By Alan Sherrod While the overwhelming bulk of the operatic repertoire is devoted to tragic heroes, heroines, and villains, Knoxville Opera took a comic detour Friday evening in its season-opener, leaving no comedy stone unturned in its performance of…
Preview: Knoxville Opera’s Comedy Double Bill — Mozart’s ‘The Impresario’ and Puccini’s ‘Gianni Schicchi’
By Alan Sherrod There are a lot of myths surrounding the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but one thing that we know for certain is that he absolutely loved a good joke—particularly if it ridiculed or parodied those in…
Review: Knoxville Opera Wraps Its 40th Season With A Superb ‘Aida’
By Alan Sherrod It was probably inevitable that Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida would be Knoxville Opera’s choice to conclude the 2017-18 season—its 40th anniversary season. After all, it was to be a season designed to make a major statement for…
Previewing Knoxville Opera’s ‘Aida’: Soprano Michelle Johnson
In almost every decade, it seems, music writers love to dig up an age-old question: “where are the great Verdi sopranos?”
Saturday: Knoxville Opera’s Rossini Festival
Time flies, it seems. That’s the only reasonable explanation for the fact that Knoxville Opera’s Rossini Festival is now in its 17th year as Knoxville’s preeminent street fair event. This year’s version of the free annual event is Saturday, April…
Review: Spectacle Abounds in Knoxville Opera’s ‘Turandot’
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,…