Well here we are, beloveds, still swathed in the warm glow of the Leonard Bernstein centennial. Box sets abound like bunnies in a hutch.
The dream cast put together for this second revival of Kasper Holten’s Don Giovanni production shines at the Royal Opera House.
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.
Siegfried is, in a sense, The Ring’s odd one out.
In less than 10 days two outstanding countertenors, Franco Fagioli and Jakub Józef Orlinski, visited London.
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.
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.
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.
Many lessons surface in Tony Kushner’s epic Angels In America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes.
New Amsterdam Opera’s concert version of Donizetti’s elaborate score La favorita, offered energy, panache and several top-notch young soloists.
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.
The Barber of Seville turned out to be the most overall solid production of the year and even a bit of old-fashioned fun.
Whether full-bodied and rich or comic and actorly, the baritone voice contains multitudes.
I attended the Sunday, May 13, performance with bittersweet anticipation.
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?
Ah, finalmente!
Though orchestrally lavish, this “semi-staging” delivers less theater than no staging at all.
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.
I have a confession to make. I have been taking Rigoletto for granted.
Mozart was barely sixteen when he wrote Lucio Silla to open the Carnival in Milan in 1772.
Asking the musical question, “They say we know why the poor sleep three in a bed, but why do the rich?
Heartbeat is, after all, a company that loves to tinker.
While one sympathized with Matthew Aucoin’s urge to add his voice to the Orpheus canon it was difficult to figure out how his work complemented Gluck’s.
By the end of the first act, it was clear to me that I was experiencing an artist performing at her absolute peak.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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