parterre box

Opera’s Scottish enfant terrible David McVicar has applied his considerable skills in this 2011 Glyndebourne production of Die Meistersinger, the result being a refreshing new take on a familiar warhorse. The setting has been updated from medieval Nuremburg to vaguely Victorian, which is, of course, when Wagner would have been, like the character David, in his apprenticeship, and the costumes have a certain “Nicholas Nickleby” feeling.   Read more »

Vocal glamour in abundance highlighted the opening performance of LA Opera’s Il barbiere di Siviglia on November 29 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, with much buzz attendant on the company debuts of Rossini experts Juan Diego Flórez and Joyce DiDonato. Adding excitement was the Figaro of Nathan Gunn, who played with Errol Flynn panache, and a production rich with Sevillian atmosphere.  Read more »