The Passion of Opera

After a lot of international travel and a hiatus from attending many performances, I finally got back into the Kennedy Center for Washington National Opera's production of  Der Ring des Nibelungen , the company's (and city's) first full cycle. I was happy to be able to attend this momentous event, and found the performances, direction, and overall concept gripping. I attended Cycle II. As I've said it similar situations before, this review will necessarily be briefer on each topic than some of my reviews, but hopefully will cover ground across the cycle and provide an overall perspective. Der Ring des Nibelungen Director:  Francesca Zambello Conductor:  Philippe Auguin Set Designer:  Michael Yeargan Costume Designer:  Catherine Zuber Lighting Designer:  Mark McCullough Projection Designers:  S. Katy Tucker and Jan Hartley Movement Director:  Denni Sayers Key *WNO debut ‡ Current Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist ± Former Domingo-Cafritz Youn...

It's been a long time since I've posted here. That's certainly not the intention. I do enjoy blogging about opera, be it in D.C., elsewhere in the U.S., or abroad. That said, work has been quite consuming lately. For other purposes, I did just recently write a sort of "introductory guide" to the Ring Cycle , and thought it would make sense to post it here. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen or, as it’s usually put in English, Ring Cycle , constitutes the most substantial undertaking in the operatic world. It is a “cycle” of four operas, Der Rheingold , Die Walküre , Siegfried , and Götterdämmerung , with every opera except the first clocking in at over five hours in length. Usually, the same cast of stalwart singers performs across all four performances, singing over an orchestra of approximately 100 instruments. It’s been called one of the greatest triumphs of mu...

Below is copy of a paper written for a Winter Term 2013 class at Lawrence University taught by Professor Jason Brozek called War and Popular Culture . I chose to fuse my interests in politics and music and focus on Verdi's Aïda  as a piece of culture representing war. Note that the photos included are not necessarily from the production I actually used for my reviews, nor are they necessarily connected to the section in which they appear. Rather, they are merely for flavor. TORN APART: HOW CONFLICTS PRESENTED BY GIUSEPPE VERDI’S AÏDA DEMONSTRATE OPERA’S CONTINUED RELEVANCE AS A COMMENTARY ON WAR & CULTURE     In a 21 st century world in which war and conflict remain pervasive and multivariate genres of music, music video, photography, and film serve as commentary, the relevance of classic mediums such as print, artwork, and classical music is difficult to discern. Opera, perhaps the most complicated form of classical music, onc...