Susan Hall
Bio:
Recent Articles:
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Bounce Opens in Lexington, Kentucky Front Page
Basketball Opera Comes to Basketball's Home
By: - Oct 03rd, 2017Artists committed to the continuing attraction of opera as a form that draws an audience are experimenting. A workshop of Bounce, an opera conceived by Grete Holby and her Ardea Arts in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, is performed in a park in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. With dribbles as drumming and heros like Flight and Future, the future of opera itself is secured. Now this opera goes to the University of Kentucky, collaborators on its creation.
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New York Philharmonic Continues Star Wars Front Page
Sometimes the Bad Guys Win
By: - Oct 03rd, 2017Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is generally considered to be the best Star Wars film ever made. The dark middle chapter of the original trilogy came out in 1980 as the second movie released, and remains a firm fan favorite. It boasts an expanded universe, a complicated storyline alternating between the flight of Han Solo and Princess Leia from the evil and remorseless Darth Vader, and the Jedi training of Luke Skywalker at the hands of the diminutive but wise Yoda.
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The Carnegie Hall Season Front Page
Brave, Bold, Consummate Art
By: - Oct 03rd, 2017The science of time travel is not normally associated with the classical music business. And yet, one might argue that the finest time travel device in New York City stands not in some hidden laboratory but on the corner of 57th St. and Seventh Avenue. That's right, it's Carnegie Hall, whose 2017-18 season offers the intrepid listener a chance to travel between centuries and musical worlds.
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Principles of Uncertainty at BAM Front Page
John Heginbotham and Maira Kalman
By: - Sep 29th, 2017John Heginbotham of DH Dance wanted to work with Maira Kalman after he read her books. They walked together, drank coffee, talked and decided they'd like to do something. They had no idea what. Jacob's Pillow premiered the result in August. Now it is playing at BAM in Brooklyn.
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As You Like It at Classic Stage Front Page
A Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration
By: - Sep 29th, 2017The Classic Stage Theater is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and Shakespeare seems a natural choice. Classic Stage always has an interesting take on playwrights in their productions. This is reflected as soon as you enter the theater area. For this production, it looks unlike any other production you’ve seen here.
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Composer Librettists Development Program Front Page
Lawrence Edelson Celebrates Opera
By: - Sep 28th, 2017American Lyric Theater was founded in 2005. Lawrence Edelson, a tenor and stage director, wondered how best to develop national operas. When opera was first introduced to the US was intentionally European and elitist. That formula no longer works. New works are springing up all over the country, and the ALT and its composer librettist programs has trained and launched the careers of many of this generations' composers and librettists. At the heart of their program is a kind of master's degree in opera. It is based on mentorship, which subtly differs from teaching.
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Blank Out by Michel Van Der Aa Front Page
Miah Persson and Roderick Williams Excel
By: - Sep 26th, 2017Under the canopy formed by the dome of the Drill Hall in the Park Avenue Armory, Michel Van der Aa’s brilliant chamber opera, Blank Out, unfolds. In this gargantuan space, we seemed small and so did elements of the opera.
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Amy Herzog at New York Theatre Workshop Front Page
Carrie Coon Stars in Mary Jane
By: - Sep 25th, 2017Award-winning playwright Amy Herzog comes to the New York Theatre Workshop with "Mary Jane." Carrie Coon creates an unforgettable figure in the title role.
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On Site Opera Focuses on Dinosaurs Front Page
Natural History Museum Setting
By: - Sep 24th, 2017If you are asked what’s the most exciting character you can think of and answer is 'dinosaurs', it’s just a short leap to the creation of an opera about them if you want a audience that says opera, next, then make an opera about dinosaurs. On Site Opera has done just this.
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Van Zweden Intrigues with Glass and Mahler Front Page
New NY Philharmonic Conductor a Marvel
By: - Sep 24th, 2017Jaap Van Sweden, the music director designate of the New York Philharmonic has swept the city up in his magic. Katia & Marielle Labèque performed a Philip Glass duo piano concerto under his baton. They have often performed Glass. The acoustics of Geffen Hall caused problems in this piece and the Mahler that followed. Yet the new conductor made clear his chemistry with his orchestra and the audience.
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Jaap Van Zweden at NY Philharmonic Front Page
Another Openin', Another Maestro
By: - Sep 20th, 2017The changing of the guard at any major symphony orchestra is a long and complicated challenge. For the New York Philharmonic, who are in the process of installing the Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden as its new music director, that took another turn on Tueday night. Van Zweden is not quite "here" yet. He will start his first official season with the orchestra in 2018.
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New York Philharmonic Opens Its Season Front Page
Jaap Van Zweden at the Helm
By: - Sep 19th, 2017The New York Philharmonic throws open its doors with a concert they are dubbing the Gala of 106 All-Stars. The program is unusual and heavy for an opening night: Gustav Mahler's burly five-movement Symphony No. 5. The real star of the show will be on the podium: Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden who is one year away from beginning his tenure as the orchestra's newest Music Director.
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The Violin by Dan McCormick Front Page
Premier at 59E59 Theaters
By: - Sep 19th, 2017Dan McCormick has taken a Stradivarius left in a cab and told the story of a changing neighborhood in the East Village and values that do not endure. A thank you concert won’t cut the mustard as thanks in this section of town. What will?
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War Stories from Opera Philadelphia Front Page
Philadelphia Museum of Art Provides Dramatic Setting
By: - Sep 18th, 2017Inaugurating your season with a festival is setting the entertainment bar a notch higher. One after another as this festival week unfolds, dramas of high intensity, great variety set in unusual locations proceed to both jar and move. It is a mind-blowing experience.
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Sondra Radvanovsky at Opera Philadelphia Front Page
Celeste Radvanovsky Forma Divina
By: - Sep 18th, 2017Sondra Radvanovsky is a sublime dramatic singing artist. She has never performed in Philadelphia, and a packed Perlman Theater greeted her arrival. She did not disappoint. Dressed in a smashing deep blue strapless gown and bedecked in juicy rhinestones she sang her heart out. She explained that she was going to show us who she was..
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Star Wars Begins at New York Philharmonic Front Page
A Splendid Start to the Series
By: - Sep 18th, 2017There would be no Star Wars without the music of John Williams. On Friday night, the composer's stirring opening music sent hairs standing on end as the New York Philharmonic gave its second performance of the complete orchestral score of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Their task: accompanying George Lucas' 1997 remastered "Special Edition" of the beloved 1977 science fiction classic.
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We Shall Not Be Moved Premieres Front Page
A Moving Hip-Opera at Opera Philadelphia
By: - Sep 17th, 2017Years of work between the Philadelphia community and Opera Philadelphia were realized in a Hip-opera by Daniel Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Bill T. Jones, a maker, came in for the finishing touches.
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Opera Philadelphia Launches a Festival Front Page
Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell Strike Again
By: - Sep 17th, 2017Opera Philadelphia is the 'it' opera company in the United States. No one has been more successful in developing new opera, honing talent and developing audiences. The festival displays many facets of their work.
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Shanghai Opera at the Metropolitan Museum Front Page
Farewell My Concubine
By: - Sep 15th, 2017The Metropolitan Museum uses it galleries and collections to present events. The Shanghai Opera's production of Farewell My Concubine, based on a 3rd century BC story, fit perfectly in the Chinese Courtyard modelled on the Ming Dynasty Garden of the Master of the Fishing Nets.
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The Violin at 59E59 Theaters Front Page
World Premier of Dan McCormick's Play
By: - Sep 15th, 2017Playwright Dan McCormick has taken a Stradivarius left in a cab and told the story of a changing neighborhood in the East Village and values that do not endure. A thank you concert won’t cut the mustard as thanks in this section of town. What will?
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Japan Society Presents Osada Opera Front Page
East Meets West in Four Nights of Dream
By: - Sep 14th, 2017Moto Osada’s first opera, Four Nights of Dream, is, like the composer, a cross over between East and West. Osada composed the music and libretto. The flexibility that gave him has yielded a work of exquisite sensibility.
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Star Wars Comes to New York Philharmonic Front Page
Magical Combination, Fillm and Live Music
By: - Sep 12th, 2017The reason for doing live performances of the Star Wars films goes far beyond their place in popular culture. Each of these films features a magnificent score by John Williams, the Boston-based composer who rose to national prominence with his 1975 score for Jaws.
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New York City Opera Presents Spirited Spaghetti Western Front Page
Kristin Sampson Sings The Girl Minnie
By: - Sep 08th, 2017Puccini loved to compose and after the success of La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca he was looking for a new story. He wrote that these three operas already bored him. He had also had trouble with the librettists with whom he’d worked on these operas. Luigi Illica, co-librettist, even suggested that he get another composer to collaborate with him. Instead Puccini found new librettists. La Fanciulla del West is the upshot.
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Noni Stapleton at 59E59 Theater Front Page
Turn de Force One Woman Quartet
By: - Sep 01st, 2017Noni Stapleton is a mesmerizing artist. Her writing gifts launch the characterization of a quartet of characters at 59E59 Theaters. Stapleton plays three humans and a charming, and then not so charming cow. You can't take your eyes off her.
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Madama Butterfly Returns to Metropolitan Opera Front Page
A Great Love Story
By: - Aug 28th, 2017It's one of the greatest love stories of the operatic canon. It's a sharp commentary on American imperialism and the uncaring treatment of "natives" by white people. It's both. It's brilliant. It's Butterfly.
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