Reviews

Eventide Eventide

David Alden’s acclaimed production of Leos Janácek’s Jenufa was mounted for its final performance of the season during the evening that I experienced my first opera at Santa Fe.

The Isle is full of noises The Isle is full of noises

Dell’ Arte Opera Ensemble theme this summer is women composers, which is timely, and the more to be applauded as likely to turn up unusual works.

A grandeur night for singing A grandeur night for singing

Die Zauberflöte is an opera!”  “No, it’s the first musical comedy!”

The need for speed The need for speed

Beauteous Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique appeared Sunday afternoon with the visiting Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer.

Dream a little dream of me Dream a little dream of me

“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.

We’ve been through the mill We’ve been through the mill

We’re two gay men, with 30-plus years between us, who went together to see the Broadway adaptation of Buz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!

Maid in America Maid in America

The second summer session of the Russian Opera Workshop concludes this week with concert performances of Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans.

Winterstorms that go bump in the night Winterstorms that go bump in the night

A hefty thunderclap shook Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Shed just as Andris Nelsons raised his baton for the third act of the weekend’s concert Die Walküre.

Strangers when we meet Strangers when we meet

The aphorisms projected before each act of Das Wunder der Heliane suggested the work concerns the transformative power of love—but does it really?

Songs of innocence Songs of innocence

Blind Injustice is a masterpiece, brilliant theater.

She’s a stranger here herself She’s a stranger here herself

The four leading roles in La Straniera were all attractively cast by Teatro Nuovo with fresh, promising young voices that did not seem quite ready for the big time.

Berlin wall Berlin wall

Why did I mostly want to close my eyes and just listen?

There is no spoon There is no spoon

Can a work with indisputably great music fail to add up to a successful opera? I puzzled over that Sunday during Teatro Nuovo’s essential concert staging of Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra at SUNY Purchase.

Moody “Blue” Moody “Blue”

The Glimmerglass Festival premiered a searing examination of race, identity, and the fraught relationship between communities of color and law enforcement. Blue, with a score by Jeanine Tesori and libretto by Tazewell Thompson.

Drama is real Drama is real

Teatro Nuovo put on a perfectly delightful show on Thursday night.

Defying gravitas Defying gravitas

Benjamin Yarmolinsky’s The Constitution: A Secular Oratorio, performed by Vertical Player Repertory on Thursday evening, was an awful lot of legal speak for one evening.

From Russia with love From Russia with love

Under any circumstances, the Russian Opera Workshop’s radiant concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta would have been an event to celebrate.

Nixon in Jersey: The Renixoning Nixon in Jersey: The Renixoning

The singers and the orchestra carry the show, but where do they carry it?

A little ‘Nixon’ goes a long way A little ‘Nixon’ goes a long way

The Princeton Festival has long been a “Little Engine that Could,” but the current operatic offering, John Adams’ Nixon in China, is a good deal more than that.

Toys in the attic Toys in the attic

One of the main problems with My Undying Love was that it did not appear to know what audience it was pitching to.

Ringing in my queers Ringing in my queers

Stonewall threads some difficult needles with great success overall in this last installment of New York City Opera’s Pride Month Programming.

Lenny thing goes Lenny thing goes

With the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Candide, they saved the best (of all possible worlds) for last.

Bolder sister Bolder sister

Brigitte Fassbaender‘s sound is piquant and, I’d hazard to guess, instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with her work.

Under the silver lake Under the silver lake

“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.