BREAKING NEWS: Opera & Ballet

Falstaff

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 21:51:01 +0000

Streaming and discussion begin at 7:30.

For those of you wanting to take a short break from the Met, how about these contemporary streams?

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents dwb (driving while black).
White Snake Projects offers Alice in the Pandemic.
The online premiere of Vinkensport, “a hilarious sendup of the little-known Belgian sport of professional finch-calling.”

Who’s that Fiordiligi?

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 16:31:56 +0000

The long-awaited solution to the Fiordiligi Quiz!

Jazz baby

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 15:58:33 +0000

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=AduUDIrqO30

Happy 97th birthday composer Ned Rorem.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9N2yGGbcac

On this day in 1972 Stephen Schwartz‘s musical Pippin opened on Broadway with Ben Vereen, Jill Clayburgh and Irene Ryan starring.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADeU6qz37B4

La Cenerentola

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 21:44:10 +0000

Starring Cecilia Bartoli, Ramón Vargas, Simone Alaimo and Alessandro Corbelli, conducted by James Levine. From October 27, 1997.

SF Opera Streaming November 2020

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 21:31:32 +0000

San Francisco Opera continues its streaming program Opera Is On with Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor on October 31 to November 1. The production is the one to be shown as a drive-in movie next Sunday. Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) from 2014 will be presented on November 7-8, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov from 2008 on November 14–15, Verdi's Rigoletto from 2012 on November 21–22, and Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore from 2008 on November 28–29. Press Release | Opera Is On

Val Caniparoli Pulled Zoom All-Nighters For His Upcoming Premiere at Finnish National Ballet

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 20:00:43 +0000

Back in April, it seemed like everyone in the performing arts was either coping with company shutdowns or watching future work evaporate before their eyes. As seasons were canceled or pushed off into the unknown future, choreographer Val Caniparoli took a deep breath and focused on a glimmer of hope: Finnish National Ballet had commissioned him to develop a full-length Jekyll & Hyde, and was determined to move forward with its November world premiere. So, Caniparoli hunkered down in his apartment while honing his vision at all hours to build this psychological thriller into a reality.

Before the Pandemic

Caniparoli had been deep inside the creation of his premiere, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for many years. While his ballet—which features scenic and costume design by David Israel Reynoso and music compiled from five Polish composers—is scheduled to debut in Helsinki on November 6, much of the designs, storyboard and research had already been accomplished before anybody had heard of COVID-19.

"There were a few companies interested in having me create this work, including Kansas City Ballet," says Caniparoli. In May 2019, he received funding to workshop his ideas for Jekyll & Hyde and approached KCB. Artistic director Devon Carney agreed for him to workshop his ideas with six dancers over two weeks. He and his frequent assistant Maiqui Mañosa used the time to develop a scene in a mental institution that includes 16 patients dancing on hospital beds.

Caniparoli had been in Finland to cast Jekyll & Hyde for one week prior to everything shutting down. "When I left Europe at the beginning of March, I heard FNB had stopped performing and shifted programming to the fall. But they never gave up or said they wouldn't perform Jekyll & Hyde—though, I wasn't sure it would happen because the world was in disarray."

FNB artistic director Madeleine Onne was prepared to press forth. "There is nothing called 'It won't work' in my world," says Onne. "One just has to find the solution." With management by her side, she drove the company forward in executing their plans for the upcoming season. "We were focused on this premiere, as the making of costumes and sets had already started. We have a two- to three-year planning frame and all is planned in detail leading up to a premiere. So, we wanted this to work."

Man by Day, Choreographer by Night

Shortly after Caniparoli returned home to San Francisco, the city declared a shelter-in-place order. Accustomed to frequent travel for work, he was now stuck in his two-bedroom condo for the foreseeable future. But over 5,000 miles away, Onne suggested Caniparoli continue his choreographic process via Zoom. However, there was a catch: Finland is 10 hours ahead of San Francisco, and Caniparoli's assistant was locked down in Philadelphia. This unconventional solution was transforming into something much more unusual.

In May, Onne asked several dancers to come into the studios so Caniparoli could stage the scene in the mental institution. Not only was Caniparoli creating virtually for the first time, he was working the night shift, with six hours of rehearsals starting at 1 am San Francisco time.

"I was a mess," says Caniparoli. "I'm a late-nighter, but how do you sleep? Plus, we were doing production meetings at 11:30 pm and I was still receiving calls during normal hours. I couldn't stop the stuff I had to do during the day, so I was a walking zombie."

Nonetheless, he pressed forth and honed his focus. A typical overnight rehearsal would include navigating the bed choreography from his couch, frequently adjusting the camera to capture movement out of frame, and dealing with inevitable Zoom delays. Luckily, there were several willing and able dancers to assist in streamlining Caniparoli's efforts.

"I hadn't ever worked with a choreographer via Zoom before," says one of those dancers, company member Emrecan Taniş. "But Val has good communication skills and came to rehearsals very prepared."

Caniparoli felt his situation better aligned him with the story of Jekyll and Hyde. "Doing this at night made me darker," he says. "It shifted my mood. Everything I was doing with the meetings, the pandemic, and being alone made me really hunker down and solidify the storyboard. It got leaner and it improved. I've never been more prepared for a new work in my life."

Zooming in for the Landing

In August, after five months of sheltering in place, Caniparoli finally returned to Finland to focus on finalizing his world premiere. "It all happened very fast. The decision was made that I could fly, but I had to get a negative result from a COVID-19 rapid test the day I traveled. From there, I spent the next two weeks in my hotel room under quarantine and back on Zoom for rehearsals."

Unable to risk going back home before the premiere, Caniparoli will stay in Finland through the first week of November. While FNB focuses on preparing for and performing its current season, which includes a delayed production from this past spring, Caniparoli continues to hold daily rehearsals for Jekyll & Hyde. He is also conducting Zoom rehearsals with Cincinnati Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre while continuing to arrange future work with companies around the globe.

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So far, Jekyll & Hyde's November premiere is still on schedule. Candidly, Caniparoli states that he won't again create virtually unless absolutely necessary, adding that it takes him much longer to choreograph via Zoom than in person. "At 69 years old, I am really proud of myself for working in this virtual way," he says. "It was a necessity and we made it work. But I love being in the studio with the dancers."

Hong Kong Ballet won two Special Awards with WearDance at The HKMA/TVB Awards for Marketing Excellence

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 17:59:27 +0000

Hong Kong Ballet Dancer: Zhang Xuening | Fashion designer: Sun Lam Hoi Sen (SUN=SEN) | Choreographer: Luis Cabrera | Photography: Lee Wai Leung | Courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet For...

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#TBT: Lucia Lacarra and Cyril Pierre in "Thaïs Pas De Deux" (2008)

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 16:49:47 +0000

When Sir Frederick Ashton premiered Thaïs Pas de Deux, a duet set to the "Méditation" interlude from Jules Massenet's opera Thaïs, the ballet was immediately acclaimed as one of his masterpieces, despite the fact that it is only a few minutes long. In this clip from 2008, Lucia Lacarra and Cyril Pierre, then principals of the Bavarian State Ballet, give a tender, enchanting performance that is six-and-a-half minutes of pure beauty.

Appearing in a gossamer dress, Lacarra embodies a vision from a dream. Indeed, her limbs ripple and float with a liquid quality that seems beyond the human realm. Pierre complements Lacarra's virtuosity with exquisite lines and heartfelt emotion. Longtime partners and a former couple in real life, the pair dance together effortlessly. Soft rocking motifs throughout the pas de deux mirror the gently lilting score. At 5:35, as the melody resolves and Lacarra pirouettes, she unravels her arms, ribbon-like, before melting with a sigh in Pierre's arms. Happy #ThrowbackThursday!

Jonas on the Mount of Olives

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 14:00:08 +0000

Back in early March the last live music I heard was Beethoven: the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and La Chappelle Québec performed some choral pieces that weren’t the Missa Solemnis or the Ninth Symphony.

Despite its enduring popularity, I’ve never been the biggest fan of the latter and, at under 20 minutes, a stirring performance of the Choral Fantasy can give me some of the same thrills as the Ode to Joy along with a mini-piano concerto thrown in.

When today’s Christus am Ölberge was performed in 2003, Kaufmann was likely seen as just another hard-working German tenor. Though nicely ensconced in Zurich, his international opera “buzz” began in earnest the following year when he appeared at Covent Garden in La Rondine opposite Angela Gheorghiu. But only when he debuted—again paired with Gheorghiu—at the Met in 2006 as Alfredo in La Traviata did his inexorable rise to superstardom take off.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgAwTNJNv4w

Besides Christus am Ölberge, Kaufmann has often sung Beethoven including many performances as Florestan. He was in the midst of a run of a new production of Fidelio at Covent Garden with Lise Davidsen when theaters worldwide shut down. His recently released lieder CD Selige Stunde (recorded during the pandemic) includes the composer’s “Adelaide.”

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEwJKpmX5qo

Kaufmann can also be heard on a previous Trove Thursday installment in the Missa Solemnis alongside Camilla Nylund, Iris Vermillion and Franz-Josef Selig.

The part of Beethoven’s Christ has naturally drawn star tenors; those who have recorded it include Jan Peerce, Richard Lewis, Nicolai Gedda, James King and, inevitably, Plácido Domingo. Sir Simon Rattle releases the newest version next month with Pavol Breslik as the Son of God.

The Choral Fantasy comes from a performance in February recreating portions of the legendary December 22, 1808 four-hour marathon in Vienna which also included Ah! perfido, excerpts from the Mass in C Major, as well as the public premieres of the Fourth Piano Concerto and the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. South African virtuoso Kristian Bezuidenhout plays a period fortepiano rather the modern pianoforte for the Brussels concert.

Beethoven: Christus am Ölberge

Musikverein Wien

6 April 2003
Broadcast

Seraphim — Luba Orgonásova
Christus — Jonas Kaufmann
Petrus — Hanno Müller-Brachmann

Chorus sine nomine
RSO Wien

Conductor — Bertrand de Billy

Beethoven: Choral Fantasy

Brussels
4 March 2020
Broadcast

Fortepiano — Kristian Bezuidenhout

Balthasar-Neumann-Chor & -Ensemble

Conductor — Thomas Hengelbrock

Christus and the Choral Fantasy can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a square with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 files will appear in your download directory.

In addition, over 350 podcast tracks are always available from Apple Podcasts for free, or via any RSS reader.

The archive, which lists every Trove Thursday offering since the beginning in alphabetical order by composer, was updated last month.

“Le trac, cela vient avec le talent”

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 12:00:47 +0000

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdbmDYJCyh8

On this day in 1883 the Metropolitan Opera House opened with Gounod’s Faust.

Henry Krehbiel in the New York Tribune:

The performance of the opera was on the average plan of performances of the same work not better as a whole nor worse as a whole. The fears that had been generally felt that Signor Campanini would not show a complete amendment of the faults which were so conspicuous during his last season at the Academy of Music were unfortunately realized. Occasionally the old-time sweetness and again occasionally the old-time manly ring were apparent in his notes but they were always weighted down by the evidence of labor, and the brilliancy of the upper tones with which he used to fire an audience into uncontrollable enthusiasm, was gone. The rest of a year which he has taken has not repaired the ravages of the last five years, Such a result is peculiarly unfortunate in Gounod’s music. The third act speaks the every ecstasy of passion, given the voice, and no music ought to be sung easier. Its sentiments crowd forward eagerly for utterance, and every phrase is impassioned eloquence. One could think that the singers would only need to open their mouths and the entrancing sounds from the orchestra would lure the melodies out. When, instead of such spontaneity the music is given with indication of hard work, the life is gone out of it at once. This weight rested on much of the love music last night, and whenever it did the spirit took flight and the melodies and harmonies were of the earth earthy.

Of Mme. Nilsson’s Margherita there is little to be said that has not been said over and over again. For the transformation which the poetical character has undergone, not she, but the authors of the opera are responsible… All that Mme. Nilsson sings, as all that she does, is so imbued with a current of sympathy that there is no resisting her whether she be reproducing the ideal of the author or giving instead her own conception of the character. We would not that Goethe’s sweet child should do as Nilsson does, but we would not that Nilsson should do otherwise. Yet the verities of art are not violated, for opera is such an incongruous and irrational art form that it makes and shirfts its standard with every new production.

Mme. Nilsson’s triumph came in the jewel song, where it was expected, for it is the golden link with which last year she established the connection between her concert room and the memorable night at the Academy where she first sang her way to the hearts of the people. After she had sung it last night the last film of ice that had held the public in decorous check was melted, and an avalanche of plaudits overwhelmed the fair singer. Bouquets rained from the boxes and baskets of flowers were piled over the footlights till it seemed as if there was to be no end… Signor Campanini was also remembered in profuse flowers and other marks of kind appreciation; and Mme. Scalchi, who did the most artistic singing of the evening, was not forgotten though her guerdons were not commensurate with her merits. For Mme. Louise Lablache, who took the place of the mother who was under the ban of the law, and did her work cleverly, and for Signors Del Puente and Novara, we have time only to chronicle a performance of work of the high degree of merit to which they in part have accustomed us.

Of the mechanical parts of the performance nothing is to be said except words of praise. The pictures were beautiful, all of them. Nothing was shirked, and the highest skill and ingenuity seemed combined in constructing scenes of fascinating beauty and almost perfect illusion.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt3m2Xxssu8

Queensland Ballet Academy opens Foundation Program applications

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 07:59:06 +0000

Photo by David Kelly Queensland Ballet Academy has opened registrations for Brisbane-based children aged 8 – 11 years to attend a Pre-selection Experience as part of the entry process into the...

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Così fan tutte

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 21:30:48 +0000

Starring Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Kelli O’Hara, Ben Bliss, Adam Plachetka and Christopher Maltman, conducted by David Robertson. From March 31, 2018.

Concussions Are More Than a Bump on the Head. Here's What Dancers Need to Know

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 20:36:41 +0000

Your partner accidentally drops you during a lift. You collide head-on with another dancer in rehearsal. Or you're hit in the face while you're spotting a turn. Even if you didn't lose consciousness, you may have a concussion, which can occur from a direct blow to the head or rotary force of the brain moving excessively or striking the skull.

As a dancer, your first instinct may be to keep going, but you shouldn't, says physical therapist and athletic trainer Carrie Gaerte, PT, DPT, ATC, who works with Butler University in Indianapolis and at Ascension St. Vincent Sports Performance. "What's really hard for dancers is admitting that maybe something isn't right," she says. "But the big thing about concussions is that your brain is not like your ankle, shoulder or knee. When your brain has an injury, that needs to take precedence over a role or a job."

If You Think You've Had a Concussion

"If you have a dramatic fall, hit your head and lose consciousness, that's an automatic 911 call," says Gaerte. Sometimes, though, a dancer might run into someone and jostle their head, but they feel fine completing rehearsal. It might not be until that next day or later that they notice any symptoms (see below). "That's when you call your sports medicine physician," she says, stressing that a general practitioner might not understand ballet's athleticism enough to suspect a concussion.

Following any impact, a dancer should spend about 48 to 72 hours (or until they are further evaluated by a sports medicine physician) in relative rest—meaning that you shouldn't dance, though the old advice about not falling asleep after a concussion doesn't typically apply to these types of sports-related head injuries.

When you speak with the physician, be very specific. Use language like "I think I may have sustained a concussion," advises Gaerte. Detail when and how you think it happened and any symptoms you're experiencing. "They will get a sense of your situation quickly, and there won't be as much of a delay in the start of rehab."

Symptoms

A concussion isn't always evident when it happens, so monitoring your symptoms is crucial. The most common symptom is a headache, as well as dizziness, feeling foggy, blurred or double vision, or balance problems. Less common symptoms include memory dysfunction, sensitivity to light, fatigue or trouble concentrating.

Collegiate or high-school level dancers may notice the impact in their academic classes. "Sometimes they'll say that they can't pay attention, they feel very tired, their homework takes longer to do, or they have difficulty studying or taking notes," says Gaerte. Even if a collision seemed uneventful, these symptoms signal that you should seek treatment.

Diagnosis

Gaerte emphasizes that there is no single test to diagnose a concussion. A physician or athletic trainer may administer some of the following based on your symptoms: vestibular (balance) tests; oculomotor tests, which monitor your eye movements; cervical (neck) tests; or emotional tests, evaluating your moods.

One popular method in the sports world is ImPACT testing, which Gaerte hopes to implement with dancers at Butler. Athletes take a series of computer tests that evaluate neurocognitive function at the beginning of a season to establish a baseline. If a concussion is suspected, they can retake the tests to see where their deficits are and, later, how they've improved, says Gaerte.

Treatment Varies

There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for concussions. The nature and duration of your rehabilitation depend on the injury's severity and affected areas of the brain. A sports medicine physician will refer you to specialists who can treat your specific symptoms.

Dancers, in particular, may need to focus on neck rehabilitation. "They really need to make sure those muscles are working properly because of all the spotting and specific head movements," says Gaerte, noting that the neck's deep stabilizers are often impacted by a concussion. Other types of treatment may help you recoup your balance or deal with injury-related anxiety.

Returning to Dance

After rehabilitation, Gaerte, in conjunction with a physician, leads the dancer through exertional tests to see if they're ready for a gradual return to the studio. For example, she might have them do a jumping combination or a series of chaîné turns. "Like any other injury, you don't want to jump back in all at once. It might look like just barre for a week or two," she says. As you progress, if you start to have familiar symptoms, you might need to take a couple steps back.

Second Impact Syndrome

If you've had a concussion and return to dance before you've healed, you're putting yourself at risk for second impact syndrome. Having a subsequent concussion can result in life-threatening swelling of the brain. "Most dancers are very sensitive to the pressures they face, not wanting to be 'out' or injured," says Gaerte. "But it's really important for dancers to realize the gravity of a concussion."

Strictly Come Dancing 2020 | Week 1 Songs and Dances

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 16:16:27 +0000

Twelve celebrity couples are in the race to be crowned Strictly Come Dancing champion 2020. Each of them will take to the floor in a bid to impress the judges in the studio (Craig Revel Horwood,...

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The Royal Ballet | Upcoming Performances

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 15:59:48 +0000

A scene from The Nutcracker by The Royal Ballet @ The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. Photograph : Tristram Kenton Following on from the recent announcement, The Royal Ballet adds the...

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And conquer it you will

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 12:00:21 +0000

On this day in 1964 the film My Fair Lady opened at the Criterion Theater in New York City.

Pieta.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 03:48:00 +0000

Recollection, memories and trends of thoughts during the long October month where both parents, ten years apart, left me, is never easy time to go through..

But that precise last Friday evening all of the sudden the rather monotonous quiet evening when time to watch the local news on tv arrived, we both sank in a sort of mute despair at the announcement of the atrocious death of the History teacher, beheaded by a young muslim who attacked him on purpose not far from the secondary modern school in outer Paris.

I spent my active life as an ordinary teacher, state one with all the background required to be part of the institution which was glorious and generous when I started teaching at the end of the sixties. When I left for retirement in early 20ties the institution was nearly broken at heart for too many deep reasons.

What happened last Friday is the utmost level of horror after the massacre of the Charlie Hebdo journalists. The root of the assassination of this young teacher is also the caricatures of the prophet. We believe deeply in the concept of 'éclairer les consciences' and learn to keep our minds open during the long years at school, State school, which is 'laïque' in respect to all religious beliefs but religion stops at the school entrance. What is taught is moral enlightment inherited from 'le siècle des Lumières' the so called 'esprit critique'. That is the heart of the matter. Therefore for the Isis followers there is no pity towards us : violence is their only answer even when they have lived with us for many years.

For the sake of what I believe and share with the departed young History teacher called Samuel Paty I simply ask 'pieta' to the ones ready to kill, if only they could decide to think in terms of human value on earth, of all what is given to them when their children join School.

Departing from this world at this time of spreading infection, almost on his working site, and in such condition, is nightmarish. The young muslim also had a dreadful departing : shot by the police at the end of the road where he killed Samuel.(These days the Police forces do not train to aim at legs like in the old days : Justice never has a live 'killer'' to judge, only dead bodies ).

All I can do to find some comfort is always in baroque music either Purcel or Monteverdi or Haendel.

The music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKLqZMrKAno can shed the tears I cannot simply shed at this time of despair. Then there will be the time to try to count our Blessings .... perhaps .(many thanks for this marvellous upload hoping it will not disappear like so often now).

The Merry Widow

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 21:31:50 +0000

Sacre bleu! Renée Fleming eez ze reechest weedow in all ze Paree!

Opera San José Three Decembers Stream

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:43:12 +0000

Opera San José will present a new fully staged production of Jake Heggie's Three Decembers as an on-demand stream starting December 3, 2020. The cast (pictured, photograph by David Allen) features mezzo-soprano Susan Graham in the lead role along with Opera San José Resident Artists soprano Maya Kherani and baritone Efraín Solís. Tickets are $40 per household, which includes on-demand streaming access only, or $50 for the added admission to the post-show gala on December 3. Official Site | Tickets

Thinking About College Ballet Programs? Here's a Comprehensive Guide to the Application Process

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:31:33 +0000

Gone are the days when you had to skip college in order to have a successful ballet career. College ballet programs are better than ever before, providing students with the training, professional connections and performance experience they need to thrive in companies postgraduation. But given the number of elements involved in the application process, choosing the right program can feel daunting. We've broken the college application timeline down step by step to help you best approach each stage along the way.

Fall of Sophomore Year: Start Your Research

It's never too early to get to know your options, but sophomore year of high school is a great time to start. Talk to your high school's college counselor. They may not be familiar with ballet programs, but they will be familiar with the college application process and timeline. Then, begin your hunt by reading up about different programs on their websites. Don't know where to start? Get recommendations from your dance teachers and read the company bios of dancers that you admire to see where they trained.

Claudia Rhett, who graduated with a BSOF (a BS in music with a ballet emphasis and an outside field in business) from Indiana University this year, found the Dance Magazine College Guide invaluable to her search. The guide, which is published by Dance Media, contains information on more than 600 programs. Once you've come up with a list of schools you're interested in, reach out to their dance departments for more information. "We love talking to prospective students and their families," says Whitney Herr-Buchholz, director of operations and advancement at University of Arizona's dance department. "We encourage students to reach out. We want to help guide their search."

Don't be afraid to ask for direct contacts for professors and current students. "Word of mouth is the best form of research," says Stefanee Montesantos, a 2020 Butler University graduate who earned a BFA in dance performance and a minor in English and creative writing. "It's an authentic source because the person is telling you about their actual experience."

Fall of Junior Year: Visit Schools

As you head into your junior year of high school, start scheduling campus visits. Nothing will give you a sense of day-to-day life quite like walking around the school's grounds. "Talk to the dancers and watch class," recommends Rhett, who says that when she visited colleges, she considered community involvement and volunteer opportunities, as well as how she'd get around via public transit.

As you tour schools, consider the variables. Think about if you would prefer attending college in the country or a city. Rhett suggests that having an idea of whether you want to attend a big school or small school can help guide your search. Do you want to live on campus in a dorm? If not, what are the off-campus residential options? Be sure to get a sense of what student life is like. Are there clubs or extracurricular activities you might like to join? Are you interested in Greek life? If so, see if you can talk to members of sororities and fraternities. Be sure to get a sense of how the dance department is integrated into the university at large, who your professors would be and what they've done professionally. If possible, get familiar with the area you're visiting, and see if there are nearby ballet companies you'd have access to.

Keep in mind that getting a good feel for university campuses may be trickier this year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the schools you're interested in may be offering virtual tours.

Spring of Junior Year: Prepare Your Application Materials

Getting and staying organized is key when it comes to college applications. With so many components to juggle, you'll want a clear system in place. "Create a calendar from day one," says Christopher Alloways-Ramsey, assistant professor of dance and recruitment director for the ballet program at University of Utah. "Look at each school's website, find their deadlines and put them in your calendar." Your high school guidance counselor may have some useful suggestions for how to stay on top of these dates.

Make a list of all the required application materials and be mindful that there will be separate components for both the universities and the dance programs themselves. When Rhett applied for IU, she had to submit photos, a resumé and an essay to the dance department on top of her regular application materials to the university, such as SAT scores, letters of recommendation and transcripts. If possible, see if you can complete those components before audition season starts.

If a program requires a video submission, make sure you know exactly what they're looking for. Some departments want specific classwork alongside a variation or two, whereas others may be more open to choreographic submissions in other styles, like jazz, modern or tap. "You can choreograph your own piece, but be sure to say that it's self-choreographed," says Montesantos, noting that admissions committees like the innovation and creativity.

Summer Before Senior Year: Plan Out Your Audition Season

Have a firm list of the schools you want to apply for before your senior year starts, and then see when they are holding auditions. Keep in mind the time and money you'll spend traveling to attend them and decide how many you can realistically go to. "I applied to three or four programs," says Montesantos. "It's difficult to have an intense audition season when you're a senior. It can be really taxing on the body to do six, seven or eight auditions."

Spring of senior year tends to be the heaviest audition season for colleges, but find out if any schools offer fall auditions. A few programs, like University of Arizona, not only have fall auditions, but they allow prospective students to audition twice. "We're happy to give feedback. If a dancer receives a non-accept and would like to audition again, we encourage them to give us a call," says Herr-Buchholz.

Some schools, like the University of Utah, hold auditions in multiple locations. See if a program you're interested in is hosting one in a city nearby. Also, ask if a video submission is possible. "We offer it," says Alloways-Ramsey. "It gets so expensive traveling."

The audition process might look different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While many universities are planning for auditions to resume in person, contingency plans are being created in the event of continued social-distancing guidelines. For example, at University of Arizona, all applicants this year will audition via video submission. "We will not hold in-person auditions," says Herr-Buchholz. "We feel this is the most accessible and safe way to proceed in light of COVID. I anticipate many schools will be making use of video-audition methods in the coming year."

Spring of Senior Year: Make a Decision

After you've gotten your acceptance letters, making the final decision on where you'll go can feel immense. Just take a deep breath, consider everything you've learned throughout the application process alongside your financial aid options, and go with your gut. "Don't be afraid to make a mistake," says Montesantos, who notes that transferring is an option if you get to college and find that a program is not a good fit. "If you feel a place is good for you, go for it. If you get there and decide it's not for you, really embrace that change." Go into the process with an open mind, and don't be afraid to ask for help; your professors, advisors and peers want to see you succeed. Trust your intuition, and remember that college is just one step on your dance journey.

NSAIDs and Pregnancy

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:13:01 +0000

Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used by millions of patients. They act by inhibiting the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX) which facilitates the formation of prostaglandins and thromboxane. The enzyme has two forms: COX-1 and COX-2. They mediate inflammation and pain by simulating prostaglandin synthesis. All the NSAIDs available in the US save one inhibit both COX 1 and 2. Thus, they also impair clotting by blocking thromboxane formation. Hence, prolonged use is associated with bleeding, most importantly in the head and GI tract.

The sole exception is celecoxib which inhibits only the COX-2 enzyme. Accordingly, it is much less likely to cause bleeding. There used to be another COX-2 inhibitor available here – Vioxx, but it was forced off the market in a convulsion of deranged thought by a vocal, but poorly informed segment of the medical community.

As the specific COX inhibitors did not affect thromboxane formation it was felt that somehow clotting formation would be enhanced and thus Vioxx was accused of facilitating coronary thrombosis and stroke. Rigorous analysis of pertinent data failed to show such an effect, but Vioxx was withdrawn nevertheless. This left celecoxib as the only specific COX-2 antagonist on the market. It has a therapeutic profile identical to that of Vioxx. If the latter was dangerous enough to prohibit than so was the former. But medicine is no more rational than the rest of human activity and celecoxib was left standing. All the COX inhibitors are given in the figure below.

Having gotten this ancient history off my chest, let’s turn to NSAIDs and pregnancy. The FDA on Oct 15 issued a Drug Safety Communication, excerpts are below.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) around 20 weeks or later in pregnancy may cause rare but serious kidney problems in an unborn baby. This can lead to low levels of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby and possible complications. NSAIDs are commonly used to relieve pain and reduce fevers. They include medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, and celecoxib. After around 20 weeks of pregnancy, the unborn babies’ kidneys produce most of the amniotic fluid, so kidney problems can lead to low levels of this fluid. Amniotic fluid provides a protective cushion and helps the unborn babies’ lungs, digestive system, and muscles develop…

Pregnant women should not use NSAIDs at 20 weeks or later unless specifically advised to do so by your health care professional because these medicines may cause problems in your unborn baby. Talk with your health care professional about the benefits and risks of these medicines during pregnancy before using them, especially at 20 weeks or later.

It is not clear how common this effect on fetal kidneys is, but it appears to be an infrequent complication. Renal side effects of NSAIDs in children and adults are infrequent, but are serious when they occur. The two most observed kidney disorders caused by NSAIDs are interstitial nephritis and nephrotic syndrome, though as stated they are not common.

NSAIDs are very effective at relieving chronic pain, such as that secondary to osteoarthritis. Of course, the population with osteoarthritis is usually at an age beyond that of child bearing. Because of its decreased likelihood of inducing bleeding, celecoxib is best prescribed for long term use.

The full text of the FDA advisory is below.

FDA Use of NSAIDs in pregnancy at 20 weeks or later Download

No substitute for “live”

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:21:44 +0000

My contribution to Opera Canada‘s Critical Response COVID Q&A series is now up on their website. It’s the second in the series with an earlier contribution by Lydia Perovic.

Just turn her loose on Broadway

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:00:03 +0000

Cameron Kelsall: Listen to how a novice playwright critiques the performance of a superstar actress near the beginning of Forever Female, another in the long line of movies about life in the theater that came around in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s: “Half the time I thought you were charming. The other half you were so sure you were charming it gave me kind of a queasy feeling in my stomach.” That could serve as a review of the film itself, which is ostensibly a star vehicle for Ginger Rogers, seen here at her most radiant and glamorous. It hooked me right away in its detailed depiction of New York’s golden age, replete with martinis sipped at the Stork Club and opening night parties at Sardi’s.

David Fox: It took less than a minute for me to get a lump in my throat in Forever Female: when the inevitable opening shot of Time Square crossfades into a view of the Broadhurst Theatre marquee, then home to the musical Seventeen, which was running in 1951, when this movie was made. (Fun theater family fact: Seventeen featured Ann Crowley, the sister of Pat Crowley, who plays the ingénue role here.) We also glimpse marquees for the Music Box (Affairs of State with June Havoc) and the Booth (the long-forgotten Lace on Her Petticoat). Ah, the Broadway of yesteryear!

Cameron Kelsall: That charm, though, occasionally dips into archness, with a script that’s a little too sure of its wit when it’s actually somewhat obvious and dry. We should begin with the positive, though, and there’s a fair amount of it—perhaps nowhere more evident than in the performance of its sparkling star. Rogers, unlike Beatrice Page, the character she plays, is never anything less than genuinely delightful.

David Fox: I agree wholeheartedly that Beatrice Page is a wonderful fit for Rogers, who plays it with brassy charm and a laudable sense of humor, since the character seems not to notice that she has aged out of her 20s by a couple of decades. Forever Female also adds two great titles to my canon of fake plays for Broadway! No Laughing Matter and The Unhappy Holiday, which are the two Page vehicles that anchor the story.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHA96SCP7W8

CK: The latter is written by Stanley Krown, the insouciant playwright mentioned above, played by William Holden with a nice mixture of suavity and gruffness. In addition to being a love letter to Broadway, Forever Female functions as a predictable but enjoyable love triangle—or perhaps it’s actually a love square. Stanley and Beatrice swoon for each other, but Crowley’s ingenue—who changes her name every few scenes, a gag that runs a hair too long—is hot on Beatrice’s heels for both a part in the play and the man who wrote it. And Beatrice never really shakes off her producer, played by Paul Douglas, who is also conveniently her ex-husband. It goes without saying that nuptial hilarity ensues.

DF: We should also point out that Douglas’s character provides sly narration, though that drops off as the movie goes on. By now, all these elements together will certainly evoke the elephant in the screening room—All About Eve, which was made the previous year. We are clearly in similar territory, and often exhilaratingly so. But there’s a significant difference. Where Eve treats the theater with an almost holy sense of awe, there’s a breezy vulgarity running through Forever Female, that—depending on your mood—can be either bracing or off-putting. For me, it’s mostly the former. I greatly enjoyed that No Laughing Matter gets less-than-stellar reviews, and Page is meant to be “personality actress,” some notches below Eve’s Margo Channing, who is an amalgam of Katharine Cornell, Helen Hayes, and… well, Bette Davis.

CK: Yes—and unlike Roz Russell in The Velvet Touch, we don’t have to suffer through a comedienne trying her hand at Hedda to prove her bona fides. Rogers’ Beatrice Page knows exactly what kind of actress she is, and she revels in it. So, too, does Rogers herself.

DF: Rogers is superb at suggesting both the charm and gaucheness of the character… and by the way, she looks exactly like an emeritus Miss Adelaide, which reinforces the very Runyonesque sense of Broadway we get here. You can entertain yourself in Forever Female by figuring out how many people in the cast could go right into Guys and Dolls. I counted at least three Nathan Detroits. “The second act fell right on its sitzfleisch”—a line given to Jesse White in a delightful supporting turn as a press agent—encapsulates some of the coarse fun.

CK: Certainly Rogers, Douglas, Holden and Crowley could be dropped into the four leads of Guys and Dolls effortlessly. I do want to talk about Crowley’s performance—which won her the now sadly defunct Golden Globe for Best New Star. Crowley eventually turned into something of a personality actress herself, but there’s a certain slyness to her acting here that really worked for me. She suggests the hungry brashness of a conniving aspiring actress in the early scenes, and she’s not afraid to push her characterization right to the line of being annoying and tiresome. But she also conveys the humanity of her character at the end, showing that she truly does love Stanley—and that she really is the right girl for his show. More so than Rogers, who is at her least convincing in the one scene that requires her to push for emotional depth, Crowley really nails the feeling beneath the facade.

DF: Seeing Crowley’s name was another throat-lump moment for me. More than a decade after Forever Female, she would win enduring fame (from me, at least) as the mother and Jean Kerr doppelganger in the sitcom version of Please Don’t Eat the Daisies. I was around 10 years old at the time, and I adored the show and adored Crowley especially. Seeing her here so young was very touching… and also a bit disorienting. I agree that she’s radiant near the end, but I find her very arch and hoydenish (a word I never thought I’d write, but there you are) in the early scenes. I think a lot of it isn’t her fault, but lies in the screenplay by Julius J. and Philip Epstein (based on a play I don’t know at all—Rosalind, by J. M. Barrie), which wants the character to be many different and logically incompatible things. One minute, she’s scheming; the next endearing; the next, pushy and gauche. I’m not sure anyone could make it work, and I think it’s one of the areas where Forever Female loses momentum.

CK: I do agree that the extended burlesque of her character is where the film goes off the rails, but to me, Crowley does more than enough to make up for it with her performance. Yes, hoydenish is an entirely appropriate word at some moments, but that affect is not necessarily out of place here. The film also loses steam long before it ends, largely because the denouement is so predictable—Beatrice Page, holding onto her last ember of youth, cedes both the part and the man to the next bright young thing. And…she takes the role of the mother! Time is a cruel mistress after all. It’s worth noting that after the film proper ends, a portrait of Pat Crowley is displayed, along with the text “Future Paramount Star.” I found this charming. It’s a reminder, not unlike the film itself, of how things were in this era.

DF: Literally, from my notes: “A sentimental and implausibly selfless ending sadly drains the movie of some of its energetic fun.” As for Crowley, I too noted the final frame, which struck me as oddly ironic. Her career certainly didn’t play out that way. She had some decent secondary roles in films, but her enduring fame would come in television. In that sense, she’s more like Miss Caswell than Eve Harrington. But of course, there’s nothing wrong with that—and if Forever Female is not a second All About Eve, at its best, it’s a delicious treat in its own way.

CK: Speaking of Miss Caswells, we’ll next be considering Stage Struck, a largely forgotten remake of the early Katharine Hepburn success Morning Glory. Susan Strasberg was clearly no Kate Hepburn, but we’ll see if she’s even Pat Crowley.

Death is my talisman!

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:00:14 +0000

Born on this day in 1882 actor Bela Lugosi.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:54:11 +0000

Starring Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Peter Mattei, John Del Carlo and John Relyea, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From March 24, 2007.

Rota double bill

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 17:26:29 +0000

Nino Rota was a composer and academic perhaps best known for his film music. He wrote the scores for all of Fellini’s films and for the first two Godfather movies. He also wrote several operas; most of them comic. Two of his one actors were performed and recorded at the 2017 Reate Festival.

La notte di un nevrastenico is very much a farce. A neurotic insomniac has rented three hotel rooms to make sure that there is no disturbance from next door but the concierge has let them anyway; one to the Commendatore, who is in town for the fair, and one to an amorous couple. The neurotic is disturbed firstly by the Commendatore dropping a shoe and secondly, surprise, by the amorous couple’s enthusiastic antics. In both cases he summons all the staff to complain about the noise. Eventually he produces a gun and the Commendatore and the couple pack up and leave. Just as the neurotic finally drops off the bell boy arrives with his morning coffee… It’s fast paced and most definitely a farce.

I due timidi is a bit more ambitious, though not in my view quite as good. Raimondo is in love with the piano student Mariucci but is too timid to declare it. She’s in love with him and ditto. He moves into the same pensione to be near her but as they stare longingly at each other out of their respective windows a shutter falls on his neck knocking him out. In his delirium he declares his love not to Mariuccia but to Mrs Guidotti, the no longer young proprietor of the pensione. Mariuccia swoons at the sight of the injured Raimondo and is treated by Dr. Sinisgalli who is secretly in love with her. All sorts of confusion ensues and repeatedly Raimondo and Mariuccia fail to clarify their true feelings. Two years later Rasimondo is running the guest house and Mrs. Sinisgalli has pretty much given up the piano with two kids to look after. This too has farcical elements but it’s also a bit sad and not as well paced. It also uses a narrator to push the action along which seems like a bit of a cheat. There’s a film connection here too. The librettist; Susa Cecchi d’Amico, was also responsible for the screenplays of a bunch of films including Il gattopardo.

Musically the two pieces are extremely well constructed. Rota knows how to use an orchestra. The music is entirely tonal (which must have taken some guts in the opera world of the 1950s and 60s), extremely colourful and well crafted. It’s through sung and nobody in the first piece really gets an aria. In I due timidi though he seems to be parodying grand opera at times and both Mariuccia and Mrs. Guidotti get big numbers. Rota uses quite a wide range of styles too, including dance music. The overall impression is that he’s a fine technician and quite inventive.

Both works are directed by Cesare Scarton and share a set. It’s a sort of ramshackle building backdrop with lots of doors and windows for people to do things half out of sight behind or to pop up in from time to time. The look is like a slightly abstracted Fellini film which is reinforced by the costumes which put us firmly in post war Italy. In I due timidi there’s also a lot of yelling across streets and smooching on street corners which again conjures up the world of La strada or the scruffier bits of La dolce vita. It’s also quite stagily acted which suits and again avoids too much of an attempt at “realism”.

The casts are made up of singers no-one outside Italy is likely to have seen much of but they are certainly adequate. I particularly liked Giorgio Celenza as the neurotic (he’s back in the second half as the narrator). He’s quite convincing as an utterly crazy character. Daniele Adriani is also excellent as the Commendatore and in the very different role of Raimondo. Sabrina Cortese also pulls off two sharply contrasting roles. She’s both the sultry and scantily clad She in the first part and the timid and demure, but very pretty, Mariuccia in the second. She makes the most of her big aria too. The Reate Festival orchestra seems very at home with the scores and Gabriele Bonolis in the pit supports the comic timing nicely while delivering the full colour of the music.

Max Derevlanko directed the video. It’s all quite compact so he isn’t presented with any real difficulties and he does a very adequate job. It doesn’t place huge demands on the video quality either. It’s available as Blu-ray but the DVD version I watched was perfectly adequate. The sound too (Dolby 5.1 and LPCM stereo) is very good. There are no extras but the booklet is very informative about Rota as well as providing a track listing and synopses. Subtitles are English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean.

I don’t think either of these works are exactly masterpieces but they are interesting. Comic operas are not that common in the modern opera world. Nor are new works in Italian. Indeed, it sometimes seems that Italian opera died with Puccini. Here’s further proof that that’s not. quite true.

2020 Stars of the Corps: 10 Dancers Making Strides In and Out of the Spotlight

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 14:20:08 +0000

The corps de ballet make up the backbone of every company. In our Fall 2020 issue, we highlighted 10 ensemble standouts to keep your eye on. Click on their names and photos to learn more!

Dara Holmes, Joffrey Ballet

Wanyue Qiao, American Ballet Theatre

Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, Houston Ballet

Leah McFadden, Colorado Ballet

Maria Coelho, Tulsa Ballet

Alexander Reneff-Olson, San Francisco Ballet

India Bradley, New York City Ballet

Bella Ureta, Cincinnati Ballet

Alejándro Gonzales, Oklahoma City Ballet

Nina Fernandes, Miami CIty Ballet

NEW YORK CITY BALLET DIGITAL FALL SEASON | SEPTEMBER 28-OCTOBER 31, 2020

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 13:36:42 +0000

nycballet.com/digitalfallWEEK 4: Monday, October 19 – Saturday, October 24 Monday, October 19:City Ballet The Podcast“Hear the Dance” episode on George Balanchine’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier,...

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Ballet West Academy's New Director on Dream Building During COVID-19

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Evelyn Cisneros-Legate is bringing her hard-earned expertise to Ballet West. The former San Francisco Ballet star is taking over all four campuses of The Frederick Quinney Lawson Ballet West Academy as the school's new director.

Cisneros-Legate, whose mother put her in ballet classes in an attempt to help her overcome her shyness, trained at the San Francisco Ballet School and School of American Ballet before joining San Francisco Ballet as a full company member in 1977. She danced with the company for 23 years, breaking barriers as the first Mexican American to become a principal dancer in the U.S., and has graced the cover of Dance Magazine no fewer than three times.

As an educator, Cisneros-Legate has served as ballet coordinator at San Francisco Ballet, principal of Boston Ballet School's North Shore Studio and artistic director of after-school programming at the National Dance Institute (NDI). Dance Teacher spoke with her about her new position, her plans for the academy and leading in the time of COVID-19.

Congratulations on your recent appointment! What does this hiring mean to you?

For me, it's kind of the pinnacle of my after-dancing career. To join a wonderful, large organization with such a fantastic reputation in the industry is really rewarding. To have used all my experience with San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet and NDI—all of that comes together to give me the experience I need for this.

What drew you to this particular opportunity?

Ballet West feels like completing a circle. I started at San Francisco Ballet as a student at the end of the Harold Christensen regime. I was hired into the company by Lew Christensen, and Ballet West founder Willam Christensen would come out and visit his brothers often. I had the chance to meet him, and was even able to come to Utah to stage Michael Smuin's The Tempest at one point. It feels like family.

What are your goals for the school?

I'm particularly excited about building up our youth—the future generation. It's important that the base of our company pyramid is broad. These dancers are more than just our future company members, they're our future audience, musicians, donors, staff. There is something for everyone. The things these young dancers learn will give them the ability to focus, to understand spatial awareness, to recognize their own physical capabilities, self-confidence, work ethic and critical thinking. These skills will allow them to become the best workers in any discipline.

What challenges are you anticipating?

The climate of our country is our biggest hurdle. We have students in the studios and they are beautiful and so happy to be back dancing outside of their bedroom, but they are still masked. I can feel their trepidation moving forward into the unknown. Our youth are facing things we have never experienced before. The challenge is keeping them inspired and in the dream so we don't lose dancers, who could have otherwise had wonderful careers, to the pandemic.

You’ve been a trailblazer for women of color in the industry. What advice would you give to the next generation of dancers looking to break barriers?

I feel this generation has an extraordinary opportunity because barriers have been mostly broken down. There may be a few obstacles, but I would challenge this generation to see them not as hurdles to jump over, but opportunities to take hold of. Use who you are as a strength to benefit ballet.

What advice do you have for dance teachers looking to lead in this difficult time?

It is essential you be more sensitive to the youth right now. Have an open door for them so you can stop casualties of the pandemic. I've already had one student quit due to hopelessness. Teach your students that all their dreams can still happen, even if they look a little different than they thought. Help them view this as something empowering, rather than something that will squash them. Ask them to step forward honestly before their concerns overwhelm them.

Farewell the tranquil mind

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 12:55:05 +0000

On this day in 1943 Paul Robeson opened in the title role of Othello at the Shubert Theatre opposite Uta Hagen and José Ferrer. The revival ran 296 performances.

Aida

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 00:00:12 +0000

Jonas Kaufmann jumps into a concert performance at La Scala for the ailing Francesco Meli.

Don Pasquale

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 23:10:43 +0000

Starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien and John Del Carlo; conducted by James Levine. From November 13, 2010.

Attila

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 16:15:03 +0000

From San Francisco Opera.

I don’t count sheep. I count lovers.

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 15:36:54 +0000

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhj3r3IODpE

On this day in 1974 Britten’s Death in Venice had its American Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. Tenor Peter Pears and baritone John Shirley-Quirk made their debuts.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdkseV9thEo

Birthday anniversaries of composer Baldassare Galuppi (1706), actress and singer Lotte Lenya (1898), conductor Otto Ackermann (1909), tenor Alexander Young (1920), soprano Camilla Williams (1922) and baritone Barry McDaniel (1930).

Happy birthdays to sopranos Berit Lindholm (86), Catarina Ligendza (83), Margarita Castro Alberty (73); and tenor Henry Price (75).

Happy birthday to parterre box scribe/pâtissier Christian Ocier.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEsiy0qzdDw

Light up the Christmas Season with Hong Kong Ballet’s The Nutcracker

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 14:03:49 +0000

The Nutcracker | Dancers (from left): Ye Feifei, Li Jiabo | Photography: Conrad Dy-Liacco | Courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet Christmas is never complete without The Nutcracker. Hong Kong...

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Strictly Come Dancing 2020 | The Pairings

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 12:33:23 +0000

Last night’s Strictly Come Dancing launch show saw the celebrities paired with their professional dance partners for the series. They are : Caroline Quentin and Johannes RadebeClara...

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Roberto Devereux

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 20:52:39 +0000

Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Elina Garanca, Matthew Polenzani and Mariusz Kwiecien, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From April 16, 2016.

Good golly Miss Debbie

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 14:00:03 +0000

On this day in 1991 soprano Deborah Voigt made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Amelia.

Covid fan tutte

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 11:36:22 +0000

Covid fan tutte is the best opera thing I’ve seen come out of the pandemic yet. It’s from Finnish National Opera and it uses the music of Così fan tutte (mostly) and a new libretto (in Finnish natch) to poke fun at every aspect of the current situation. To quote the blurb:

On stage, singers are rehearsing Die Walküre, when they are suddenly interrupted. As management has been laid off and the news of a global virus spreads rapidly, the Wagnerians are suddenly instructed to perform a modern satire on the situation.

It’s fully staged with a socially distanced orchestra and a virtual chorus. There appears to have been some sort of live audience in the house. They weren’t mucking about here. Both Karita Mattila and Esa-Pekka Salonen are involved. Bottom line; it’s very well done and genuinely funny with a few really sad bits like where a man sings an aria to his mother to the closed window of the old people’s home. There are subtitles for those whose Finnish isn’t up to it.

You can find it on Youtube on the Operavision channel. Brexit supporters should stay away as Operavision is funded by those nasty cultured foreigners, the EU.

Big Drama, Big Voices: La Wally at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 10:23:35 +0000

Catalani – La Wally

Wally – Zarina Abaeva
Stromminger – Luiz-Ottavio Faria
Afra – Patricia Quinta
Walter – Joana Seara
Giuseppe Hagenbach – Azer Zada
Vincenzo Gellner – Luis Cansino
Il Pedone – Nuno Dias

Coro do Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa / Antonio Pirolli
Concert performance.

Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon, Portugal. Friday, October 16th, 2020.

For its first complete opera of this new season, the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos offered us the chance to hear a rarity, Catalani’s La Wally, in a series of three concert performances with an international and Portuguese cast, under Roman conductor Antonio Pirolli. Naturally, given the current sanitary regulations, this was a different kind of concert performance. Most of the principals made their entrances wearing masks, which they removed to sing, while the chorus was positioned on scaffolding behind the orchestra, singing from behind plastic sheeting. I must admit that from my seat in the middle of the Plateia, there were balance issues that might have not been as apparent higher up in the house, with the chorus frequently sounding off stage. That said, given the care the house had taken for everyone’s safety, the fact that we were able to attend this performance at all is something of a miracle.

La Wally is of course most famous for that celebrated soprano showpiece ‘Ebben? Ne andrò lontana’, but also for the titular character’s spectacular end by throwing herself into an avalanche. I must admit to being perplexed as to why it isn’t done more often. It’s a terrific romp, a typical love triangle between a soprano and tenor who aren’t aware of their true feelings, while she is promised to the baritone she really isn’t interested in. There’s some lusty choral writing and the orchestral writing is full of the soupy late romanticism that makes for a wallowing evening in the theatre.

Indeed, this was very much brought to the fore by Pirolli’s highly idiomatic conducting. He gave us a performance that was founded in a strong rhythmic impetus, but that also didn’t shy away from spinning long, languid lines. He urged the strings of the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa to dig deep, revelling in those soupy portamenti, and they rewarded him with playing of a high standard. Yes, there was a lack of unanimity in the violins’ approach to the Act 4 prelude, but this was very much passing and the quality of what we heard would certainly have been at home in any major lyric theatre. The chorus sang with agreeable blend of tone and remarkable accuracy given their distribution on stage.

The quality of the principals was also, with one significant exception, precisely of the standard one would expect in any major theatre and reinforced the fact that this house deserves its place on any discerning opera lover’s plans. Zarina Abaeva was a thrilling find as Wally. The Russian soprano is the owner of a magnificent instrument, from a big bold chestiness, to a copper-toned middle, rising to a gleaming top, she most certainly gave notice of an extremely bright future in this repertoire. The voice is generously sized and used with ease. She dispatched her celebrated number with genuine feeling, and throughout, her imperious stage presence displayed dignity and poise. Abaeva also savoured the text, giving full attention to those Italian double consonants that so many others seem to ignore. There were hints, though, that she could still do more with the role. Her reliance on the score and the lack of shading of the tone in places suggested that her interpretation of this part will deepen with time. Still, this is a major instrument and I look forward to following her career.

Her Giuseppe was Azer Zada. The Azeri tenor has had some very prestigious assignments in his career so far. I must admit that his performance was the sole disappointment of the evening and led to gratitude that his role was relatively short. His is a lyric tenor that sounds pushed and forced to be several sizes bigger than it actually is. This resulted in lumpy legato, an upper register that sounded pushed and strained – the physical effort to sustain this larger sound more than visible in the way Zada contorted his body to create it – and a reluctance to sing anything under forte. On the isolated occasions in which he did pull back on the dynamics, the actual sound in the middle was quite agreeable. But, on the whole his assumption of the role was heavy going, for us and for him. He was, however, given a hearty ovation by the São Carlos public.

Luis Cansino was also an excellent find as Gellner. The Galician baritone is the owner of a very big and resonant instrument, creating a huge column of sound. In a world deprived of true Verdi and Puccini baritones, he’s the genuine article. He was able to spin out a seductive legato as he tried to win over Wally, and he was also able to exclaim his rage without ever resorting to the need to hector. On the basis of this evening, I would definitely like to hear him as Scarpia or Jago. Luiz-Ottavio Faria sang Stromminger with a rounded, inky bass. Joana Seara sang Walter in a charmingly creamy soprano and made a very creditable attempt at a trill – I would love to hear her as Susanna, a role she has previously sung at this address. Patrícia Quinta sang Afra in a deliciously tart mezzo.

This was definitely a big night at the São Carlos. Big drama, big voices, and some genuinely thrilling performances – with, as I mentioned above, one exception. We were introduced, in Abaeva and Cansino, to some major talents and the quality of the house forces, as always, demonstrated why this is a house worth paying attention to. Certainly, the fact that we were able to be here at all tonight is reason for gratitude. The fact that the evening was so satisfying is a reason to celebrate.

During this period of theatrical closures, crowdfunding support for operatraveller.com has been put on hold. I encourage you to investigate ways of supporting your local companies and artists while houses remain closed. Both the Patreon and PayPal for the site will resume as soon as theatres open again.

Strictly Come Dancing 2020 | The Launch Show

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 23:01:17 +0000

Claudia Winkleman, Tess Daly – (C) BBC – Photographer: Guy Levy Strictly Come Dancing 2020 Celebrity dancers – (C) BBC – Photographer: Guy Levy Shirley Ballas – (C) BBC...

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Maria Stuarda

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 21:27:44 +0000

Starring Elza van den Heever, Joyce DiDonato, Matthew Polenzani, Joshua Hopkins and Matthew Rose, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From January 19, 2013.

The USA International Ballet Competition Has Been Rescheduled for 2023

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:14:56 +0000

The USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, announced today that its 2022 competition has been rescheduled for June 10–24, 2023. The prestigious event, which draws over 100 students and professional dancers from around the world, was last held in 2018 and typically runs every four years. Naturally, COVID-19 is to blame—the date move is part of a larger reshuffling of associated IBCs canceled this summer because of the pandemic.

USA IBC is part of a network of sister competitions, with the others held in Varna, Bulgaria; Helsinki, Finland; and Moscow, Russia. They are spaced apart to avoid competing with each other and to maximize the pool of participating dancers. When the coronavirus pandemic forced the 2020 Helsinki and Varna IBCs to be rescheduled, their new dates would have put them within months of the 2022 competition in Jackson—forcing dancers to choose between them and potentially hindering ticket sales. "Our partners in Varna, Moscow and Helsinki shared our belief that we should work together to make the competitions accessible to as many gifted dancers and as many global audiences as possible," USA IBC executive director Mona Nicholas said in a statement.

Luckily, the competition schedules get back on track next year. So get out your calendars! The revised schedule for all four IBCs is as follows:

2021: Moscow

2022: Helsinki and Varna

2023: Jackson

2024: Varna

2025: Moscow

2026: Helsinki and Varna

2027: Jackson

2028: Varna

The Russian soul

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:11:49 +0000

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QeKn6V2wag

On this day in 1972 conductor Henry Lewis made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting La bohème on his 40th birthday.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2jT5Uv8WHM

Birthday anniversaries of writers Oscar Wilde (1854) and Eugene O’Neill (1888).

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUAacM3S-2k

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8XmngrFZDo

Anna Bolena

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:39:07 +0000

Starring Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Tamara Mumford, Stephen Costello and Ildar Abdrazakov, conducted by Marco Armiliato. From October 15, 2011.

Richmond Ballet Is Back Onstage. Here’s How the Company Is Making It Work

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 20:14:04 +0000

It's a rare ballet company that can present three months of in-person performances despite (and amidst) the chaos of 2020. Against the odds, Richmond Ballet is doing just that, pulling off a COVID-era adaptation of its perennial Studio Series. Arriving at Richmond Ballet's Studio Theatre on a recent Thursday evening, I fully expected to feel discouraged by a highly, um, sanitized version of live dance performance. But dancers, artistic staff and audience members alike seem to be adjusting fast to the necessary precautions. After a few minutes, the dancers' masks and socially distant spacing mostly faded into the background.

For artistic director Stoner Winslett, it was never an option to cancel the entire season or go all-digital. "Our mission as a company is to awaken and uplift the human spirit," Winslett says. "Especially with the recent social unrest in our Richmond community and around the world, at this moment, we just didn't feel that being closed was right."

When the state of Virginia reached Phase Three of reopening in July, Winslett convened Richmond Ballet's 14 main-company members on Zoom to ask how they felt about returning to the studio. The response was, according to fourth-year veteran Eri Nishihara, cautiously enthusiastic—especially once RB's medical task force came up with a full battery of recommendations for dancers' safe return to work. "Since we're a small company, we were able to stay 10 feet apart in the studio, and we've been wearing masks ever since returning," Nishihara says.

After a few weeks of reconditioning, the dancers—now divided into two daily "pods" so performances can continue in the event of infection—began rehearsing for a total reimagining of the postponed May Studio Series. The new criteria for the one-hour show, now without an intermission: only married couples or roommates performing pas de deux, choreographic selections that lean heavily on solos and trios, and masks mandated for everyone in the building. Excerpts from company favorites, like Dennis Spaight's Gloria and Val Caniparoli's Street Songs, were rehearsed in person and performed with minor tweaks to spacing (plus masks, added to the preexisting costume design). Premieres by company members were choreographed in the studio, while a Ma Cong premiere was rehearsed via Zoom.

Other than the music lag that dancers are now all too familiar with, virtual rehearsing went off largely without a hitch, says Nishihara. For the wrenchingly emotional Solas, originally created by Salvatore Aiello for his wife, Marina Eglevsky, Nishihara and her Pod 2 counterpart, Elena Bello, were coached by Eglevsky herself, albeit from afar. "It was amazing how many fine-tuned nuances can still be delivered through screens," Nishihara says.

The two company dancers who made pieces for the September Studio Series took their inspiration from the current moment. For his Waltzes Once Forgotten, Mate Szentes imagined a sepia photograph from the Spanish-flu era come to life. Matthew Frain created a solo, called To This Day, drawing explicitly on the Black Lives Matter movement and how diversity makes us stronger. Nishihara feels that all the coronavirus-related changes and additions create a different kind of performance, but not a lesser one: "What I'm finding to be really exciting is that because we can't dance in big groups, each of us is getting to shine more in solos than we normally would."

But how does it feel to be dancing your heart out for a masked audience in a near-empty auditorium? (Studio Theatre seating is down from 250 to 64 to allow for social distancing, and there's little to no lobby lingering or mingling amongst audience members.) "It was a little weird, but I could still feel the audience's energy," Nishihara says. "If anything, we're dancing more than ever before for each other, as dancers."

One pleasant surprise was that masks don't cancel out as much facial expression as she might've expected: "People have told me that a lot of emotion still translated through our eyes, which was nice to hear."

After the success of the September Studio Series (which could also be viewed through a streaming link up to one week after the performance), Winslett's ambitions for October performances—running now through the 25th—include the addition of four RB II dancers to each pod, and adding more virtual viewing offerings for patrons uncomfortable with attending in person.

Company members and staff alike are sacrificing in order to put their art first, just as ballet dancers everywhere have long done. "We've agreed as an organization that we have to behave like we're still in a soft quarantine," Nishihara says. "We're not going anywhere other than the studio, the doctor and the grocery store."

Beyond that continuing routine, it's too soon to say what might be possible come November. Though programming for the November Studio Series has been chosen, "any plan longer than a week from now is a long-range plan these days," Winslett says, laughing.

SF Opera Drive In Lucia

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:52:30 +0000

San Francisco Opera presents Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (pictured left, photograph by Terrence McCarthy) on October 25 at 6pm at Fort Mason Flix Drive-In. The production is from 2008 and stars Natalie Dessay. 98 cars with pre-purchased tickets will be admitted starting at 5pm and social distancing enforced. Guests must remain in their cars during the opera and wear a mask when leaving to visit concessions or restrooms. Press Release | Official Site

Elmhurst Ballet School | BALLET STUDENTS CATCH THE PERFECT UNIFORM

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:41:07 +0000

As Elmhurst Ballet School students are training daily towards their career in dance, they are also helping the environment in a new uniform made of sustainable fabrics that originate from ocean waste...

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The Sarasota Ballet Fall Digital Season

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:35:24 +0000

Digital Program 1 – 23-27 October 2020 Sarasota, FL (October 15th, 2020) – The Sarasota Ballet commences their 30th Anniversary Season with their first-ever Digital Program, an innovative...

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Donald Seldin – The Maestro of Medicine

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 17:03:23 +0000

Raymond Greenberg’s new biography of the late Donald Seldin has a great subtitle. It could also have been Never at Rest had not Richard Westfall preopted the title for his definitive biography of Isaac Newton. Constant purposeful activity combined with a blazing intellect was the dominant characteristic of Seldin’s long and incredibly productive life.

A note on the author. Greenberg had a distinguished career in academic medicine. He was the president of Medical University of South Carolina and then vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Texas System. He has written several books and more than 150 scientific papers. He had not many interactions with Dr Seldin and was at first reluctant to accept the invitation of Dan Podalsky to write Seldin’s biography. Podalsky is the president of UT’s Southwestern Medical Center where Seldin spent more than 67 years on the faculty – 36 as chairman of the department of internal medicine. He decided to write the book because he thought as someone who had minimal interactions with Seldin he could bring a fresh and balanced account of one of the most remarkable men and careers in 20th century American life. He was right. The result is a compelling description of both the man and the impact he had on medicine.

Born to immigrant parents in 1920, he was raised and educated in Brooklyn. After attending Seth Low Junior High School as part of an accelerated program for gifted students, he went to James Madison High School where he ran track and played basketball. The current mayor of the city wishes to abolish this ‘Special Progress’ pathway as somehow being unfair. No matter that thousands of New York students like Seldin have gone on to lives of exceptional merit.

A child of the depression, he came from an unhappy family. His father was a dentist, while his intelligent mother had little formal education. As a teenager he worked a series of jobs necessary to maintain sustenance during hard times. These included, delivery boy, usher, dance instructor, magazine salesman, and bellhop. On his own he developed the wide palette of interests that remained with him throughout his life. A bonafide polymath he came to know a lot about almost everything.

At age 16 he matriculated at New York University. While his interest in literature, art, and music was gratified at NYU, he decided that he needed a profession that would provide a living. He applied to medical school and was accepted at Yale. In New Haven he met the physician-scientist who would shape his medical career – John Peters.

Greenberg gives a vivid account of Peter’s life. Peters was a pioneer in the application of chemistry to clinical medicine. With the chemist Donald Van Slyke he authored the two volumes of Quantitative Clinical Chemistry that became a medical classic. Peters adherence to liberal causes caught the attention the Loyalty Review Board. He was repeatedly accused of disloyalty to his country. These unfounded accusations took a severe toll on Peters. He suffered a heart attack and died in 1955 age 67. While his metabolic section was world renowned, he never became chairman of Yale’s department of internal medicine, in large part because of the false disloyalty charges.

Seldin repeatedly acknowledged his professional debt to Peters, who not only was a rigorous clinical investigator, but who also trained many physician investigators who became leaders of American medicine – foremost among them was Seldin who graduated from Yale first in his class in 1943. Peters demanded that medical research never be separated from clinical medicine. This was the principle that animated Seldin’s career as a medical educator and scientist.

His medical education was accelerated by the US Army’s need for doctors to care for the casualties and illnesses resulting from World War II. Likewise, internship and residency were compressed to 27 months. He had been in the Army for much of his time at Yale, but was not activated until until late in 1945.

The Army sent him to Germany. Two events were noteworthy about this posting. He was able to indulge a lifelong passion for the art and culture of that continent. He also served as an expert witness during the trial of a Nazi doctor accused of war-crimes. Seldin often described his testimony in a way that suggested that the accused, Dr Rudolf Brachtel, was convicted. Using new information obtained by a Seldin trainee and then a close friend, Michael Emmett, Greenberg shows that Brachtel was acquitted, as were many ex-Nazis because of war crime fatigue and the onset of the cold war. Brachtel resumed medical practice until his death four decades later. Seldin likely never knew the verdict in the trial. But the experience he faced dealing with the perversion of medicine stayed with him for the rest of his life.

After his discharge from the Army he returned to Yale to work under his mentor Dr Peters. Late in 1950, he was recruited to the faculty of internal medicine at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He accepted the job without visiting Dallas or the school. Dr Peters advised against taking the job, telling Sledin that there was no respect for the intellect in that part of the country. The likely reason he took the job was that the path to advancement at Yale was long, while it certainly was much shorter at a new school. So against the advice of the man whom Seldin admired more than any other, he arrived in Dallas in January of 1951.

The situation in which he found himself was a mess which only got worse. The school was housed in dilapidated wooden huts. Within eight months the small internal medicine faculty had decamped for more verdant fields leaving Seldin as the sole remaining physician. He decided to return to Yale whereupon he was offered and accepted the chairmanship of the department, a post he was to hold for the next 36 years. That he was picked for the job is unsurprising as there was no one else left. He was the department’s sole faculty member.

Greenberg describes with panache the miracle Seldin wrought over the ensuing decades, taking Southwestern from an invisible medical school to one of the world’s great medical centers; one that is home to Nobel Prize winners and a faculty full of medical and scientific superstars. How did he do it?

Read the book for the full details, but basically, he recruited world class talent from his students. “Our students aren’t any smarter than than those of any other schools,” he often declaimed. Leaving unsaid that he was better at recognizing and nurturing nascent talent than anyone else.

Consider one such student – Floyd Rector. After graduating from Texas Tech in 1950, then a college rather than the large university it is today, he matriculated at Southwestern. During Rector’s first or second year he encountered Seldin in the library. Seldin asked him if he knew where he could find a book that had an equation he needed. Floyd didn’t know, but said it shouldn’t be too hard to derive it and proceeded to do so. Seldin returned home to tell his wife that he had come across the craziest medical student. He meant really bright. The following day he called Floyd into his office and mapped out the next 20 years of his career. Long before the two decades expired Rector had become the best renal physiologist in the world. When the 20 years were up he moved of the University of California in San Francisco as chief of nephrology. He subsequently chaired the school’s department of internal medicine.

This spectacular pattern of career development characterized Seldin’s handling of the gifted students he encountered and developed into world renowned leaders in their respective fields. The most spectacular example of this process was Joseph Goldstein who after an extensive postgraduate training regimen returned to Southwestern with his scientific partner Michael Brown. Both shared the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1985.

Not all of Seldin’s stars were former students. Two New Yorkers joined the faculty in the 50s. Roger Unger was recruited Seldin’s department in 1952. He become one of the world’s experts on diabetes, especially on the role of glucagon on the pathophysiology of the disease. He continued to work at the school until his mid nineties. He died in August of this year. Among his numerous honors was election to the National Academy of Sciences.

Morris Ziff, like Seldin was a native of Brooklyn and went to NYU. He held a doctorate in chemistry as well as an MD. Seven years older than Seldin, he came to Dallas in 1958 where he developed one of the world’s outstanding rheumatology divisions. Surprisingly, neither is mentioned in Greenberg’s book. So wide was the circle of Seldin’s colleagues, students, and associates that Greenberg realized that he had to stop interviewing them or he would never have time to write the book. It was inevitable that a few key players would be missed.

Much of the biography depicts the extraordinary depth and reach of its protagonist’s extra-medical interests and knowledge. From the poetry of Yeats, to the architecture of the Renaissance, to the music of Beethoven, and even to the performance of the Dallas Cowboys – Seldin had a strong opinion based on real insights and understanding. After the Dallas Cowboys lost the NFL championship game on December 31, 1967 to the Green Bay Packers in the famous Ice Bowl (or infamous if you were a Cowboy fan, as was Seldin), his annual New Years Eve party was full of gloom. His youngest daughter told many of the guests that the Cowboys would have won the game, “If Coach Landry had only listened to my daddy.”

Seldin trained so many physicians who in turn trained more physicians, und so weiter, that the medical schools, laboratories, clinics, and hospitals the world over are filled with his professional progeny. There is a Seldin school of medicine throughout the world. The reach of the man is global. He was the ultimate right man in the right place at the right time. Greenberg has captured the genius and charisma that allowed him to achieve what seems, even 70 years after his start from zero, impossible or miraculous.

Greenberg’s technique was to interview about 40 people who had close contact with Seldin over the course of his long, long, long career. They were virtually unanimous in their wonder and praise of his erudition, energy, and dynamic charm. Of course, there were those who found his heat too much to bear. They didn’t make it into the bio.

Seldin was not an easy taskmaster. if you couldn’t perform to his very high standard he ignored you. If he thought you had ability and promise he pushed harder. To satisfy him you had to up your game. Doing so was its own reward.

Who is the book for? Certainly anyone interested in medicine, particularly medical education and research. It’s a portrait of one of the unique Americans of the last century making it a compelling read for anyone interested in individual brilliance and accomplishment. At little more than 200 pages, Greenberg has drafted an indelible sketch of the most important academic physician since William Osler. Highly recommended. So long was Seldin’s life and career that October 24 of this year is the 100th anniversary of his birth.