Miss Firecracker
Just like the pyrotechnics the heroine of The Firework Maker’s Daughter longs to create, this new opera for children is a delightful, low-tech throwback to a time before CGI took over the world.
our own jj
Headless nuns in starless cast
The most sensuous sounds at the Met this week come from an opera with nary a love duet.
Fox news
In Leos Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, the heroine is shot and skinned for her fur.
He who gets kicked
A last minute scheduling conflict at the New York Post (curse you, Tony season!) meant that my planned review of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at Manhattan School of Music had to be 86ed.
Love is only love
Of the two love stories that unfolded at David et Jonathas Wednesday night, it’s hard to say which was more moving.
The subject was Moses
Like the Israelites who cross the Red Sea in Moses in Egypt, New York City Opera has a long, hard road ahead of it.
Young man with a horn
Ring a ding ding! There’s a new Duke in town, and he’s jolting the Met’s Rigoletto with enough electricity to light up the Las Vegas Strip.
Magic Michael
Our Own JJ weighs in at some length about OONY’s performance of I Lombardi over at musicalamerica.com.
Nel tuo seno, amico sassone
Bollywood dance numbers, kung fu fighting, simulated nudity — and rock-solid musical values — added up to a sterling Giulio Cesare at at the Met.
Mousecapades
Our Own JJ (not pictured) just came running into the parterre offices wild-eyed with excitement.
Faustian, but no bargain
“The spring season at the Met is as changeable as March weather in New York: crisp and brilliant for a day or two, and then suddenly as dismal as Thursday night’s Faust.”
Our own JJ plans a comeback
Our Own JJ (not pictured) discussed “star quality” on WQXR’s Operavore program tomorrow afternoon at 12:30.
Emperor of the perverse
Short as Roman emperor Eliogabalo’s reign was, the world sighed in relief when it was over.
Bright young thing
Thursday’s Met performance of the Verdi tearjerker featured a major find: Diana Damrau, who, in her first outing as Violetta, mesmerized with her gleaming soprano and ferocious acting.
Un soggetto dell’epoca
“With one of my favorite opera productions returning to the Met tonight, I’ve been considering lately what makes Willy Decker‘s Traviata so fine, so satisfying, and so worth a return visit.” [Musical America]
Splitting hairs
Today on Operavore, Our Own JJ talks about wig-pulling catfights. Also heard in passing are Marilyn Horne and Susan Graham.
Excess d’estime
It’s not often operagoers leave humming the scenery, but that was the case Monday, when the Met hauled out Riccardo Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini from the vault.
The use of wond’rin’
With Wednesday’s stellar staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, the New York Philharmonic joyously put the ‘music’ back into the Broadway musical.
O fatal “Don”
The Met’s performance of Don Carlo Friday night was a tragedy, but not for the reason Verdi intended.
Blood simple
“One of the things I’m gradually learning as I’m coming up my the 20th anniversary of writing about opera for publication is that you have to be wary about making Pronouncements.”
No dice
The Met took a gamble on a new production of Rigoletto Monday night—but, dramatically at least, the show crapped out.
Pretty perfect
In a winter rich with splashy debuts, Friday’s performance of Le Comte Ory introduced a 27-year-old South African charmer who may well be the Met’s next big star.
C’est la guerre, mais ce n’est pas magnifique
If war is hell, then Soldier Songs should rank somewhere around “purgatory.”
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
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).
