Michael Anthonio
Michael Anthonio's love affairs with classical music and opera started in primary school, when his parents bought him an organ and he began taking lessons. During high school and college, he gave private organ lessons to some of his parents' friends' kids (for pocket money) and he was church organist and later, choir conductor. In 1999 he moved to Singapore where he got involved with the classical music online website "flying inkpot." His interest in opera became an obsession when he was transferred for work to US in 2008. In addition to enjoying world-class opera in SF, he indulges in opera tours in Europe. His favorite opera composer is Handel; at this point, Michael seen 24 of his operas , with hopefully three more coming next year.
Saturday August 17 the Merola Opera Program wrapped up its annual Summer Festival with the Merola Grand Finale concert at the War Memorial Opera House.
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“Who are you? Who do you want to be?” The search for one’s identity is explored in American composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer’s brand new opera If I Were You.
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” went the introduction to the 1940s radio program The Shadow, an apt description for the San Francisco Opera’s production of Rusalka.
“How far should we give way to grief? How far dare we, without disaster?”
Once again we got a very frustrating performance of Orlando; this time a beautiful and completely coherent production marred by some sub-optimal singing.
Although stripped down, this comedy of manners was far from boring due to well-choreographed movements and actions of the characters.
“Tame” seemed to be the appropriate adjective to describe San Francisco Opera’s Carmen.
There is a deep sense of culmination and finality when we discuss the last works of the great Masters.
In the more than 500 years of the history of operas, rarely (if ever) has a coming of age story, particularly one from the child’s point of view, been presented as the main topic of the opera.
Claus Guth, in a staging of Handel’s Orlando for Theater an der Wien, decided to revisit a PTSD theme.
Legrenzi married the quirky libretto to a score of transcendental beauty.
Trial by Jury was the operetta chosen by Lamplighters Music Theatre, the San Francisco-based Gilbert & Sullivan company, to close their 66th season.
Teatro Real continued their 200 years’ celebration by premiering a piece that they have never done before, Francesco Cavalli’s opera La Calisto.
West Bay Opera’s sterling production of Verdi’s I due Foscari played over the last two weekends.
What happens in Karlsruhe stays in Karlsruhe!
The full title of the opera pretty much describes the plot: Il mondo alla roversa osia Le donne che comandano.
We humans tend to dislike uncertainty, therefore there is something comforting going to opera revivals; you know exactly what you are going to get.
Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward’s 1935 “folk” opera, graced the stage of Dutch National Opera for the first time last month, and it was resounding success from start to finish.
The “Red Priest” of Venice once made reference to his “94 operas” in a letter to his patron.
Considering the size and the logistics for staging Les Troyens, every new production of Berlioz’s epic masterpiece is a special event.
The Paris Opera continued their 350th anniversary celebration January 26 with a brand new production of Alessandro Scarlatti’s 1707 oratorio Il Primo Omicidio ovvero Caino.
Ars Minerva upped their game by mounting an 18th century baroque opera, Giovanni Porta’s 1738 Ifigenia in Aulide.
There comes a time where everything falls into place, and more importantly, when your head and heart are also in the right mindset. That’s when when the opera becomes cathartic, life-changing experience.
Christopher Maltman created a fun, coherent, often whimsical journey exploring the animal kingdom through a selection of animal songs.
