Sexy photos of Soloman Howard in Approaching Ali

Soloman Howard in Approaching Ali

Bass-barihunk Soloman Howard just wrapped up a reprisal of his performance as boxing great Muhammad Ali in DJ Sparr's Approaching Ali with the North Carolina Opera. Howard sang in the world premiere of the opera in the Summer of 2013 at the Kennedy Center. 

Sparr's one-hour opera was created under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative, Washington National Opera’s program for commissioning contemporary American opera. The libretto is by Mark Campbell and Davis Miller, based on Miller’s own autobiographical novella.

Soloman Howard in Approaching Ali

Fortunately for our readers, a number of amazing pictures appeared in Raleigh's Indy Week magazine of the singer accompanied by this article.

The opera tells the story of a young boy in North Carolina in the early 1960s who overcomes the loss of his mother and the trauma of being bullied when he sees Muhammad Ali on television. More than 20 years later, as a writer on the brink of middle age, he seeks to rekindle that spirit by visiting his boyhood hero in person at the home of Ali’s mother in Louisville.

Soloman Howard had a successful debut this season as the King in Verdi's Aida at the Met. This summer he'll sing Banco in Verdi's Macbeth and Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Glimmerglass Festival. 

Soloman Howard stars as Muhammid Ali

Soloman Howard in Approaching Ali

We're not sure how this almost slipped by us, but thanks to an alert reader, we've learned that the Washington National Opera is presenting the world premiere of composer D.J. Sparr's "Approaching Ali" today at the Kennedy Center. Bass-barihunk Soloman Howard, who we've featured on this site before,  will sing the role of Muhammad Ali. The opera based on the life of Muhammid Ali, is the second opera to premiere about a boxer within a week. Aubrey Allicock is starring as the bisexual boxer Emile Griffith in the world premiere of Tereence Blanchard' s Champion on June 15th in St. Louis.

Sparr's one-hour opera was created under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative, Washington National Opera’s program for commissioning contemporary American opera. The libretto is by Mark Campbell and Davis Miller, based on Miller’s own autobiographical novella.

The opera tells the story of a young boy in North Carolina in the early 1960s who overcomes the loss of his mother and the trauma of being bullied when he sees Muhammad Ali on television. More than 20 years later, as a writer on the brink of middle age, he seeks to rekindle that spirit by visiting his boyhood hero in person at the home of Ali’s mother in Louisville.

Muhammid Ali and Soloman Howard

A number of contemporary composers are writing operas based on news figures from our lifetime. Some of these include John Adams' "Nixon in China" and "The Death of Klinghoffer," Stewart Wallace's "Harvey Milk," Anthony Davis' "X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X," Mark-Anthony Turnage's "Anna Nicole Smith," Philip Glass' "Satyagraha" and Thomas Adès' "Powder Her Face." These operas have been dubbed "CNN opera" or "MTV operas," although with the new focus on sports figures, perhaps we should add "ESPN opera" to the vocabulary.

"Approaching Ali" will also feature baritone David Kravitz as Davis Miller, Aundi Marie Moore as Ali’s mother Odessa Clay, boy soprano Ethan McKelvain as Young Davis, Tim Augustin as Roy Miller and Catherine Martin as Sara Miller.

In addition to today's performance at 7:30 p.m., the opera will be repeated on Sunday, June 9 at 2 p.m. There will be a Q&A with the artists and creative team following both performances.
All tickets are $30 and are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324, or online at www.kennedy-center.org.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky returns to US for Don Carlo and recitals

Siberian barihunk returns to New York from his European tour to sing Rodrigo in Nicholas Hytner’s production of Verdi's Don Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera.  He will be joined by the great Italian baritone Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philip II. The two men also sang together in the Met's Ernani and it's always a thrilling vocal display when they share the stage.  and throughout Russia this winter, Dmitri Hvorostovsky returns to New York's  this month to star as  The cast also includes Ramón Vargas as Don Carlo, Barbara Frittoli as Elisabeth and Anna Smirnova as Eboli. For tickets and additional information and tickets visit the Met website.

As soon as Hvorostovsky wraps up Don Carlo he will head down the coast to the Nation's capital for a recital with the Washington Performing Arts Society on March 20th at the Kennedy Center. The program includes songs and arias by Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and others. He continues down the coast to Miami Beach for a slightly different program at the New World Center that includes Rachmaninov, Rossini, Wagner, Rubinstein and Verdi.

Mathias Hausmann's Austrian Composers Program at Half-Price

Mathias Hausmann

Fans of Austrian barihunk Mathias Hausmann who live on the East Coast are in luck, as his concert on Wednesday, October 12th is available at half-price. The gifted recitalist will be performing songs from his favorite fellow Austrians, including Mahler, Korngold, Eisler, Zeisl, Stolz and Benatzky. Visit the goldtar ticketing website for your half-price tickets. The performance will be in the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

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