Latest Stories

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  Marian's Song: The Story of the First Black Artist to Sing at the Metropolitan Opera

  February 27 at 4 a.m.

  Marian Anderson was an accomplished singer of classical music and spirituals who grew up at a time that was not welcoming to African American performers of any kind in the United States. Her story of perseverance and undeniable talent is legendary as she traveled to Europe for the kind of...

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  New Opera: The Leader May Go the Distance

  February 24 at 7:05 a.m.

  Opera in the Heights' New Works Festival, a two-weekend presentation of world premieres has a winner in The Leader. I believe this one will have a full afterlife. Composer Karim Al-Zand teaches at the Shepherd's School of Music at Rice University, and to judge by his work here, he must...

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  A Good Cast Works Hard in Yeltsin in Texas

  February 23 at 7:52 a.m.

  Opera world premieres don't grow on trees. They're expensive, time consuming, and usually a logistic nightmare to prepare. Also they're a big gamble. With yet another production of Boheme at least the design team and the audience know what to expect. When it's set on Mars, that's another problem all...

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  Best Bets This Weekend: Communists in Texas, Women Rockers, and Acrobats

  February 20 at 5 a.m.

  Whether you’re interested in a heavy family drama or a toe-tapping musical, punk rock or Beethoven, vampires or acrobats, we’ve got you covered this weekend.

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  Yeltsin in Texas!: Opera Buffa in Real Life at Opera in the Heights

  February 14 at 4 a.m.

  Sometimes, you just can't make up what happens in real life. And sometimes that real life story is just too good and larger than life to pass up. Composer Evan Mack and librettist Joshua  McGuire, who've worked in tandem on a lot of new productions, knew they had opera gold when...

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  Magnificent Singing in Aida Saves This HGO Production

  February 1 at 7:16 a.m.

  Ancient Egypt looks mighty cheesy in Houston Grand Opera's new production of Verdi's colossal masterpiece Aida (1871). Granted, the former HGO production from fashionista Zhandra Rhodes (seasons 2006 and 2013) didn't look much better, staged flat as a hieroglyphic, but at least it was psychedelic. This one, from director Phelim...