Across Oceans of Sand

The Met's new Aida takes Verdi back to Las Vegas.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Opened in 1993, the Luxor Las Vegas hotel is an inspiration for Michael Mayer's
second Verdi production to be set in America's playground.
Photo by Miguel Hermoso Cuesta for Wikipedia Commons.

Even as the Metropolitan Opera bids farewell to its classic production of Verdi's Aida, expectations are high for its successor which is planned for opening night of the 2020 season. Details have leaked to Superconductor regarding the staging, which will be the third Verdi opera directed at the Met by Michael Mayer. Mr. Mayer, the director who moved Verdi's earlier opera Rigoletto to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1960s (with the Duke reimagined as a casino entertainer and the title character as his opening act, a Don Rickles-style insult comic) will return to Sin City next year. His plan: move Verdi's Egyptian drama to the flashy modern casinos of that city's current Strip.

A Treasure Hidden in the Earth

A fifth chapter of Wagner's Ring has been found...and authenticated.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Siegfried battles Fafner in Arthur Rackham's classic drawings based on Wagner's Ring.

Researchers digging through a hidden sub-basement in Schloss Neuschwanstein in south-western Bavaria have discovered a hidden archive belonging to the castle's owner, King Ludwig II. In that archive was found a leather folio of sheet music: the complete score of a previously unheard chapter of Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. The discovery sent shock waves through the halls of Wagner scholarship.

New Opera to Tell the LeBron James Story

Der Klevelandkavalier planned for 2022.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Three faces of the King: a new opera will tell the story of LeBron James in chorus and song.
All images of LeBron James © The National Basketball Association, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat.
No NBA players were approached or participated in this story, which is for parody purposes only. 

"It's about time that there was a German opera about a real American hero." That's the rationale, (if we need one) behind the new opera Der Klevelandkavalier, which premieres in a special concert version at Severance Hall in Cleveland Ohio on Feb. 30, 2022. The new opera is a co-production with the New World Symphony of Miami. It tells the story of NBA great LeBron James, his rise to fame, his harrowing journey into the depths of Miami, Florida, his friendship and personal struggles with Dwayne Wade, and his triumphant return to Cleveland, Ohio to win a championship for that lakeside city.

Go to Jail. Do Not Pass 'Go.'

The Met may send Anna Netrebko to the gulag.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Concept art for the Metropolitan Opera's From the House of the Dead,
Anna Netrebko. Photo by Marty Sohl.

The Metropolitan Opera has been offering glimpses of its future in the New York Times this week. In an interview with Michael Cooper, incoming music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin promised that new productions of Aida and Salome would open future seasons, each starring Anna Netrebko. Superconductor has learned that a third is on the schedule for the Russian diva: a new version of Janacek's From The House of the Dead.

Metroprolitarian Opera Preview: Elektra: Lieb ist Blindheit

Richard Strauss' tragedy Elektra gets a comic-book facelift.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Elektra (left) battles the villainous Stierauge in the climax of
Richard Strauss' opera, now reimagined at the Metropolitan Opera as Elektra: Lieb ist Blindheit.
Art by Frank Miller from Daredevil No. 181, © 1981 Marvel Comics

This morning, the Metroprolitarian Opera announced that the company will present a radical new vision for Richard Strauss' classic opera Elektra, opening April 14. This new production will take the place of the company's planned staging, which was designed by Patrice Chéreau. The announcement broke this morning, April 1st.

Famous Composer Found in Bronx

Anton Bruckner discovered near Bruckner Boulevard.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Out on the Boulevard: composer Anton Bruckner.

A small elderly man that has been missing for a month in the South Bronx has been identified as award-winning composer Anton Bruckner. Dr. Bruckner had arrived in New York on a cultural mission with the Vienna Philharmonic. He had disappeared at the beginning of March.

The Vengeance of the Bat

New komischebuchoper to premiere in 2019 at the Gotham Grand Opera.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Dark Knight...sings? Ildar Abdrazakov (right) prepares for the title role in the GGO's forthcoming opera
Die Rache von der Fledermausmensch. 
Photo of Ildar Abdrazakov by Dario Acosta © 2014.
Background image from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, image © Midway Entertainment.
Batman, BatSignal and Batman Mask all © Detective Comics/Warner Brothers Entertainment.

A childhood trauma. A gritty urban landscape. A bloody revenge. All these elements will come together in the Gotham Grand Opera's newest project: an operatic pastiche based on one of the greatest popular myths in modern American culture. The opera,  titled Die Rache von der Fledermausmensch is being staged in collaboration with Detective Comics and Warner Brothers, and marks a new level of cinematic opera entertainment, the komischebuchoper.

Out Comes the Evil

Prince of Darkness cracks down on Gounod Faust. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Art by Joe Quesada from Spider-Man: One More Day © Marvel Comics.
Balloon caption by the author.

In a stunning series of multiple lawsuits filed in New York, Paris and the United Kingdom, Mephistopheles, the reigning Prince of Darkness, Lord of Hell and General Manager of the Underworld has demanded that Charles Gounod's opera Faust be withdrawn from the general operatic repertory.

Opera Announcement: Thrönerdämmerung

George R. R. Martin fantasy series Game of Thrones to be staged as opera.

by Paul Pelkonen

The Metropolitan Opera has announced a surprise new project for next season, an operatic pastiche based on the popular George R. R. Martin novel A Game of Thrones. The project, announced in a secret press conference today in the Metropolitan Opera's boiler room, is the first collaboration between the opera company and HBO Films.

That Fraggin' Dragon

Harry Potter star joins cast of Siegfried.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The new star of Siegfried. He sings with a pleasing bass voice.
Image from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire © 2005 Warner Brothers Pictures.

A new star will be featured in the second act of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Wagner's Siegfried, opening Oct. 27.

Seven-Part German Opera to Replace New Ring

Not a scene from Licht.

The Metropolitan Opera plans to replace Robert Lepage's already controversial new staging of Wagner's Ring Cycle with an even bigger work--the first North American stagings of Karlheinz Stockhausen's seven-part opera Licht. "Budget considerations" were listed as the official reason for the change.