Composer Joseph C. Phillips Jr. Debuts Excerpts from ‘1619’ Opera Cycle at Brooklyn’s Roulette

On Sept. 17, 2023, Composer Joseph C. Phillips Jr. and his 21-person chamber ensemble, Numinous, will present excerpts from the first of the composer’s eight-opera cycle, “1619.”

The performance will be held at Roulette in Brooklyn, NY, and feature sopranos Rebecca L. Hargrove and Ariadne Greif presenting music from “So Far Behind Now Because of Then.”

The opera, inspired by the New York Times “The 1619 Project” and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ariticle “The Case for Reparations,” relates the story of a Black family’s experience living in a sundown town outside Chicago in 1948. Phillips’ opera will be presented alongside other works from collaborators.

According to the official press release, Phillips’ aim for 1619 series is to show how “virtually every institution in America, be it public, be it private, has a history of extracting wealth and resources out of the African-America community.” He hopes his work ”will provide historical perspective in telling the sweeping narrative of America’s failed promises.” He added, “These operas are the largest project I’ve done conceptually, logistically, and financially, and the grandest expression of my musical ambitions to date: to create compelling artistic statements that “generate emotions in the listener that resonate with beauty, mystery, and wonder in order to challenge, enlighten, and refresh.”

Long Beach Opera Announces Woman-Centered 2024 Season

Long Beach Opera has announced its 2024 season, which will center on women composers and librettists with two world premieres, and an opera film, among other offerings.

First up is Alyssa Weinberg and J. Mae Barizo’s “Isola.” George R. Miller directs and Lucy Tucker Yates conducts. Ariadne Greif stars. The work “engages questions and sensations of identity, multiplicities of self, distorted perceptions of time, processing, and healing through a poetic, non-linear series of vignettes.”

Kings, Robots, and Giants

Lovely review of operas by Robert Paterson, Victoria Bond, and Herschel Garfein.

Gulliver: Soprano Ariadne Greif and tenor Glenn Seven Allen shared much of the spotlight in a few roles each. Both were in fine voice, as was baritone Jonathan Green in a Gulliver-as-narrator role. Greif and Allen delivered droll characterizations along with confident realizations of Bond’s modernist-influenced, accessible and exciting recitatives and ariosos. (Greif and Allen would return in even livelier roles later.)

The Companion: Directed by John de los Santos with a smart libretto by David Cote, Allen’s uproarious portrayal of Joe established him as a singer with exceptional acting skills. Grief’s naturalistic performance as Maya did the same, with baritone Robert Welsey Mason grounding the action as Dax and revealing unexpected depth to the character.

What to stream | Opera Philadelphia

Full disclaimer – this week’s recommendations, with the exception of two works that you can watch right now, all take place between Friday and Sunday (with an emphasis on Friday when half of the recommendations are set to take place). So yes, in many ways this is more of a weekend edition of streams.

In any case, here are the top 10 operas to stream this week.

Broadway World | Opera Philadelphia: We Need To Talk

"There's a very unstable quality to the whole text," Shaw said, "it's shifting qualities constantly, and there's an underlying sense of both grief and anger that felt a little bit of this moment."

New Works Director and Creative Producer Sarah Williams commissioned Shaw based on her artistry, creativity, and masterful use of intricate harmonies. "While she hasn't written an opera yet," Williams said, "she's a real storyteller in all of her music."

Towey worked with Four/Ten Media's Kevin Eikenberg and Evan Chapman to draw out the lushness of the music and lyrics, to make the piece feel both contemporary and timeless, while still leaving space for interpretation.

Filmed in the expanse of a Spring Arts district warehouse in Philadelphia, the long room allowed for dynamic shots of Greif moving through the space as she also moves through a range of emotions and expression. Greif breaks the fourth wall, engaging directly with the camera and Carson's voice.

"She's such a dynamic singer and a wild, simmering presence on camera," Towey said of Greif. "She understands how to play in a wide range of artistry with her voice and her performance."

Both Carson's poem and Shaw's music resonated with Greif.

"I had to sit down while I was reading this poem," Greif said. "When I finished listening to Caroline Shaw's thrilling, crystalline, specific recording of herself singing the piece I was surprised I was still just sitting there in my kitchen, sweating and sort of buzzing. The piece is so warm, sensual, cutting ... And Maureen created a fabulous dramatic space for this piece to live and grow."

We Need to Talk was filmed in late March, following weeks of digital meetings between the creators, who Shaw described as a "dream team."

"The fact that all rehearsals were digital, and all of the collaboration was remote," Towey said, "I think there's naturally an explosive joy you feel when you're in the room together during these times, able to make something, and also a little bit of a catharsis for all of us trying to get through such a dark year."

Opera Philadelphia | Caroline Shaw

Caroline Shaw’s “We Need to Talk” is set to premiere on the Opera Philadelphia Channel on April 16.

The composition, based on a poem by celebrated poet Anne Carson, will feature Ariadne Greif in a film by award-winning director Maureen Towey ant Philadelphia-based Four/Ten Media.

The voice of Greif, singing live to camera, will be accompanied by and in conversation with a choral track of Shaw’s own voice and recitation of the poem by Carson herself. Additional electronic composition and sampling of old film scores create an environment filled with tension and energy.

The work was commissioned by New Works Director and Creative Producer Sarah Williams and noted that “While she hasn’t written an opera yet, she’s a real storyteller in all of her music.“

Bird Party and Dreams of our Future at Ultima

Lovely review of Childrens Day at the Ultima Festival in Oslo, including Dreams of our Future and Bird Party.

Lovely review from Seen and Heard International!

“From the composer’s Five Lieder, soprano Ariadne Greif performed ‘Ich wandle unter Blume’ and ‘Laue Sommernacht’ with a perceptive magnetism, framing the delicate balance of complex harmonies and distinct melodies that make Schindler-Mahler’s works so gripping. Greif’s bold yet smooth voice entered and blossomed glowingly, as if emerging directly from the composer’s miniature worlds of storytelling genius.”

New Music Video!

"Oblivion Soave" from Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea

Lovely Review for Sydney Resonant Bodies

“…Ariadne Greif’s performance was a recollection of childhood’s storytelling, fairytales and creative play as distorted by adult recollection and understanding. She arrived on stage on a scooter with a sense of being lost, takes a nap, immersed herself in a series of books, made a paper boat and then drew water for the boat to sail on. As children often will, she took the painting off on a very creative tangent. Her painting is a liberating and playful expression of herself. To accompany these stories Ariadne uses her extraordinary non-verbal vocalisations. Opera is her language and she combines this with the pre-speech verbalisations of children to create a narrative. Ariadne’s soaring operatic voice had excellent accompaniment from Alessandro Pittorino’s organ and Benjamin Carey’s electronics. It includes new work from Shawn Jaeger, Ricardo Romaneiro and Ryan Chase. Ariadne’s spectacular finale was a spine chilling rendition of Schubert’s Erlkonig and the highlight of the evening.”

RESONANT BODIES was designed to display adventurous vocalists and these performances were excellent realisations of this intention. From reading about RESONANT BODIES FESTIVAL I was concerned it may have been potentially inaccessible and unapproachable experimental performance art, but the singing of both artists and the interplay with the musicians and staging was of such a high calibre that it was an enjoyable and memorable evening.”

Lovely review for Classical Celebration in Sarasota!

"I was delighted that the two singers on the program were of such high caliber. Judging by the ovations, others thought the same. Baritone Roberto Borgatti, clearly a ham on stage, delivered Bizet’s Toreador Song from “Carmen” and “Come Paride vezzoso” from Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” with pomposity and humor. While virile with a warm depth, his voice also brandished a delightful flexibility. It would be wonderful to see him again on the Sarasota Opera House stage. 

The same for the extraordinary voice of soprano Ariadne Greif. Her first turn on stage was a little tentative and I worried about the amplification distorting her voice in the middle range. “Song to the Moon” from Dvorak’s “Rusalka” introduced us to her glorious soaring upper range. When Greif returned with “The Jewel Song” from Gounod’s “Faust,” she excelled in the delicious coloratura that gives this music its charm."

Thank you, Orlando Sentinel!

"...Greif lent her exciting voice to Christopher Cerrone’s “The Pieces That Fall to Earth,” based on poetry by Kay Ryan. “This piece asks a singer to do everything she can do,” said the Brooklyn-based composer, who attended the concert. And indeed it did.

Greif was an outstanding choice for this musing on women’s thoughts, not only because of her vocal acrobatics but because of her flair for the dramatic. She doesn’t just sing, she performs.

“Should there be more? Should there be more?” she cried in the strong opening, laced with percussive bells, chimes, vibraphone and other mallet instruments. Later her voice rose to a commanding shriek, nimbly made shocking jumps and sank to a whisper, an effect that comes right to the edge of being a little too much..."

Lovely feature in the Orlando Weekly!

"Celebrated New York soprano Ariadne Greif is no stranger to Orlando stages or audiences of any stripe. In the last two years, Greif has performed with the Orlando Philharmonic in the operas The Magic Flute and Elixir of Love, as well as an incandescent solo turn as part of the Women in Song series at the Plaza Live.

On Thursday, the adventurous singer returns with a similarly fearless group of comrades: the 17-piece Alterity Chamber Orchestra..."

Six. Twenty. Outrageous. with Doug Fitch and American Opera Projects

"Soprano Ariadne Greif plays THREE, dressed as a maid but acting like a housekeeper with a decidedly rebellious streak. Also presented with a rangy role, Greif sang quite beautifully, particularly in the ensemble passages, where she blended seamlessly with her colleagues."

--Musical America

"...And the dusting, dancing, most physical maidservant, Ariadne Greif exaggerating, electrically going up to the top of the soprano range..."

--Concerto Net

"Their maid, Three, was the very funny Ariadne Greif, whose soprano voice rang intensely in the small space."

--Classical Voice America

William Kentridge | Ursonate

"The performance concluded with the arrival of the soprano Ariadne Greif and two other musicians from the Knights, one playing a French horn. Taking up the poem with rival vivacity, Ms. Greif engaged Mr. Kentridge in an electrifying duet. More polished than any vintage Dada performance, and richer in freely accessible humor, Mr. Kentridge’s “Ursonate” nonetheless paid homage to its predecessors by demonstrating how helpful the language of absurdism can still be in addressing a world that makes no sense." -NYTimes

Thank you, Ouest France!

"...cette année, il a convié une soprano, l'Américaine Ariadne Greif.

Peu après 19 h 30, la voix gracieuse de la chanteuse d'opéra inonde le quartier et certains galeristes abandonnent même leurs visiteurs quelques instants pour profiter de ces voluptueuses mélodies."

"La voix de la soprano Ariadne Greif a enchanté les passants.  "