East Village Rocked Dallas

East Village Opera Company came and went, but no doubt left quite an impression on the audience last Friday night. As Matt Weitz from The Dallas Morning News wrote, "this re-casting of classical themes was a crowd-pleasing collection of operatic standards done with rock 'n' roll instrumentation."

Click here to read the entire review.

East Village Opera Company - A Preview & Review

PREVIEW
New York's East Village Opera Company, who make their Dallas debut this Friday, Nov. 17 at 8:00 PM, performed in Kalamazoo, MI last weekend. The Kalamazoo Gazette ran a lengthy pre-show article that gives good insight in to this ambitious and hyper-talented band:

"If a greatest-hits album were to include more than what today's pop culture esteems, you would have to include songs like ``Habanera'' from Bizet's ``Carmen'' or ``Nessun dorma'' from Puccini's ``Turandot.''

You can hear songs like these everywhere -- in TV commercials, cartoons and movie soundtracks -- and not even know they're opera arias.

Now they've been ramped up through a full-tilt rock approach in a new interpretation of the classics by the East Village Opera Company."
Read the complete preview, with interview, here.



REVIEW:

HIGH-OCTANE EAST VILLAGE OPERA APPEALS TO ROCK LOVERS
Friday, November 10, 2007
By Gordon Bolar
Kalamazoo Gazette


Here's a confession from a reviewer more comfortable with rock than opera. I didn't know what to expect from East Village Opera Company at Miller Auditorium on Thursday. I was apprehensive.
The evening began on a good note. I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing a few bars from the Who's ``Won't Get Fooled Again'' during the company's ``Overture'' from ``Le Nozze di Figaro.'' I felt more encouraged when at the end of Puccini's ``Che Gelida Manina'' from ``La Boheme'' the company sampled ``Who Are You?'' also by the Who.

When arranger and keyboard player, Peter Keisewalter, told the appreciative audience that the group would be performing ``songs, not arias,'' then assured us that we didn't have to speak Italian, I knew I'd come to the right place. The realization that I was familiar with many of the songs in the program, such as the ``Flower Duet'' (``Lakme'') or ``Habanera'' (``Carmen'') from a variety of contemporary pop culture sources helped clinch the deal.

What followed was an hour-and-40-minute performance by 10 musicians, including a small string section, who were clearly thrilled to present classic pieces in a rock format. They seemed to be playing music they loved and reclaiming it for their audience.

For those who followed the English lyrics in the darkened theater (I tried) there was a solid connection between the words, sung in Italian, and the emotions rendered by vocalists Tyley Ross and AnnMarie Milazzo. Milazzo's bold delivery of ``Un Bel Di'' from ``Madama Butterfly'' was one of the evening's many highlights.

Although most of the songs are faithful to the original lyrics and melodies, the company frequently intersperses the work of contemporary performers, such as Eminem, to round out pieces and underscore their relevance to present-day life. The company also adds a strong dose (too strong in some numbers) of pulsating colored-light changes, free-ranging movement, dynamic gestures and body language.

All of the pieces are supercharged with pounding drums and powerful guitar solos. As Tyley Ross, an energetic and gifted singer, concluded his dynamic ``Nessun Dorma,'' Ben Butler took stage beside Ross with his soaring lead guitar. The visual interplay between vocalist and guitarist, which would be missing in a traditional opera, added to an already powerful finale.

East Village Opera Company on NPR

TITAS' final show of 2006 is the Dallas debut of New York's East Village Opera Company on Friday, November 17 at 8:00 PM at McFarlin Auditorium. This incredibly talented band fuses rock with many of opera's greatest arias to produce an original take on the classical art form.

Their latest CD was reviewed on NPR recently, and in an interview that you can hear online, their producer discusses the band's origins and inspirations. Click here for the NPR feature.

Michael Feinstein is the Real Deal

The McFarlin audience was witness to true musical genius last night as crooner-extraordinaire conducted a crash course in The Great American Songbook. Other vocalits may try to mine this fertile musical ground (Rod Stewart?), but Michael Feinstein embodies this genre and presents these songs with an authenticity and passion that is unmatched.

"Mr. Feinstein's show, presented by TITAS, seemed determined to prove that quality will prevail. Although born in Ohio and apprenticed in Los Angeles, he was very much in touch with the Brill Building and Tin Pan Alley roots that nourish popular American song."

Click here for the complete Dallas Morning News review.

Classical Savion Wows McFarlin

I overheard several members of the audience on Saturday night mention that they had seen "Classical Savion" the previous night and returned because they were so blown away by Mr. Glover's relentless performance.

The Dallas Morning News agreed:

"Why should a hoofer who is the master of jazz and funk even considered venturing into classical music? The answer is simple. Because he is Savion Glover, and because he can.

Mr. Glover didn't so much tackle classical music Friday night at McFarlin Auditorium in a program aptly called "Classical Savion," as embrace it."

Check out the entire review.

Savion Glover Will Dazzle Audiences in "Classical Savion"

TITAS is presenting the Dallas debut of tap master Savion Glover's "Classical Savion" on Friday and Saturday, November 3 & 4, 2006 at 8:00 PM at McFarlin Auditorium. Most recognize Mr. Glover's name from his Tony Award winning "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk", but in "Classical Savion", he's shuffling and flapping his way over classical and jazz music.

The Village Voice wrote an excellent piece on the show:

"He doesn't court the audience, but rather lures us into his intense concentration and lets his delight in the performance show, tackling with equal sensitivity Astor Piazzolla's gloss on the Seasons, the first movement of Bach's third Brandenburg, two other Bach selections, Bartók's "Rumanian Folk Dance," and Mendelssohn's Octet—pulling out something a little different for each.

For the finale, "The Stars and Stripes Forever (For now)," patterned by Glover and pianist Tommy James after John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things," Glover hits his jazz stride, introducing James, bass player Andy McCloud, saxophonist and flute player Patience Higgins, and drummer Brian Grice as they appear, but also drawing the chamber players into the mix, naming them and having each riff briefly on McCloud's eight-note pattern."

Click here to read the entire article.