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    HGO at the GRB

    Must the show go on? Houston Grand Opera's valiant La Traviata can't hide building's flaws

    Joseph Campana
    Oct 22, 2017 | 9:29 pm
    Houston Grand Opera La Traviata, Albina Shagimuratova, Thomas Glass, HGO Chorus
    Albina Shagimuratova, Thomas Glass, and the HGO Chorus in the Houston Grand Opera production of La Traviata.
    Photo by Lynn Lane

    Must the show always go on? When you name your temporary performance space the Resilience Theater, you're saying it will, no matter what. Going on under any circumstances may be the best of the bad choices disaster presents you. Certainly, Houston Grand Opera's season-opening performances of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata was a testament to the will to carry on in the wake of the Hurricane Harvey, which flooded the still-unusable Wortham Theater Center.

     

    But hearing opera in a constructed space in the George R. Brown Convention Center is challenging at best. Anyone attending the Houston Grand Opera this year attends knowing that circumstances will unavoidably mar the experience. In any other context such defects would be unacceptable. You might say opera, in these circumstances, is barely reviewable. What was caused by the unfortunate venue? Should you still ignore it? What still may have happened at the Wortham? A little setting of the scene might help sort the dross from the gold.

     

    On the way to the performance, I wandered past the Houston Maker Faire and in another hall overheard mostly men in suits and badges talking about network transparencies. Arriving on the third floor of Hall A, I found a space I suppose best described as gussied up. Convention centers aren't ugly spaces so much as they are non-spaces. At best that makes them blank canvases, but draped fabrics, generically modern white furniture, displays of opera costumes and props, potted trees (I couldn't say if they were real or fake), and high-end portapotties only do so much. I thought to myself, if Design Within Reach had a green room, it might look something like this.

     

     Weirdly expansive

     

    The performance area felt weirdly expansive. If at first my heart sank at the bleachers where I would be sitting, I soon felt relieved not to be on the rows of hotel banquet chairs in front of the bleachers. As opera-goers scrabbled up the steps, I heard a gentleman behind me regaling his companion with tales of near falls from a previous night's performance.

     

    There were also those in the hall prepared to celebrate before the curtain opened. I heard a lot of stock phrases like "Lemonade out of lemons" or "It's a small miracle." One patron, who seemed to be in the know, said, "It was never thought we wouldn't perform." As I heard these sentiments, I found myself worrying more about the performance to come. Like the name Resilience, these comments seemed to prepare for the worst and to ward off in advance any criticism.

     

    The stage itself is a severely raked half-circle, behind which, and at some distance, the orchestra sits, necessitating a second conductor in front of the stage for the sake of the singers. One consequence of this may have been a sluggishness of tempo, as conductors Eun Sun Kim and Bradley Moore felt staying together would be more likely without as much speed. Of course, we've all heard tempi lag in the Wortham as well.

     

    To say the least, the space is not designed with acoustics in mind. A great deal of the singing felt thin and half-muted even though I could tell, especially in the case group scenes, that the singers were exerting themselves. For whole stretches of the performance I felt barely connected to the orchestra, which is an odd reversal given how often, in the Wortham, the orchestra covers the singers. Noises in the audience were magnified as were those outside the performance (like clean up from the food vendors). One patron complained about the curtains at the entrance opening and closing and letting in too much light during the performance.

     

     Star power

     

    Yet if challenges such as these pose a test, a true star will pass with flying colors. There was no greater star in this production than soprano extraordinaire Albina Shagimuratova, who I've been delighted to see triumph at HGO in Lucia di Lammermoor, last year in The Abduction from the Seraglio, and, five seasons ago, as Violetta, the courtesan turned doomed-lover dying of consumption in La Traviata. In the first act, she stalks the own party with a bottle of bubbly in hand as if ready to pour a drink or crack someone in the noggin and in either case with true abandon. Her first act aria, in which she debates between her pleasurable and undemanding life in the city and the tribulations of her love for Alfredo was pure, sweet and potent.

     

    I was sure Shagimuratova would be great, but perhaps therein lies a problem unrelated to venue. I appreciate any chance to see her sing, but I have been wondering, since the season was announced, why I would be hearing her as Violetta again. Perhaps the company repeats works and singers too often. How much better it would be to hear Shagimuratova in something else entirely and, if we are to hear La Traviata again so soon, to experience some other astonishing voice as Violetta.

     

    Similarly unstoppable was baritone George Petean who was undeniable as Giorgio Germont, the stern father of Violetta's lover Alfredo. Not only did he master the hostile conditions in the hall but his duets with Shagimuratova offered some of the best singing of the day.

     

     Voices lost

     

    And yet, so many voices were lost. Many singers could not power through the conditions. The singers who could project had to avoid either turning too far from the audience (and thus becoming inaudible) or stepping too far upstage (and entering an echo chamber). These, however, are problems of blocking that might be adjusted. Even the great voices of Shagimuratova and Germont fell victim to the space occasionally, sometimes at the most poignant of moments, including Shagimuratova's otherwise heart-wrenching rendition of the third act masterpiece Addio, del passato bei sogni ridenti ("Farewell, lovely, happy dreams of the past").

     

    A father's excellence points up the failings of a son. I'm not here referring to the plot but, rather, to tenor Dimitri Pittas's disappointing turn as Alfredo. Pitch seemed a struggle in the first and third acts, and the higher notes often felt thin and quavering. Chemistry being what it is, I found myself wishing Violetta had fallen in love with the father. The conditions of the hall may have played a part but I suspect this Alfredo may have run into similar troubles in the Wortham. After all, Yelena Dyacheck, as Violetta's maid Annina, Zoie Reams, as Flora Bervoix, made much more of much smaller parts with their deft performances.

     

    Late in the first act Violetta debates her future: will she seek pleasure or love? All this year there will be a war between the pleasure of opera performed in ideal conditions and the love of the institution that is the HGO. The Resilience Theater offers little pleasure but it prevents the unimaginable canceling of perhaps an entire season. I am as heartened as I am apprehensive about what's to come. What will happen to, say, Elektra, the true highlight of the season? Only time will tell.

     

    Pleasure or love? Like Violetta, no one can win that debate.

     
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    Best July Art

    Where to see art in Houston now: 9 fun new exhibits opening in July

    Tarra Gaines
    Jul 9, 2025 | 4:30 pm
    ​Artechouse presents "Blooming Worlds"
    Photo courtesy of Artechouse
    Artechouse presents "Blooming Worlds"

    Art blooms in our world class museums but also on our city streets this July. From exhibitions featuring traditional paintings and sculptures to high tech immersive and interactive shows, we’re weaving art into the best of summertime fun and dreaming up beautiful new artistic creations all over Houston.

    “Town Meeting 1978-2028” at Art League Houston (now through July 20)
    Pioneering Houston-based interdisciplinary artists Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin continue their decades-long project to create new and sometimes monumental artworks in response to little-known pre-Stonewall queer histories. For this latest exhibition, the duo explore a more recent and influential piece of Houston history, “Town Meeting I,” the pivotal convening of 4,000 LGBTQIA+ Houstonians at the Astro Arena in 1978. For this show at Art League, they’ve used their “wind drawing” technique of stenciling unfixed charcoal powder on paper and blowing it away, leaving a ghost-image. Using archival images of “Town Meeting I” as the bases of their stenciling, the finished “wind drawings” highlight the ephemerality, beauty, and loss of queer histories. In addition to these new works, Vaughan and Margolin hope to inspire, facilitate, and develop programming in 2028 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Town Meeting 1.”

    “Fragmentos de un sueño que yo también soñé (Fragments of a Dream I Also Dreamed)" at Art League Houston (now through July 20)
    “Every house is a body, and every individual body is a house full of memories and hopes,” says award-winning Venezuela born, Chicago-based artist, Jeffly Gabriela Molina, of her artistic focus. Molina’s fragmented, layered, and figural compositions explore that idea of home and memories. Delving into memories and stories, these figurative compositions, depicting people and relationships, fluctuate between stories of the present, past, and future. Taken together, the works in “Fragmentos de un sueño” aim to visually capture the feelings of vulnerability, nostalgia, and hope embedded in the experience of many immigrants. Art League notes that Molina’s pieces emphasize optimism over hardship, specifically addressing the longing for a home that no longer exists while striving to create a new one.

    “Every Fiber of Their Bodies” at Art League Houston (now through July 20)
    Working with natural fibers such as linen, paper collage, and hand-spun paper yarn made from calligraphy paper and book pages, textile artist Lin Qiqing weaves stories ofhuman relationships, gender, immigration, and language. As the title hints, the labor-intensive weaving process brings thematic depth to the images of bodies depicted in the pieces. The woven pieces also make connections to the natural world, as when Lin crumples then smooths handmade mulberry paper to resemble human skin, or when she uses handwoven fiber to mimic the body’s movement. Lin process includes research and experimenting with natural materials to explore themes of the internal human struggle for existence and our interactions with the world around us.

    “Annual Juried Exhibition” at Archway Gallery (now through July 31)
    For the 17th year, the artist owned Archway Gallery celebrates Houston artists with its juried exhibition of area artists who are not members of the space. This year’s exhibition is juried by Project Row Houses founder and MacArthur "genius" fellow, Rick Lowe. The acclaimed artist and social activist has selected work from over 35 area artists representing a diversity of medium and styles. Sales from the exhibition will go to Houston’s Brave Little Company, the theater company for Houston’s kids and their gown ups.

    “Foyer Installation: René Magritte” at Menil Collection (now through August 3)
    After a critically acclaimed trip to Australia, some of our favorite Belgian-born Houstonians are back home. Yes, the Magritte paintings have returned to the Menil Collection after taking a star turn in a monumental Magritte retrospective at Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales. Now the Menil is celebrating their return with a special installation in the main building foyer. The Menil Collection owns the largest collection of work by René Magritte outside the artist’s native Belgium, and this display focuses on a core group of paintings from the 1950s and ’60s that truly represent Magritte’s status as a master creator of impossible painted worlds and an icon of the Surrealist movement. The paintings were purchased within a couple years of their making by the museum’s founders, John and Dominique de Menil. They represent and important part of 20th century art history, as the de Menils became Magritte’s biggest champions in the United States, helping to shape the artist’s reception and reputation in the postwar American art world. Stop by to welcome them home and slip into their enigmatic wonder.

    “Blooming Wonders” at Artechouse (now through September)
    The latest immersive exhibition from the Houston venue that brings art, science, and technology home together, Artechouse, lets the flowers blossom. The exhibition contains several dynamic installations, including “Timeless Butterflies,” a 270 degrees projection space that puts visitors in the middle of a butterfly cloud. Audiences journey with a flock of butterflies into an immense garden of flowers. Another immersive piece, “Infinite Blooms” takes audiences on a journey through an endless digital forest of cherry blossoms. The installation, “Akousmaflore et Lux” creates a very different type of garden where plants transform into musical instruments. “Clay Pillar” by Interactive Items / Vadim Mirgorodskii invites visitors to sculpt new forms using clay and a little help from an AI program. Note that “Blooming Wonders” runs simultaneously with the rock ‘n’ roll exhibition, “Amplified” with “Wonders” open during the daytime.

    “Weci | Koninut” at Avenida Houston (now through September 1)
    Houston is a place for big dreams, and this wondrous outdoor exhibition near George R. Brown Convention Center gives us the space to do so. Created by First Nations artists Julie-Christina Picher and Dave Jenniss, this interactive installation weaves together visual arts, Indigenous storytelling and sensory technologies in the form of six immense sculptural dreamcatchers. Each of these dreamcatchers are unique and represent one of the six seasons from the Atikamekw culture, an Indigenous people in Canada. Activated by people passing by, the dreamcatchers come to life with lights, sounds, and story, making the whole installation truly interactive. “Weci | Koninut” creators say that they want the installation to offer a total immersion experience for visitors, to create a moment where nature and dreams converge. Each piece offers a place for the public to slow down, sit, reflect, and yes, dream.

    New Murals in the East End and Midtown (ongoing)
    We could spend days viewing all the new murals painted across town, just in the last few years. But in honor of summer outdoor art viewing, we thought we’d spotlight two noteworthy new additions to our city-wide gallery of murals. As part of his major exhibition last spring at the CAMH, Vincent Valdez worked with San Antonio muralist Rubio and local students to create “Memoria, Memory.” Dedicated to his mother Theresa Santana Valdez (1947–2020), the vivid mural on historic Navigation Boulevard features her favorite bird and flower. Over in Midtown, check out “Stellar Illumination,” the latest installation in the city’s Big Walls Big Dreams mural series. Created by Robin Munro, also known as Dread, the seven stories high “Illumination” depicts a celestial scene of an astronaut gazing at Earth from space.

    “The Weight of Place” at Anya Tish Gallery (July 11-August 23)
    This group exhibition will explore themes of memory and the emotional, psychological, and physical landscapes memories can evoke. The will showcase three contemporary Texas-based female artists: Megan Harrison, Marisol Valencia, and Lillian Warren. While these artists work in different mediums–including large-scale paintings, mixed media works, and elegant porcelain sculptures–they are inspired by personal reflection and nature to create artworks that reflect on the ways we hold onto the past through sensory experience.

    “In Residence: 18th Edition” at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (July 12-June 27, 2026)
    This annual exhibition celebrating the Center’s Artist Residency Program reaches it’s big 18th anniversary. Over the many years, the residency program has supported so many emerging, mid-career, and established artists working in all craft media. The program gives them a space for creative exploration, exchange, and collaboration with other artists, arts professionals, and the public. Now arts and craft lovers will get a chance to see the culmination of that work with this exhibition featuring pieces in fiber, clay, copper, and found objects by 2024-2025 resident artists Prerata Bradley, Stephanie Bursese, Atisha Fordyce, Nela Garzón, Gbenga Komolafe, Gabo Martinez, Preetika Rajgariah, Macon Reed, Jamie Sterling Pitt, Adam Whitney, and Dongyi Wu.

    “My Texas” at Our Texas Cultural Center (July 27-August 22)
    Award winning, Russian-born photographer, Anatoliy Kosterev, chronicles his personal exploration of Texas with photographs he took around the Lone Star State. The photos offer extraordinary views of Texas, from our dynamic cities to dramatic and sometimes lonesome landscapes. Kosterev’s photographic style blends science and technology with an artistic eye. He puts those two perspectives into practice when documenting all facets of life in Texas. Using HDR, drone imaging, macro photography, and traditional camera methods, he captures a diversity of subjects from quiet human moments to vast landscapes to delicate close-ups of insects and flowers.

    \u200bArtechouse presents "Blooming Worlds"
      

    Photo courtesy of Artechouse

    Artechouse presents "Blooming Worlds."

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