On That Day

Brief Reflections on September 11.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

There's no escaping what day this is. This is the fifteenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, the day that terrorists hijacked four jet planes and destroyed the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon. This is always a hard day for us New Yorkers.

Opera Review: A Tale of Two Opera Companies

The resuscitated City Opera offers a verismo double bill.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

That's show biz: Canio (Francesco Anile) menaces his unfaithful Nedda (Jessica Rose Cambio)
in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. Photo by Sarah Shatz © 2016 New York City Opera

Those who have followed the New York City Opera through its recent cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation know that the man at the helm of this new version of New York's "other" opera company is Michael Capasso. For many years, Mr. Capasso helmed Dicapo Opera, a boutique company on the Upper East Side that provided a welcome alternative to New Yorkers not wanting to make the pilgrimage to Lincoln Center. His company folded in 2013, around the same time that City Opera did, and it makes a kind of sense that he is the head of that larger company's revival effort.

Obituary: Johan Botha (1965-2016)

The South African tenor was beloved in Verdi and Wagner.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Johan Botha as Otello. Photo by Ken Howard © 2007 The Metropolitan Opera.

The year of 2016, that has seen the deaths of so many musically talented individuals, has now claimed the life of tenor Johan Botha. The South African singer, who was mounting a comeback following a battle with cancer and a seven-month hiatus from the stage, died yesterday. He was 51.

The Superconductor Preview: September, 2016

We launch a new monthly preview feature...right now. 
(isn't that exciting?)
by Paul J. Pelkonen

We at Superconductor celebrate a new monthly preview feature launching with a....

The clock of the classical music season starts running early this month, just two short days after Labor Day. As we prepare to fire the starting gun on the 2016-17 season here are five don't miss events for September, 2016.



BAM NextWave: the loser
David Lang's one-act opera about a pianist who happened to be in the same competitions as Glenn Gould is the opening work of the 2016 BAM NextWave Festival. Starts Sept 7. at the Howard Gilman Opera House.

New York City Opera: Aleko/Pagliacci
The resurgent New York City Opera launches its first fall season since 2009 with this twin bill, pairing Rachmaninoff's first opera Aleko with the classic Leoncavallo work. The story of a vendetta among Gypsies should dovetail nicely with the familiar tale of a knife-wielding clown on a killing spree. At the Rose Theater in the Time Warner Center, starting Sept. 8.

An iconic shot from Woody Allen's Manhattan.
© 1979 Woody Allen, MGM/UA

New York Philharmonic: The Art of the Score
The Philharmonic season actually opens with a gala concert on Sept. 21, but that will be prefaced with the annual The Art of the Score film festival, featuring the orchestra playing Leonard Bernstein's score for West Side Story (Sept. 13-15) and the George Gershwin-fuelled score of Woody Allen's black and white classic Manhattan. (Sept. 16)

LoftOpera: Cosí fan tutte
For some opera companies, the season never ended. LoftOpera returns with their stripped-down and saucy version of Mozart's Cosí fan tutte, mounted at its new location 101 Varick Ave. in  East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Stage image from the Met's new Tristan und Isolde.

Metropolitan Opera: Tristan und Isolde
The Met opens its season Sept. 26 with the ultimate feel-bad Wagner opera, a tragic love story here presented in a new production. If you can't get tickets for the opener, go to Times Square and watch it for free on the giant televisions, where Wagner's music should stun a few tourists. Other early Met shows this year include Don Giovanni and the perennial revival of La bohéme.