May 11, 2013
Maometto II at SFO: Structuralist Opera Design
Written by Ellen Berkovitch // July 17, 2012 // Design, Santa Fe // 2 Comments
Maometto II tells a 15th-century story of a Byzantine-era war in which the Venetian city of Negroponte is laid siege by Turkish Sultan Mehmet II. Next Monday our audio podcast on Maometto will air on AdobeAirstreamRadio. Before then, you can catch this fantastic performance at Santa Fe Opera on July 18th. Future performance dates include July 27, August 2, 7 and 16. Set and costume designer Jon Morrell created a compelling environment for the principal singers and the very large choruses whose rhythms are considered quite out of the ordinary for 19th-century Italian opera. This slideshow offers a peek.
Written by Ellen Berkovitch // July 17, 2012 // Design, Santa Fe // 2 Comments
2 Comments
The direction, music and singing of this complex story of love, power and loyalty held my attention for the entire three hour performance. While the plot plays out on the grand scale of war between Christianity and Islam, Ahearn brings human proportion to the personal relationship between the conqueror Mahomet II and his hoped for prize, the Venetian, Anna. Rossini invents incredible sounds. Some themes carry into contemporary popular music. Singing, both lead and choral, powers this masterpiece of heroic romanticism.
See the opera.
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