I've heard for years about Juilliard Opera, and finally went tonight - a wonderful production of Handel's "Ariodante" with six up and coming singers all of whom have great careers ahead of them. (Most impressive were soprano Haeran Hong, mezzo Cecelia Hall and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, though tenor Nicholas Coppolo's voice sometimes reminded me of the greatest Heldentenöre, bass Shenyang was very fine, and soprano Tharanga Goonetilleke's voice veritably glowed by opera's end.) Tickets are $20, so the remaining two performances (tonight was the premiere), Friday evening and Sunday matinee, are probably long ago sold out. But worth trying for. This is Handel at his loveliest. And it's not often that every part of an ensemble is this good a singer - and actor, too.
(I'm off to another opera tomorrow, part of a hiccupy five days with two operas, two dinner parties, and two movies - and perhaps two sessions of the conference on Digital Labor, too.)
