oryLa Cieca though you might be amused, or at least bemused, by a few published reactions to LoftOpera. 

“It’s a perfect union of New York’s most raucous and delightful opera company with one of the most raucous and delightful works in the repertory. . . . the irresistible music is executed with such stylish confidence.” — New York Times

“The highest praise I can give LoftOpera’s presentation of this problematic work is that they made of it something not only profound but also shattering. . . . Despite the immense physical demands placed on the singers—hyperrealistic violence, dragging around massive swaths of cloth, not to mention hitting their marks for the video cameras—they sang with an exquisite balance of passion and precision. ” — Observer

“LoftOpera offers a creative, sustainable model for how to produce opera, one that suggests a whole host of possibilities for the form. Such reinvention of old ideas is cause for excitement, an acute sense of renaissance. For example, much of the evening reminded me of the spirited ethos of 1960s off-off-broadway theater, a widely documented matrix of extreme creativity, experimentation, and revolution.” — parterre box

“[T]he secret to Loft’s success, I contend, is that, more than any opera company I can name, their productions draw inspiration and wisdom from the scores and libretti of the operas they present. Every story is clear and musical values are honored. . . . Loft Opera effectively makes the case for live opera more than any American company right now.” — WQXR

“People have been doing this at least since Peter Sellars set his Don Giovanni in Spanish Harlem. . . . this avant-garde is so old hat.” — Stephen Wadsworth, Director of Opera Studies, Juilliard

“While at Juilliard we can have a 7- or 8-year-old violinist who performs on par with adults, that simply can’t happen with voice. You don’t even really start vocal training for opera until 18, and it doesn’t blossom into its fullest flower until 25 or 30, depending on the physiology.” — Brian Zeger, Artistic Director of Vocal Arts, Julliard; former Executive Director, Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists Development Program

Photo: Robert Altman

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