The crisis began on 17 December 1996 in Lima, Peru, when 14 members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) took hostage hundreds of high-level diplomats, government and military officials and business executives who were attending a party at the official residence of the Japanese ambassador to Peru, Morihisa Aoki, in celebration of Emperor Akihito's 63rd birthday. Although strictly speaking the crisis took place at the ambassadorial residence in the upscale district of San Isidro rather than at the embassy proper, the media and others referred to it as the "Japanese embassy" hostage crisis, and that is how it is conventionally known.The libretto is a dramatization of these events :
Most of the hostages were soon released. After being held hostage for 126 days, the remaining dignitaries were freed on 22 April 1997, in a raid by Peruvian Armed Forces commandos, during which one hostage, two commandos, and all the MRTA militants were killed. The operation was perceived by most Peruvians to be a great success, and it gained worldwide media attention. President Alberto Fujimori initially received much credit for saving the lives of the hostages. (reproduced from wikipedia)
Superstar American diva Roxane Coss has flown to Peru to sing at the vice president's home for a visiting Japanese mogul who is an opera buff. Dignitaries of every nationality are there — but an international crisis explodes when terrorists storm the mansion and take everyone hostage. Isolated for months, unlikely alliances form between captors and captives as fear and anger mingle uneasily with desire and even love. (reproduced from the LOC website)The cast includes soprano Danielle de Niese (Roxane Coss), mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges (Carmen), tenor Rafael Davila (General Alfredo), tenor Andrew Stenson (General Watanabe), bass-baritone Jeongcheol Cha (Katsumi Hosokawa) and tenor William Burden (Rubén Iglesias). Sir Andrew Davis conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Kevin Newbury directs.
In an Elven kingdom in the Far, Far North, Prince Claus will celebrate his 13th birthday with the party to end all parties; however, a bright star has signaled a momentous birth. Claus decides to dazzle this newborn with an assortment of the very latest toys before discovering that love is the most treasured gift of all. (reproduced from the Dallas Opera website).The cast includes lyric coloratura mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera (Queen Sophone), tenor leggiero Jonathan Blalock (Prince Claus), basso cantante Matt Boehler (Donkey / Messenger), high lyric soprano Hila Plitmann (Yan), mezzo-contralto Lucy Schaufer (Ib), lyric tenor Keith Jameson (Yab), and lyric baritone Kevin Burdette (Ob). The tessituras are from the Music Sales page. Emmanuel Villaume conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Dallas Opera. Paul Curran directs. The performance should last about 90 minutes.
Kay and Gerda are best friends. Together they listen to the stories Gerda’s grandmother tells them and play in the snow when winter arrives. But when a kobold strikes Kay in the eye and heart with two shards of a magic mirror, everything suddenly changes. Kay becomes belligerent and egotistical and wants to leave home. The Snow Queen appears and lures him into her kingdom of ice where the cold conquers all and he forgets everything in his past. Gerda wants to help him and embarks on a daring journey. In a forest, she encounters animals who can talk and is taken prisoner by bandits and barely escapes, driven onward by the hope of finding Kay deep in the north… (reproduced from the DNT website).The orchestra is the following :
An arrogant and successful surgeon is in love with the married Lady Sannox, one of the most beautiful women in the world. He is asked by a Turkish man to operate on the latter's wife, who has cut her lip with a poison envenomed scimitar. The surgeon goes ahead with the operation on the heavily drugged wife, whose face is obscured by a veil. After he has performed the opera, the surgeon realizes his patient is Lady Sannox, and the Turk her husband, who believes the disfigurement will be morally good for his wife. (reproduced from the wikipedia article)The cast includes soprano Francesca Tassinari (Lady Petula), tenor Mirko Guadagnini (Narcison silican 'El prestigiador'), bass Matteo Ferrara (Lord Sannox) and the actor Toni Contartese (Il giornalista). Carlo Boccadoro conducts the Ensemble della Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena, Stefania Panighini directs. The opera should last about 75 minutes, with no interval.
The opera explores the struggle to end racial inequality in America at two key crossroads a century apart: General Ulysses S. Grant's dramatic war-ending deliberations with General Robert E. Lee at a Virginia courthouse - and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s passionate debates with President Lyndon B. Johnson as civil rights protesters rallied in Alabama. (reproduced from the Kennedy Center website).The cast includes baritone Tom Fox (Abraham Lincoln / Lyndon B. Johnson), bass Soloman Howard (Frederick Douglass / Martin Luther King Jr.), bass baritone David Pittsinger (Robert E. Lee / Edgar Ray Killen), baritone Richard Paul Fink (Ulysses S. Grant / Nicholas Katzenbach), tenor Robert Brubaker (Wilmer McLean / J. Edgar Hoover). Dante Anzolini conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Washington National Opera. Tazewell Thompson directs.
Johannes the fisherman, a simple man in the autumn of his years, recalls his past life, the two people who meant most to him – his wife and his friend Peter, who have both long since passed away. Johannes’ yearning will come to an end on this day. When his daughter comes to check on him the following morning, she finds him dead. (reproduced from the publisher website)The cast includes actor Klaus Maria Brandauer (Olai), baritone Christoph Pohl (Johannes), soprano Sarah Wegener (Signe / Midwife), tenor Will Hartmann (Peter) and alto Helena Rasker (Erna). Michael Boder conducts the Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Graham Vick directs.
Princess Snow White is sick of it: forever having to practise her calligraphy! She yearns for the big wide world, for adventure and a wealth of new experiences. Her vain stepmother, the queen who is practically obsessed by her own beauty, is not only completely lacking in empathy – even worse, she feels no tenderness whatsoever towards her stepdaughter. Luckily for Snow White, she has a trusty companion in the form of a slightly too-large rabbit named Richard III. Together, they manage to flee from the murderous queen... (reproduced from the Komische Oper website)Elena Kats-Chernin has already composed several works for the lyrical stage, including The Rage of Life (Antwerpen, 2010), and a trilogy based on Monteverdi's operas (Odysseus, Orpheus and Poppea, Berlin, 2012).
