opera

New Operas, New Company in Town

Erin Keane — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:15:28 +0000

No "La Traviata." No "Don Giovanni." Absolutely no "La Bohème." You won't find the usual suspects from the classical repertoire in Thompson Street Opera Company's season. The young company is more interested in exploring new works by living composers, like Marcus Maroney's morality play "Dust of the Road," a one-act opera that opens Friday at Central Presbyterian Church.

Opera Remembers Reign of Terror's Martyred Nuns

Erin Keane — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:26:42 +0000

In the summer of 1794, Robespierre’s Reign of Terror, a period of violence against those opposing the French Revolution, claimed the lives of sixteen Carmelite nuns. The Martyrs of Compiègne, who were guillotined in Paris, are memorialized in Francis Poulenc’s opera “Dialogues of the Carmelites.”

Mozart Masterpiece Goes Noir

Erin Keane — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:00:21 +0000

The Kentucky Opera gives Mozart's masterpiece "Don Giovanni" a film noir makeover for the final production of the season. Mozart’s opera (with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte) is based on the legends of Don Juan, the fictional unrepentant heartbreaker. In "Don Giovanni," the eponymous womanizer seduces Donna Anna then kills her father in a duel -- and that’s just the first scene.

“Don Giovanni” runs Friday evening and Sunday afternoon in the Brown Theater.

First Operas of the Season Show Company Range

Erin Keane — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 16:06:06 +0000

The Kentucky Opera opened a company premiere last night of Benjamin Britten's "The Prodigal Son," an installment of the celebrated 20th century composer's Parables for Church Play trilogy. It's part of the company's contemporary chamber series, staged in St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church in Harrods Creek and featuring a small chamber orchestra ensemble, members of the Choral Arts Society and the Opera's studio artists.

Parable Play Opens Opera Contemporary Series

Erin Keane — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:12:29 +0000

The Kentucky Opera opens a company premiere this week. Benjamin Britten’s “The Prodigal Son,” which premiered in 1968, is part of Kentucky Opera's Chamber Series of Contemporary Opera staged in alternative venues around Louisville.

Performances are Thursday and Friday evening at St. Francis in the Fields Episcopalian Church in Prospect.

Opera Season Opens with 'Tosca'

Erin Keane — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:30:00 +0000

The Kentucky Opera opens Puccini’s tragedy “Tosca” this week. The company will begin its 60^th anniversary season with Friday’s gala performance in the Brown Theatre, accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra.