The story of a beggar and a floozy set in a tenement on the South Carolina coast, "Porgy" has been under fire since it was written 75 years ago, with leading African-American actors and singers complaining its use of Gullah dialect and (stereotypical) black low-life characters was racist. more ›

This week I felt like doing something fancy. It was Boyfriend’s birthday, and I wanted to get dressed up, do something with my hair, drink something besides boxed wine and watch something beautiful for a few hours. And though by no means a stranger to performance and artistic experiences, I had never been to the opera. So we trudged through Wednesday’s bizarro weather, gulped down a couple Manhattans and made our way to the Seattle Opera’s performance of Massenet’s “Don Quichotte” at McCaw Hall. more ›

Unseasonably cold weather can do one of two things: 1) It can make you grumpy and hostile, yearning only for future happiness and warmth or 2) It can make you feel romantic, curling up by the fire with a good book and a cup of tea. This weekend’s opening of the Seattle Opera’s production of Massenet’s Don Quichotte can appeal to both camps. Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center is nice 'n cozy, allowing patrons to ward off the unwanted fierceness of Seattle in February. And it also embraces the romanticized love of the arts, depicting a man so moved by literature that it swallows him whole. more ›

The two best things about Daron Aric Hagen's new opera, Amelia, are the story (by Steven Wadsworth) and the sets (by Thomas Lynch). The best singing comes midway through the second act, when the great soprano Jane Eaglen sings a prayer (to the tune of the Navy Hymn) to her niece, the comatose title character. The most dramatic stage moment comes at the end of the first act, set in a Vietnamese village, when a child is executed because the noble American pilot (Amelia's father) refuses to divulge military secrets. The opera was inspired by Gardner McFall's Poems for My Father, and she also wrote the libretto. more ›

Perry Lorenzo, a former Burien high school teacher whose ability to convey to his students not just his love for opera but why it mattered, has passed away. The cause, according to a spokesperson for Seattle Opera, was lung cancer. Lorenzo was 51. His "Prelude to the Opera" lectures were a popular highlight, but his influence extended beyond the opera house into the national community. From the time that he joined the staff, in 1992, he concluded his talks by promising his listeners "one swell night of theater." Memorials will be held at St. James Cathedral and McCaw Hall early in January. more ›

Speight Jenkins steps out from the wings just before the opening curtain on La Traviata to announce that the star of the show, soprano Eglise Gutiérrez, is suffering from a cold...but will perform regardless. Knowing murmurs (and not a few coughs) rustle through the audience: in the opera, the soprano's character has consumption and expires. Was this a pre-excuse for a sub-par performance? more ›

It's the original Anna Nicole story: first you party, then you die. Yes, there's torment, but pleasure comes first. A familiar operatic plot (Moulin Rouge, La Bohème), telegraphed by the heroine's consumptive hack as the curtain rises: she's a-gonna croak before the night's out. more ›

• Seattle Opera must have been on a high note on Friday, when they were awarded a $500,000 grant to debut the new American opera Amelia in May 2010.
• We welcome the handmade chocolates (hellooo, raspberry-wasabi dark chocolate truffle!), traditional German treats, and delicious ganache-filled confections from Madison Valley's Suess Chocolates & Pastries, the newest chocolate shop on the block. If one truffle isn't enough for you, there are truffle-making classes too.

Opposite marriage be praised, Miss California! Seattle Opera's production of The Marriage of Figaro (through May 16; tickets: $25-$182) celebrates matrimony both madcap and sentimental, and, along the way, introduces Seattle audiences to a stellar performer, a German mezzo soprano named Daniela Sidram in the "pants" role of Cherubino. more ›

That would be Speight [rhymes with "eight"] the cultural icon, general director of Seattle Opera: white-haired, courtly, soft-spoken. A Texas native, attorney, and journalist who for the past 25 years has run our little band of singers and players, shrewdly and tastefully transforming the local troupe from an also-ran into one of the nation's most respected opera companies. In a city reluctant to bestow official recognition to anything artsy, the official proclamation of April 25 as Speight Jenkins Day is a good thing. more ›

"Don't Go There" could well be the subtitle of this production by Seattle Opera of Bela Bartok's one-act opera, composed in the last days of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the first days of a new, post-Wagnerian musical order. Onstage, the proscenium is surrounded by a Klimt-like gilt frame; in the pit, an orchestra of 100 musicians play harsh, unfamiliar tones without melody. more ›

The best music in George Bizet's early opera, The Pearl Fishers, comes barely 10 minutes after the curtain rises; it's a justly celebrated duet between childhood buddies Nadir and Zurga. Nadir is sung by William Burden, who impressed local audiences last season in Iphigenia; he's a tenor, so you know he's going to get the girl, while Christopher Feigum, a baritone, sings Zurga, and you know he's going go through some soul-searching before he Does The Right Thing, in this case burning down the village that's just elected him chief so that his BFF and the girl (a fallen priestess) can make their getaway. more ›

It's been a long time since Kim had a tourist to show around, so she's looking forward to giving her father a stellar tour of Seattle and its environs. On the agenda: Chateau Ste. Michelle, Bainbridge Island, the Fremont troll, and plenty of great food--finally an excuse to go to the Kingfish! Before pops arrives, she'll kick the weekend off right, with Sera Cahoone and Zoe Muth tonight at the Tractor. more ›

There's one more performance of Portland Opera's Fidelio coming up on Saturday; it's well sung, with performers familiar to Seattle Opera fans: Greer Grimsley (the vengeful prison commander Pizarro), Arthur Woodley (good-hearted jailer Rocco), Jay Hunter Morris (the political prisoner Florestan). Lori Phillips (above) sings Leonore (aka Fidelio). more ›

The P-I reports that Seattle Symphony conductor Gerard Schwarz has announced he'll step down at the end of the 2010-11 season. What is that, 25 years as music director? Like his director-doppelganger Speight Jenkins at Seattle Opera, Schwarz arrived in the mid-'80s and built a good-enough-for-Seattle organization into a nationally noticed one, albeit with more of a brash, East coast management style that's kept the orchestra split into friends-of-Gerry and I-spit-on-your-grave factions. We used to truck Gerry around to donor events when they were building Benaroya Hall, and, man, can that guy work a crowd. (However, he also lost a pen we loaned him, so that's a demerit.) He says he'll hang around town and guest conduct--he's also done some composing which we liked quite a bit. All in all, the future looks pretty rosy for the Schwarzes. more ›

It's the most extravagant of all operas. In fact, the spectacle of Aida (that triumphal march! those elephants!) often outshines the music and singing. Not this time. Seattle Opera's current production of Verdi's masterpiece is a finely integrated staging and immensely satisfying night of theater. more ›

God damn Bellini for writing an opera that requires four incredibly brilliant bel canto singers. And damn him again for a piece that runs well over three hours without a skerrick of a plot. God damn Seattle Opera for waiting until now to stage this rough beast. more ›

The Puget Sound area boasts a blossoming theatre and art culture with a variety of up-and-coming artists. It keeps us very busy, and this weekend is no exception, when Seattle Opera’s talented Young Artists are presenting Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Ravel's Enchanted Child. The two one-act productions open this evening at the Theatre at Meydenbauer Center in downtown Bellevue. more ›

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None of this stuff about "timeless" settings for Tosca: the story takes place in Rome over a specific, eventful weekend in June, 1800, as Napoleon's troops are invading Piedmont on Italy's northern border. more ›

When we're not blogging about food, wine and opera, Seattlest works as the sommelier at Sorrentino atop Queen Anne. (Keeps us out of the bars, don't you know.) more ›

One of the great things about Seattle Opera's Young Artists fall show is that while it's staged and costumed, that's about all you get. The set is "suggested," the lighting minimal, the props bare essentials. So what's on display are the singers' voices and any dramatic talent -- plus, CHAC, compared to McCaw Hall, feels pretty much like your living room. more ›

Saturday, Tera will give herself a VIP tour at the opening of Aritzia. She will follow this potentially hectic event by introducing a friend to her newest wine obsession - Twisted Cork. Sunday she will trek to Qwest and root for Chicago, uh, eh, oops...Seattle. Yes, root for the Seahawks. Jack's heading to the Showbox proper tonight to see Canadian indie pop band Stars. Sunday, he's hoping to see Rex Grossman slip into old... more ›

Trouble in Tahiti / Rita: Seattle Young Artists Program @ CHAC more ›

Gluck's operatic masterpiece, the much-neglected Iphigenia In Tauris, premiered this weekend at Seattle Opera. Inexplicably, it's only been staged once at the New York Met, and that was some 90 years ago. In Seattle, never. But it's suddenly hot: San Francisco and Chicago did a co-production with Covent Garden last year, and the Met, looking to spread the cost and risk of staging new productions, asked Seattle to co-sponsor a new Iphigenia, enlisting the artistic team of director Stephen Wadsworth and stage designer Thomas Lynch. more ›

We start things off this weekend with a simple two words from Donte: Muthafucking Justice! more ›

On a weekend when Blue Angels were literally drenching Seattle skies with violent peals of thunder, Seattle Opera's new production of Flying Dutchman saturated McCaw Hall with vibrant voices and reverberant horns. more ›

A new musical genre: not heavy metal, but fiberglass. more ›