A Change Of Color For The Venetian Moor In MET Opera "Otello"

The Moorish Chief by Eduard Charlemont (1878)

"At a recent dress rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera, there was something missing when the Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko sang the title role of Verdi’s Otello: the stage makeup with names like Indian Red and Otello Brown that opera companies have used for more than a century to darken pale singers playing the part. 'The Met breaks tradition, and I will be white,' Mr. Antonenko shrugged as he was powdered in his dressing room. It was an offhand way of phrasing a seismic shift. That leading opera houses have continued to use blackface into the early 21st century, long after minstrel shows and similar performances have been rejected as racist, may be more surprising to many people than that the practice is now being ended by the Met, after 124 years, for the new production of Otello that will open its 2015-16 season on Monday, Sept. 21. The change comes in a year when the massacre of nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, S.C., spurred a national discussion about racism and the power of symbols, and prompted South Carolina officials to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds after years of resistance. And it comes more than a generation after leading theater companies stopped 'blacking up' white actors to play Othello in Shakespeare’s play....Plácido Domingo, the pre-eminent Otello of the 1980s and ’90s, said in an interview that

Ildar Abdrazakov Named Artistic Director Of Obraztsova Music School

"Dima, You Will Win!": Ildar Abdrazakov, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, and Aleksandrs Antonenko
wear t-shirts that support colleague Dmitri Hvorostovsky at the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow for a
concert in memory of the late Elena Obraztsova.

"An international music school dedicated to legendary Russian opera star Yelena Obraztsova is to open its doors to pupils this summer in St. Petersburg. The inauguration of the Academy of Music will take place at the city’s Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor on August 8. The evening will see a gala concert featuring opera stars and some of the closest friends of the legendary opera singer, who died in January. The Mariinsky Theater's leading soloist Ildar Abdrazakov is to serve as the Academy's artistic director. 'Students from abroad will also be coming to the Academy. I am very often asked, both in Russia and abroad, about where I teach, where you can take a master class. Naturally, I will invite everybody to the Yelena Obraztsova Academy, where classes will be taught by professionals with a capital P,' Abdrazakov said at a press conference in St. Petersburg. 'Thomas Hampson and Deborah Voigt have already agreed to my proposal. And Anna Netrebko will also come,' said Abdrazakov. In addition, the creators of the academy have promised that the country’s best teachers will teach there on a regular basis, and the school itself will become international – talented young singers from different countries will come to the institute to exchange their experiences. Yelena Makarova, Obraztsova’s daughter and the

Abdrazakov and Netrebko in France last week. The two sang
on a July 4th gala concert at Château de Versailles.

director of the academy, said that to open such an educational institution had been her mother’s dream. 'It's a dream that my mother nurtured for many years. A dream that helped her fight her illness,' she said. According to her, the Obraztsova Academy will provide training for both adults and children. The purpose of opening the academy is to create a unique educational institution, taking into account the peculiarities and individuality of each student. Ildar Abdrazakov will give the first master class between November 1 and 12. Training at the academy will be provided on a fee-paying basis, but there will be 10 free places in the adult department and another 10 available for children. In addition, individual grants from Makarova and Abdrazakov are being planned. The gala concert to celebrate the opening of the Obraztsova Academy will feature Abdrazakov, Olga Makarina, Vasily Ladyuk, Yusif Eyvazov and Yelena Makarova, as well as an orchestra led by the Mikhailovsky Theater's principal conductor Mikhail Tatarnikov." [Source] More photos after the jump.

Surprising Debut Discs Herald New Releases For Summer 2015

Diana Damrau Makes Late Entry Into Kristian Schuller MET Photos

(Click on all images to enlarge)

When the MET announced its 2015-16 season, their online brochure featured gorgeous photographs by Kristian Schuller for their new productions. One conspicuous omission was no photo of any artist for the new production of Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles featuring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, and Mariusz Kwiecień. Perhaps because it is a co-production originally created by English National Opera? Although the Manon Lescaut is a co-production with Baden-Baden Festival and Kristine Opolais made the brochure deadline. Whatever the reason, the MET has released the promotional photo featuring the soprano as Leïla. A photo of Diana Damrau working with Kristian Schuller, as well as other high resolution images by the photographer for the new season, after the jump.

Kristian Schuller Is New Metropolitan Opera Brochure Photographer

Kristine Opolais as Manon Lescaut by 
Kristian Schuller for MET 2015-16 season

On February 18, 2015, The Metropolitan Opera announced its 2015-16 season. As new productions and artist debuts were heralded, something else was new in the presentation: the photographer. In previous seasons, photographer Brigitte Lacombe was tasked with capturing opera stars in costume for upcoming new productions via lavish photo shoots for the brochure. Now we look through the lens of Paris-based fashion photographer Kristian Schuller. He was born in Hălchiu, Romania, on December 24, 1970. His grandfather was a priest in Cata and his father is the controversial playwright and director Frieder Schuller. He emigrated with his parents and brother to Germany at an early age, growing up in Bonn and Düsseldorf. Interested in fashion since youth, he began to study clothing design with Vivienne Westwood in 1997. Within the next five years she would take him to France to introduce him to the world of fashion shows and the atmosphere of Paris. It was during this time that he discovered an interest in photography. He studied with F.C. Gundlach at the University of Fine Arts Berlin and decided to combine his two loves to become

Lens Meister: Photographer Kristian Schuller seen
with Metropolitan Opera star Anna Netrekbo
during a photo shoot for Deutsche Grammophon

a fashion photographer. In 2003, English fashion editor Isabella Row brought him to Condé Nast Publications in London. Here he had the opportunity to shoot top models like Gisele Buendchen, Amber Arbucci, and Heidi Klum in original and creative settings for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and Glamour. He married his partner Peggy, who serves as a designer and stylist for his shoots, in 2007. They collaborate on the process for new series. At the beginning he makes rough sketches of ideas for sets and costumes. His inspiration comes from old photographs, art history, and films (particularly those by Federico Fellini). He has stated that his work is also influenced by theater experiences in childhood. Once the initial concept is done, he works with Peggy on locations, models, hairstyles, make-up, and clothing. By 2010 he was serving as a guest judge on Heidi Klum's television show Germany's Next Top Model. That same year he released his first book, 90 Days, One Dream. He photographed actress Penelope Cruz for Campari's 2013 calendar. Most recently he is known in the world of opera for photographing soprano Anna Netrebko for her Verdi album of arias on Deutsche Grammophon. Another of his captivating photos appears on the cover of her latest release: Vier letzte lieder by Richard Strauss. Learn more about the photographer on his official website and look at fashion images on his Instagram account. Examine the whole season and brochure photos at the official site of the MET. See a plethora of extra images from the 2015-16 season of The Metropolitan Opera as captured by Kristian Schuller, as well as two bonus shots, after the jump. [Source, Source, Source, Source]

Sondra Radvanovsky captured by Kristian Schuller in the photo shoot for Roberto Devereux

Kristian Schuller in the photo shoot for Roberto Devereux

Renée Fleming Illumine la Scène de l’Opéra Bastille

Some stunning photos from the Andrei Serban production of Verdi's Otello taking place at l'Opéra National de Paris - Opéra Bastille. Head over to www.paperblog.fr for more high-resolution images. Conducted by Marco Armiliato, singers featured include Renée Fleming (Desdemona), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Otello), Lucio Gallo (Iago), Michael Fabiano (Cassio), Francisco Almanza (Roderigo) and Nona Javakhidze (Emilia).