Memorial day weekend marked the third installment of Fort Worth Opera’s four-weekend long opera festival, as well as the company’s regional premiere of Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata. This year’s festival draws from a wide range of old and new, light and dark, serious and comedic in its offerings, and the four…
Each spring the Fort Worth Opera puts on a festival and this year, there’s something for everyone – old, new, tragic, shocking – you can’t go wrong no matter which opera you choose to see. The festival began last week and continues each weekend through June 3rd. You can find…
Last night during its “Composer Conversations” event, The Dallas Opera announced a commission of a new opera, Everest, by composer Joby Talbot and librettist Gene Scheer. The one-act work will mark the first collaboration between Talbot and Scheer, as well as Talbot’s first operatic endeavor. The two will begin creating…
Hey, downtowners! If you need a little mental break to help you through your hump day, or if you’ve just always wanted to hear what kind of sounds that gargantuan pipe organ housed inside the Meyerson Symphony Center can create, there is a FREE organ recital today at 12:30pm. Dallas…
Sometimes a symphony orchestra engulfs its audience in enormous sounds and dramatic gestures (take Dallas Symphony Orchestra performance of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, for example). Last weekend, Jaap van Zweden and the DSO took a different approach, quietly demanding attention with a pared-down orchestra and simple, but sharp, programming. The result…
In conversation, cellist Johannes Moser is charming (and not just because he is young, good-looking and incredibly talented). He chats about his recent move to New York and his rock climbing and biking adventures with the same positivity and enthusiasm he brings to discussions of Mozart and Tchaikovsky. He is…
On Tuesday night, Bridge the Gap Chamber Players put on their second free concert (The “White” Concert) in Heldt Hall at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC). I’ve seen Kitchen Dog Theater plays in this space but never considered the room as concert venue. It was a good choice for this…
Last Friday night, The Dallas Opera produced Guiseppe Verdi’s La traviata in the Winspear opera house for the first time. La traviata is one of opera’s most frequently produced and biggest hits. Lead by strong vocal and instrumental performances and underscored by a stunning production, this La traviata is a…
Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director Jaap van Zweden was on the road this weekend making his debut with the New York Philharmonic (New York Times review of Thursday’s concert in Avery Fisher Hall here). Taking van Zweden’s place at the podium in Dallas Thursday through Sunday was the much-acclaimed young…
The Dallas Opera and The Dallas Symphony Orchestra are each presenting romantic masterpieces over the weekend. Here’s the rundown: Watts plays Grieg Pianist Andre Watts is a model virtuoso. Along with superb technical facility, he brings a true showman’s cocktail of ease and energy to his performances. Watts’ aesthetic (and…
For the penultimate production of its aptly titled 2011-2012 season, Tragic Obsessions, the Dallas Opera presents one of opera’s most dolefully beautiful romances. Guiseppe Verdi’s La traviata, set in 19th-century Paris, tells the story of a young woman of questionable virtue and her passionate love affair with a wealthy young…
Tony Award-winner and native Texan Betty Buckley has dazzled audiences for years in some of the most famous female roles on Broadway. On April 18, 19 and 21 she will trade in her familiar repertoire to sing Broadway songs originally composed for men in her show Ah, Men! The Boys…
This Thursday through Saturday (April 5-7), the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will perform Max Steiner’s original orchestral score for Casablanca alongside the movie, as it plays with dialogue on the big screen. Richard Kaufman, DSO Pops Conductor Laureate and long-time principal pops conductor of Orange County’s Pacific Symphony, will conduct. Kaufman,…
Over the weekend (March 16-18), The Dallas Opera and the Dallas Theater Center collaborated for the first time to produce British composer Peter Maxwell Davies’ eerie 1979 chamber opera, The Lighthouse. The collaboration between the two companies resulted in a strange yet engrossing musical and theatrical experience. Here’s a few…
The last time you heard the Dallas Symphony Orchestra perform, you pulled up to the Meyerson in a big yellow bus. Fifth Grade was a long time ago, you’re due for another field trip. This weekend (Thursday through Sunday), Music Director Jaap Van Zweden leads the DSO in a performance…
This St. Patty’s Day weekend, give your liver a break and your nerves a workout. Friday through Sunday, the Dallas Opera and the Dallas Theatre Center are combining efforts for the first time (why haven’t they done this before?) with a production of British composer Peter Maxwell Davies’ eerie 1979…
Opera is an extravagant and expansive art form and it’s thrilling to watch a live performance, but heading to an opera can also be daunting. After all, “extravagant” and “expansive” are sometimes code for “pricey” and “really effing long”. This Saturday, March 10, the Dallas Opera Guild’s annual Vocal Competition…
