Last night I had the pleasure of attending the first preview of a new musical featuring the lyrics of Mark Campbell, librettist for The Inspector (premiering April 27 at The Barns!). This isn’t a “review” blog, and I’m not a critic. Nor would it be fair to post any of my opinions about a show
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2011 Season On Sale Tomorrow! (Saturday 3/12/11)
Wolf-Ferrari Le donne curiose June 17, 19 & 25 at The Barns Including a fabulous preshow chat by yours truly one hour before curtain Written near the beginning of Wolf-Ferrari’s career, The Curious Women is a charming chamber opera. We discovered it a few years ago, and I’ve been carrying around a score for a
Read MoreWTOC 1985: Transformations
Susa’s Transformations took The Barns by storm in summer 1985. An amazing cast in an exciting and edgy production. I had just managed to worm my way into Wolf Trap (see the music staff listing below), having defected recently from my first career in music therapy. (Possibly, the fact that this production of Transformations was
Read More1984 Wolf Trap Opera Company: Overview
It’s great fun to begin to see truly familiar names in programs and paperwork from the mid-80’s. The 1984 list includes coaches who were to become my colleagues (JoAnn Kulesza, Carol Palca), Foundation staff who are still here toiling away at the Trap (Bob Grimes of The Barns), and an administrator who was to become
Read MoreWTOC 1984: A Little Night Music
There’s a sad absence of photos in the files for Sondheim’s debut at the WTOC in 1984. Night Music played for three performances at The Barns in August.
Read MoreWTOC 1984: Albert Herring
I turned up no artist photos from 1984’s Albert Herring – just a handful of snapshots of the set. Britten’s comic opera was conducted by WTOC Music Director Richard Woitach and directed by David Ostwald.
Read MoreWTOC 1984: The Coronation of Poppea
After the success of the previous season’s La calisto, the Company mounted another baroque opera at The Barns in July 1984 – Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea. With its numerous roles, it was a wonderful vehicle for the resident ensemble of young artists. The cast boasted now-General Director of Fort Worth Opera Darren Keith Woods as
Read MoreWolf Trap Opera Company 1983: Overview
Other than a showcase performance at the Meadow Center, the Company’s 1983 activities were exclusive to its relatively new home at The Barns. In addition to full productions of Donizetti’s Tutor’s Dilemma and Cavalli’s La calisto, patrons enjoyed a cabaret-style performance of Kurt Weill – After Dark, which wove materials from Mahagonny and Street Scene.
Read MoreWTOC 1983: La calisto
Cavalli’s La calisto marked the Company’s first return to the baroque since the 1977 L’egisto. The latter was on the big outdoor stage, but the 1983 Calisto enjoyed the intimacy of The Barns. The late Joseph McLellan wrote in The Washington Post, “[Calisto‘s] plot is a running battle between the sublime and the (intentionally) ridiculous…
Read MoreWTOC 1983: The Tutor’s Dilemma
Donizetti came to The Barns in August 1982, in an English version of L’aio nell’imbarazzo. Conducted by WTOC Music Director Ricard Woitach and directed by Robert Darling, this production included a young mezzo named Jennifer Larmore in the role of Leonarda. * *
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