It was inevitable that Knoxville Opera would eventually come around again to Giacomo Puccini’s final opera Turandot. Last produced by the company in October 2003, the work virtually cries out for lavish spectacle, given its exotic setting of the Imperial…
Othalie Graham and Jonathan Burton Together Again for Knoxville Opera’s ‘Turandot’
It is a fact that opera need not be produced at the highest and loftiest levels of expense in order to be artistically interesting and successful. This claim has certainly been validated by opera companies like Knoxville Opera and others that operate in the environment of medium-size cities or regional entities.
Knoxville’s Most Memorable Classical Music Performances of 2017
My “Most Memorable of the Year” list of classical music performances began in the pages of the former Metro Pulse, later finding a place in the Knoxville Mercury. Now, it has a home in Arts Knoxville. Here, then, is the list for 2017.
Review: Operatic Ecstasy Marks the Beginning of Knoxville Opera’s 40th Season
If you ask a hundred opera lovers why they are drawn to the art form, you’re likely to get a hundred different answers. After all, it is essentially an unanswerable question. While all arts appeal to individuals in distinctly particular…
Knoxville Opera Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary with a Gala Concert
A 40th birthday is looked on by most as an unfortunate, but inevitable, milestone—particularly if you happen to be 39. Outside of the human context, though, 40 years is a mark of admirable longevity. For example, the original Star Wars,…
This Weekend: An Overwhelming Diversity of Events
Gospel music, opera, Agatha Christie, Ravel, Shostakovich, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Opera, horror films, documentaries, home movies, Appalachian Ballet — oh my. For at least 10 years, we’ve been predicting a time would come in Knoxville’s surging arts and…
Review: Dueling Sopranos Take Knoxville Opera’s ‘Maria Stuarda’ to Bel Canto Glory
History insists on reminding us that cousins and bitter enemies, Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I, never met in real life. That fact did not prevent German philosopher and playwright, Friedric Schiller, from creating a drama that treated Mary, Queen…
Knoxville Opera This Weekend: Donizetti’s ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’
Two previews of the cast and production of Knoxville Opera’s production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Mary, Queen of Scots—opening this coming weekend at the Tennessee Theatre—can be found in the Knoxville Mercury.
A Big Weekend for Knoxville
Not particularly by design, there are those weekends in Knoxville when multiple diverse arts events converge on the same time period. This weekend, April 21-23, is one of those biggies. Music, theatre, and street fair festivals offer more opportunities for…
Review: Knoxville Opera’s ‘La Bohème’
Infused with cold medicine and lulled into a sense of security by cough lozenges so as not to compete with poor consumptive Mimi, I entered the Tennessee Theatre last weekend with definite expectations for a La Bohème from Knoxville Opera—an…