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…
Review in the Knoxville Mercury: Knoxville Opera’s ‘Tosca’
You’ll find a review of Knoxville Opera’s production of Tosca in this week’s Knoxville Mercury, online here. No umbrella required.
In this week’s Knoxville Mercury: Review of KO’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’
In this week’s Knoxville Mercury, I review Knoxville Opera’s production of Humperdinck’s ‘Hansel and Gretel.’
This Week in the Knoxville Mercury: Preview of KO’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’
Read my preview of Knoxville Opera’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in this week’s Knoxville Mercury.