Conrad L. Osborne:

JBS-USA is once again privileged to present the American master of opera critics in a special Zoom presentation for the Society on Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30 pm ET., which will be repeated on Saturday, February 24 at 12 noon ET. Following the presentation will be a Q & A segment, to which attendees may submit questions. About his presentation, Mr. Osborne observes: “In my lifetime, there have been two fundamental shifts, both negative in their impact, in how opera is performed. One is in theatrical presentation – the rise of laissez-faire re-interpretation of the canon by directors and designers. The other is the indisputable decline in the sheer presence of singing, and in the sense of authenticity – let’s call it a ‘true-to-itselfness’ – that it conveys. I think these shifts are interconnected, and that it’s important to understand that we can’t really isolate the singing problem from the directorial one.