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.
Davide Livermore
7 pieces since 2012 — at 2 companies, most often at La Scala.
7
pieces
2
companies
15
years
By company
Tosca, two ways
When our friends at Naxos and C Major announced near-dueling releases of Puccini’s “shabby little shocker,” I was ready with my critic’s pen dipped in bile.
Pigment of the imagination
It’s a wonderful idea to cast Bohème with young singers, and these delivered astonishingly assured, confident, mature performances.
Alzare le spalle
“Non mi dispiace” seemed to be the general consensus in the loggione December 7 when Verdi’s Attila came roaring into La Scala to open the 2018-19 season.
The not so great outdoors
For all the company’s good intentions this opera-dance combo was not one of its happiest outings.
Rich man’s frug
A good performance of a Rossini opera buffa usually bubbles along merrily.
Shadows on the silver screen
Strange as it is to encounter two such disparate works presented with the identical production concept, it’s odder still that the opera you’d think would be the slam dunk is anything but.
Conquering Ciro
By the time Rossini was 20, he had produced six operas, most of them brief, comic and slight. He admitted to admiring Mozart (not then well known south of the Alps), but the melodies of his early works show more of the influence of Paisiello.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
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