I have a confession. I’m not really much of a fan of modern music past Mr. Stravinsky. Although a few pieces creep through like, say, Samuel Barber’s Vanessa. (Sorry, that was a joke.) Read more »
Opera for me is the very definition of escapism. The reasons are too obvious to list and, most especially, in the hideously tumultuous political times we find ourselves in. So last night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion it was a relief to cast your mind back in history to a simpler time: the Spanish Inquisition. Read more »
This riotous opera transports the Oedipus tale to an apocalyptic 1980s London, plagued by police violence, racism, and socioeconomic decay. Intrepid composer Mark-Anthony Turnage’s (Anna Nicole) 1988 breakthrough brilliantly combines cockney-accented profanity and irreverent drama with an audacious score and outstanding four-person cast. Eddy (tenor Alex Otterburn), our modern-day Oedipus, dreams of a better life. After hearing a fortune teller’s disturbing prediction, he resolves at all costs to avoid shagging his own mum (soprano Susan Bullock) and inadvertently killing his father (tenor Andrew Shore). But he is unable to outrun fate, landing in the prophetically maternal arms of an East End café manager (mezzo soprano Allison Cook). Thirty years later, Greek still resonates, offering an incisive, brash contemporary statement on accountability and family. Read more »
I have a confession to make. I have been taking Rigoletto for granted. Read more »
Neumeier adapted the story close to home, making Orpheus a choreographer and his wife a star ballerina.
Los Angeles Opera is the latest company to jump in on that cr-razy trend that sweeping the nation: boring the public to death.
What if you could time travel back to the first run of Giuseppe Verdi’s first great success Nabucco?
Georges Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles has been knocking steadily at the door of the standard repertoire now in this country for quite some time.
When you attend a performance of Georges Bizet’s Carmen you can never be quite certain which one you’re in for.
Cher Public