At the Statue of Venus/Three Decembers

The Butler Opera Center's pairing of these Jake Heggie chamber operas opened up small concerns to an enduring sense of love

"...Don Giovanni – or the protagonists of Jake Heggie's operas Dead Man Walking and Moby-Dick, for that matter –..."

March 11, 2016 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Butler Opera Center's Così fan tutte

This production brings Mozart's test of female fidelity into the modern world of Tinder and high finance

"...please powerful men is and has ever been. Mozart's opera Così fan tutte, first performed in 1790 – the..."

Nov. 3, 2017 Arts Review by Robi Polgar

Austin Lyric Opera

What the 'Faust' – an opera with a nightclub scene?

"...and timeless. So, even though composer Charles Gounod's 1859 operatic adaptation was originally set in medieval Germany, director Bernard..."

April 26, 2013 Arts Feature by Natalie Zeldin

Austin Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos

Dude ranch antics make this reimagining of Strauss too busy, but when the music takes center stage, it’s gorgeous

"...The desire to liberate operas from their traditional settings to modern-day milieus can yield..."

Feb. 2, 2018 Arts Review by Robi Polgar

Review: Austin Opera’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sharp Sondheim staging could benefit from some musical raggedness

"...F2-Gb4 bass, flamboyant B2-C5 tenor, and sprightly Bb3-A5 soprano, operatic stagings seemed inevitable...."

Feb. 1, 2023 Arts Post by Bob Abelman

Butler School of Music

Two concerts – one by Harvey Pittel, one for the late Rose Taylor – pay tribute to 'living in a song'

"...that's what's being offered in two concerts at the Butler School of Music this weekend, one by pioneering saxophonist..."

Jan. 24, 2014 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Flamencos, Mariachis, and Murder Announced for Austin Opera 2023-24 Season

New year kicks off with murderous classic Pagliacci

"...Austin Opera's current season is not yet over, but before last..."

Jan. 27, 2023 Arts Post by Richard Whittaker

Austin Opera Takes Aim at the Election With Its Adaptation of The Manchurian Candidate

Composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell shoot to thrill in their opera based on Richard Condon's Cold War classic

"...unconventional of election years, why not have an unconventional opera, one that speaks directly to American politics and also..."

Sept. 16, 2016 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Austin Opera's The Daughter of the Regiment

Just as the young woman of the title is deemed "charming," so too is Donizetti's work in this company's staging

"...Marquise de Birkenfeld is on the run, her overburdened butler Hortensio huffing and puffing in her wake. Whatever will..."

Feb. 3, 2017 Arts Review by Robi Polgar

A Woman in Morocco

Butler Opera Center makes the most of Daron Hagen's new opera, which stuffs a lot of high drama into one story

"...in MoroccoMcCullough Theatre, 2375 Robert Dedman, UT campus, 512/477-6060 butleroperacenter.music.utexas.edu Through Nov. 3 Running time: 2 hr, 30 min..."

Nov. 1, 2013 Arts Review by Natalie Zeldin

God Save the Queenie

Duke Ellington's almost lost opera of a Harlem beautician gets rescued and a makeover

"...Leave it to the Duke to put the "opera" in "beauty operator."..."

April 17, 2009 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

'Les Enfants Terribles'

Philip Glass opera gives new meaning to sibling rivalry

"...the composer chose Les Enfants Terribles to follow his operatic version of Orphée, based on the 1949 film, and..."

Feb. 22, 2013 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

UT: Major Arts Commissions Announced

Landmarks will get new mural, CoFA a Spanish-language opera

"...Parlá and from the College of Fine Arts, an opera about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera...."

Aug. 4, 2017 Arts Post by Robert Faires

A Guide to Austin Classical Music

The virtuosi who know the score and make beautiful music happen here

"...chamber pieces for instruments of all kinds, art songs, operas, cantatas, scores for dance and theatre works, soundtracks for..."

April 26, 2019 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Culture Flash

A new opera for the Butlers and a big art prize for Beili Liu

"...• The University of Texas' Butler School of Music has commissioned a new opera from..."

Oct. 15, 2010 Arts Column by Robert Faires

Give 'Em a Hand

The nominees for the 2009 Austin Critics Table Awards

"...Arthuriosis: A Metal Opera, Getalong Gang..."

May 15, 2009 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Howdy, Pardner!

In 2010, the watchword among Austin creatives was 'collaboration'

"...reinvented venue openings in the fall: the Visual Arts Center on the University of Texas campus, built by Lake|Flato..."

Jan. 7, 2011 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Austin Critics Table Awards 2013

Arts writers raise their glasses to outstanding art in list of nominees

"...been revived and can be seen on the Long Center Terrace – and above it – through Sunday, May..."

May 24, 2013 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Top 10 Musical Triumphs, Plus Evidence That Austin Is Innovating the Classical World

Chronicle Arts writer Michael Kellerman recalls 2008, in classical music

"...1) Blue Rhapsody (Austin Chamber Music Center) The temptation was strong to top this list with..."

Jan. 2, 2009 Arts Feature by Michael Kellerman

UT School of Music

Ernest and Sarah Butler make the largest-ever donation to a music school at a public university

"...university – was hardly a surprise. Ernest and Sarah Butler are well-known and active in the local cultural scene..."

March 28, 2008 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Queenie Pie

This Ellington opus may not look much like opera, but it sure swings like the Duke

"...Duke Ellington called it an opera. It's being staged by the Butler Opera Center. Still,..."

April 24, 2009 Arts Review by Robert Faires

A Year's Cheers

The nominees for the 2010 Austin Critics Table Awards

"...The Doyle and Debbie Show, Long Center for the Performing Arts..."

May 14, 2010 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Outstanding!

Nominations for the 2006-2007 Austin Critics Table Awards

"...I Am My Own Wife, Zachary Scott Theatre Center..."

May 18, 2007 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

'The Fall of the House of Usher': When Debussy was a Poe boy

With UT's hosting of the Debussy International Congress comes a Halloween treat: an operatic adaptation based on Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher'

"...Debussy's La Chute de la Maison Usher, a one-act opera based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story, orchestrated by..."

Oct. 27, 2006 Arts Feature by Barry Pineo

Star Turns

The nominees for the 2015-16 Austin Critics Table Awards

"...Acting in a Leading Role Emma Center, The Wild Party Brian Coughlin, To Kill a Mockingbird..."

May 9, 2016 Arts Post by Robert Faires

Susannah

The Butler Opera Center production achieves real magic, most notably a triumphant performance in the title role

"...2008 has been a signature time for the tragic opera heroine in Austin, with Zach Theatre's Bess and Austin..."

April 25, 2008 Arts Review by Michael Kellerman

Table Banquet

The nominees for the 2013-2014 Austin Critics Table Awards

"...The Beethoven Cycle: Concert 3, Miró Quartet, Butler School of Music..."

May 8, 2014 Arts Post by Robert Faires

Top of the Line

The nominees for the 2011 Austin Critics Table Awards

"...Halena Kays, The Threepenny Opera..."

May 27, 2011 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

The Magic Flute

Twenty-first century tech doesn't serve Mozart's 18th century opera, but the human artists make magic

"...The Magic Flute is the ideal opera for an experiment. A simple comic fable steeped in..."

Sept. 21, 2007 Arts Review by Michael Kellerman

'The Magic Flute'

Mozart's opera gets a techno remix at UT's Butler Opera Center

"...Opera is, by its nature, larger than life, but are..."

Sept. 14, 2007 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

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