Opera Chic

Seventh Annual Opera News Awards in NYC

(Above: Blythe, Conlon and Hvorostovsky)

Mezzo soprano Stephanie Blythe hosted the seventh annual Opera News Awards at The Plaza's Grand Ballroom last night.

Five artists (four singers and one opera director) were awarded for their contributions to opera -- Karita Mattila, Anja Silja, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Peter Mattei and Peter Sellars. Opera News' Editor-in-Chief F. Paul Driscoll welcomed special guests James Conlon, Sherrill Milnes, Eric Owens, Kaija Saariaho, Deborah Voigt and HRH Princess Madeleine of Sweden. Proceeds of the ceremony benefit the Metropolitan Opera Guild's educational programs.

Opera News live-tweeted the event with on-the-spot photos. Here's WQXR's Operavore on the festivities.

(Above: Conlon, Mattila and Hvorostovsky)

(Above: the whole mishpocha)

(Above: Peter Mattei, family and H.R.H. Princess Madeleine of Sweden)

The Opera News Awards Bring Out the Opera Stars

Above, three of this year's Opera News Award honorees -- Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Riccardo Muti, and Jonas Kaufmann -- all looking grand at the NYC Plaza Hotel this past Sunday night, an intimate, black-tie event to present performance accolades to the opera industry's luminous stars. In its sixth consecutive year, guests included Francis Ford Coppola, Stephanie Blythe, Bryn Terfel, Patricia Racette, Patti LuPone, Barbara Cook, Renata Scotto, Bryn Terfel, Dmitri Hvorostovsky -- and no party is complete without one of those Wagner kids, Eva Wagner-Pasquier.

Opera News Essentials -- Essential Opera Blogger

From Opera News' Essentials now on Opera News

Opera News News

 

Opera News, that 73-year-old golden standard of American opera magazine publishing, will host their Fifth Annual Opera News Awards on Thursday, November 19, 2009 at NYC's Gotham Hall. The event is co-hosted by two opera singers who segue flawlessly into talking heads, Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson. Tickets to the privé event start at $450 USD (dinner and program) and top out at $8500 USD (entire evening for a party of 10), boasting a 6pm cocktail reception, followed by a 7pm dinner, which sets up the award presentation. Honorees Martina Arroyo, Joyce DiDonato, Gerald Finley, Philip Glass, and Shirley Verrett will be toasted by presenters Stephanie Blythe (presenting an award to Joyce DiDonato); Danielle de Niese (presenting an award to Gerald Finley); Audra McDonald (presenting an award to Shirley Verrett); Paul Simon (presenting an award to Philip Glass);and Deborah Voigt (presenting an award to Martina Arroyo). 

At the helm of Opera News is the silver-tongued heavy-hitter, NYC-born F. Paul Driscoll, ON Editor-in-Chief since 2003. Luckily for us, Artsjournal writer Amanda Ameer just ran another eloquent interview in her "Talk to me about..." series, profiling the Opera News pugilist. Go for the keen insight on glossy opera publication marketing & publicity strategies, but stay for Mr. Driscoll's sparkling anecdote about Leontyne Price, where he turns ~Ms. Price~ into ~Ms. Priceless~.