Tag Archives: Opera

Is FIDELIO the Original HONEYPOT?

Posted on March 9, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center Friday night Ed and I attended the Met Opera performance of Beethoven’s one and only opera “Fidelio”, and it was glorious. I generally don’t cry at operas, but I did so twice this time, … Continue reading →

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Beyond / Jenseits – The Grand Finale

Posted on June 5, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

We have come to the final episode of the Beyond / Jenseits blog posts, at least as far as recounting the little night opera’s libretto and music in German and English. (Catch up with all of the opera and the … Continue reading →

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Beyond / Jenseits – Our Hearts Meet in the Silence

Posted on May 18, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Section XXI of Beyond / Jenseits begins with the piano playing a mournful rendition of the lullaby, while the Woman’s Son, as played by the 2nd Angel, lists the many ways he feels he has disappointed her. The Woman responds … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – Torn Between Two Lovers

Posted on May 9, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Welcome back to the next episode of our little night opera, Beyond (catch up on previous installments here). This is the section where our favorite opera diva’s dilemmas with the men in her cosmic life-in-review come to a head. I … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – Turning the Tables on the Therapist

Posted on April 24, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Section XVI of the little night opera I composed for my mother Catherine Gayer with librettist and family friend Helga Krauss (catch up with all previous episodes via the opera’s homepage) takes the Woman back into therapy analyzing dreams. When … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – Just Some Bimbo from the Ballet

Posted on April 15, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

In this installment of Beyond – a little night opera, the Woman walks in on her lover, the Conductor, in flagrante delicto with another woman. (Catch up on all installments of Beyond/Jenseits on its home page.) The Conductor rather slimily … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – On the Therapist’s Couch

Posted on April 5, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

At the beginning of Section XII of the little night opera “Beyond” AKA “Jenseits”, written for my mother Catherine Gayer (catch up on previous installments via the opera’s main page), the 1st Angel takes on the persona of the 4th … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – The Husband and the Lover

Posted on March 29, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Husband and lover. In the Woman’s memory, they are not the same man. At the close of the previous section of Beyond (Jenseits), the “little night opera” I composed for my mother, the lullaby for her Son transitions to an … Continue reading →

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R.I.P. Aribert Reimann

Posted on March 24, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Aribert Reimann with my mother, Catherine Gayer, at rehearsal in 1971 Two Thursdays ago my mother called me from Berlin. Normally we talk on Sundays, so I was curious what occasioned this call. “Aribert Reimann has died”, she told me, … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – A Lullaby

Posted on March 20, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

In this fourth installment of the opera I wrote for my mother (you can find links to the first three installments on the JENSEITS / BEYOND home page), we are introduced to a new theme, a lullaby. We have just … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – An Encounter with the Conductor

Posted on March 14, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Above is a picture of myself, my mother Catherine Gayer and family friend Helga Krauss after the New York stage premiere of Beyond, the little night opera Helga and I wrote for my mother. This is Part 3 of sharing … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – A Life in Review

Posted on March 6, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Welcome to the second post about the little night opera “Jenseits” AKA “Beyond” I composed for my mother, Catherine Gayer. Helga Krauss wrote the libretto, which I translated into English. Read and listen to the first post here, and follow … Continue reading →

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BEYOND / JENSEITS – an Opera for my Mother

Posted on February 29, 2024 by dannyashkenasi

Twenty years ago family friend and screenwriter Helga Krauss and I created a one-act opera for my mother, Catherine Gayer (AKA Catherine Ashkenasi, her maiden name being her stage name). Helga wrote the libretto and I composed the music. It … Continue reading →

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Opera Lights

Posted on December 24, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

Holiday season favors the splendor of lights. So how about I share photos of the splendid chandeliers hanging in the Met Opera? “Most photographed chandeliers in the world”, the woman next to me said wryly as I raised my phone to … Continue reading →

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Catherine Gayer on the Radio

Posted on October 3, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

The German radio station Deutschlandfunk has posted a 55 minute program interviewing the opera soprano Catherine Gayer, and playing excerpts from her fantastic 60+ year career, highlighting her work with contemporary music. Listen to it here. Oh, Catherine Gayer just … Continue reading →

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Watch “OPERA KIDS”, now on-line

Posted on August 3, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“Opera Kids”, a documentary about “Creating Original Opera” a performing arts program I was part of defining, teaching and implementing in schools, in one form or another for over three decades, is now playing (for free) on-line on ALL ARTS … Continue reading →

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