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They ran out of food early in the pre-concert reception. They ran out of programs in the theater. But once the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Night Gala concert started, there was no shortage of powerful music. Indianapolis’s own Angela Brown headlined the sold-out event Sept. 9. After she played the lead in Verdi’s “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera to rave reviews you wouldn’t think she’d have trouble with “Ritorna vincitor,” and she didn’t. Brown proved herself adept at not only…

A&E ‘Hamlet’ halved; a flute sans magic This week, I empty the notebook on IRT’s truncated “Hamlet,” the Indianapolis Opera’s “The Magic Flute,” an iconoclastic singer/songwriter at the Egyptian Room and passion in Chicago. At about half the play’s full length, it’s difficult for “Hamlet”-a great work-to be more than just a good one. With every minute reduced, the classic runs a greater risk of becoming more external and less internal. Text cutting is expected in just about any Shakespeare…

Perhaps the most performed American opera, “Susannah” tells of a good woman brought down by the hypocrisy of her Appalachian town. Spotted bathing nude in a creek by townspeople looking for a spot for revival meeting baptisms, the parentless 19-year-old’s reputation and spirit are soon destroyed by gossip-and the visiting preacher. It’s an opera with sex (implied), death (thanks to an angry brother), religion (including a revival service) and-something you don’t see in many operas-square dancing. What it also has…