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The Cornish Colony Reborn
Inspired by the past, Opera North’s new venture at Blow-Me-Down Farm hopes to breathe new artistic life into the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site.
Members of the Cornish Colony, including some of the most heralded artists, writers and musicians of the time, dress up to perform “A Masque of ‘Ours’” in honor of Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1905.
In the summer of 1905, Augustus Saint-Gaudens was slowly dying of intestinal cancer. For the past 20 years, the premier sculptor in the United States had spent part of almost every year in Cornish, New Hampshire, and he had recently decided to settle there year-round and close his other studios. His estate centered on a then-100-year-old converted country inn. Aspet, he had dubbed it, after his father’s hometown in France. Thanks to Saint-Gaudens, Cornish had become a magnet for some of the most celebrated artists of turn-of-the-century America.
Saint-Gaudens’ home stood over a great lawn that swept downhill to the west, affording an unobstructed view across the Connecticut River to Vermont’s Mount Ascutney. On a June afternoon, not long before sunset, a large group of the famous sculptor’s neighbors gathered at the bottom of the green, where they hoped to boost the sunken spirits of their friend, who, in addition to being ill, had lost the larger of his two Cornish studios to fire the preceding fall.
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Opera North, a professional opera company of several decades’ duration, is forging a new path with its presentation of Scalia/Ginsburg. Under the recent direction of Evans Haile, the company has looked for ways to draw in more diverse audiences, to reach beyond those who faithfully attended its fully-produced traditional operas during each summer season ...The originally-scheduled performance of Scalia/Ginsburg at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction, VT on October 12 sold out quickly. Two more performances have been added: another at the Briggs on October 13 at 5 p.m, and a third on October 14 at 2 pm at the Dana Center, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH. The opera is sung in English, and will feature a post-production discussion with composer Derrick Wang. More...
"When Opera North decided to present the comic opera Scalia/Ginsburg, placing Justice Antonin Scalia himself on trial, it had no idea just how timely it would become." More...
“Under the Blow-Me-Down big top, A LITTLE BOY WITH A RINGSIDE SEAT DOESN'T REALIZE HE IS THE FACE OF WHAT'S POSSIBLE IN THE 2020's."
Call it opera fusion: a new sort of mashup of vocal acrobatics and gravity-defying feats. This unexpected collaboration between Opera North artistic director Louis Burkot and Mark Lonergan, whose directing credits include Circus Smirkus and the Big Apple Circus, kept families and opera fans simultaneously spellbound. If you missed July’s limited engagement, you can still help the virtuoso minds behind this evening of pop opera and circus antics pull off a trick with lasting impact. Can Opera North transform a long-overlooked historic property into a summer festival grounds and make Cornish reappear on the map: a thriving hub of arts and culture, as it was at the advent of the 20th century? More...
Opera North opened its 2018 season last weekend with four sold-out performances of a very different program at a very different location. Instead of an opera, it was popular opera arias, but mixed with intimate circus acts, all accompanied by the Opera North orchestra, under a tent at the visually stunning Blow-Me-Down Farm. “We’re very excited about the response from last weekend,” explained Evans Haile, Opera North’s general manager. “It kind of shows me that this is the direction that Opera North should be going in terms of creating a home, a true destination home. This is really our first production out there, our opening of a new chapter.” More...
The farm basked in the summer heat and as you approached the main farmhouse and old stone wall that separates the farm and its buildings from a hay field, the winding Connecticut River came into view. Mt. Ascutney dominated the horizon. Some of the circus artists sat on the steps of the farmhouse or did stretching exercises in the tent. Seeing all this underway, [Evans] Haile couldn’t have looked happier.
“I consider the season as a journey, because of the opening of Blow-Me-Down Farm and because it is a journey into the imagination and the possibilities for the future,” he said. More…
"The marriage of FINE SINGER-ACTORS, ELEGANT AND IMAGINATIVE STAGING, A FINE ORCHESTRA AND CONDUCTING made the Hoffmann performance PURE MAGIC. Opera North may be entering a new era of excellence." More...
IT DOESN'T GET THIS FUNNY OR REWARDING ... as Opera North's Barber of Seville." More...
If you saw Opera North’s “Singers and Swingers” (an unlikely yet ultimately beautiful pairing of circus aerialists and opera singers) at Blow-Me-Down Farm in Cornish NH this summer, you know that plans are moving forward to build a “park for the arts.” (See suggested posts, listed at the end of this article, for more stories about this project.) The land, once owned by Charles Beaman, was a center of activity for the historic Cornish Colony residents, including sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Opera North is working to bring back some of that artistic dazzle to this gorgeous riverside location. The Timken Foundation is supporting the project with a $50,000 grant. More...