By: Katy Lindhart What were you doing when you were fourteen? If you’re Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, you were hard at work on an operatic commission for Milan: Mitridate, re di Ponto. Composed in 1770, Mitridate is a remarkable synthesis of Baroque virtuosity and Classical clarity and expressiveness, showcasing the young composer’s exuberance and emerging voice, while still existing within the confines of the Italian opera seria (“serious opera”) genre. The virtuosic vocal writing in Mitridate demonstrates an understanding of the Baroque traditions Mozart inherited, reminiscent of the florid, intricate vocal writing of his predecessors, like George Frideric Handel and [...]

Opera is Impossible by Anne Bogart In his gorgeous recent book The Impossible Art: Adventures in Opera, composer Matthew Aucoin details the many impossibilities inherent in the opera experience. From its inception, he writes, opera undertook the daunting task of recreating Greek drama, a form that no one alive at the time had ever heard or experienced. He goes on to elaborate opera’s balancing act throughout history, for performers and spectators alike. Perhaps due to its unique position at the intersection of musical composition, theatrical performance, poetic expression, and visual artistry – not to mention its ability to interweave [...]