Rolando Villazón "Traviata" Is Circus Clowns And A Willy Decker Clock

Time Stands Still For No One: La Traviata in Baden-Baden 
 (Photo: Andrea Kremper)

The new production of Verdi's La Traviata directed by Roland Villazón had its premiere on May 21, 2015, and the critics are giving their opinions on the opera that features soprano Olga Peretyatko and tenor Atalla Ayan. The first production Mr. Villazón directed for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden was Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore in 2012. Watch a video featuring interviews and backstage rehearsals for La Traviata, after the jump.

Christoph Waltz Makes Directorial Debut At De Vlaamse Opera

Christopher Waltz, Academy Award-winning actor, makes his opera directorial debut with Der Rosenkavalier at De Vlaamse Opera this evening. The Austrian-German star of Quentin Tarantino's films Inglorious Bastards and Django Unchained grew up in Vienna where he studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. He also attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. He started as a stage actor, performing at venues such as Zurich's Schauspielhaus Zürich, Vienna's Burgtheater, and the Salzburg Festival. He became a prolific television actor. In 2000, he made his directorial debut, with the German television production Wenn man sich traut. Mr. Waltz comes from a theatrical family and so the Flemish opera cast rehearsed scenes without music to help gain more insight to their characters. [Source, Source, Source] Cast list is after the jump.

Motorcyclist Yvonne Fontane Sings and Directs "Carmen"

"An opera singer who has a passion for motorbikes and hiking will be taking on the title role and directing a new production of Bizet's Carmen at Winslow Hall Opera. Yvonne Fontane will take the lead for all six performances, alongside a cast which includes Italian tenor Gianluca Paganelli as Don José, South African baritone Njabulo Madlala (winner of the 2010 Kathleen Ferrier Competition) as Escamillo and Scottish-Polish soprano Natasha Day as Micaëla, conducted by the company’s Founder and Music Director Robert Secret. It will mark nine years since Fontane first took on the dual role of singer and director in Carmen at Stowe Opera - now known as Winslow Hall Opera....And in her spare time she loves tango dancing and riding motorbikes. She loves them so much she even toured on a motorbike in the UK. She also holds a diploma in Personal Training, Sports Massage, Nutrition and Lifestyle Management." [Source] Learn more about Ms. Fontane by clicking here. Check out a photo of the mezzo-soprano on her motorcycle after the jump.

American Lyric Theater Founder Lawrence Edelson Interviewed

Lawrence Edelson talks with composer Jeremy
Howard Beck (Photo: Steven Meyer)

"I asked ALT founder Lawrence Edelson (who was an apprentice with Boston Ballet before going on to work with Ballet West and Ballet Met Columbus) about the differences between the creation of new works Opera as opposed in Dance. 'Choreographers start as dancers, and dancers spend a lot of time focusing on technique. It's from that solid grounding in technique and exposure to different choreographers' work that new choreographers begin to blossom, pushing what is merely technical, to develop their own vocabulary and their own voice. But it starts with technique. Opera composers and librettists need the opportunity to build skills directly related to Opera that they might not get in a University or Conservatory setting.' Since 2005 when he founded ALT, Edelson has created an organization that focuses on identifying gifted emerging operatic writers, providing those writers with unprecedented professional mentorship, commissioning their first major operatic works, and helping place those operas with producing companies across the country. 'There is no clear path to becoming a writer for the opera stage. Aspiring librettists usually come from playwriting or poetry backgrounds, often with wonderful ideas, but a significant lack of experience and exposure in Opera.' The first year of the program, students are focused on the skills and process of creation -- not the end product. They receive over 60 classes and workshops, totaling over 200 hours over a 10 month period. There are group sessions as well as private mentorships." [Source] Learn more about ALT by clicking here.

Roman Bath Setting For Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

TIME Magazine Features Opera Twins Christopher and David Alden

"Known for their audacious, pro- vocative takes on masterpieces, identical-twin opera directors Christopher and David Alden have been at the pinnacle of their field for three decades. 'It is strange,' says David, 'to have someone else in the world who looks just like you and does the same thing you do, and often with the same people, but never at the same time.' Or, for that matter, on the same continent Christopher is based in New York City, David in London, and both are in constant demand all over the world. This year, however, both Aldens are taking on high-profile assignments Stateside: Christopher with Don Giovanni for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, David with Un Ballo in Maschera for New York City's Metropolitan Opera House. The brothers grew up in Manhattan, sons of playwright Jerome Alden and ballerina Barbara Gaye, who, while pregnant, danced in the original production of Annie Get Your Gun starring Ethel Merman. 'That probably explains why we became who we are,' Christopher says. 'All of Merman's screaming prepared us to spend our lives around opera singers.' Immersed in theater and classical music from childhood, they were drawn to opera for its combination of the two art forms. By their teens, they were 'fanatical standees' (David's phrase) at the old Metropolitan Opera house." [Source]