Opera

Can Classical Music Give Pop Some Business Pointers?

mariasci | November 10, 2008 3:00 am
mariasci | November 10, 2008 3:00 am

This weekend, a day after I witnessed someone dedicate a karaoke song to Jesus, I went to Carousel Cinemas here in Syracuse and saw the Met’s recent production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic. It might seem a little sacrilegious to watch opera at a movie theater, but the staging worked fairly well, since the scale was roughly the same, the music was well-recorded and played loud, and the HD images were immediate and live-feeling. (Though there were too many zooms for my taste.) Well-received gambles like this are a staple of the modern classical music industry, which is doing relatively well, though like everything else it has been hit by the financial crisis. But could some of its innovations be imported to the music biz as we know it?

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noah | October 8, 2008 12:30 pm
noah | October 8, 2008 12:30 pm

A board member at the Metropolitan Opera has… More »


David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” Is Now An Opera In Paris

anthonyjmiccio | July 3, 2008 11:15 am
anthonyjmiccio | July 3, 2008 11:15 am

AP080701015192.jpgAn opera based on an ’80s remake of a ’50s sci-fi classic. Conducted by Placido Domingo. Music by Howard Shore and directed by David Cronenberg, both of whom worked on 1986 classic. Currently playing in Paris and set to hit in Los Angeles in September. Well, that takes care of the what, when and who. All that leaves us is the how and the why why why? The original story is pretty melodramatic, but opera? Color me ignorant, but I didn’t realize until reading the Guardian‘s review of La Mouche (if only it was an opera about La Bouche) that Broadway wasn’t the only place good movies go to be turned into dancing and prancing. Dancer In The Dark and Lost Highway were also transformed into operas, and the New York City Opera hopes to give Brokeback Mountain the same treatment in 2013. But hey, who cares about the source material if the final product is good, right? Well, it doesn’t look like La Mouche is knockin’ ’em dead in Paris.

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Being An Opera Singer Is No Longer A Classical Gas

jharv | August 22, 2007 4:45 am
jharv | August 22, 2007 4:45 am

This AP report about opera singers picking up unhealthy habits more commonly associated with hard-bitten touring rock and rap musicians in order to combat the wear and tear of one of the world’s most physically (and apparently professionally) demanding genres is a sobering look at a world that most of us take for granted as being above the seedier side of pop music–or just take for granted, period:

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Punk-Loving Priest Plans Least Watchable Rock Opera Of All Time

Brian Raftery | January 4, 2007 3:58 am
Brian Raftery | January 4, 2007 3:58 am

Sometimes, you only need one zinger of an opening sentence to reel ’em in. Case in point: The Vatican has challenged purist Roman Catholics by disclosing plans for a daring rock, punk and jazz opera version of Dante’s Divine Comedy with a soundtrack written by an avant-garde priest.Monsignor Marco… More »


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