Paola's Aging Magician opera, presented last week by San Diego Opera and produced by Beth Morrison Projects and VisionIntoArt, received rave reviews from critics:
“Prestini’s eclectic score, expertly realized by Eckert, the chorus and the Attacca Quartet, ranged from chant-influenced passages to thorny patches of dissonance, moving from background to foreground and back again. At times you forgot there was a score; at other times, like that accordion melody, it was unforgettable... The whole presentation was so innocent, so imaginative, so nurturing, so charming, so beautiful, that my cynical, post-Covid sensibility tried to resist. But we all have our place in the universe, in the present moment, and perhaps beyond. As the Magician discovered, and we along with him, resistance is futile.”
– Opera News
"[San Diego] opened Paola Prestini's Aging Magician, an intriguing staged work that is as close to performance art as is it is to chamber opera."
"Prestini's music is haunting, playful, strange and joyful, and it was beautifully rendered by affable and funny Eckert, the Attacca Quartet and the 29-member all-girls choir... The finale was both visually and aurally dazzling..."
Paola's Aging Magician opera, presented last week by San Diego Opera and produced by Beth Morrison Projects and VisionIntoArt, received rave reviews from critics:
“Prestini’s eclectic score, expertly realized by Eckert, the chorus and the Attacca Quartet, ranged from chant-influenced passages to thorny patches of dissonance, moving from background to foreground and back again. At times you forgot there was a score; at other times, like that accordion melody, it was unforgettable... The whole presentation was so innocent, so imaginative, so nurturing, so charming, so beautiful, that my cynical, post-Covid sensibility tried to resist. But we all have our place in the universe, in the present moment, and perhaps beyond. As the Magician discovered, and we along with him, resistance is futile.”
– Opera News
"[San Diego] opened Paola Prestini's Aging Magician, an intriguing staged work that is as close to performance art as is it is to chamber opera."
"Prestini's music is haunting, playful, strange and joyful, and it was beautifully rendered by affable and funny Eckert, the Attacca Quartet and the 29-member all-girls choir... The finale was both visually and aurally dazzling..."
Paola's Aging Magician opera, presented last week by San Diego Opera and produced by Beth Morrison Projects and VisionIntoArt, received rave reviews from critics:
“Prestini’s eclectic score, expertly realized by Eckert, the chorus and the Attacca Quartet, ranged from chant-influenced passages to thorny patches of dissonance, moving from background to foreground and back again. At times you forgot there was a score; at other times, like that accordion melody, it was unforgettable... The whole presentation was so innocent, so imaginative, so nurturing, so charming, so beautiful, that my cynical, post-Covid sensibility tried to resist. But we all have our place in the universe, in the present moment, and perhaps beyond. As the Magician discovered, and we along with him, resistance is futile.”
– Opera News
"[San Diego] opened Paola Prestini's Aging Magician, an intriguing staged work that is as close to performance art as is it is to chamber opera."
"Prestini's music is haunting, playful, strange and joyful, and it was beautifully rendered by affable and funny Eckert, the Attacca Quartet and the 29-member all-girls choir... The finale was both visually and aurally dazzling..."
