Those monsters look like us
“This used to be a funhouse… but now it’s full of evil clowns / It’s time to start the countdown…. I’m gonna burn it down”
Nicole Car
14 pieces since 2014 — in 8 roles, at 7 companies, most often at Metropolitan Opera.
14
pieces
8
roles
7
companies
13
years
By role
Role Donna Elvira
Role Elisabetta
A cross to bear
A uniformly strong cast triumphs over a dull production of Don Carlo at the Dallas Opera.
Role Ellen Orford
The clue whose meaning we avoid
We watch Peter Grimes being made into a deviant— a process that can take place through the mechanism of the law, but often happens outside of it through social processes.
Role Fiordiligi
A delicate balance
Saturday’s performance of Così fan tutte demonstrated that even the cool, acerbic wit of Mozart’s most controversial comedy can warm our hearts in these icy winter months.
Role Marguerite
Sealing the deal
The Bayerische Staatsoper’s summer festival wound down with Lotte de Beer’s darkly effective production of Gounod ’sFaust.
Role Matrena
Once I was a schlepper, now I’m Miss Mazeppa
John Danaher on the world-premiere recording of Clémence de Grandval‘s wild and worthy Mazeppa, the latest release from the operatic archaeologists at Palazzetto Bru Zane.
Role Micaëla
Castanets of thousands
Outdoor arena opera always seems faintly ridiculous.
Role Mimi
The sweet escape?
A plodding La bohème in San Francisco never quite takes off
Loving him isn’t the right thing to do
Matthew Travisano takes on Mimì’s Act III aria from La bohème — not that one, the other one — in the latest installment of the “Perspectives on an Aria” series
Playing in the rafters
Opera took center stage on the final weekend of the Philadelphia Orchestra season.
Must the winter come so soon?
On Tuesday we got one of the Met’s inveterate classics, which meant yet another opportunity to gaze upon the old accessories: Donkey cart! Teal shawl! Fugly plaid slacks!
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).