Opera
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In Memory of Shirley Verrett — May 31 1931 / an Event
Shirley Verrett — the Intimate Black Callas, is a celebration of the unique Diva who was born ninety years ago today. Join a live conversation with her daughter, Francesca LoMonaco, and her nephew, Shaman Durek, as we share memories of one soul who transcended cultural barriers with her talent. https://www.clubhouse.com/join/opera-blood-and-te/IvadYlYj/myb0L0RO
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The Soul is unbound
Ever since we have been traveling this globe, our exposure to the exotic or merely to the other (individual, culture, tradition, belief), has left us impressed, influenced, at least touched. Henry F. Gilbert was born 1868 in Somerville, a town in the Boston metropolitan area where I lived in the mid 1980s. He attended the…
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Celebrating the life of Shirley Verrett
Shirley Verrett was born in New Orleans on the 31st of May in 1931. Her operatic debut was 1957 in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Not the best choice, considering her family practiced Seventh-Day Adventism, and was not in agreement with her pursuing an opera career. In 1968 she made her New York Metropolitan…
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O.P.E.R.A
I’m thinking that opera ought to be dissected. Well, everything in life ought to be dissected. Spread out on a beautiful table. Looked at, again and again. Digested, regurgitated, enjoyed 360 degrees. Dissect love, dissect life, dissect the self, discard of the ego wanting to reach completion. Go on.
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This week at the Metropolitan Opera
All performances at the MET begin streaming at 7:30 pm EST Tuesday, April 6Verdi’s RigolettoStarring Christiane Eda-Pierre, Isola Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Louis Quilico, and Ara Berberian, conducted by James Levine. Production by John Dexter. From December 15, 1981. Wednesday, April 7Tchaikovsky’s Eugene OneginStarring Anna Netrebko, Elena Maximova, Alexey Dolgov, Peter Mattei, and Štefan Kocán, conducted by…
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Metropolitan Opera Streamings — week 55
Monday, March 29Bellini’s NormaStarring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. Production by Sir David McVicar. From October 7, 2017. Tuesday, March 30Strauss’s CapriccioStarring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen, and Peter Rose, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Production by John Cox. From April 23, 2011.…
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Metropolitan Opera Streamings (upcoming)
Friday, March 12Giordano’s FedoraStarring Mirella Freni, Ainhoa Arteta, Plácido Domingo, Dwayne Croft, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, conducted by Roberto Abbado. Production by Beppe De Tomasi. From April 26, 1997. Saturday, March 13Giordano’s Andrea ChénierStarring Maria Guleghina, Wendy White, Stephanie Blythe, Luciano Pavarotti, and Juan Pons, conducted by James Levine. Production by Nicolas Joël. From October 15, 1996. Sunday,…
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Sencha, Madame Butterfly & Marina Abramovic, or touch me (an invitation to a conversation)
https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/PDen5XOa
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Blindness, Incompletion, and Wisdom — Tchaikovsky’s Opera “Iolanta” [Event]
Born blind, Princess Iolanta lives protected from the outside world, while unaware of her impairment — until love reveals her limitations. Join Sila Blume to discuss incompleteness, and wisdom, based on Peter I. Tchaikovsky’s last opera, on Thursday, March 4 2021, at 4:30 pm EST, in Clubhouse. Please, go to https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/MzapOQZp
![Blindness, Incompletion, and Wisdom — Tchaikovsky’s Opera “Iolanta” [Event]](https://silablume.life/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/img_0323.jpg?w=1024)
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Iolanta, the blind Princess
Iolanta:Why have I been given eyes?So that I may weep…Vaudemont:Does that mean there is no desire in your heart to see the light, and the glory of the universe?Iolanta:What does the word “see” mean?Vaudemont:To know the beautiful light.Iolanta:Knight, what is light? From the operaIOLANTAMusic — Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky Libretto – Modest Tchaikovsky (Translation by Evangeline…
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Humor at the Opera / Die Fledermaus
Alfred: Where is my Attorney? Frosh: He probably went to the restroom. Alfred: Will it be long? Frosch: He stutters! Die Fledermaus (The Bat), 1874Operette in three actsby Johann Strauß II (1825-1899)Libretto: Karl Haffner and Richard Genée
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Happy Birthday, Mary Violet Leontyne Price!!!
Leontyne Price stood like a fortress, her hands in another intertwined, her voice streaming as strong, distinct, and colorful as bells from a cathedral telling time to believers and non-believers all the same. A clear sign of patience is hearing her phrasing and seeing her face expand. Think of the iconic three minutes following her…
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Celebration Day — seven
This is pure celebration, in part because the opera world has been an important source of joy in my life for the last four decades. Magnificent as realm of music composition and theater since the sixteenth century in Italy, it is a school on human condition, with its comedies, tragedies, and transcendental exercises, a school…
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Imprisoned with tails and top hat — words from the opera on mindset
(On the Viennese New Year’s Eve of 1899, Gabriel von Eisenstein is preparing to serve an eight-day sentence, for striking a police officer.) Gabriel von Eisenstein: My friend Falke is right. I’ll go to prison in tails and a top hat, in protest. They may lock me up but they will never humiliate me! Die…
Sila Blume 