One from the vault One from the vault

There has never been a successful vampire musical—so they say. But that’s just not true.

Bea in the bonnet Bea in the bonnet

Everyone who revives Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda, as the Collegiate Chorale did at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night, calls the piece an “overlooked masterpiece.”

Lyre’s poker Lyre’s poker

The Underworld as corporate boardroom, Pluto a “suit,” the damned a bunch of clerks tapping away at laptops.

Ripped from the headlines

They’ve been celebrating the centennial of Gian-Carlo Menotti lately, spouting wild claims for the immortality of his music. He did have an impressive run of successes in the 1940s, but he lived till 2007 with many more premieres and nary another hit. 

Finishing the spat

Although billed as “I Love Lucy the opera”, New York City Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’s conversation-piece Intermezzo offers far more emotional depth than the much-loved 1950s sitcom. Yet ironically, in key moments it lacks the necessary heart which Lucy had in spades.