This Moment in Opera

General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel and Music Director George Manahan speak with Dramaturg Cori Ellison about the upcoming season.

Our VOX festival is back this year and celebrating its tenth anniversary of showcasing American composers and bringing new operas to the world. On May 1st and 2nd, audiences will be able to hear the newest works that opera has to offer. Click here for more information. This episode, we take a look at some of the creative forces behind VOX 2009. Act I (2:25): Renowned musical theater composer Stephen Schwartz discusses his first foray into writing opera. Act II (13:50): Gordon Beeferman and Charlotte Jackson, the creators of The Rat Land, which was presented at our 2007 VOX festival return with a new scene from the opera. Act III (24:15): Project Director Yuval Sharon and City Opera Dramaturg Cori Ellison talk about what makes this year’s 10th anniversary VOX festival so exciting.

Dramaturg Cori Ellison speaks with George Manahan, City Opera's Music Director about "Looking Forward", the concert program he's created to familiarize audiences with the works of the 20th century. Maestro Manahan will conduct and offer commentary on the music and the pioneering 20th-century geniuses who created it, including Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, and Olivier Messiaen.

Soprano Lauren Flanigan speaks with Dramaturg Cori Ellison about preparing to sing the role of Cleopatra, the challenges of playing historical characters, and the surprising affinities between Cleopatra and such modern "heroines" as Martha Stewart and Madeleine Albright.

City Opera's acclaimed VOX series has given audiences the chance to preview the future of opera with free presentations of new American works. This year's exciting line-up of 10 works once again spans an incredible artistic and cultural diversity: from a hypnotic adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth to the jazz-infused story of a mixed race musician in the Big Band era; from the hard-edged feminist reinterpreation of the Troilus and Cressida story, sung in "funky middle English," to a lyrical re-telling of the poet Dylan Thomas's stormy relationship with his partner Caitlin. VOX Project Director Yuval Sharon speaks with three of the composers in this year's VOX festival, performing May 10 & 11 at the Skirball Center at New York University. Free tickets can be reserved at www.vox-nyco.com. Act I (02:31) - David T. Little, the creator of the intense monodrama Soldier Songs, talks about the difference between political and "socially engaged" music-theater. Act II (12:12) - Dramaturg Cori Ellison speaks with Justine F. Chen, returning to VOX with her Joan of Arc adaptation Jeanne. Act III (18:44) - John King, a long-time collaborator with dance legend Merce Cunningham, discusses his chance-based experiment Dice Thrown.

City Opera's Erik Gensler speaks with two staff operaphiles about the 2008 Spring Season which includes: Purcell's King Arthur, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Tosca, Verdi's Falstaff, and Bernstein's Candide. Dramaturg Cori Ellison and Associate Director of Donor Communication, Mark Moorman provide a behind-the-scenes look at each of these operas - the singers, the artistic teams, and history behind each of these productions. Cori and Mark also reveal their favorite moments from each of these works.

Puccini's Tosca is a suspense thriller that takes place in urban Rome, while his Madama Butterfly is a tear-jerker that unfolds in idyllic turn-of-the century Nagasaki. Yet these two popular Puccini classics have more in common than one would think. Dramaturg Cori Ellison speaks with the director and lighting designer of New York City Opera's Tosca and Madama Butterfly productions. Act I (1:10) – Mark Lamos, Tony-nominated director of Broadway, regional theatre, and opera, who created City Opera's productions of Tosca and Butterfly. Act II (21:37) – Robert Wierzel, acclaimed lighting designer for City Opera's Tosca and Madama Butterfly, as well as numerous opera and dance companies, Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatres, and museum exhibits worldwide.

The non-stop fun of Verdi's opera Falstaff was a major departure for the composer known for his heart-rending tragedies. Adapted from The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare -- Verdi's hero -- this is an opera of fast-paced shenanigans and memorable music. In this podcast, dramaturg Cori Ellison speaks with George Manahan, City Opera Music Director, about how the music drives the drama in Falstaff and Anne Cattaneo, dramaturg at Lincoln Center Theater, who disects the Shakespearean roots of the opera. Plus they reveal their favorite moments from this work. Act I (0:54)– George Manahan, City Opera Music Director and conductor of Falstaff, speaks about how the music drives the drama in Falstaff Act II (13:32)– Anne Cattaneo, dramaturg at Lincoln Center Theater, traces the Shakespearean roots of Falstaff.

Leonard Bernstein's Candide. Is it an opera or is it a musical? New York City opera dramaturg Cori Ellison asks three key players in this spring’s revival this question and many more. Plus they reveal their favorite moments from this work. Act I (1:04) - City Opera baritone Kyle Pfortmiller, who reprises the role of Maximilian Act II (10:28) - Daniel Reichard, who recently ended his three-year run as Bob Gaudio in Broadway’s Jersey Boys to take the title role in Candide Act III (17:36) - Legendary director Harold Prince

Dramaturg Cori Ellison speaks with director and choreographer Mark Morris and assistant director Joe Bowie about the Mark Morris New York premiere production of Purcell's King Arthur. They discuss the process of creating this whimsical adaptation and reveal their favorite moments from this work that unites City Opera singers and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Act I (0:54) - Mark Morris, director and choreographer of King Arthur and founder and Artistic Director of the Mark Morris Dance Group Act II (17:08) - Joe Bowie, a dancer and assistant director in the Mark Morris Dance Group