around 7:00 am. I shower, dress, and put on my makeup, quickly pat my sweet cat, Sut, and say goodbye to my husband. Scott and I both leave early in the morning and poor Sut just doesn’t understand why we cannot spend the day with her! When I leave my house it is 8:00 AM and I am about to enter the horrific world of traffic. I drive about 45 minutes to the T stop that is actually 20 minutes from my home, and take the train to Park Street in time to stop and fuel up with an iced coffee. We might rehearse from 10:00 to 1:00, break for lunch and then rehearse again from 2:00 to 5:00 depending on the scene schedule. I then pack up and walk back to the Park Street T stop hoping and praying for a Braintree train, but inevitably it will be Ashmont. I wait and wait until my train arrives. It could possibly take me an hour and a half to get home on a good day, and I only live about 25 minutes from Boston. I usually run errands on the way home as time permits and if I am teaching a lesson I run home, make a quick dinner, feed the cat, pat her on the head and then teach for an hour. It will probably be around 9:00 PM when my husband and I can finally relax on the couch. At this point Sut has forgiven us for abandoning her for the day and jumps up for some much needed attention. Her purring is just the kind of music I need to hear after a long day in the life of a singer.  

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See Michelle Trainor in John Musto's The Inspector, April 20-29 at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre. 

Musto Makes Movies

It turns out that John Musto, composer of the upcoming BLO production of The Inspector, is not only the prolific creator of a body of very successful operatic works, a song composer of note, a distinguished concert pianist, and a  popular educator, but quite a deft hand as a video maker. Here are a few of his brief, entertaining inventions introducing some pretty shady, but sharply amusing characters from The Inspector. You also get to hear some of its delightful music. Come see, hear, and enjoy the preposterously sordid antics of these guys in person at the Schubert Theater from
April 20 – 29.     

– BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin

Two weeks to go!

It’s hard to believe that at this time just two weeks from now we’ll be gearing up for Opening Night of John Musto's The Inspector! Take a gander at photos taken this week inside the rehearsal hall by BLO Emerging Artist and The Inspector cast member Julius Ahn, and see how things are coming together. 

Mezzo-soprano Victoria Livengood (Sarelda) and Soprano Meredith Hansen (Beatrice)

Music Director David Angus and Stage Director Leon Major

Bass-baritone Jake Gardner (The Mayor), Mezzo-soprano Nicole Rodin (Bobachino),
and Soprano Molly Paige Crookedacre (Bobachina)

Stage Director Leon Major, Production Stage Manager Karen Oberthal,
and Soprano Meredith Hansen (Beatrice)

Tenor Neal Ferreira (Tancredi)

Lunch time... Just kidding, props! 

Mezzo-soprano Victoria Livengood (Sarelda)

Get your tickets soon and see this spirited cast in action! John Musto's The Inspector is onstage at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre April 20 – 29, 2012. Visit blo.org or call 866.348.9738. 

The Best Singer in the World...

The first in a series of posts from BLO Emerging Artist Michelle Trainor who sings the role of Bombalina in John Musto's The Inspector this month.

So, rehearsals for The Inspector have begun. After all of my hard work preparing I was really anxious to meet the cast and just dive in. I’ve been working with a coach and feel quite confident about my role. I will have to adjust to the commute to the city again. Driving to the station at rush hour is not so much fun and I really dread sitting on the train because, as a singer, I am constantly thinking I’ll catch a cold every time I hear a sneeze or cough. But, due to the astronomical prices of parking in the city, the train is my most economic choice. It has been wonderful to have time lately to coach, take lessons, teach and go grocery shopping. I will now have to adjust and find a schedule that works around the staging rehearsals so that I still have time to spend some quality moments with my husband, Scott and our beautiful cat, Sut.

Our first musical rehearsal went well. There was some unexpected free time given to us in our schedule, and this is when living outside of the city can become bothersome. Sometimes you might have a three or four hour break in your day, I live too far away to go home and come back, so what do you do with yourself? Well, in a foreign city, I would go to a museum, go shopping, go back to the hotel and take a bath. But, I have already done all of that in Boston. So I walked down to the yarn store that is very close to our rehearsal space to kill some time and look around.  I love to knit or crochet during rehearsals while I am waiting for my scenes. My grandmother taught me how work magic with yarn, we were extremely close. It had been many years since she had been able to hear me perform, but every Sunday I would visit her and tell her about the music I was learning, show her pictures, and show off the new crochet project I was working on. She especially loved seeing pictures of me in costume. She would laugh so hard at the wigs, or when I would tell her about how fast some of my costume changes were.

We lost my grandmother last fall, and I inherited her knitting needles. I am finding great comfort in holding my needles and yarn… Periods of uncertainty happen to every singer even though they might not admit it to others. Things like, will the cast members like me, does the conductor think I’m a good musician, am I doing what the director wants…am I doing my job well…It's at times like these that I just grab my knitting, with my grandmother’s well-worn needles, and think of her telling me that I am the best singer in the world…

Michelle Trainor with her grandmother.

* * *

Check back soon for more musings from Michelle, and see her in The Inspector, April 20-29 at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre. 

THE INSPECTOR Has Arrived!

From BLO’s rehearsal hall to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) to the Boston Public Library (BPL), Boston is buzzing with excitement for The Inspector! Sunday afternoon found composer John Musto in conversation with Music Director David Angus at the MFA for BLO’s Signature Series, rehearsals began bright and early Monday morning, and Tuesday evening Stage Director Leon Major joined David Angus at the BPL to talk about this exciting new adaptation of the Wolf Trap premiere production.  

Below, see a video from Sunday’s Signature Series featuring Emerging Artists Meredith Hansen and Neal Ferreira, along with photos taken in the rehearsal hall by Emerging Artist Julius Ahn during the cast’s first days working together. All three will perform in The Inspector; Meredith Hansen and Neal Ferreira as the young lovers Beatrice and Tancredi, and Julius Ahn as Padre Ruffiano.

Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes glimpses at The Inspector, onstage at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre April 20 – 29, 2012. 

 Bass-baritone Jake Gardner (The Mayor)

Mezzo-soprano Dorothy Byrne (Malacorpa) 

Music Director and The Inspector Conductor David Angus 

Mezzo-soprano Dorothy Byrne (Malacorpa) 

The Inspector Composer John Musto

Bass-baritone Jake Gardner (The Mayor)

JAMES MACMILLAN’S CLEMENCY NOMINATED FOR OLIVIER AWARD

James MacMillan’s Clemency—a Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) co-commission with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Scottish Opera; and Britten Sinfonia—has been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in the category of Best New Opera Production. BLO presents the American premiere of Clemency as part of its recently announced upcoming 2012/2013 Season.  The Olivier Awards will be presented during a ceremony at the Royal Opera House on April 15, 2012.

Clemency is BLO’s 2013 Opera Annex production and will be performed at the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter February 6–10, 2013. The libretto, by poet Michael Symmons Roberts, is drawn from the book of Genesis–Abraham and Sarah are childless and nearing the end of their lives. They are approached by three travelers who share the unexpected and miraculous news that Sarah will have a child in old age. The mood darkens as it becomes clear that the travelers are on a mission of vengeance upon the neighboring towns, and Abraham pleads clemency for their inhabitants.

Widely considered British theatre’s most sought-after awards, the Olivier Awards were inaugurated in 1976 and are presented by the Society of West End Theatre.

BLO’s Opera Annex offers audiences an opportunity to experience opera in an alternative space outside the traditional theater environment. Clemency is BLO’s fourth Opera Annex production.

Hear composer James MacMillan speak about the opera.

Sometimes in the Arts, Impermanence Is Good

A very interesting  take on the vexing question of "authenticity" and some points that are quite applicable to thinking about  how directors, designers, performers, and opera producing companies themselves might need to approach the creation of  "new work" based on an existing (and often very well known) piece.

Wall Street Journal: Sometimes in the Arts, Impermanence Is Good