Stephen Key There’s one intermission in our Seraglio. I discovered where this takes place last Friday in the rehearsal hall, when we ran through the opera in front of an invited audience. A theatrical production with an intermission– opera or theatre, tragedy or comedy–has to end the first part with enough dramatic intensity to compel the audience back for part two. Imagine my surprise, to realize the end of Act I – before the curtain crashes down and the music pounds to […]

Photo: Jeff Roffman In my first blog post in this series, I referred to the Opera as “The Wow Art Form.”  We opened The Abduction from the Seraglio on Saturday night, and now I realize I need a word stronger than “Wow.” “The Boom Art Form?” “The Nuclear Art Form?” “The OMG Art Form?”  Or, maybe the word “immersive” gets best at what being in an opera does.  That’s the word my son, Stephen (who is illustrating these posts) used last Saturday night in […]

Baritone Craig Irvin comes to the Atlanta Opera to revive his role in Silent Night as Lt. Horstmayer. We chatted with him about the complex character, his favorite moments in the music, and cold brew coffee. ATLANTA OPERA: Tell us about your role, Lt. Horstmayer. CRAIG IRVIN: Lt. Horstmayer is a man. He’s the German lieutenant. He’s a husband. I don’t think he’s a father, but I think he wants to be. He’s a Jew. He wants to be a […]

Photo: Clive Barker By Noel Morris “Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps, and builded parapets and trenches there, And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son. When lo! an angel called him out of heaven, Saying, Lay not thy hand upon lad, Neither do anything to him. Behold, A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns; Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him. “But the old man would not so, but slew his son, […]

By Tomer Zvulun From the first moment that I listened to Silent Night, it deeply touched a personal side in me. Kevin Puts’ music along with Mark Campbell’s libretto uniquely captures the dichotomy of love and WAR and creates a world that is both specific and universal at once. It captures the humanity of the characters and the comforts that friendship and music bring to the bloodiest and most inexplicable of all human experiences — WAR.   WAR, whether today in […]

Soprano Catalina Cuervo knows Maria de Buenos Aires well. She has performed the role of Maria more than anyone else, and continues to perform it yearly to critical acclaim. We sat down with the “Fiery Soprano” to chat about the music, words, and tango influence of Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires. Where did you grow up, and when did you first start singing? I was born in Medellín, Colombia. I grew up there and moved to Miami when I was 18. […]

Photo: Philip Groshong for Cincinnati Opera With DON PASQUALE, Donizetti gives us champagne for music and so the comedic style in the acting must match this excellence or it would be like mixing bubbles with beer! I had the privilege of working with a master of comedy, Marcel Marceau. At his school in Paris, Marceau had us study the various styles of comedy from the Italian Commedia dell’Arte to his own comic inspirations: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and […]

Marcy Stonikas has performed Turandot three times, and each time she is able to breathe new life into a truly challenging role. We chatted with her about the complexities of Turandot, what makes the character relevant today, and her favorite musical moments.   Where did you grow up, and when did you start singing? I grew up in Elmhurst, IL, which is a suburb of Chicago. I was singing as soon as I could make noise, I’m fairly certain. I […]

Brian Clowdus is the Artistic Director of Serenbe Playhouse, a site-specific theatre company tucked neatly into the Sernebe community, about 40 miles south of Atlanta. He’ll join The Atlanta Opera this fall to direct Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins, the first selection in our 2017-18 Discoveries series. We chatted with him about his love of site-specific theatre, how audiences may be transformed, and how the piece is like grand dame Joan Crawford.  How did the idea of […]

Music Administrator Rolando Salazar began working at The Atlanta Opera in 2015, and since then, he has worn many hats. Since the departure of longtime Chorus Master Walter Huff, Salazar has stepped in to lead The Atlanta Opera Chorus in the meantime, and recently facilitated the general auditions in June. We chatted with him about the huge task of casting chorus members, audition prep, and what makes a cohesive opera chorus.   Tell us a little about yourself: where did […]

Atlanta classical radio producer and writer Noel Morris explains the history and context of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins, which opens Sept 28 at Le Maison Rouge at Paris on Ponce.    By Noel Morris Kurt Weill was a refugee when he wrote the score to The Seven Deadly Sins. On March 22, 1933, he had dropped everything and crossed into France with his mistress and a small suitcase. A month earlier, on Feb. 18, crowds […]