Jaundiced view
Richard Lynn bravely asks what we’re hoping to get out of the continued Peter Gelb-bashing — and whether our expectations of him have ever been fair
Academy of Music
Momentum mori
A fine Don Giovanni at Opera Philadelphia rounds out the company’s inaugural season under Anthony Roth Costanzo
Masques et bergamasques
John Yohalem wraps up Donizetti Month at parterre box with a look back at nearly six decades of Donizetti operagoing.
Boxing day
On this day in 1883 the Metropolitan Opera House opened with Gounod‘s Faust.
Humming chorus
Two opera houses, both alike in dignity (but less so in resources and international fame) launched their seasons this week, making similar out-of-the-box choices: new works on edgy, contemporary themes.
Unchanged for good
No show should last 20 years.
The queens’ gambit
The sharp and glitzy national tour production of Six doesn’t suffer from a sense of staleness due to familiarity.
I want your Rex
Opera Philadelphia’s return to the stage after two years was greeted by a cheering crowd who clearly would have been happy to stay longer, but as director David Devan acknowledged, this was a step in a continuing trajectory.
Sparkle, Lisette, sparkle!
Opera Philadelphia Channel invites viewers to revisit a 2015 production of La Traviata, captured on the Academy of Music stage, that’s notable for Lisette Oropesa’s debut as Violetta Valéry.
One little soldier
Take it as a high compliment to the harrowing, riveting Soldier Songs that I was grateful it lasted only one hour. My nerves couldn’t have handled more.
Jamie & Julia
As Julia Child, Jamie Barton is clearly having the time of her life.
Brimming with life
I’ve heard starrier performances, but none that made a more powerful case for this masterwork.
Total ellipse
Employing the most slimly elegant resources, Festival O’s Denis & Katya is a monumental, dramatically shattering event.
Tales of the citrus
Opera Philadelphia’s Love of Three Oranges is never less than extravagantly entertaining theater.
Dream a little ‘Dream’
It may have taken 28 years to see Robert Carsen’s production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the U. S., but it was worth waiting for.
Brotherly love
When I moved back to Philadelphia a few years ago, I reached out to Albert Innaurato.
Death becomes him
Tancredi, given on February 10th, was a credit to Opera Philadelphia, who offered a well-considered and compelling production.
Born to be Wilde
Cocooned in an amiable production of Theo Morrison‘s revised Oscar, David Daniels flew to new heights in the congenial title role.
Brotherly love
Again dipping into the rich archive of live recordings remastered and made available by the late Mike Richter, we find this selection from his early disc “Odd Opera 2.”
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).