Aria

The Baltimore Opera has canceled its summer production of Aaron Copland's "The Tender Land," which was to have been given this month at the Gordon Center in Owings Mills.Spokeswoman Paula Martin said the cost of production has risen so dramatically that the company could not give the opera a quality presentation without greatly exceeding its budget.The opera will substitute two shorter productions: a new adaptation of Puccini's one-act comedy "Gianni Schicchi" for Artscape in downtown Baltimore this weekend; and a recital of favorite arias and Broadway songs by three singers at Glenelg Country School in Columbia later this month.

Mozart wrote very little that was utterly worthless, but Pinchas Zukerman, artistic director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Summer MusicFest, managed to find a good number of not-quites in the festival's all-Mozart concert Saturday.The string trio in E-flat (K. 563) is not quite the best divertimento, the concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di te/Non temer" is not quite the top of his vocal music and the Piano Concerto No. 12 is the lesser of the two written in the key of A major. Despite pleasing performances, they're not quite the works to send the audience home whistling.

"Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings," wrote one perceptive critic of the musical stage.But often, as opera lovers know, those final moments can be a group affair, as scores of singers come onstage to share the passion of grand opera with the "dying" soloist. Opera choruses provide some of the most memorable melodies in all of music.With this in mind, the Naval Academy Glee Club will conclude this season's Distinguished Artists Series with a performance of some of the world's best-loved opera choruses and arias at 7: 30 p.m. Saturday in the academy's Alumni Hall.

Annapolis Chorale director J. Ernest Green has planned his own version of the Three Tenors concert for Valentine's Day.Instead of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, Green will have Paul McIlvaine, Garry Grice and Thomas Poole singing romantic arias, sentimental Neapolitan songs and exciting show tunes.The concert also will include some of the Three Tenors favorites, such as Pavarotti's signature pieces, the Neapolitan "Torna a Sorriento" and "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's opera "Turandot."

Someone at the Annapolis Symphony must be living right.Days after soprano Sarah Reese fell ill and canceled her ASO performances, the orchestra's executive director, Jane Schorsch, latched onto soprano Kishna Davis, who came to Maryland Hall on a few days' notice to sing Verdi and Puccini with guest conductor Leslie Dunner.Davis turned Saturday night's concert into a triumph by delivering her four arias with a dramatic flair that charmed and inspired her audience.The great soprano Leontyne Price described Davis' voice as "juicy and lyrical."

The finals of Annapolis Opera's 10th annual Maryland Vocal Competition, held at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts Sunday afternoon, were proof that the local company is attracting high-caliber talent.Of the eight finalists, who had to be living or studying in Maryland to be eligible for the competition, five are high-quality singers, and there were things to like about the other three. Each of the three top finishers could have been named the winner with ample justification. It was that close.

WASHINGTON -- For a superstar, the young mezzo Cecilia Bartoli is blessedly free of mannerisms, attitude and shtick. In fact, the only evidence of her diva status is that her recital Sunday afternoon at Constitution Hall started 15 minutes late.Another nice thing: While her best-selling CDs are almost all collections of favorites, her recital programs cover more esoteric ground.Bartoli's voice -- limber, lush and infinitely versatile -- is so beautiful that she could sing a program of soda commercials (or Philip Glass!

It's 15 minutes before curtain time, and the pianist is stuck in traffic, the microphone is missing and the tenor is the only one in costume.Pass the Parmesan, please.Welcome to "Opera Night" at Piccolo's restaurant in Columbia's Owen Brown village, where diners on the third Monday of every month can enjoy Puccini with their pasta or Verdi with their veal."It's Little Italy comes to Columbia," declared Vincent Guida, Piccolo's co-owner.The two-hour repertoire is performed by the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan Repertory Opera, a 5-year-old company of 25 people who aspire to sing professional opera full-time.

From the isle of Capri off the coast of southern Italy comes a fresh mozzarella cheese so mild and velvety that once you've sampled it, you want to devour it at every meal.Also from that area of the Amalfi coast comes a style of pizza so divinely simple that the pure flavors shine.Here is a pizza inspired by my recent travels to that region.To accompany the pizza, serve a "quick-cut" Italian vegetable soup. If you use a canned soup, add some fresh or frozen Italian-style vegetables, such as Italian style green beans or sliced zucchini.

Combine the greatest stories ever told with some of the greatest music ever written, and what do you get?That question will be answered at 3 p.m. Sunday at Annapolis' Kneseth Israel Synagogue when the Annapolis Opera presents "Opera from Moses to the Inquisition," a program of arias from operas inspired by the Bible.Verdi's "Nabucco" (Nebuchadnezzar), Saint-Saens' "Samson et Delila" and Halevy's "La Juive" are just a few of the operas that will be excerpted at Sunday's musicale.Soprano Kay Krekow, soon to join the roster of the Prague Opera, will be in the spotlight along with Michael Begley, the Annapolis Opera's producer and resident baritone.