Tag "Jake Heggie"
“Oh, Captain, My Captain!”
Illness has forced tenor Ben Heppner to cancel his appearance in Tuesday evening’s performance of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “Moby-Dick” at the San Diego Civic Center. Jay Hunter Morris, who sang the role of Captain Ahab in an earlier production of the work in Adelaide, Australia, will step-in for the ailing singer. Hunter had [...]
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell
Basking in the glowing reviews for the Dallas Opera’s extraordinary production of TRISTAN AND ISOLDE, I got on a plane for San Diego to attend the west coast premiere of MOBY-DICK. It was wonderful to be reunited with this magnificent work which we commissioned for the opening season of the Winspear Opera House and [...]
The View from Below Deck
Time always puts a little different spin on things and it’s only now, nearly two years after its Dallas Opera premiere, that the participants appear completely at ease discussing the process of “birthing” a new opera of the caliber of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “Moby-Dick.” Check out this very interesting piece on the co-production by [...]
Heppner on the Roles of a Lifetime
Knowing how tremendously hard tenor Ben Heppner worked to create the role of Captain Ahab in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s world premiere production of “Moby-Dick” (Dallas Opera, 2010), it’s incredibly gratifying to see that the artist looks back on that difficult process–I mean, YOU try singing for a couple of hours on a peg-leg!–as [...]
A Man of Many Marias – and More
He’s best known among opera aficionados for “Master Class” but that hardly scratches the surface of the creative output of American playwright/screenwriter and librettist Terrence McNally, who has lately turned his attention to the Dallas Opera and the creation of a brand-new original work entitled “Great Scott” – in collaboration with composer Jake Heggie. However, opera is just [...]
Creative Timing
Maybe it’s something in the groundwater supply, but there’s been a welcome flurry of announcements today about yet-to-be-created-operas. Besides the announcement of our own commission of a new grand opera by Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally, San Francisco Opera has several ideas for new world premieres up their collective sleeves, as noted by “Washington Post” classical [...]
New Heggie Commission Announced
To paraphrase KERA reporter/producer Jerome Weeks: You can’t ask much more from an opera…announcement. Donors and members of the Dallas Opera Chorus and staff gathered onstage to hear a few retrospective words about the impact of “Moby-Dick” on this company before introducing a video featuring opera mega-star mezzo Joyce DiDonato announcing that a) She will [...]
THE DALLAS OPERA PROUDLY ANNOUNCES A MAJOR NEW COMMISSION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Contact: Suzanne Calvin (214.443.1014/suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org) Or Megan Meister (214.443.1071/megan.meister@dallasopera.org) THE DALLAS OPERA PROUDLY ANNOUNCES A MAJOR NEW COMMISSION: Composer Jake Heggie and Librettist Terrence McNally Team to Create A TDO World Premiere Opera! ~~~~ GREAT SCOTT TO OPEN TDO’S 2015-2016 SEASON STARRING WORLD RENOWNED MEZZO-SOPRANO JOYCE DIDONATO IN [...]
From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell
New York City Auditions, Day 5 My last day in New York was devoted to a theatrical double header to see the work of directors and designers who might be recruited to do an opera production. First up was OTHER DESERT CITIES, directed by Joe Mantello, who staged the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s first [...]
Back at the Helm
As Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “Moby-Dick” gets ready to reconquer North America after dazzling audiences “Down Under”…a curious round of cast changes from one coast to the other has put heldentenor Ben Heppner back at the helm of the Pequod. Here’s more on that from Dan Wakin in “The New York Times.” Suzanne Calvin, [...]
TDO News
Climb Every Opera
The word that the Dallas Opera has commissioned British composer Joby Talbot and American librettist Gene Scheer to tackle the world’s highest peak, metaphorically speaking, is eliciting a variety of reactions. “The Dallas Observer” writes that the still-to-be-created opera EVEREST, slated for production in February of 2015, is our “most adventurous commission to...Rollin’ Down the River
New at “Theater Jones”: the latest edition of Keith Cerny’s “Off the Cuff.” The Dallas Opera General Director and CEO takes this opportunity to explore why the placement of pieces in musical time matters. Read it right here. (Photo of Ganges River delta courtesy of loc.gov) Suzanne Calvin, Manager/Director Media and PRTHE DALLAS OPERA PRESENTS THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2012...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, May 7, 2012 Contact: Suzanne Calvin (214.443.1014/suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org) Or Megan Meister (214.443.1071/megan.meister@dallasopera.org) THE DALLAS OPERA PRESENTS THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2012 “MARIA CALLAS DEBUT ARTIST OF THE...Opera News
