Social Medea Social Medea

Simone Mayr’s Medea in Corinto, a curious work of 1813, has been revived by Will Crutchfield’s new enterprise, Teatro Nuovo.

Country matters Country matters

Stefan Herheim productions may be many things, but they’re always theatrical.

Alexander was great Alexander was great

As the first of the 2018 opera productions last Saturday, the Merola Opera Program chose Mozart’s rarely-performed early serenata, Il re pastore.

Lakeside ‘Story’ Lakeside ‘Story’

Sunny, lakeside Cooperstown presents a peppy, exuberant, winning production of West Side Story, the musical.

The wedding singers The wedding singers

Caramoor imported the venerable West-Coast period orchestra Philharmonia Baroque to perform Atalanta, an obscure pastoral work by Handel.

O sofa fanciulla

Winsome, tony, and studded with overbooked bistros, Tanglewood is not exactly crawling with bohemians these days.

O sink hernieder, Nacht der Lenny O sink hernieder, Nacht der Lenny

Well here we are, beloveds, still swathed in the warm glow of the Leonard Bernstein centennial. Box sets abound like bunnies in a hutch.

Summer night Summer night

The dream cast put together for this second revival of Kasper Holten’s Don Giovanni production shines at the Royal Opera House.

Baby the rain must fall Baby the rain must fall

As Brünnhilde invokes the gods of an empty Valhalla for one last time and strides confidently into a wall of flame, we pause for a moment, unsure of what will follow.

Human, all too human Human, all too human

Siegfried is, in a sense, The Ring’s odd one out.

Boys of the baroque Boys of the baroque

In less than 10 days two outstanding countertenors, Franco Fagioli and Jakub Józef Orlinski, visited London.

San Francisco, open your Rheingold gate San Francisco, open your Rheingold gate

Casting the Ring as a parable for the state of the current world, seen through the eyes of a progressive urban opera lover (and not an early German nationalist), offers us soothing self-justification.

Cave dwellers Cave dwellers

Composer/librettist David Hertzberg’s The Rose Elf, which gave its world premiere in the Green-Wood Cemetery Catacombs last weekend, is indeed a marvel of elfin proportions.

The sun shines nellie The sun shines nellie

Warmth, humor, and joyful out-and-proud-ness dominate the mood, yet there is considerable darkness in Taylor Mac’s view of both past and present.

Painful progress Painful progress

Many lessons surface in Tony Kushner’s epic Angels In America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes.

Too cloistered for comfort Too cloistered for comfort

New Amsterdam Opera’s concert version of Donizetti’s elaborate score La favorita, offered energy, panache and several top-notch young soloists.

If it ain’t ‘Brokeback’ If it ain’t ‘Brokeback’

Between staging, music, and material, it’s hard to decide what feels most broken about New York City Opera’s American premiere of Brokeback Mountain.

Home run Home run

The Barber of Seville turned out to be the most overall solid production of the year and even a bit of old-fashioned fun.

I will remember you I will remember you

Whether full-bodied and rich or comic and actorly, the baritone voice contains multitudes.

Senza nube e senza vel Senza nube e senza vel

I attended the Sunday, May 13, performance with bittersweet anticipation.

Give ’em Hellman Give ’em Hellman

I mean, how often does one get to hear Bernstein’s gorgeous, rollicking, and varied score nursed by a full orchestra and the artistic resources of an opera company?

Misty salvation Misty salvation

Ah, finalmente!

“Tosca,” starring the Philadelphia Orchestra “Tosca,” starring the Philadelphia Orchestra

Though orchestrally lavish, this “semi-staging” delivers less theater than no staging at all.

Lovely and never violent Lovely and never violent

There was a lot expectation about the new opera by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp. Their previous collaboration, Written on Skin, was an enormous critical and public success,  earning the work a place in the exclusive club of 21th century classics with selected works by Saariaho, Heggie and Birtwistle.