Cange’s Corner Articles

Saturday October 1, 2011 will most certainly be remembered for many things in the annals of Chicago operatic history:  It will have marked only the third time that the Lyric Opera of Chicago has mounted a production of The Tales of Hoffmann in some 35 years; it also marked the…

When I was stopped on the streets of Chicago on an unusually chilly early September Tuesday, and was asked to participate in the inaugural segment of something entitled "Bringing America Back" for ABC World News, how could I refuse?!  I was told I would be a featured guest that very…

When I first heard the characters Mama Morton and Velma Kelly sing the duet "What Ever Happened to Class" from the Kander/Ebb/Fosse musical Chicago, my derriere became a size or two smaller from laughing so hard.  Even though the characters are from the days of Prohibition, their social commentary about…

There have been many 'soldier portrayals/characters' in the annals of the operatic forum; from the comic, blustering Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, all the way to a cross between Gomer Pyle and Forrest Gump in the character of Josef Schweik in Kurka's rather contemporary opera The Good Soldier Schweik, that…

When the final curtain came down on San Francisco Opera's newly rolled out Ring Cycle, a great sigh (or shall we say "heave") of relief came from all corners of the Opera House:  From the Administrative Office Suites, across to the Media Studio, through the Public Relations wing, right down…

It's Final Siegfried Eve here in San Francisco, and as I gaze out at the clear blue sky (a true rarity these past few months) from my temporary condo at the Opera Plaza complex, I am thinking back on just how quickly the time has passed.  Even though the past three…

As a result of the dizzying success of San Francisco Opera's new Ring Cycle, and for me, Siegfried in particular; I have come so close to being 'outed', that I might just as well cop to it right now on my own terms.  If I do not, then I am…

I write this blog posting as I wait to perform Das Rheingold, the first installment of Richard Wagner's epic Ring of the Nibelungen, on this, the first of our 'Cycle' presentations.  We will perform all four operas this week, and repeat this task to complete 3 full cycles by the…

The roof of San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House almost blew off of it's trusses last Sunday evening (May 29) at approximately 5:55 p.m. local time--and I am not kidding!!!  Don't just take my word for it; ask anyone who was there!!  Read on, and you will understand some of…

When all the "i's" are dotted, all the "t's" are crossed, and the final page is turned; one may look back at the Siegfried sitzprobe of May 17 & 18, 2011 and correctly identify it as the tipping point where one could now actualize--not just envision--the success of the upcoming…

As the month of May continues to whiz by, so do our rehearsals for San Francisco Opera's current challenge--namely, the staging of the entire Ring of the Nibelungen.  With the first installment (a stand alone performance of Siegfried) due to grace the stage over Memorial Day weekend, time is getting…

The late, great Johnny Cash utilized a unique trumpet fanfare as the musical introduction to his 1963 single, "Ring of Fire".  The use of mariachi brass throughout, set this song apart--at least as far as country music was concerned--and resulted in a blaze of glory (pardon the pun) as the…