Going ‘South’ Going ‘South’

Cotton, a world-premiere song cycle commissioned by Philadelphia’s Lyric Fest, takes its audience on a journey through Black American history that extends from the Deep South to the contemporary urban landscape.

on February 27, 2023 at 9:15 AM
A whiter shade of grail A whiter shade of grail

It seems that François Girard has been watching a little too much Star Wars lately. His new production of Lohengrin, which opened at the Metropolitan Opera Sunday afternoon, reduced Wagner’s opera to a knockoff space opera, full of hackneyed sci-fi tropes and B-rated futurist apologue.

on February 27, 2023 at 7:55 AM
So a fool returns to his Philly So a fool returns to his Philly

Updating opera settings is, of course, expected; I’d wager in most houses more often than not it’s now the norm. Still, few in my experience have the specificity and local immediacy of Don Pasquale at the Academy of Vocal Arts.

on February 24, 2023 at 9:08 AM
Guys who sing high (and others) Guys who sing high (and others)

A stack of noteworthy recent baroque vocal CDs on my desk has been staring at me for weeks, so I’m tackling them on Handel’s birthday before the Met roars back into action beginning this weekend.

on February 23, 2023 at 9:08 AM
The final strangeness The final strangeness

What’s the status of the American Dream nowadays? Did it ever really exist? If it’s dead, why isn’t it gone?

on February 19, 2023 at 11:23 AM
Special ghost star Special ghost star

Ghost sex is part of the popular zeitgeist.

on February 12, 2023 at 8:00 AM
Seamless Seamless

Baritone Will Liverman is becoming a real Renaissance man. 

on February 08, 2023 at 7:44 PM
Fully immersive Fully immersive

Now the opera world can have a taste of what an immersive opera looks like, as Opera Parallèle opened their spectacular world premiere of Everest: An Immersive Experience .

on February 07, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Wide-eyed mania Wide-eyed mania

There is a moment about 75% of the way through the Rome Narrative where you can almost literally hear Tannhäuser’s stomach turn.

on February 06, 2023 at 9:00 AM
A delicate balance A delicate balance

For anyone who thought that Downton Abbey, with its plot lines divided between the gentry and their faithful (or not-so) servants was somehow unique, that particular tale, and lo its many variations, has been told in one form or another since Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais put quill to paper in 1778 with La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro.

on February 06, 2023 at 8:00 AM
Hunger games Hunger games

Director Richard Jones’ well-traveled and visually arresting production of Humperdinck’s 1893 opera Hansel and Gretel has returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago after a 10-year absence.

on February 04, 2023 at 3:00 PM
She dreamed a dream She dreamed a dream

Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart’s 1941 musical Lady in the Dark is a psychoanalytical romantic comedy. It simultaneously mocks and takes seriously the power of looking inward  to understand oneself, a process which can be silly, frustrating and life-changing in turn.

on February 01, 2023 at 12:15 PM
Sleek, unstoppable, electrifying Sleek, unstoppable, electrifying

For me, Fedora is the perfect opera

on January 30, 2023 at 11:46 AM
The color of Monet The color of Monet

When I saw that Richard Bonynge AC CBE, conductor and musicologist supreme, had authored a book titled Chalet Monet about the home he shared with his wife, La Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE, in Les Avants, Switzerland I practically had to wipe my chin.

on January 30, 2023 at 11:08 AM
Trapped Trapped

What happens when you attend a performance and it doesn’t engage you? 

on January 24, 2023 at 11:51 AM
Natural woman Natural woman

Joyce DiDonato’s Eden immerses listeners within a centuries-spanning musical meditation that channels the majesty of our natural world.

on January 23, 2023 at 9:51 AM
Between two mirrors Between two mirrors

Shortly before Tuesday’s performance of Salome at La Scala, I did something I rarely do: I took a mirror selfie.

on January 20, 2023 at 1:29 PM
Pragmatism and ideology Pragmatism and ideology

It doesn’t get more classic than John Dexter‘s Dialogues des Carmélites.

on January 17, 2023 at 9:50 AM
‘Elisir’ not quite ‘rara qualita’ ‘Elisir’ not quite ‘rara qualita’

On paper, the Met’s revival of L’elisir d’amore looked like a lovely evening.  And at times it was—a few scenes hinted at what it could be and what it might yet become.

on January 13, 2023 at 9:00 AM
The world is treating me bad The world is treating me bad

We constantly wonder whether the young man will embrace him—or slit his throat.

on January 10, 2023 at 1:36 PM
Dad flawed Dad flawed

Du Yun is the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of Angel’s Bone. Her new opera, In Our Daughter’s Eyes, a one-act monodrama for bass-baritone and an orchestra of six, opened the current tenth Prototype Festival, in a performance at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, starring erstwhile Met regular Nathan Gunn.

on January 10, 2023 at 1:18 PM
How stable everything appears How stable everything appears

Plink. A marble drops into a bowl. A brief yelp from glass, and a dozen, a hundred, a thousand years pass. Eventually the bowl is full of marbles, each one a tiny globe.

on January 09, 2023 at 5:37 AM
A jewel, despite the setting A jewel, despite the setting

The first time I heard of Ermonela Jaho it was as the ultimate understudy.  In the aughts it seemed that every time Angela Gheorghiu or Anna Netrebko or whoever canceled, Jaho was standing by.

on January 08, 2023 at 8:08 AM
Poison of interest Poison of interest

Following new productions of Tosca in 2017, Adriana Lecouvreur in 2018, and the Anna Netrebko-led Puccini orgy of 2019, New Year’s Eve at the Met has come to signify that verismo, as this school tends to be known, is still kicking.

on January 02, 2023 at 9:00 AM