Opera Review: No Exit, Pursued by a Bear

The Met brings The Exterminating Angel to New York.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Ursa Major: the cast of The Exterminating Angel (and two sheep) confront the unthinkable in Thomas Adés' opera.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2017 The Metropolitan Opera.

That which is new and innovative in the world of opera is often distinctly unwelcome. Harried critics usually get one hearing before having to hold forth as to the quality of a new piece. Subscribers from suburbia, eager to experience culture, often trade in their tickets to avoid anything written in the past hundred years that isn't Turandot. However, the creation of new works remains how the art of opera continues, against steep odds and media indifference, to grow and survive. This week, the Metropolitan Opera did their bit by opening Thomas Adès' latest opus: The Exterminating Angel.

On Crossing Barriers and Finding Escapes

Reflecting on ten years of Superconductor.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The office.

Tonight, Monday night. I was walking across Lincoln Center Plaza on route to the Metropolitan Opera to go see second performance of The Exterminating Angel, the new opera by Thomas Àdes.
This is the story of a group of wealthy individuals who find themselves trapped in a particular living space after a very strange dinner party. It got me thinking about the original purpose of this blog and how Superconductor started at now however ten years into existence where the blog maybe going.

Concert Review: They're Going for Baroque

A revived Renaissance rock Town Hall.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Rave Tesar, Annie Haslam and Mark Lambert of Renaissance.
Photo by the author.

The history of England's progressive rock bands can be labyrinthine, with musicians slipping in and out of lineups, changes of artistic direction and fallow periods as long-running acts dealt with the rise of punk, disco, new wave and the unremitting hostility of the music press. Renaissance are one of those bands, and on Saturday night, they returned to the stage of Town Hall armed with six members and a chamber orchestra. The show, billed as Renaissance: A Symphonic Journey was their first Manhattan stage appearance in five years,

Concert Review: The Tale of the Broken Wand

The NJSO continues its Harry Potter project.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Dueling lessons: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter (with Kenneth Branagh, right) in a scene
from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. HARRY POTTER characters, names and related indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. J.K. ROWLING`S WIZARDING WORLD™ J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s17)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second installment in the eight-film Warner Brothers film series chronicling the adventures and education of a certain young wizard is the longest and most immersive movie in the series. On Saturday, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra offered two performances of the complete score concurrent with a screening of the film at NJPAC. Once more, stately Prudential Hall was filled with Potter fans, who seemed (sadly) more interested in the film onscreen than the orchestra playing the score.