News stories tagged with "opera"

(07/06/11) One of the highlights this summer at the Sembrich Museum in Bolton Landing is a tribute to Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors and dozens of other operas. Thursday marks the centennial of Menotti's birth. He died in 2007. There's a free showing this afternoon at the museum of an early television production of Menotti's Pulitzer Prize-winning Cold War tragedy, The Consul. Todd Moe talks with Sembrich artistic director Richard Wargo about a summer filled with music and Menotti's connection to the museum.

(02/24/11) Our week-long spotlight on music in the North Country continues. Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe talks with Todd Moe about her love for art songs. Blythe recently returned to the North Country to work with students at her alma mater -- the Crane School of Music in Potsdam.

(12/16/10) NCPR is media sponsor for a Messiah community sing-along in Tupper Lake on Sunday. Handel's holiday choral masterpiece is a Tri-Lakes tradition and is being presented this year by the High Peaks Opera Studio, the Tri-Lakes Community Orchestra and the Tupper Lake Arts Council. Todd Moe spoke with Dorit Gaedtke, founder and manager of the Tri-Lakes Community Orchestra, who invites everyone, singers and non-singers, to Holy Name Catholic Church on Sunday (5 pm). more

(11/10/10) Love and adventure in Manhattan in the 1940s comes to the Snell Music Theatre at SUNY Potsdam this weekend. More than 70 drama, dance and music students are part of the collaborative production of On the Town. The show opens Thursday night (7:30 pm) and continues through Saturday night.

On the Town premiered on Broadway in 1944 and features the music of Leonard Bernstein. It includes numerous dance numbers and memorable songs like "New York, New York" and "I Can Cook Too." Todd Moe spoke with the show's musical director, choreographer and five members of the cast who are from the North Country.

(04/14/10) The Crane School of Music's Opera Ensemble presents Maurice Ravel's classic fantasy opera, L'Enfant et les Sortileges, or The Child and the Enchanted Ones this weekend. The opera opens tomorrow morning with a special education outreach performance for children and families, and continues Friday and Saturday night. The fantasy opera includes fairy tale characters, furniture and little animals which come to life to chastise a child who has been tormenting them. Todd Moe spoke with some of the cast and Crane Opera Ensemble director Carleen Graham who says Ravel's opera is the fable of a rude child who finds that the objects and animals of his childhood have their own lessons to teach.

(04/09/10) Months before the opening night of any theatrical production, the drama starts backstage with the set, lighting and costume designs. Props, makeup and clothing are created by folks you won't see in front of the curtain, but by a crew of hidden artists.

For today's "Heard Up North," we step behind the scenes. Julia Ferreri is the costume shop manager at SUNY Potsdam. She's designing the costumes for next week's opera production of Ravel's The Child and the Enchanted Ones - the story of a rude child whose toys and furniture one day retaliate as they come to life. The designer draws inspiration from the story, the characters and the director. In between is a lot of common sense and creativity. And it's more of a challenge when the characters are chairs, a teacup or a grandfather clock.

(11/19/09) The Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra presents a concert of water-themed music by Handel, Schumann and Elgar this Sunday afternoon (4 pm) at the Glens Falls High School auditorium. The concert will also feature acclaimed contralto Meredith Parsons McComb. McComb, who lives in Bolton Landing, has sung leading roles in operatic productions worldwide. She spoke with Todd Moe about the concert, entitled "Sound Waves", which will include Elgar's "Sea Pictures" with McComb as vocalist.

(11/13/09) The Crane School of Music at SUNY-Potsdam celebrates National Opera Week with a production of "Albert Herring". Benjamin Britten's comic opera opens tonight in Snell Music Theater. Set in a fictitious English village in 1900, it's the story of an outsider -- Albert Herring -- in conflict with the norms of his small community. Some of the cast and crew say the chamber opera is complex and a challenge. Todd Moe visited Crane after a rehearsal and has this preview.

(04/17/09) Love, fate and the wills of Greek gods and goddesses come together this weekend as SUNY Potsdam's Crane Opera Ensemble and Orchestra presents Francesco Cavalli's opera L'Egisto. Todd Moe has this preview.

(11/07/08) Opera fans are flocking to movie theaters around the region. New digital technology is making Metropolitan Opera performances come alive to audiences hours away from New York City. Tomorrow, the Met's "Live in HD" series continues with the premiere of "Doctor Atomic." Todd Moe visited the Met's opening night production at the Roxy Theater in Potsdam earlier this fall. The local mini-gala included ushers in tuxes and lots of popcorn. The high definition broadcasts, linked live via satellite, give North Country opera buffs the advantage of bird's-eye views of the stage, close-ups, and backstage interviews.