Showing yourself out
In eclectic productions of Carmen, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Così fan tutte in Salzburg, A.J. Goldmann finds vindication for Markus Hinterhaüser at the end of the intendant’s final Festival.
Reviews
All about Donbas
Keri-Lynn Wilson and the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra channeled a want for justice into fine music-making in two appearances at David Geffen Hall.
All-American girl
A new English translation of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West gallops into a high school in Pacifica with as much grit and gumption as its titular frontierswoman.
Song matters
John Yohalem reviews pianist Steven Blier‘s warm, witty, and worldly autobiography, From Ear to Ear.
State of siege
An amateurish production of Le siège de Corinthe, combined with heavy-handed conducting, at Pesaro weakens the defenses of one of Rossini‘s most topical operas.
Avert your AIs
Bayreuth’s AI-powered “Ring 100010110” marred a first-rate cast and orchestra with nightmarish visuals and horrid dramaturgy.
The kids are alright
Though, really, the young artists of the Merola Opera Program were more than alright in their annual showcase.
Vox populi
In Bayreuth, a confident Magnus Vigilius and luminous Jennifer Holloway attempt to elevate Wagner’s populist Rienzi.
What passion cannot Music raise and quell?
American Bach led a stirring rendition of Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, full of big questions and even bigger musical highlights.
An instrument of your peace
Philippe Sly is sublime as Messiaen’s Saint François D’Assise in Salzburg, though Romeo Castellucci‘s production could brush up on its catechism.
Da capo days of summer
San Francisco goes baroque with performances of Handel‘s Alcina, Tolomeo, and Rinaldo.
Lead balloon
At Wolf Trap Opera, a season-closing Tosca is weighed down by an incoherent setting during Italy’s Anni di piombo.
Aryeh ready for a miracle?
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen shows that he’s at the top of a crowded pack of countertenors in two recent New York performances with Philharmonia Baroque.
High and dry
Ilana Walder-Biesanz reports from The Santa Fe Opera, where Tobias Picker‘s latest opera falls short, a new Rodelinda scintillates, and sumptuous singing abounds across the entire repertoire.
Life’s a Blitch
Shakespeare Opera Theatre presented two American operas exploring themes of hypocrisy and deception — in a church!
Faerie tale theatre
Zémire et Azor, André-Ernest-Modest Grétry‘s riff on “Beauty and the Beast”, gets a rare outing in the Berkshires.
Don’t go in the basement
Malin Byström is a radiant water nymph in the Bayerische Staatsoper‘s house-of-horrors-set Rusalka.
Hit me with your best shot
Dmitri Tcherniakov‘s production of Der Freischütz in Munich may fire a few blanks, but the musicians are all on target.
The juice is on the loose
The bonkers, bewildering Die ägyptische Helena begets a suitably lush musical and creative treatment at Bard SummerScape.
Because I’m not one of your FANS!
Just in time for this month’s theme of filth or dementia, a review of Terrence McNally‘s Master Class from Central City Opera.
Sealing the deal
The Bayerische Staatsoper’s summer festival wound down with Lotte de Beer’s darkly effective production of Gounod ’sFaust.
To the moon and back
Yuval Sharon‘s production of The Excursions of Mr. Brouček shoots for the moon — and lands somewhat limply on Lake Constance.
Oops, I did it Onegin
Wolf Trap Opera presented a lovely Eugene Onegin with particularly noteworthy performances by Magdalena Kuźma and Daniel O’Hearn.
A barrel of laughs
Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer‘s bubbly The Judgement of Paris brings a distinctly Californian terroir to operatic comedy.
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