Vanessa, Stripped Down Opera

Even though operas from long ago are still being performed, there’s a movement afoot to freshen them up or to do new 21st century operas. In the case of the 1958 opera Vanessa, a production by Heartbeat Opera is doing a stripped-down version of the Pulitzer Prize winning work. It’s directed by RB Schlather.  At The Met, they are about to premiere a  true 21st century opera by first-time opera composer and Grammy winner, Gabriela Lena Frank with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Then there’s the big dispute between the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its patrons over the firing of Music Director Andris Nelsons.