Exactly a year ago today, we were shepherding The Inspector (Wolf Trap’s 2nd commissioned opera) toward its opening night on April 27. So it’s fitting that this weekend, John Musto & Mark Campbell’s fabulous comic opera lands in Boston, in a cast that features two Wolf Trap alums (Victoria Livengood and Jake Gardner). Get yourself
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Inspector in the Rear View Mirror
Now that was something. And just like that, it’s over. Years of writing, tweaking, editing, workshopping; and a few short weeks of rehearsing and performing. After tonight’s recording patch session (iPhone photo at left), and tomorrow’s load out to Boston Lyric Opera, we let go and let fly. And move on to three more operas
Read MoreShooooooooooooes
The Washington Post has run a preview piece on The Inspector. I’m happy to see a light shone on this wonderful new opera and the Wolf Trap Foundation’s commitment to supporting the creative spirit! (I do end up sounding like a bit of a plucky frontier wife, with my “can-do” attitude, but I won’t complain.
Read MoreThe Inspector: Final Dress
Dress rehearsal: Done, done and done. Lots of laughs, not always at the places and of the durations we expected. Another week of previews and we should be able to get the timing just right :)
Read MoreThe Inspector: Tech Week Photo Diary
24 Hours in the Life of a New Opera
So you want to produce a new opera? Do you hanker after the artistic satisfaction that comes from shepherding a work of art from creation to performance? Ever wonder how the magic happens? Come along for the ride. Thursday, April 21 2:30pm: Check in on orchestra reading. All on track. 2:40pm: Learn that one of
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 5: Municipal Mayoral Day!
In the village square, after the Santa Schifezza anthem is mangled, the Mayor enters and announces he will be accepting a position in Rome and that their daughter is engaged to The Inspector. Bobachina and Bobachina stumble on with startling news. They have opened and read Tancredi’s letter to his mother. He is not an
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 4: Ciao Mamma, Ciao Pappa
Municipal Mayoral Day, the next morning. The Mayor and Sarelda are both now convinced that Tancredi will offer the Mayor an important post in the new regime. But, just to secure the deal, they ask Beatrice to “be friendly” to Tancredi, a notion that inexplicably offends their daughter. As the Mayor and Sarelda prepare for
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 3: Flirtation, Celebration, Suspicion
At Villa Corrizone, the Mayor’s wife Sarelda prepares for “Inspector” Tancredi’s visit and dresses down her daughter Beatrice (at left, literally trapped in Santa Schifezza) for not dressing up for him. Beatrice, silly thing, is more concerned about a certain dictator’s rise in Italy. Cosimo enters ahead of Tancredi, and Sarelda extracts information from him,
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 2: White Lies
At the hotel, Cosimo and Tancredi also bemoan their dreary existence in Santa Schifezza and the circumstances that have stranded them there, lira-less, on their way to Palermo. A knock at the door. The Mayor enters. Tension. Cosimo and Tancredi are terrified of the Mayor because they believe he’s there to arrest them for not
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