Reviews

Charisma and chemistry Charisma and chemistry

For this revival of Tosca Teatro Real has configured several casts with some of the best singers in the world: Sondra Radvanovsky, Maria Agresta, Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Michael Fabiano, Yusif Eyvazov, Jonas Kaufmann, Carlos Álvarez, Gevorg Hakobyan and Luca Salsi.

Rossini al fresco Rossini al fresco

Last night, for the first time in nearly a year and a half, opera returned to Lincoln Center.

Can we still be friends? Can we still be friends?

As soon as James Clutton, the new Opera Holland Park director, stepped on stage to welcome the audience, we all knew that we were not at the typical English summer opera festival.

Sisters are doing it for themselves Sisters are doing it for themselves

Pauline Viardot‘s Cendrillon hews closer to the Perrault original than either Rossini or Massenet’s more familiar retellings and is dainty in conception as a salon opera for her students.

War! What is it good for? War! What is it good for?

The crown jewel of this year’s Munich Festival is undoubtedly Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, which opened the Festival on June 29 and will close the Festival with an “Opera for All” screening on July 31.

Joust in time Joust in time

Zachary James builds on his early career experience as a musical theater performer to deliver a thoughtfully crafted, blessedly restrained Quixote/Cervantes.

Damask and depth Damask and depth

For the weeks between the announcement that the return of Wolf Trap Opera would, in part, take the form of a concert performance of Sweeney Todd and its opening at the Filene Center on Friday evening, I racked my brain: why Sweeney now?

Headless “Girl” in a topless bar Headless “Girl” in a topless bar

Today’s listener has heard the scores of the classic Westerns that borrowed from Puccini (and Wagner!) to create the sound of the myth of the West.

Her kind of woman Her kind of woman

Plucked from obscurity by Howard Hughes and sold to the public as a buxom, brunette heir apparent to his former protégé, Jean Harlow, Jane Russell became a household name before she ever shot a single reel of film.

Love letters Love letters

March 2, 2020 – June 18, 2021: Those 15 months were the longest I’ve gone without attending a live opera performance since high school.

Selling the drama Selling the drama

Though the formal recorded aria recital is the ultimate calling card of an artist, the invitation to the spectator to receive, listen, and critically behold of the offerings (on fire or burnt), they are but a souvenir and there are a few drawbacks inherent with the presentation.

Crossroads Crossroads

When LA Opera finally decided to put a toe in the water and mount its first production since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was Igor Stravinsky‘s opera/oratorio Oedipus Rex.

Skyscrapers marching on Skyscrapers marching on

If you have not been following the exploits of Teatro Grattacielo during lockdown, it’s not because they haven’t been exploitatory all over the place.

Telling the world we are not invisible Telling the world we are not invisible

Director Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights has come around at exactly the right moment.

Awaiting faith Awaiting faith

Faith. The title of this fourth and final chapter of Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns made me pause for reflection.

Ladies of Spain Ladies of Spain

I’ve enjoyed these streamed recitals, warts and all, and always appreciate the chance to watch performers let their hair down, so to speak.

The Zoom Generation The Zoom Generation

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions were one of the last events I attended in person in 2020. Now, one year on, the competition has returned, this time in an online format, and this time with an entirely new name: The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, after the event’s new sponsors.

Maddalena scene Maddalena scene

This solid if not stellar performance finds our diva in particularly passionate form. Maybe they should have re-titled it Maddalena?

Shade in the shadow Shade in the shadow

Ombra Compagna, out today on Pentatone, spotlights Lisette Oropesa  in 10 of Mozart’s most challenging concert arias accompanied by Il Pomo d’Oro conducted by Antonello Manacorda.

The ‘Drama’ you’ve been craving The ‘Drama’ you’ve been craving

Opera is back, baby, and it’s good to be home!

Shark in a tent Shark in a tent

The great Dalai Lama once said, “whenever there is a challenge, there is also an opportunity to face it, to demonstrate and develop our will and determination.”

Myth me blind Myth me blind

“Spring has sprung,” announces MasterVoices’ director Ted Sperling with a smile at the beginning of Part III. And indeed, even the doomsayers among us (and I count myself one) can’t help but feel signs of cautious optimism, as the world we knew slowly but noticeably begins to re-emerge.

Infrequent flyers in unfamiliar skies Infrequent flyers in unfamiliar skies

Jonathan Dove’s Flight, which premiered at Glyndebourne in 1998 and is now being streamed by the Seattle Opera, is structured like one of those baroque extravaganzas where some half dozen characters find themselves (in every sense) on a magical island, its properties little understood.

We’ll always have Paris We’ll always have Paris

If you missed Amour during its Broadway premiere 19 years ago, you’re not alone.