Operas, Hostages, and Reality TV

Soundcheck | May 3, 2010
Has reality TV paved the way for reality opera? Weighing in are Host John Schaefer and composer Mikel Rouse, who talks about Dennis Cleveland, his multi-media, talk-show opera. Stephen Paulus tells us about Summer, his passionate tale of society, nature, and human needs, while composer Frank Lewin discusses his opera Burning Bright, based on the play and novel by John Steinbeck. And author Ann Patchett sheds light on her award-winning novel Bel Canto, which explores the intersection between the worlds of opera and South American revolutionaries.

Though opera is often considered melodramatic and extravagant, Mikel Rouse’s multi-media opera Dennis Cleveland exposes real life (or life filtered through the reality-TV lens) to be just as over-the-top.
More about Mikel Rouse
More about Dennis Cleveland

Described by critics as “rugged, angular, lyrical, lean, rhythmically aggressive, original, often gorgeous, moving, and uniquely American,” Paulus’ music is an apt basis for his opera Summer, which takes place in that quintessentially American setting, the “small town.”
More about Stephen Paulus
More about Summer

A passion for literature and American history has inspired Frank Lewin to compose music for plays by Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams, as well as his most recent book and libretto for Burning Bright, John Steinbeck’s tale of family struggles.
More about Frank Lewin
More about Burning Bright

Ann Patchett knew almost nothing about opera, or about the soprano Renée Fleming, when she decided to craft a scenario about the politics of South America and a fictional rebel named Carmen.
More about Ann Patchett
More about Bel Canto
WNYC Spotlight on Renée Fleming's Bel Canto

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