Friday, May 29, 2009

Patricia Rice Previews OTSL's "Salome" in the Beacon


Patricia Rice previews OTSL's production of Salome for the St. Louis Beacon. Here she discusses Kelly Kaduce:
Lyric soprano Kelly Kaduce -- a St. Louis favorite -- dances and sings the title role.

Last year, her convincing fluency in the title role of Madame Butterfly at OTSL put her on the cover of Opera News magazine. While she has sung with opera companies across the country and overseas, the Minnesota native, who now lives in Texas with her husband, has offered some of her best efforts here.

Kaduce's title roles here include the world premiere of David Carlson's Anna Karenina in 2007, the American premiere of Michael Berkeley's Jane Eyre in 2006 and Puccini's Sister Angelica in 2004.

Her ability to dance first caught the attention of the late Colin Graham, OTSL's first artistic director. Before she ever came to St. Louis, Graham cast Kaduce in a dancing singer role in the world premiere of Bright Sheng's Madame Mao, which he directed in 2003 at Santa Fe.

Dance, she does in Salome. Even people who have never heard of the opera have likely heard of Salome's "Dance of the Seven Veils."

Click here for the complete preview.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Lew Prince Reviews OTSL's "La Boheme" in the RFT


Lew Prince has a review of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis' production of Puccini's La Boheme in this week's issue of the Riverfront Times. Prince gives a little background here:
Puccini was one of the few composers to eschew opera's usual fascination with mythology and the love affairs and succession problems of royalty. Instead he strove for what he called verissimo — truth-telling, or naturalness. The language of his songs is simple and straightforward in the original Italian, and Opera Theatre's English translation is alive with wordplay Puccini would have loved. In the first two acts, director Tim Ocel and his spirited young cast paint a lively and vivid picture of a bunch of middle-class dropouts living the Bohemian life in Paris at the cusp of the twentieth century.

Click here to read the complete review.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Cabaret St. Louis presents OTSL Night at the Kranzberg



Cabaret St. Louis will present Kelly Kaduce, Lee Gregory, Garrett Sorenson, and Elizabeth Batton in a night of story and songs from Broadway, opera, and the American Songbook on June 16 at 8:00 p.m., at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Direction by Michael Shell, assistant director of OSTL's The Ghosts of Versailles. Musical direction by Greg Ritchie, in collaboration with OTSL's music director Stephen Lord and artistic director James Robinson.

Kelly Kaduce will make her role debut as the title character in OSTL's production of Salome this season. Kaduce was featured as OSTL's Madame Butterfly last year.

Lee Gregory will play Wilhelm and Elizabeth Batton will play Samira in OSTL's production of The Ghosts of Versailles this season. Garrett Sorenson made his role debut as Hoffmann in Les contes d'Hoffmann with OTSL in 2008.

This production features not one but two married couples: Gregory and Kaduce are husband and wife as are Batton and Sorsenso.

Tickets are $45, and the Kranzberg Arts Center is located at 501 North Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63108.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

OTSL on KWMU's "Cityscape"

KWMU 90.7 FM's "Cityscape" with Steve Potter will feature Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, on Friday, May 15, at 11:00 a.m. ("Cityscape" will also be repeated at 10:00 p.m.)

Details from KWMU.org:
A discussion about Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' 2009 season.

Guests


Maria Kanyova
Soprano

Sings the role of Marie Antoinette in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' production of John Corigliano and William Hoffman's "The Ghosts of Versailles"

Timothy O'Leary
General Director
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

James Robinson
Artistic Director
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

"Saturday Afternoon at the Opera": Salome

Join host Tom Sudholt for "Saturday Afternoon at the Opera" on KFUO FM 99.1 beginning at 12:30 p.m. on May 9 as Tom welcomes his special guest Timothy O'Leary, general director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

They will discuss OTSL's upcoming production of Strauss' Salome.

Following the conversation, stay tuned for the 1972 RCA Red Seal recording of Salome, with Karl Böhm conducting the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Leonie Rysanek stars as Salome with Grace Hoffman as Herodias and Hans Hopf as Herodes.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Alek Shrader in Opera News


Alek Shrader, who will be appearing this season as Alessandro in the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' production of Mozart's Il Re Pastore (The Shepard King) is profiled in the May 2009 issue of Opera News. Shrader made his professional debut as a chorus member at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and, in the article, says
I went back to do a couple of small roles in 2005, and in the open young-artist casting I happened to sing "Ecco ridente." Stephen Lord told me, "We're considering you for Almaviva." I was breathless. I sang it there in 2006. I did Una Cosa Rara there last summer, and this summer I'm going back to do Il Re Pastore.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Opera Workshop at Saint Louis University


The Saint Louis University Opera Workshop presents a staged, reduced version of the Mozart masterpiece, "Cosi fan tutte," in English, directed by Jeral Becker, Ph.D. The workshop will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at the Xavier Hall Studio Theatre on the SLU campus.