City Lyric Opera Presents an Immersive, Multi-Sensory American Premiere of Elizabeth Raum’s The Garden of Alice
US Premiere | May 17-21, 2022
Soprano Laura Soto-Bayomi (to play lead role of Alice) / Image courtesy of the artist
One of New York City’s most innovative opera companies, City Lyric Opera (CLO), presents the American premiere of Elizabeth Raum’s The Garden of Alice (1985) with soprano Laura Soto-Bayomi (Opera Colorado) playing the lead role of Alice. CLO’s modern twist on the Lewis Carrol classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland takes audiences on an interactive journey down a whimsical rabbit hole. Inspired by similar immersive experiences (Sleep No More, Van Gogh), CLO offers audiences a chance to engage in a fantastical Wonderland through a combination of live operatic performances, kaleidoscopic digital landscapes, and a wacky array of costumes and props.
Date & time: Tuesday-Saturday, May 17-21 @ 7:00 p.m. EST (pre-show cocktail hour 6:00 p.m.) + Saturday, May 17 @ 2:00 p.m. EST
Venue:Blue Building, 222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017, Train: 4/5/6/Shuttle to Grand Central
Live performance at A.R.T. New York, 502 West 53rd Street, NY, NY
New York Premiere of all-female production in English
One of New York City’s most innovative opera companies, City Lyric Opera (CLO), has chosen Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon (Cinderella) to open the company’s sixth season. Celebrating its New York premiere, Cinderella is an enchanting, accessible chamber-opera that retells the well-loved story of Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, Cinderella, with wit and imagination. For an ensemble of seven, small chorus, and 11-piece chamber orchestra, CLO casts Peruvian soprano Shaina Martinez-Azzopardi (2021 Met Council semifinalist) as Cinderella, and tenor Nicholas Huff (Florida Grand Opera) as the Prince.
Date & time: Thursday-Saturday, Dec 16-18 @ 7:30 p.m. EST + Saturday, Dec 18 @ 2:00 p.m. EST
Venue:A.R.T. New York, 502 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
Giacomo Puccini’s final masterpiece in Franco Zeffirelli’s opulent production by the MetOpera
Stream from anywhere on Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Oksana Dyka in the title role of Puccini’s “Turandot.” Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
Puccini’s Turandot, a grand spectacle of timeless music, rich decorations, dramatic arias, and dazzling performers is a crown-jewel in the Metropolitan Operarepertoire.
The legendary story about the cold and proud Chinese princess claiming her superiority over every contender for her heart is lavishly staged in this historic Franco Zeffirelli‘s production from 1987.
In its Week 18 of the free streaming, the MetOpera features the recording made on November 7, 2009. The cast includes soprano Maria Guleghina in the title role, tenor Marcello Giordani as Prince Calaf, soprano Marina Poplavskaya as Liu, and Samuel Ramey as Timur. Rich orchestration, the inclusion of the uncommon musical instruments in the score, innovative use of the chorus, and ballet are all parts of this grand spectacle of pride, revenge, and love. The free stream is available from 7.30pm for 23 hours.
Fifth Annual New York Virtual Opera Fest Continues June-July-August
Presented by the New York Opera Alliance, with support from OPERA America, the 2020 New York Opera Fest has become the 2020 New YorkVirtualOpera Fest due to the social distancing restrictions put into place by the state government. To help companies navigate the realities of the COVID-19 crisis and also encourage responsible social isolation, NYOA has constructed a comprehensive online center at NYoperafest.com where opera fans can visit for an updated list of virtual events hosted by local, New York City-based opera companies. NYOA will continue to update and share the opera community’s activities throughout its website, social media, and e-blast communication platforms. Leading the vanguard of the local opera community, NYOA continues to monitor the fluid situation around COVID-19 by providing helpful resources for financial aid which may be found at http://OPERAamerica.org/covid19. NYOA is also hosting weekly virtual meetings for NYOA members to discuss, monitor, and provide solutions for the changing landscape for opera in New York.
HERE Arts Center in New York City hosts “HERE@HOME”: a Facebook Watch Party to stream a full-length production every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST. Shows are from the HERE Vault collected over the past 25 years. Following the online premiere, these full-length videos will be available for viewing on Facebook until HERE reopens. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/hereartscenter.
THU 6.25 @ 12:00 p.m.
Beth Morrison Projects features an “Opera of the Week” released every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. EST on the company’s website and broadcasts for one week. FREE. Watch: https://www.bethmorrisonprojects.org
THU 6.25 @ 6:30 p.m.
City Lyric Opera’s Summer Series of events continues with CLO Retro #ThrowbackThursdays discussing and showcasing past performances on June 25th and August 6th 6:30 p.m. For more information and to tune in visit CityLyricOpera.org. FREE.
THU 6.25 @ 7:00 p.m.
Every Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. EST, No Dominion Theatre Company hosts a Virtual Story Slam! On its Facebook page. Co-hosted by Art House Productions, this new virtual Story Slam series celebrates the power of live storytelling, resilience of the arts and human connection during tough times. Free. Suggested donation: $5. Watch: Zoom via https://www.facebook.com/NoDominionTheatre/.
FRI 6.26
HERE Arts Center in New York City hosts “#stillHERE Friday Artist Livestream Schedule: June 26: Nia O. Witherspoon. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/hereartscenter.
WED 7.01 @ 7:00 p.m.
HERE Arts Center in New York City hosts “HERE@HOME”: a Facebook Watch Party to stream a full-length production every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST. Shows are from the HERE Vault collected over the past 25 years. Following the online premiere, these full-length videos will be available for viewing on Facebook until HERE reopens. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/hereartscenter.
WED 7.08 @ 7:00 p.m.
HERE Arts Center in New York City hosts “HERE@HOME”: a Facebook Watch Party to stream a full-length production every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST. Shows are from the HERE Vault collected over the past 25 years. Following the online premiere, these full-length videos will be available for viewing on Facebook until HERE reopens. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/hereartscenter.
THU 7.09 @ 6:30 p.m.
City Lyric Opera’s Summer Series of events continues with a live Falling Flat Happy Hour July 9th 6:30 p.m. featuring live performances and stories of live mishaps on stage. For more information and to tune in visit CityLyricOpera.org. FREE.
WED 7.15 @ 7:00 p.m.
HERE Arts Center in New York City hosts “HERE@HOME”: a Facebook Watch Party to stream a full-length production every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST. Shows are from the HERE Vault collected over the past 25 years. Following the online premiere, these full-length videos will be available for viewing on Facebook until HERE reopens. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/hereartscenter.
WED 7.22 @ 7:00 p.m.
HERE Arts Center in New York City hosts “HERE@HOME”: a Facebook Watch Party to stream a full-length production every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST. Shows are from the HERE Vault collected over the past 25 years. Following the online premiere, these full-length videos will be available for viewing on Facebook until HERE reopens. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/hereartscenter.
THU 7.23 @ 6:30 p.m.
City Lyric Opera’s Summer Series of events continues with a Holding Space virtual salon conversation for the opera community to have honest and vulnerable COVID-related dialogue about, by, and for the field’s members on June 11th and July 23rd 6:30 p.m. For more information and to tune in visit CityLyricOpera.org. FREE.
HERE Arts Center in New York City hosts “HERE@HOME”: a Facebook Watch Party to stream a full-length production every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST. Shows are from the HERE Vault collected over the past 25 years. Following the online premiere, these full-length videos will be available for viewing on Facebook until HERE reopens. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/hereartscenter.
THU 8.06 @ 6:30 p.m.
City Lyric Opera’s Summer Series of events continues with CLO Retro #ThrowbackThursdays discussing and showcasing past performances on June 25th and August 6th 6:30 p.m. For more information and to tune in visit CityLyricOpera.org. FREE.
ONGOING (Dates Not Specified)
American Opera Projects American Opera Project is broadcasting past productions including Three Way, Harriet Tubman, and As One, with more to be released soon. They may be watched exclusively on AOP’s website. FREE. Watch: AOPopera.org.
The Indie Opera Podcast
To stay up to date with what the movers and shakers of the opera scene, listen to Indie Opera Podcast. Their insightful, in-depth shows have changed to a streamed video platform for the opera community. It’s a great way to stay up to date with developments given the unusual times that the industry is facing. Tune in to hear the experts discuss what our beloved art form is doing to weather COVID-19. FREE. Watch: http://indieopera.com.
The little OPERA theatre of NY
The little OPERA theatre of NY has launched a company YouTube channel featuring highlights from last season’s New York premiere of Benjamin Britten’s OWEN WINGRAVE. They will be adding new content to this channel on a rolling basis starting in June. In collaboration with New Vintage Baroque, little OPERA is creating a series of short streaming opera videos featuring excerpts from Mozart’s The Shepherd King.
Music of the Americas
Music of the Americas presents two new online series to bring its performances into homes across the world: En Casa (At Home), featuring original performances from musicians from around the Americas who frequently perform with the society, and Recuerdos (Memories), weekly releases of memorable past performances at the Americas Society, some for the first time. FREE. Watch: as-coa.org/music.
New Camerata Opera (ongoing)
NCO is hosting a handful of online events including: #theivesproject – an acclaimed series short film adaptations of Charles Ives songs, the release of CamerataWorks’ upcoming opera film, “Julie” on June 4th at 7:00 p.m. EST, and the popular handwashing aria series #20secondariachallenge, in which arias are sung to ensure one washes their hands sufficiently. Watch streamable content, here: https://www.facebook.com/newcamerataopera/ and “Julie” premiere here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCda0kpVTKpZjci4fRP1hnYg?view_as=subscriber.
Regina Opera
Regina Opera, which is celebrating its 50th season of great opera in Brooklyn, has curated a collection of its best performance videos to help ease the strain of these difficult times. It includes a complete performance of La Traviata; excerpts from Aida, Don Giovanni; Il Trovatore, and Hansel and Gretel; and the complete February 2, 2020 Winter Concert, featuring operatic and popular favorites as well as the world premiere of a quartet by 14-year-old composer Julian Raheb. FREE. Watch: www.ReginaOpera.org/onlineperformances.htm.
Rhymes with Opera (July-August 2020)
Join Rhymes with Opera online for a FREE series of contemporary chamber operas, community-building events, exciting new works, artist interviews, and some rockin’ parties.Upcoming schedule includes July (date TBA) Release Party of recording Rumpelstiltskin; and August (dates TBA) Soap Operas provides a platform for RWO artists to perform arrangements of your favorite songs. For more info and reservations for all RWO events, visit RhymeswithOpera.org.
Untitled Theater Company #61: A Theater of Ideas The Untitled Theater Company is making videos of past performances and workshops available on its website for free viewing. FREE.Watch: http://www.untitledtheater.com
Victor Herbert Renaissance Project
Despite having to cancel their entire season, VHRP continues to connect with its fans by broadcasting past performances on its social media platforms regularly. FREE. Watch: https://www.facebook.com/vhrplive/.
Love, idealism, and ruse in a thrilling drama by Giacomo Puccini
Bring the Metropolitan Opera’s magnificent experience to your home by streaming the historic December 1978 performance with Luciano Pavarotti; watch from anywhere on Thursday, June 4, 2020
Sonya Yoncheva as Tosca and Željko Lučić as Scarpia / Photo: Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera
MetOpera offers the archival recording of Puccini’s masterpiece with the star-studded cast delivering a passionate tale. This memorable performance features riveting soprano Shirley Merrett in the title role, tenor Luciano Pavarotti as her lover Cavaradossi, and baritone Cornell MacNeil as Scarpia. The opera was recorded on December 19, 1978.
From its premiere in the early 1900s, Puccini’s Tosca has triumphantly entered the repertoire of every opera house. Eagerly anticipated by the fans, the opera is a highlight of the MetOpera season.
The most recent production of Puccini’s Tosca by Sir David McVicar at the Met Opera, which has staged in the 2017-2018 season, offered a grand theatrical experience for the opera fans. The set and costume design for this production was done by John Macfarlane, who as a painter added to the depth of the characters through the rich design of the decorations and the period costumes. McVicar’s production which a review by AP describes as “similar to Zeffirelli’s”. It replaced a spare modern staging of Tosca by Luc Bondy which was not warmly received by the Met opera buffs.
