Met Art Preview

CLASSICAL PREVIEW: Glimmerglass Festival

Located at the base of Otsego Lake, about three hours' drive from Rochester, is Cooperstown. And, when the evening weather is just so, the walls of what could be mistaken for a gigantic barn roll back and the sounds of singers and musicians float along with the fireflies and the crickets. Take a step closer, and you'll see a stage facing 914 seats. Welcome to the magic of the Glimmerglass Festival.

This season Glimmerglass will present four major productions: one well-known opera, one lesser-known opera, one American musical, and one or two new works. This year's billings include "Carmen" by Georges Bizet, "Medea" by Luigi Cherubini, "Annie Get Your Gun" by Irving Berlin, and a double bill of "A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck" by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Tushner, and "Later the Same Evening" by John Musto and Mark Campbell.

During the festival more than 60 performances will be staged. Throughout August, you can spend a weekend at Glimmerglass and see all four productions in two days.

Founded in 1975 and first known as the Glimmerglass Opera Festival, the organization's name changed to simply the Glimmerglass Festival at the request of its artistic and general director, Francesca Zambello. Zambello, who assumed the position in September 2010, arrived with ideas that expanded the festival offerings to include American musical theater.

"I wanted to present classic American musicals heard the way that we first heard them," says Zambello, "and that meant no amplification. We present everything with a full orchestra - 40 pieces - and with big voices."

This year's production of "Annie Get Your Gun" features Deborah Voigt, an internationally renowned opera star. Voigt will also be the artist-in-residence for the 2011 festival, working with young artists throughout the season and serving as a mentor for them.

Glimmerglass first offered an American musical in 2008. "We had so many new people who came for the first time because of the musical production," says Brittany Lesavoy, director of public relations. "And they came back, saying that they had so much fun."

For Zambello, becoming the artistic and general director allows her to oversee "very unique, individual productions that you wouldn't see anywhere else," she says. She adds, "We are very much about high-level-quality theater music, offering interesting productions for our audiences, who welcome diversity and want a chance to see an unusual opera like ‘Medea,' as well as a classic opera like ‘Carmen.

Mag Preview: Vasa Visit | Installation Magazine Online | Art + ...

Over time the configurations of the set would change from leaning towers, to miniature fortresses, pyramids, or stacks.  Vasa’s work invites whoever may have been sitting in  front of  the  table  to interact  with  the cubes,  move them, hold them in the palm of their hand and admire the intricate prisms contained inside.  The complexities of the universe seemed to be captured inside a deceptively simple and precise object. The beauty of Vasa is his ability to make the most technical sculptural technique seem effortless. The laminated cast acrylic cubes condensed the intricacies of the color spectrum and were vessels of illumination both of light and the imagination.

My parents began collecting Vasa’s works in the early 80’s and when I was born, Vasa gave me a cube of my own inscribed with my name, the year of my birth, and his signature.  The cube has been with me ever since.  Vasa probably never thought that I would grow up to become involved in the arts and start an art collection of my own.  While I admire each piece in my collection for the unique story they tell, Vasa’s piece remains the most meaningful.  I say this not just because it was my first piece of art, but because of the philosophy Vasa imbedded within his work that stressed that art should not only be admired but should be a part of one’s daily life.

When the California issue was in its early stages of development, I knew that Vasa had to be a part of it.  A senior Professor of Design at the University of California, Los Angeles – Vasa has been a force in the California art scene since 1964 working in both painting and sculpture.  I respect Vasa for his inventiveness forging his own genre that looked ahead to the digital age long before it even existed.  When we arrived at his studio, I met Vasa for the first time, clutching the cube he had given me nearly 25 years ago in my hand.  Before I even said hello, I held it up to show him that I’ve taken care of it all this time.  In the reflection of the sun and the light in Vasa’s eyes, the cube never looked better.