The Superconductor Interview: Different Strings

Composer Vivian Fung discusses her new Harp Concerto.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Composer Vivian Fung. Courtesy Metropolis Ensemble/BuckleSweet Media.

"I wanted get away from the traditional harp sound and to see what the harp is capable of. It's capable of such a variety of color and it doesn't get expressed as much."

The speaker is composer Vivian Fung. Her Harp Concerto is a feature of Cymbeline, two concerts to be given by the Metropolis Ensemble at the downtown performance space Le Poisson Rouge. This concerto, which throws the spotlight on an instrument usually relegated to the roles of color or accompaniment, will feature soloist Bridget Kibbey.

The Superconductor Interview: Beyond the Four Seasons

One-on-one with Susan Orlando, the woman behind the Vivaldi Edition.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Antonio Vivaldi and Susan Orlando. Yes it's altered.
Original image © Naïve Classics, photo alteration by the author.

"The Vivaldi Edition is realy big. It's made a big splash!"

The speaker is Susan Orlando, director of the Vivaldi Edition, which releases complete recordings of the composer's operas on Naïve Classics. An American viola da gamba player who lives in Turin, Italy. she has been integral in showing listeners that there is far more to Vivaldi's vast output than The Four Seasons. Vivaldi, who lived and worked in Venice from (1678-1741) wrote ninety-four operas (counting pastiches. Just twenty of them have survived.

"We are doing for Vivaldi what the Germans did for Bach in the 20th century," Ms. Orlando said in a recent telephone interview. "In Europe, we're well on our way. Opera Zurich is starting to do full staged versions of the operas. Aix-en-Provence is doing a Vivaldi opera. So we're starting slowly just as they did with Handel."

The Superconductor Interview: Eric Einhorn

The director brings Blue Monday to Harlem's historic Cotton Club.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The sign of the historic Cotton Club. Image from FotoPedia.

In order for opera to evolve, it has escaped from the stuffy confines of the opera house.

The last five years have seen an uptick in the number of companies willing to take chances and present opera outside its usual venue. From coffee barges moored off of Red Hook to the landscaped walks of the Bronx Zoo, opera is busting out all over.

One young company that is taking advantage of this trend is Eric Einhorn's On Site Opera, a troupe devoted to performing rare repertory in unconventional locations. This Tuesday, OSO will present its second show: George Gershwin's jazz opera Blue Monday on the hallowed dance floor of The Cotton Club in Harlem.

Superconductor Interview: The Next Swan

We sit down to breakfast with tenor Nicholas Phan. 

Tenor Nicholas Phan will appear in Carmina Burana at the end of this month.

Nicholas Phan is going to be roasted.

It's not 'til the end of the month, when the talented young singer is scheduled to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic. The work: Carmina Burana. The role, that of a swan, who is about to be roasted in the tavern ovens of Carl Orff's medieval-inspired 20th century cantata. The first performance: May 31, under the baton of Rafäel Fruhbeck de Burgos.

A few weeks ago in New York City, Mr. Phan joined Superconductor for breakfast at a café near Lincoln Center. He had just returned from Atlanta where he sang Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. With no roast swans on the breakfast menu, the singer is having granola and yogurt, with a small side of sausage.