review / performance

Ohne Ziel, ohne Rast Ohne Ziel, ohne Rast

Instead of following the story, we in the audience spend most of the evening thinking “What?? Why is that happening?”

on September 30, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Tremens factus sum ego Tremens factus sum ego

One got a sense that the Met and the maestro directed most of the rehearsal and preparation toward the opening night premiere of the Heggie opus

on September 29, 2023 at 2:09 PM
Nun of a kind Nun of a kind

“None of that sentimental crap, okay?”

on September 28, 2023 at 12:00 PM
Think different Think different

Bay Area composer Mason Bates’s and librettist Mark Campbell’s contemporary opera about the life of the tech mogul Steve Jobs came home “to the place where it all began” in spectacular fashion

on September 28, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Some unholy war Some unholy war

Rather than focusing on a narrative, Unholy Wars explores a series of timeless yet current themes: war, destruction, alienation, and what it means to be perceived as outsider—particularly from the Middle East—in the context of a violent world.

on September 27, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Double take Double take

German opera-director Claus Guth has reimagined Schwanengesang as a series of scarred soldier’s visions in Doppelgänger, showing this week in at the Park Avenue Armory.

on September 26, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Dogecoin Dogecoin

In sum: not a perfect Simon Boccanegra—is there such a thing?—but a grand and often great one.

on September 25, 2023 at 2:31 PM
A madhouse is not a home A madhouse is not a home

David Devan may be leaving the company, but there can be no better living tribute to him than this extraordinary work, which in 90 minutes gives us everything we could want from a new opera

on September 23, 2023 at 1:00 PM
Float like a butterfly Float like a butterfly

Phil Chan described his point of departure for reimagining Orientalist works as the question, “what else could this be?”

on September 21, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Got to get you into my strife Got to get you into my strife

Power struggles, prejudice, feuds and revenge abound in San Francisco at the moment.

on September 20, 2023 at 9:55 AM
White hot White hot

The great archetypal image of an opera singer is a towering Wagnerian soprano who shatters entire panes of glass the moment she opens her mouth.

on September 16, 2023 at 9:00 AM
Empty chairs Empty chairs

The fourth production of Santa Fe Opera’s 66th Festival Season that opened on Saturday June 22 offered a multitude of firsts.

on July 31, 2023 at 11:00 AM
Elixir in the wine country Elixir in the wine country

At the northern tip of Seneca, longest and deepest of New York State’s Finger Lakes, sits the pretty little town of Geneva.

on July 29, 2023 at 9:00 AM
The king of queens The king of queens

In the case of this summer’s resuscitation project at the Bard Summerscape Festival, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Henri VIII , it was quite evident that this is a dramatically sound work with consistently well-crafted, theatrically vital and attractive music that provides at least three roles for gifted singing actors.

on July 25, 2023 at 4:14 PM