Kinga Dobay News
German opera singer
Anniversaries
- mezzo-soprano
- Germany
- opera singer, musician
Last update
2024-04-23
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2017-08-29 13:00:11
Simultaneous transformation
[…] Strauss words guy Hugo von Hofmannsthal—ensue! Although in this generally straightforward rendition, a traditional approach is given priority over great leaps of interpretive faith. The stage is subdivided with the small orchestra on the left, and a multi-tiered platform on the other side to allow the action of the prologue—mainly the petty squabbles of the Composer (Adriana Zabala) with the comedians—to unfold in a topographically interesting way. For the opera’s second half, sets by Stephen Dobay are simple but attractive, with a stalactited cave and crescent moon marooning us among the nymphs and divinities of the island. Lighting by designer John Froelich (a resident for the Met since 2012) was also particularly inspired, adjusting humorously, for instance, to play up the Composer’s romantic visions of his characters’ transformations in the production’s first act. Aside from a few historical notes by Michael Kennedy on the work’s troubled history (Strauss and von […]
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
2016-07-22 01:21:08
Midsummer Digs and Operas Charm
[…] to get away, it may not come back.” This half of the evening played in Italian with supertitles, because the original language simply works better with Mascagni’s urgent, flowing vocal lines. Mezzo Britt Brown (gypsy musician Beppe), bass-baritone Seth Grondin and tenor Stefan Barner (friends of Fritz) with bass Jason Budd as Rabbi David in a scene from L’amico Fritz (Chris McKenzie photo) Throughout the evening the simple sets designed by Stephen Dobay were full of character, and Elisabetta Polito’s costumes contributed greatly to the effect. Stage director Antonio Ocampo Guzman, who has worked with Susan Davenny Wyner on several earlier productions, kept the action lightly comic in Il Campanello and more naturalistic in L’Amico Fritz. But the main reason to see this pair of operas, aside from the simple matter of enjoying a night in the theater with two rarely heard pieces by favorite composers, is […]
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
2016-04-18 04:38:16
NEC Sets Agrippina in Fascist Rome
[…] Claudius and Otto and a schemer who flirts with everyone. The Venetian audience was familiar with all these characters. As has been suggested, they may even have seen this anti-heroic comedy as a satire on the Papal court and Pope Clement XI himself. The NEC production, directed by Crystal Manich (she directed Boston Lyric Opera’s recently staged Werther), transports the characters to a 1930s Mussolini-era environment. Fortunately, this conceit is not explored too literally. Stephen Dobay’s set on three levels displays busts of five past emperors atop leaning Corinthian columns; behind them hangs a never-setting golden sun. A throne with the insignia “SPQR” swings in the air, out of reach. A headless mannequin in purple robes and silvery breastplate stands in waiting, and a fuchsia velvet fringed seat hints at flirtations to come. The costumes by Brooke Stanton featured mostly modern dress for the men, with a series of not-so-innocent […]
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
2015-07-31 18:57:17
Midsummer Martha Delights
[…] and tenor Eric Barry appeared earlier this week in this journal here . Photos of costumes and a preliminary set design accompany that article, and Eiseman comments further on the opening performance: “Stage director James O’Leary saw to it that everyone moved well and had something to do, but more importantly, he gave us the humor and pathos without relying on excessive camp or studied stage agony. The economical, clever and flexible set of Stephen Dobay managed to adapt through clever manipulations for the story’s diverse scenes. John Cuff’s many lighting cues served not only to evoke times of day, indoors and out, but beyond that, to highlight musical line. The sliding harlequin/foliage backdrop pleasantly surprised us when it vertices all lighted up for a starry night.” Costume designer Elisabetta Polito created a diverse variety of traditional and contemporary pieces, using a humorous variety of Ralph-Lauren-like bedspread fabrics for the […]
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