Club OV and I Hear America Singing

July 17, 2009 - So tomorrow afternoon at Corpus Christi Church in Bolton Hill, Opera Vivente, wearing its cabaret hat (henceforth to be known as Club OV), will present a program entitled I Hear America Singing; a program which, with the exception of "Make our garden grow" from Bernstein's Candide, contains no opera. Several OV fans have wondered why an opera company is presenting a program of folk songs, patriotic songs, broadway songs, pop songs, and even one rock song, so here's my answer for what it's worth.

For me, and for the vast majority of people who work at OV, "opera" is about story-telling, an elucidation of the human condition brought about through a magical combination of words and music. In that light, all the music in I Hear America Singing is "operatic" because it all speaks to the story of America and Americans. For better or worse, until recently, the more traditional concept of opera has been one that has eluded American composers, but the works of George M. Cohan, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Frank Loesser and many, many others have told this story as eloquently as any 19th century Italian composer told the story of the unification of Italy.

So, come check out Club OV's offering tomorrow afternoon at 2 and 5:30pm. Come hear America singing, because she sounds amazing.