Results tagged “magicflute”

FRIDAY: >> In case you missed Chapel Hill's The Old Ceremony (pictured) last time they were in town, they'll be at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight with Junior League, Unwed Sailor and John Pringle. We've raved in the past about lead singer Django Haskins' Nick Cave-meets-Ben Folds stage presence, and since then we've picked up their 2006 release Our One Mistake. If you can't make the show, we highly suggest giving them a listen...

If you are wondering what mysterious something seems to be missing from your life this winter, it could be opera. While we wait for the Washington National Opera's spring season to start in late March, there are a few operas on the schedule to tide us over, presented by visiting companies like the Kirov Opera and the smaller Washington companies like Opera Lafayette and Virginia Opera. Still, opera addicts will not be satisfied until WNO finally kicks back into gear.

When Peter Gelb took over as the new general director of New York's Metropolitan Opera, he promised several initiatives to bring opera to broader audiences. The leading American opera company opened its season last September, and New Yorkers were able to watch the celebrity-studded performance of Madama Butterfly on large screens in the plaza of Lincoln Center and the chaos of Times Square. The Met even brought a brief scene from its production of...

You've probably heard us going on about how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born 250 years ago. Yesterday, to be exact. And where else would you have found us last night but listening to Mozart's music? As we recommended in last week's Classical Music Agenda, we spent the big night with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. This week, they are presenting a semi-staged performance of Mozart's early opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782), with television personality Sam Donaldson in the non-singing role of the Pasha Selim. Abduction is the first Viennese example of the operatic genius that the composer would later develop, reaching its full flower in The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. The story was set in a pasha's harem in Turkey, a country with whom the Austrian empire was increasingly in conflict politically, leading up to a disastrous war toward the end of Mozart's life. Two Spanish women are enslaved by the pasha, and the men who love them come from Spain to help them escape.

We have been plugging the excellent production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess all week, and it is worth your time and effort to see it, as we did this past Wednesday. However, all remaining performances have apparently been sold out. This means that your best and only remaining chance to experience this great American opera will be later today, when a live simulcast from the Kennedy Center Opera House will be shown on a huge...

(Classical music agenda by DCist contributor Charles T. Downey of Ionarts) If you are like this DCist, you are probably thinking about how to spend that big tax refund check. We suggest that an evening (or afternoon) of classical music, paired with an excellent meal if possible, is a worthy way of taking back your money from Uncle Sam and spending it on something you and that special someone can appreciate. OPERA AND BALLET: >>...

(Classical music agenda contributed by Charles T. Downey of Ionarts) Want to hear something classical to impress your family and friends? At DCist, we have some quick picks for you, and can you say free concerts? That's right, Washington has more excellent classical music to be heard for free than probably anywhere else, and we're here to tell you about it. For more information, see our Concert Schedule at Ionarts. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: >> Free...