Month: March 2014

21st Century Love for Donizetti’s “Elixir”

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Note from William: In celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the San Diego Opera, I will be re-printing program notes that the opera company commissioned me to write. The third of these, re-printed with the kind permission of the copyright holder, the San Diego Opera, will be the program notes for the February 2014 performances of … Read more

Gaetano Donizetti: European Romanticism and The Pathway to Verdi

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Note from William: In celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the San Diego Opera, I will be re-printing program notes that the opera company commissioned me to write. The third of these, re-printed with the kind permission of the copyright holder, the San Diego Opera, will be the program notes for their January 2013 performances of … Read more

An Interview with Houston Grand Opera Managing Director Perryn Leech Part 2

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The following interview took place in the administrative offices of the Houston Grand Opera, whose facilitation of this conversation is deeply appreciated. This section follows: An Interview with Houston Grand Opera Managing Director Perryn Leech Part 1.   Wm: You came to opera very indirectly. You were enrolled in a drama school and were introduced to … Read more

An Interview with Houston Grand Opera Managing Director Perryn Leech Part 1

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The following interview took place in the administrative offices of the Houston Grand Opera, whose facilitation of this conversation is deeply appreciated. This section is followed by: An Interview with Houston Grand Opera Managing Director Perryn Leech Part 2.   [Below: Houston Grand Opera General Director Perryn Leech; resized image of a publicity photograph.] Wm: Although it’s … Read more

Select Opera Performances in France and the U.S. – April and May 2014

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This feature highlights selected performances of operas in Paris, Marseille, Saint Louis and Los Angeles that I am scheduled to review. This list is supplementary to previous lists in this “Quests and Anticipations” series of selected operas being performed beginning April 2014. These are Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” in San Francisco in June, … Read more