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Opera in (and after) school
My first opera experience was The Magic Flute at Portland Opera. I was a freshman in high school at the time, and a friend of mine was in the children’s chorus. She’d been cast as one of the three spirits and was very excited for her first …
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Dream opera seasons (again)
I love dreaming up opera seasons! I’m not actually managing an opera festival, so I am not beholden to petty concerns about what will sell tickets. I enjoy creating seasons with a strong theme, ideally with the opportunity for musical variety within that theme. Few companies actually …
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Book review: A Song of Love and Death
Peter Conrad’s A Song of Love and Death sports a grand subtitle: “The Meaning of Opera.” Don’t expect the promised enlightenment—“A Catalogue of Opera” would have been more appropriate. The book freewheels through the canon, calling on both famous and obscure operas to support the author’s claims. Conrad …