Reviews

Bach humbug Bach humbug

Peter Sellars’s rarely radical climate epic Shall We Gather at The River brought together a superb collection of musical talent for an unfortunately incoherent night of sacred song.

on June 04, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Try and try again Try and try again

Matthew Polenzani strode into the Park Avenue Armory’s Board of Officers Room last Monday evening and was received like a beloved friend–and indeed that is what he is to many of New York’s opera-goers.

on May 29, 2024 at 9:00 AM
<em>Death</em> and the maiden <em>Death</em> and the maiden

“Sempre viva!”

on May 28, 2024 at 10:00 AM
The red attachment of women The red attachment of women

Washington National Opera’s final production of the season, seen May 22, is also its high point: a new Turandot directed by Francesca Zambello, updated to the 20th century and featuring the world premiere of a completion of Puccini’s score by composer Christopher Tin and playwright and screenwriter Susan Soon He Stanton.

on May 28, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Monuments man Monuments man

It has been a great season for prolific Bay Area composer Jake Heggie.

on May 27, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Love wins Love wins

Opera has always been Orpheus-obsessed.

on May 24, 2024 at 9:00 AM
On the Silk Road again On the Silk Road again

The melodrama was fabulous.

on May 22, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Everything the light touches Everything the light touches

Like Emily discovering her gift in The Weight of Light, Vanguard fellows (ideally) come through a process of intense multivocality with a stronger sense of their own individual voice.

on May 21, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Flower maiden Flower maiden

Erin Morley closed Vocal Arts DC’s season on May 13th with a recital in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, partnered by pianist Gerald Martin Moore.

on May 20, 2024 at 9:00 AM
I’m a stranger here myself I’m a stranger here myself

In 1982 I saw Turandot at the San Francisco Opera, the year after I became an opera fan, and it was my first live opera.

on May 17, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Dagonistic pluralism Dagonistic pluralism

To bring a well-known story to the stage, many methods are available.

on May 14, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Carmen, domesticated Carmen, domesticated

On May 2, Rebecca Herman‘s conceptualizing of Carmen was a significant departure from the traditional depiction of a marginalized “other,” maintaining a traditional staging in Seville.

on May 13, 2024 at 10:00 AM
With a sound but half its own With a sound but half its own

Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann made her New York recital debut at Weill Hall on May 8.

on May 13, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Fox on fox Fox on fox

The Cunning Little Vixen, Leos Janacek’s late-career opera—a wonderous work with an almost miraculous sense of charm and poignance—has found significant success in conservatories.

on May 10, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Come to the record store in old Peking Come to the record store in old Peking

In the lead up to LA Opera’s mounting of Turandot on May 18th (hooray!) I thought I’d touch on some of my favorite recordings and new re-masters I’ve discovered. I have them all.

on May 10, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Raunchy, wild, and winsome Raunchy, wild, and winsome

There was much to love in Andrew Ousley’s Tiergarten: a three-night cabaret revue from Death of Classical and part of Carnegie Hall’s Weimar Festival, performed in the vaulted gothic hall of the Church of St. Mary.

on May 07, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Women of the <em>Hours</em> Women of the <em>Hours</em>

In its first go-around in November 2022, Kevin Puts’s The Hours (libretto by Greg Pierce based on the novel by Michael Cunningham and the screenplay for the Stephen Daldry’s 2002 film was a box office bullseye for the Metropolitan Opera.

on May 07, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Voce di donna o D’Angelo Voce di donna o D’Angelo

Her star is indeed on the rise, but squarely on her terms.

on May 06, 2024 at 9:00 AM
No strings attached No strings attached

Madama Butterfly is the opera of the moment.

on May 03, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Hiding in plain sight Hiding in plain sight

An air of discovery pervaded the first New York presentation of La ville morte much the way that it pervades the opera’s plot itself.

on May 01, 2024 at 9:00 AM
On the road again On the road again

When it premiered at the Opéra Comique in 1875, Carmen shocked audiences with its frank depictions of female sexuality, the proletariat, and violence: subjects that have ensured the piece’s continued relevance and that have inspired numerous retellings and revisions.

on April 30, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Tito’s, neat Tito’s, neat

This Clemenza seemed more or less unconcerned with the opera’s political imagination, content to take Tito at his word that his rule is morally enlightened and the citizens at theirs that a benevolent dictatorship is a wonderful thing indeed.

on April 29, 2024 at 10:00 AM
The voice of spring The voice of spring

“I come, I come! ye have called me long;

I come o’er the mountains, with light and song”

on April 29, 2024 at 9:00 AM
Crying ‘Uncle’ Crying ‘Uncle’

Surely it was lightning in a bottle. The announcement that Steve Carell would appear at Lincoln Center’s Beaumont Theater playing the titular Uncle Vanya in Anton Chekhov’s classic play would, of course, be a box office windfall.

on April 26, 2024 at 10:00 AM