David Fox
Today is Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday, and it’s not going as planned.
It was love at first hearing. The music was glorious, the conducting bouncy and pointed, and the singers sure sounded terrific to me.
If you want to be sophisticated, drink a cocktail while listening to this particular record.
Records will save us.
Bess is clearly Angel Blue’s part—set in the richest and most shimmering upper middle portion of her voice, and optimally suited to her persona.
Time heals almost everything, as Jerry Herman’s best score is stylishly resurrected.
Dolly definitely did not have me at Hello!
Donizetti’s La Favorite remains a relative rarity in the repertoire, especially in the original French version.
Pretty is its own reward.
I’ve heard starrier performances, but none that made a more powerful case for this masterwork.
Joyce DiDonato’s take on Winterreise is a conceptual misstep that, song after song, frustratingly dilutes and distracts from an often rewarding musical performance.
Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, always with a gift for gab, is ever more loquacious in concerts, often talking directly to the audience.
The Berta (mezzo-soprano Emily Damasco) runs away with the show.
Love in Hate Nation is a little musical that could and can… and I sure as hell hope it does!
Since 1934, Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts has been preparing emerging artists for operatic careers.
As we also saw last year, Festival O19 ended on a sweetly quiet note, movingly connecting Opera Philadelphia with the larger city and our musical future.
For the academics who may be reading this: Let Me Die exists in a confounding but intriguing interpretive liminal space.
Employing the most slimly elegant resources, Festival O’s Denis & Katya is a monumental, dramatically shattering event.
Opera Philadelphia’s Love of Three Oranges is never less than extravagantly entertaining theater.
What is the best metaphor for this year’s Bard Music Festival?
“Die Zauberflöte is an opera!” “No, it’s the first musical comedy!”
The second summer session of the Russian Opera Workshop concludes this week with concert performances of Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans.
Within minutes, something wonderful happened. None of my reservations mattered.
Under any circumstances, the Russian Opera Workshop’s radiant concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta would have been an event to celebrate.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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