Though, really, the young artists of the Merola Opera Program were more than alright in their annual showcase.
In Bayreuth, a confident Magnus Vigilius and luminous Jennifer Holloway attempt to elevate Wagner’s populist Rienzi.
American Bach led a stirring rendition of Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, full of big questions and even bigger musical highlights.
Philippe Sly is sublime as Messiaen’s Saint François D’Assise in Salzburg, though Romeo Castellucci‘s production could brush up on its catechism.
San Francisco goes baroque with performances of Handel‘s Alcina, Tolomeo, and Rinaldo.
At Wolf Trap Opera, a season-closing Tosca is weighed down by an incoherent setting during Italy’s Anni di piombo.
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen shows that he’s at the top of a crowded pack of countertenors in two recent New York performances with Philharmonia Baroque.
Ilana Walder-Biesanz reports from The Santa Fe Opera, where Tobias Picker‘s latest opera falls short, a new Rodelinda scintillates, and sumptuous singing abounds across the entire repertoire.
Shakespeare Opera Theatre presented two American operas exploring themes of hypocrisy and deception — in a church!
Zémire et Azor, André-Ernest-Modest Grétry‘s riff on “Beauty and the Beast”, gets a rare outing in the Berkshires.
Malin Byström is a radiant water nymph in the Bayerische Staatsoper‘s house-of-horrors-set Rusalka.
Dmitri Tcherniakov‘s production of Der Freischütz in Munich may fire a few blanks, but the musicians are all on target.
Just in time for this month’s theme of filth or dementia, a review of Terrence McNally‘s Master Class from Central City Opera.
Yuval Sharon‘s production of The Excursions of Mr. Brouček shoots for the moon — and lands somewhat limply on Lake Constance.
Wolf Trap Opera presented a lovely Eugene Onegin with particularly noteworthy performances by Magdalena Kuźma and Daniel O’Hearn.
Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer‘s bubbly The Judgement of Paris brings a distinctly Californian terroir to operatic comedy.
Tobias Picker and Aryeh Lev Stollman‘s Lili Elbe receives its first recording ahead of its stateside transition.
While it may not be top-tier Rossini, Teatro Nuovo’s mounting of Il turco in Italia is still good summer fun.
Teatro Nuovo pays tribute to a historic New York production of Don Giovanni with a talented ensemble.
Lucia di Lammermoor at La Scala, starring Rosa Feola, proves as airless as this summer’s heatwaves.
Festival d’Aix-en-Provence confronts the living and the dead — and its own future — through audacious productions and an intimate world premiere.
Zany gags keep Zar und Zimmermann zipping along at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
A Pasolini-inspired Tosca at La Monnaie does not quite find the pleasure in the pain.
The Bayerische Staatsoper’s Ring cycle scores another triumph with Tobias Kratzer’s take on Die Walküre.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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