Billed as the star of the Atlanta Opera's "Aida," soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams was scheduled to make her debut in the title role Saturday, but had to cancel with a sinus infection. In her place, veteran Aida soprano Indra Thomas sang it opening night, which was reviewed here.
Williams received a doctor's OK during the day Tuesday -- "antibiotics and steroids are wonderful things," a physician familiar with the case told me -- and she sang the role that evening.
But her voice didn't sound 100 percent, and too detailed a description would seem unjustly definitive. Her sound flows easily, and she sculpted phrases with intelligence ...
UPDATE 5:20: A spokeswoman for the Atlanta Opera just called to say Mary Elizabeth Williams WILL sing Aida tonight.
High drama continues for the Atlanta Opera's "Aida." Read ArtsCriticATL's opening night review here.
The scheduled title character, soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams (top photo), is reportedly feeling better after a sinus infection forced her to cancel Saturday's opening night, just two hours before curtain. It would have been her first time singing the role.
As of noon today, she's still a question mark. She had a voice lesson (over the phone) with her teacher, and saw an ear-nose-throat doctor this morning -- a local physician ...
Verdi's "Aida," oversized yet dramatically subtle, is always a good show -- even when the title soprano cancels two hours before curtain, even when the rest of the cast sounds under the weather (with one notable exception), and even when the conductor paces the evening erratically.
The Atlanta Opera's "Aida," which opened Saturday at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and runs through March 7, is all that and more. And there's an unusual amount of backstory to this production.
Set in ancient Egypt, this epic of a doomed love triangle, with the fate of nations hanging in the balance, is the ...
Here's the official announcement for Emory's upcoming symposium. Cathy and I will participate. We're slipping uncomfortably into a world where local newspapers have ceded center ground and have become just another niche media outlet.
As Maria Saporta recently wrote on the Saporta Report: "There was a time when newspapers could set the community agenda. A major metro daily reached a majority of residents, plus the daily newspaper often provided the headlines that were read on radio and television newscasts. More importantly, newspapers included aspirational voices, progressive voices that stood for something ... Today, those voices have been diluted into pros and ...
UPDATE Feb. 13: Former Atlanta Symphony violinist Beth Newdome passed away this morning at a hospice center in Tallahassee. A memorial service is planned for next weekend in her hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. She will be missed. -- Pierre
Herbert Howells is roaring back to life. Well, almost roaring. Born in 1892, the English composer is known for his dignified Anglican cathedral music, a collection of beautifully etched choral and organ works inspired by English music from the 16th and 17th centuries, with its modal harmonies and mild, long-limbed melodies.
He is perhaps best represented by "Hymnus Paradisi," a radiant lament for his 9-year-old son, ...
UPDATE Feb. 24. Bent Frequency percussionist Stuart Gerber has let us know the snowed-out program is rescheduled for Tuesday, 2 March 2010, 8 pm in the Rialto Theater (still free).
UPDATE Feb. 12, 10 a.m.: Snow is predicted for metro Atlanta. Georgia State University has closed the campus and canceled tonight's (Feb. 12) show. Film Love's Andy Ditzler says there's a plan to reschedule the event; the Feb. 18 screening at Eyedrum hasn't changed. -- Pierre
Mauricio Kagel was a self-taught composer, a filmmaker, an aesthetic anarchist and possibly a humorist. He died in 2008, at the age of 76, and his cult following ...
