Tag: CET Connect

Cincinnati Opera, CET to air documentary on opera’s first 100 years

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In recent years, Cincinnati Opera has kicked off its season with a free concert in Washington Park, OTR

Cincinnati Opera and CET have announced plans for “Cincinnati Opera at 100,” an hour-long televised program commemorating Cincinnati Opera’s centennial. Featuring
insights from local and national opera experts and performances by artists from across the country, “Cincinnati Opera at 100” will premiere on CET 48.1 on Friday, July 3 at 9 p.m. EST.

Additional airings will follow on CET Arts 48.3 through Tuesday, July 7.

The nation’s second-oldest opera company, Cincinnati Opera presented its first performance on June 27, 1920, at Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, and its annual Summer Festival has become a Cincinnati arts-going tradition.

Lisa Daltirus in “Aida” at Cincinnati Opera in Music Hall.

Though the company’s 100th Anniversary Season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, “Cincinnati Opera at 100” transports the opera-going experience into viewers’ homes, including performances by much-loved singers from recent Cincinnati Opera productions and historical highlights from opera experts.Read More »

CET Music Hall documentary to air Thursday

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A few months ago, this was the view of the stage and orchestra pit.

Viewers will be able to go behind the scenes of Music Hall’s historic, $143 million renovation when CET debuts the documentary “Cincinnati Music Hall: The Next Movement,” 9 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 16) on CET.

Encore broadcasts will continue on CET and its sister channel CET Arts through November, including 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 19 on CET and 9 p.m. Nov. 20 on CET Arts. (See the full schedule at cetconnect.org/musichall.)

The documentary takes the viewer from the initial demolition  after the May Festival ended in May, 2016, to the opening weekend last month.

With co-producers Richard Wonderling and Don Hancock

In an interview earlier this fall, CET-TV documentary co-producers Don Hancock and Richard Wonderling said they aimed to film the construction site in all its grittiness, with dust and sparks, which would then dissolve away as people in opening-night attire arrived at the hall on opening night.

Above all, they tried to convey the special place that Music Hall holds in the hearts of generations of Cincinnati citizens, and its importance in the city’s historic and cultural life.

“Don and I needed a beauty shot of the grand chandelier in Springer Auditorium. We went up to the gallery and it was so silent – there was no one else in the house. It was almost spiritual. Just this pervading sense of beauty and tradition that stretched across time – across generations. Magnificent things happen at Music Hall, you just felt that. Vividly,” Wonderling said.

John Kiesewetter’s Media Beat review of the 60-minute documentary describes some of their fascinating discoveries as they filmed the 16-month project.