Meninas and meninos Meninas and meninos

Despite the practically unmitigated fiasco of the last Verdi concert opera performance seen in Boston, I approached Sunday’s Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras performance of Don Carlo at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre with much more optimism.

A fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes A fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes

It’s not hard not to feel jaded about Romeo and Juliet.

Opening doors Opening doors

Real estate is hot along the Acela corridor right now: as proof, Judith will have toured at least three castles in New York and Boston between this spring and last.

Sacred raptures cheer my breast Sacred raptures cheer my breast

The English Concert’s annual Handel tour brings Solomon conducted by Harry Bicket to the US beginning Sunday March 5. In anticipation, Chris’s Cache offers Solomon plus four other oratorios by the master:  Belshazzar, Hercules, Saul and Jephtha, all via broadcasts for which I feel a personal connection.

In my very own private hell In my very own private hell

No, we don’t really need another “Orpheus” opera. Or, rather, we don’t need this one.

Saxon violence Saxon violence

His shaved head in striking contrast to his dark beard and glinting eyes, the implacable Tartar conqueror glowers at us from the CD cover, while the uncropped photo of countertenor Xavier Sabata (above) is even more disturbing, featuring his raised fist and forearm tightly wrapped in a leather belt.

Sexual perversity in Gowanus

It is a thousand pities Francesco Cavalli never saw Some Like It Hot. A tale of convoluted romances, cross-dressing, immoral moralizing and a divine diva would have been right up his alley, or rather, Venetian canal. As staged by Vertical Players Repertory in a back alley around the corner from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn’s…