Review: THE MIKADO Presented as a Thoroughly Entertaining Hip Update of Gilbert and Sullivan's Classic Spoof of British Nobility and Politics
Pacific Opera Project (POP) was founded in July of 2011 with the purpose of bringing accessible, affordable, and entertaining opera to audiences across Los Angeles, with productions that are incredibly modern in format, performed with traditional music although on occasion POP has been known to change a few lyrics to reflect our current society. Such was the case in their reprise of its popular 2013 production of Gilbert and Sullivan's THE MIKADO at The Highland Park Ebell Club. I was in the audience on closing night along with a very appreciative packed house, enjoying POP's colorful production, called a?oeabout the most fun one can have in a Los Angeles theater right now,a?? with cleverly modernized Harajuku costumes for the 28 singers designed by Maggie Green, inspired by the district of Tokyo famous for its wild mix of eye-popping colors and styles.
BWW Review: MADAMA BUTTERFLY at the Aratani Theatre
On Sunday April 14 Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera, Madama Butterfly, in Japanese and English in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo. The company also live-streamed it online. Did anyone ever think an American Navy officer would speak to a young Japanese lady in Italian? l'd expect him to speak English and the lady from Nagasaki to speak Japanese. That is what happened at the performance on Sunday. Despite translations from Goro, the marriage broker, and Sharpless, the American consul, Pinkerton and Butterfly had trouble understanding each other as they came from completely different cultures.
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Presents Bach's B Minor Mass
Join Sydney Philharmonia Choirs on Easter Saturday, for an epic presentation of one of JS Bach's greatest choral works, his majestic B Minor Mass. Composed over the course of 16 years at the pinnacle of his power, this much lauded example of 18th Century sacred music was the largest and most adventurous undertaking of a mass settings of its time. Weaving moments of grandeur with intimate solo arias, the symphony draws on elements from across Bach's lifetime of compositions, conveying every aspect of the genius that gives his music its timeless power.
Kent Tritle to Lead World Premiere of Organ Transcription of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, 4/7
?The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in collaboration with the Manhattan School of Music and Oratorio Society of New York, presents the world premiere of a transcription for organ, vocal soloists, and choruses, of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, on Thursday, April 7th, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue (at 112th Street), Manhattan. This event follows the two performances of the symphony in its original orchestration at the Cathedral on February 24th and 25th.
MSM Students to Offer Sneak Peek of New Opera THE LEOPARD
Brooklyn's American Opera Projects (AOP) and the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) will present scenes from a new opera The Leopard by composerMichael Dellaira (The Secret Agent) and librettist J. D. McClatchy (Emmeline), an adaptation of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's internationally acclaimed 1958 novel.
Kent Tritle to Lead Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 2/24-25
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in collaboration with the Manhattan School of Music and Oratorio Society of New York, presents two unprecedented Great Music in a Great Space performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, featuring more than 450 musicians, on Wednesday, February 24th and Thursday February 25th, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue (at 112th Street), Manhattan.