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EPSG:4326

Xian Conducts Carmina Burana

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

New Jersey Symphony: Xian Conducts Carmina Burana

In Gustavo Dudamel’s words, “Music after Wagner was never the same. Wagner's operas pushed music to its physical and emotional limits … paving the way not just for composers like Mahler and Richard Strauss, but for everything from Star Wars to Metallica.” For the first time, Dudamel helms a fully staged production of one part of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, navigating the epic naturalism, endless melodies, and gripping harmonies. The mythical world of Das Rheingold springs forth from Walt Disney Concert Hall with the help of the ever-innovative Frank Gehry, direction by Alberto Arvelo, and costumes by Cindy Figueroa. The Grammy Award-winning Ryan Speedo Green lends his voice to Wotan, headlining an internationally renowned cast.

Dudamel Leads Das Rheingold
Celebrating Frank Gehry

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Writing is the preservation of identity in the new opera Omar from Grammy award-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens and composer Michael Abels. A true story of an indomitable faith enshrined in a two-hundred-year-old autobiography in an opera acclaimed by The New York Times as a “sweeping achievement.”
In the early 1800s, Islamic scholar Omar Ibn Said is forcibly taken from his village in West Africa and sold into slavery in Charleston, South Carolina. Attempting to flee, he is imprisoned in Fayetteville and taken to the plantation of another slaveholder, eager to convert him to Christianity. There Omar records his story in Arabic, transforming his world into an expansive canvas of text and faith, profoundly realized in Kaneza Schaal’s transcendent production.

Omar

War Memorial Opera House

Mahler called his Eighth Symphony, “the biggest thing that I have ever done…in which the most beautiful instrument in the world is given its true place.” Music Director Laureate James Conlon concludes the 150th May Festival with a work of gigantic proportions—music of triumph and transcendence that celebrates the power of the human voice, featuring the sounds of the Chorus and the CSO in the breathtaking space of Music Hall.

Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand

Cincinnati Music Hall

O fortuna! So begins Carl Orff’s famous work for chorus and orchestra, Carmina burana. But there’s more to this epic masterpiece than the thunderous opening chorus, known far and wide for its use in Hollywood films and advertisements. Drawn from medieval poems that vividly celebrate the secular topics of love, lust, excess and indulgence, Carmina burana spans the full range of musical styles, ranging from the power and majesty of full orchestra and chorus to the delicate intimacy of a single human voice.

Carmina Burana

Benaroya Hall

The vengeful Alberich—a power-hungry dwarf—steals the magic Rhine gold to forge an all-powerful ring. Wotan, king of the gods, entraps Alberich and relinquishes the gold ring to the giants as payment for building Valhalla. The cursed ring quickly claims its first victim.

Das Rheingold

AT&T Performing Arts Center

In 1807, a 37-year-old scholar living in West Africa was captured and forced aboard a slave ship bound for Charleston, South Carolina. Omar Ibn Said's life and Muslim faith are remembered and retold in this inspirational West Coast premiere inspired by his remarkable 1831 autobiography (the only known surviving American slave narrative written in Arabic).
Set in the shifting darkness of memory and imagination, Omar follows his compelling journey from a peaceful life in his homeland to enslavement in a violent, foreign world. Lost in the wilderness of his thoughts and his stolen life, he's haunted by memories of his family and the people he encounters along the way. Through it all, he somehow remains true to himself and his faith, against all odds. The luminous score—composed by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels—incorporates distinctive West African traditions with traditional opera instrumentation.
Tenor Jamez McCorkle makes his company debut in the title role, with bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch in a double role as two very different slave masters. Norman Garrett makes his company debut as Omar's brother, with Barry Banks as the auctioneer and Jacqueline Echols as Julie, an enslaved woman who gives Omar the key to a better life.

Los Angeles Music Center

In this special one-night-only event, we will celebrate Maestro Manahan's leadership and tenure as Portland Opera's Music Director, with a concert in his honor. The Portland Opera Chorus and Orchestra will be featured, as well as guest artists and friends performing arias and ensemble pieces in a night that celebrates Maestro Manahan's legacy of excellence, and some of opera's greatest hits.

General Director Sue Dixon and Artistic Director Priti Gandhi will host this celebratory concert that will feature pieces from beloved works such as Bizet's Carmen, Wagner's Tannhäuser, Delibes' Lakmé, Bernstein's Candide and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, conducted by Maestro Manahan.

Barry Banks

Tenor

Events

1 - 3 Mar, 2024

Xian Conducts Carmina Burana · New Jersey Symphony

1 - 3 Mar, 2024

New Jersey Symphony: Xian Conducts Carmina Burana · New Jersey Symphony

18 - 21 Jan, 2024

Dudamel Leads Das Rheingold Celebrating Frank Gehry · Los Angeles Philharmonic

5 - 21 Nov, 2023

Omar · San Francisco Opera

May 27, 2023

Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand · The May Festival

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