Reader suggestion: Include coverage of Lyric Opera Baltimore

I have now added the Lyric Opera Baltimore to the listing in the sidebar and on the Seasons listing page at the suggestion of a reader.  The Lyric Opera Baltimore has experienced some financial difficulties and a short break in staging opera performances.  However, the Lyric plans performances of two very popular operas this season, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, aka The Barber of Seville by Giacomo Rossini and Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod.  I have only seen a video performance of the Barber, but that starred Kathleen Battle, who owns my favorite all-time soprano voice.  The opera has the lively music of Rossini and features several immediately recognizable arias.  This is a comedy that is fun for kids as well as adults.  The Lyric performances feature a stellar young performer cast, exciting actually.  For the Barber, Steven LaBrie plays Figaro; he was a winner of the George London Foundation Prize in February.  He has also been featured among the sexiest baritone hunks at the opera blog, Barihunks.  Tenor Alek Shrader will sing the role of Almavira; he has performed at the Met.  Emily Fons, who plays Rosina, recently played Ruby in the Sante Fe Opera world premiere of the new opera Cold Mountain – you will hear more from me about Cold Mountain.  Rounding out the main players is Steve Condy who plays Dr. Bartolo.  He has played that role in quite a few major opera houses in the U.S.  It is always fun to see what upcoming new players/singers will bring to their roles.  As a side note, the conductor will be Sara Jobin, the first female conductor to take the pit at the Modell-Lyric.  Tickets are still available.

Romeo and Juliette will likewise feature an impressive young cast.  I have seen several versions of Shakespeare’s play, but only listened to the opera on cd.  Gounod composes beautiful music and this also features well known arias.  One interesting side note is that it is a co-production of Opera Carolina, Toledo Opera, and Opera Grand Rapids.  Tenor Jonathon Boyd will play Romeo; he has played a wide range of roles in opera houses across the U.S. and Europe.  Juliette will be played by Sarah Joy Miller who stirred interest with her performance in the New York City Opera production of  Anna Nicole.  An article (http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/artsmash/bal-details-filled-in-for-the-2015-2016-opera-season-at-the-modell-lyric-20150715-story.html) in the Baltimore Sun describing the Lyric’s season said that special package prices were available to folks under 30, and if you fall in that demographic, it is worth checking with the box office.

Pretty Good Value: the Met Opera Live-in-HD Cinema Series

For ten years the Metropolitan Opera has broadcast live some of their opera performances to selected movie theaters around the country.  I attended my first of these a year or so ago, a performance of Rigoletto with Piotr Beczala and Diana Damrau.  It was a very enjoyable performance updated to take place in the Las Vegas Rat Pack era.  The remaining Live-in-HD performances for the 2015-2016 season are listed in the sidebar on this page:  Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Roberto Devereux, and Elektra.  Soprano Kristine Opolais stars in Manon.  She has generated a good deal of excitement and is featured on the cover of the February issue of Opera News.  I love Butterfly for its gorgeous music.  When I listened to a version with Renata Scotto in the role of Cio Cio San a few years ago, she became the leading contender for my favorite soprano of all time and has remained so.  Sandra Radanovsky completes a hat trick with Donizetti’s triology by starring in Devereux; she was on the January issue of Opera News.  She also starred to acclaim in Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda earlier this season at the Met.  The wild card for me personally is Elektra.  I have only heard snippets of this opera; it may be a challenge for me to enjoy based on what I’ve heard so far.  Maybe I should go see it for that reason alone.  I guess this also reveals that currently I am sort of partial to the sopranos.

As you would expect, the HD theater showing is not as thrilling as being at a live performance. However, as part of the broadcast experience you are treated to an opera star host providing commentary to begin the show and interviews with performers during the intermissions.  I also personally find it an advantage for immersion in the opera to be isolated in a theater where the use of electronic devices has been removed from me and my neighbors.  And I don’t have to experience my neighbor’s lawn mower running close to my family room window just as “Donne e mobile” begins.  Also, at about $25 per ticket these are of course much less expensive seats than those at Lincoln Center in NYC.  I’d rate them as good entertainment values for your opera dollar.

The cinemas vary in their sound quality and comfort, so pick your venue to suit you.  Some theaters have reserved seating and some do not.  In my experience the well-positioned reserved seats go fast, even months ahead, so buy these tickets as far ahead as you can safely schedule your time.  I imagine that, though you can buy your tickets ahead of time, you must stand in line for unreserved seating to get the good seats (I welcome readers to correct me on this point) and not experience the neck strain of sitting in the front row for 3-4 hours; waiting in line is not my favorite thing and I wish all the seats were reserved.  The performances are on Saturdays and typically have an encore (recorded, not live) showing in the evening the following Tuesday or Wednesday.  I believe that these broadcast performances wind up getting made into videos for sale and made available on the Met Opera On-Demand series, so you can likely view them later.  Movie theaters representing several different chains carry the HD performances.  Here is the link to track one down in your area:  https://www.metopera.org/Season/In-Cinemas/.

Opera: a whole other reality

I just finished reading “Musicophilia” by Oliver Sacks.  It is worth noting that the subtitle is “Tales of Music and the Brain.”  In this highly informative book, Sacks, a physician and neuroscientist, describes case after case where brain damage or disease has altered an individual’s perceptions and/or functional capabilities in significant ways, especially in relation to music.  After reading the book, I have both a greater appreciation for the influence of music on our brains and lives, and on the complexity involved in its processing.  Sacks quotes a letter in his book as saying, “I’ve read many times that music is a whole other reality.”  I am starting to understand this.  The book begins with the story of a man who had little interest in music.  However, after being struck by lightning, he developed a sudden craving for piano music.  He even taught himself to play piano and a major aspect of his life since has been composing music for the piano.  It reminded me ever so slightly of my own rather sudden conversion late in life to loving opera (no fireworks were involved).  Many of Dr. Sacks’ stories not only relate how changes in the brain wipe out functions, but also how they can give such patients new ones.  The principal, though not only, explanation appears to be that the brain has neurons that repress or modulate functions as well as neurons that activate functions.  So, damage to the brain for example can damage the repressor neurons and allow a new function to come to the fore.  This raises the exciting prospect that in the future we may be able to have more direct control in turning on functional capabilities that lie hidden in our brains.

Dr. Sacks also discusses cases where music allows access to parts of patient lives that have been lost to disease or injury.  Some patients with dementia can recall and play complete musical pieces, and some Parkinson’s patients can move smoothly, dancing to music; music is used as therapy in these cases.  It is clear that music has its own composition in our brains, separate from though connected to other types of intellectual, emotional, and motor functions.  It is a fascinating field of study.  In a very poignant chapter, Dr. Sacks discusses children who have Williams Syndrome.  Children borne with this syndrome face many physical and mental challenges in life.  Deficits in cognitive function are pronounced.  These children, however, typically are extremely loquacious and social, making friends readily.  They also are typically very attuned to music and often have musical gifts.  I found one child's story especially touching in that she loved storytelling as well as music and wanted “…a dramatic accompaniment of words and actions rather than “pure” music.”  That is a connection I can relate to.  These children live in their own realities, about which I am reluctant to make judgments.  Some of their abilities I envy.  Perhaps we who enjoy opera live in a communal reality, firmly supported by our brain structures, that links us to each other as well as satisfying our own individual needs. 

Reader comments encouraged

One purpose of OperaGene is to create a community of opera lovers.  Comments can enrich the experience for other readers and provide insight on improving the blog.  My feeling is, therefore, that comments to the blog posts and opportunities to submit suggestions are imperatives.  This is, however, daunting for two reasons: first, it potentially will be a good bit of work for me.  Second, a comments section is open to misuse and abuse.  Thus, I will screen submitted comments before posting them.  Disagreements and criticisms are welcome, but I will not post comments I consider inappropriate, primarily ones that are patently offensive, mean-spirited, or are spam.  My default position will be to post the comments.

I seek and encourage reader comments that provide opinions, information, and insight about opera.  There is much to share and learn about opera in general and about opera specifically in the mid-Atlantic region.  I also encourage comments that ask thought-provoking or information-seeking questions that other readers may respond to. Comments that simply offer praise without content such as good job or thank you, if there are any, will be appreciated but not posted.  In making comments, imagine you are having a conversation with friends who share your love of opera.  You are.

First, a positive message: No, No, and No

Is not opera really just for high brows and people who want to be identified as “cultured"?  Isn't opera just for rich people?  Don't you have to be musically-inclined to enjoy opera?  These questions touch on a lot of issues confronting opera today, but for this blog post let me just say the answer to all three questions is no.  I think a lot of people who don’t care for opera suspect that hardly anyone really likes opera and mainly they want to be seen with the wealthy, intellectual, artsy crowd that they believe attends opera performances.  Not true.  I listen to opera just about every time I am in my car and nobody but me knows what I am listening to.  To anyone attending opera for purposes of ego or networking, good luck to you and thanks for supporting the arts; I hope you do have things in your life you really enjoy.  But in my experience the applause at performances is genuine; certainly mine is.  And folks, the average opera fan really likes this stuff.  For me Anna Netrebko (did you see her in Macbeth?), Kathleen Battle (my personal favorite voice), Jonas Kaufman (a guy's tenor, maybe leading tenor today), and Luciano Pavarotti (the one and only, though only on recordings now) are right up their in terms of my enjoyment with Taylor Swift (today's luminary), Diana Ross (yesterday's luminary), Johnny Cash (I grew up in Georgia), and Eminem (everybody has a dark side).  Yes, I enjoy opera and pop music differently, but I enjoy both.  

Do you have to be rich to support an interest in opera?  No, you don’t.  You can come from any background or station in life and enjoy opera.  I recently had a young attendant at a McDonald’s drive through window ask me what I was listening to in my car.  He smiled; he liked it.  Opera connects with something in your soul that has nothing to do with how you earn your living.  But attending opera is not cheap either.  In “Opera for Dummies,” Pogue and Speck point out that opera is the plural of the Latin word, “opus” which means work; so opera means works, which they interpret as "the works."  With opera you get a plot, acting, singing by main characters and choruses, dancing, costumes, staging, and an orchestra all in one performance.  All the folks involved have to be paid a living wage; so opera productions are inherently expensive.  On the other hand, how cheap is your average concert or sporting event these days?  And your pursuit of any interest will be bounded by the funds and time available.  I plan to devote some effort in future blog posts to exploring the cheapest ways to take in opera in the mid-atlantic region.  And there is radio and a wealth now of recorded opera and dvds and public television and youtube.  We’ll explore those also, but there is nothing like live opera!

Do you have to have musical ability or training to enjoy opera?  No, you don’t.  If you did, I wouldn't have gone near it.  But learning more about any topic can increase your appreciation and enjoyment of it. We’ll explore that too.

Don't let a perceived elitism or hoity-toity of opera scare you off.  Bottom line is that if you like it, great.  If you don’t, then pursue the interests you do like.  But I urge you give opera a chance.  Listen to some.  Attend one.  If it doesn't take the first try, give it another shot or two down the road.  It might grow on you, or you might find that it is just your thing.  You, too, might have the opera gene, waiting to blossom.  Then you can get down with "just folks" like me and groove on opera.