This year’s Richard Tucker Gala was a refreshingly well-balanced program of less frequently heard arias interspersed with operatic chestnuts one expects to encounter at a gala. No major singers cancelled (although two pieces were dropped from the program including one which should have been one of the evening’s highlights), and almost everyone brought her or his A-game. This review should practically write itself, no? But it didn’t, and I blame technology! Read more »
Kevin Fullerton
As I gloried in Mariella Devia’s triumphant 2014 Opera Orchestra of New York’s concert performance of Roberto Devereux at Carnegie Hall, I assumed it would be my last opportunity to hear the soprano live. I had contented myself knowing that the spectacular High D natural that capped her “Quel sangue versato” would be a fitting coda to my history with the singer. Read more »
This riotous opera transports the Oedipus tale to an apocalyptic 1980s London, plagued by police violence, racism, and socioeconomic decay. Intrepid composer Mark-Anthony Turnage’s (Anna Nicole) 1988 breakthrough brilliantly combines cockney-accented profanity and irreverent drama with an audacious score and outstanding four-person cast. Eddy (tenor Alex Otterburn), our modern-day Oedipus, dreams of a better life. After hearing a fortune teller’s disturbing prediction, he resolves at all costs to avoid shagging his own mum (soprano Susan Bullock) and inadvertently killing his father (tenor Andrew Shore). But he is unable to outrun fate, landing in the prophetically maternal arms of an East End café manager (mezzo soprano Allison Cook). Thirty years later, Greek still resonates, offering an incisive, brash contemporary statement on accountability and family. Read more »
Ah, finalmente! Thrice I have been denied access to Rome’s beautiful Teatro dell’Opera di Roma–thanks to two strikes and one unexpected venue change. Lots of coins into the Trevi Fountain, return trips to Rome, and then last Saturday, a fourth attempt at Teatro dell’Opera—and finally satisfying success! Read more »
Last evening’s scorching performance of Fallujah by the New York City Opera demonstrated that sometimes impact is not limited by physical proximity.
Miss Battle was greeted with a thunderous ovation befitting a beloved singer at the end of an illustrious career.
I was hopeful that my next operatic engagement would offer greater rewards: Norma at the Edinburgh Festival.
Cher Public