Momentum mori
A fine Don Giovanni at Opera Philadelphia rounds out the company’s inaugural season under Anthony Roth Costanzo
Review
A masked ball
Opera San José (OSJ) concluded its eclectic 41st Season with another first, Héctor Armienta’s Zorro, which received its Northern California premiere at the California Theatre on Friday, April 19th.
Sex power god
Breaking the Waves and Tannhaüser at Houston Grand Opera are a can’t-miss doubleheader of sex and miracles.
Smash or pass
The long-awaited Broadway musical adaptation of the NBC series Smash is “not Bombshell – it’s just a bomb,” according to David Fox and Cameron Kelsall.
Bye bye, birdie
A feast of whimsy for the recently resurrected in Aaron Siegel’s new opera, Rainbird
Fractured féerie tales
Félix Fourdrain‘s “féerie” Les Contes de Perrault by the Frivolités Parisiennes is as fun for adults as it is for children
Brain Wurm
By the time the curtain rose on Verdi’s Luisa Miller last Sunday in Washington Concert Opera’s final show of the season, the originally announced line-up was about as accurate as a federal agency org chart from February.
C’est une vraie voix
Don Carlos returns to the Opéra National de Paris and it’s an unusually happy occasion
Humdrum existence
Missy Mazzoli has established herself as one of contemporary opera’s most skilled and subtle architects of emotional response, and her latest, The Listeners—now at the Lyric Opera of Chicago—is no exception.
Happiness indeed
The nail-biting adventures of Voltaire’s titular hero Candide are hardly more circuitous than those faced by Leonard Bernstein’s 1956 Broadway musical adaptation.
Like the poem said by a lady in red
Boop! The Musical arrives on Broadway with plenty of colorful glitz, glamour, and talent with an empowering message for women to find their inner confidence to succeed and lead
Seville servants
A muted and merry carousel ride out of feudalism in the Met’s production of Le nozze di Figaro
Povera Butterfly
A parade of young singers delight in an intimate Madama Butterfly at Amore Opera
Sick and tired
Before this weekend, I never thought I would want to leave an opera by Act I. The recent production of Puccini’s La bohème at the Lyric Opera of Chicago taught me that there’s a first time for everything.
Monsoon wedding
IN Series concluded its exploration of the works of Claudio Monteverdi with a production of the composer’s final opera, L’incoronazione di Poppea, performed with the addition of Indian music and dance.
Selvaggia e aspra e forte
Pascal Dusapin‘s dynamic and demanding traversal of Dante‘s Commedia arrives at the Paris Opera
Born to command
Audacious star performances elevate safe direction in Richard II and The Seagull on London’s West End
This magic moment
Look, for one of the most-staged operas in the repertoire, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte seems awfully difficult to stage.
Haircut and paste
Back to Rameau again this week with Samson at the Opéra Comique, my third Rameau production in as little as three months, after Les Fêtes d’Hébé in the same house, and Castor et Pollux at the Palais Garnier.
Blue Saturday
A grand concert from Angel Blue has Patrick Mack wondering, “where’s her crossover album?”
Yes and no
William Kentridge‘s eclectic The Great Yes, The Great No arrives at Cal Performances.
A most finely Huwn art
Huw Montague Rendall’s new release Contemplation has been spinning in both my car and home players repeatedly for months 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).
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!
