Philharmonic Puts Its History by the Numbers Online
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
Published: June 23, 2009
NY Times
“New York Philharmonic has put online an ocean of data about its concerts, dating back to the first one on Dec. 7, 1842.
NB: “The Metropolitan Opera did the same four years ago, adding an archive to its Web site, metopera.org, that it says chronicles each performance in its history, starting in 1883.”
Major operas to be shown online
By Ian Youngs
Music reporter, BBC News
Jan 21, 2009
Opera and ballet lovers are to be offered major productions from some of the world’s leading companies as pay-per-view internet broadcasts.
Eleven shows from the new season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York will be among those streamed by Classical TV.
When Opera is New and Unproved
By Anne Midgette
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 7, 2008
“In the ongoing quest to broaden opera’s appeal, contemporary opera is one arrow in a sparely filled quiver. New operas are based on world events, current movies, popular books. Their music is written by funky living composers. And yet, earnest, thoughtful and filled with worthy music though they be, they seldom find the same resonance as art films, or literary fiction. In fact, people who go to see an opera based on a book they liked often come away disappointed.”
Mark the Music: Singing Shakespeare at Glimmerglass
by Alex Ross
The New Yorker 8/18/08
“When composers have tried to set Shakespeare, they have run up against the problem that his verse creates music in the mind, next to which even the most inspired efforts may be found wanting. Nonetheless, the number of Shakespeare operas runs well into the hundreds.”
Wuorinen on his Brokeback Mountain opera
ArtsWatch from PhillyNews
Posted by Peter Dobrin on June 9, 2008
An interview with American composer Charles Wuorinen, who has been commissioned by New York City Opera to write a work based on Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain.
National Endowment Salutes Opera (NYTimes)
By DANIEL J. WAKIN; Compiled by LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
Published: May 14, 2008
‘Amistad’ opera, Italy ties highlight Spoleto
By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press Writer
Thu May 22, 3:44 PM ET