William Berger’s Opera and Metal Webinar – December 6

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Maria-Cristina Necula in Playing Around

The closest I have come to associating opera with metal has been Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, yet only literally so, mostly because of Alberich’s casting of the almighty ring and Siegfried’s sword-forging scene. But linking the music performance genres of Opera and Metal? Aside from the “screaming” clichés, I never even considered a possible relationship.

William Berger has, for a long time, been a devotee of and expert in both Opera and Metal, which he calls his “two predominant passions in life.” After two acclaimed, star-guest-studded, multi-episode webinars on the history of opera and on opera and film in the past months, the author, lecturer, and Metropolitan Opera Radio commentator is back on December 6 at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) with an original 90-minute webinar: “Across the Magic Fire: The Mystical Convergence of Opera and Metal.” The webinar features two star guests: bass-baritone Christian Van Horn and Metal singer Jessica Pimentel, also known for her role as Maria Ruiz on the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. 

Bound to be enlightening, entertaining, and surprising, these ninety minutes are for anyone interested in either genre, in performance and in storytelling in general as well as for those simply curious to discover the (apparently) improbable connections between Opera and Metal. The intriguing comparison of these two performance arts may push us to dig deeper into our own answers to the questions that Berger poses: “why do we like what we like and what does that tell us about who we are?”

Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind webinar! Visit William Berger Presents and sign up today. 

Top photo: William Berger speaking at The Bowery Electric, courtesy of William Berger.

About Maria-Cristina Necula (182 Articles)
Maria-Cristina Necula’s published work includes the books "The Don Carlos Enigma: Variations of Historical Fictions" and "Life in Opera: Truth, Tempo and Soul," two translations: "Europe à la carte" and Molière’s "The School for Wives," and the collection of poems "Evanescent." Her articles and interviews have been featured in "Classical Singer" Magazine, "Opera America," "Das Opernglas," "Studies in European Cinema," and "Opera News." As a classically trained singer she has performed in the New York City area at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Florence Gould Hall, and the Westchester Broadway Theatre, and has presented on opera at The Graduate Center, Baruch, The City College of New York, and UCLA Southland. She speaks six languages, two of which she honed at the Sorbonne University in Paris and the University of Vienna, and she holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from The Graduate Center, CUNY. In 2022, Maria-Cristina was awarded a New York Press Club Award in the Critical Arts Review category for her review of Matthew Aucoin's "Eurydice" at the Metropolitan Opera, published on Woman Around Town. She is a 2022-24 Fellow of The Writers' Institute at The Graduate Center.

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