ABIGAIL RETHWISCH
Daphne, Strauss
Erst Magd (cover)
American Symphony Orchestra
March 23, 2023
Carnegie Hall | New York City, NY, USA
The American Symphony Orchestra spotlights Strauss’s seldom heard pastoral opera Daphne. With its lush orchestral palette, endlessly shifting harmonic motion, and sumptuous melodies, combined with a diaphanous serenity typical of Strauss’s later style, Daphne reveals to us a composer arguably at the peak of his powers, supremely confident in his abilities as both composer and dramatist.
Once Upon This Stage
Soprano Soloist
Des Moines Metro Opera
March 29, 2023
Hoyt Sherman Place | Des Moines, IA, USA
Once Upon This Stage is a tribute to some of the first artists to appear in the historic theater nearly 100 years ago. Celebrities of the day like Grant Wood, Vincent Price, Meredith Willson, Agnes de Mille, John Philip Sousa, Will Rogers, and Edna St. Vincent Millay will each be honored. This engaging and inspiring variety-style show celebrates each person’s individual history and art form as the audience is immersed in their most famous works. The artists’ vignettes will be followed by local partners honoring these legends with live performances of the same art form.
Die Zauberflöte
Papagena (cover)
Metropolitan Opera
May 12 -
June 10, 2023
Lincoln Center | New York City, NY, USA
One of opera’s most beloved works receives its first new Met staging in 19 years—a daring vision by renowned English director Simon McBurney that The Wall Street Journal declared “the best production I’ve ever witnessed of Mozart’s opera.” Nathalie Stutzmann conducts the Met Orchestra, with the pit raised to make the musicians visible to the audience and allow interaction with the cast. In his Met-debut staging, McBurney lets loose a volley of theatrical flourishes, incorporating projections, sound effects, and acrobatics to match the spectacle and drama of Mozart’s fable. The brilliant cast includes soprano Erin Morley as Pamina, tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, baritone Thomas Oliemans in his Met debut as Papageno, soprano Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, and bass Stephen Milling as Sarastro.
